This review contains no major spoilers and is intended to be read by anyone, whether you’ve watched the movie and are interested in another’s thoughts or you haven’t seen it yet and are intrigued to hear what it’s like.
As you likely would have guessed if you’ve seen the first two seasons, it’s a pretty simple story. Simplicity isn’t inherently bad and it’s part of what makes the dragon maid series work, it’s a simple story with a cast of colourful characters that’s full of laughter and heartfelt moments. However I do believe this movie does lean just a bit too much on the basic side. The primary antagonist, their actions, backstory and motivations are just too basic and they end up being quite one note throughout the movie. There’s also a lengthy movie only (not in the manga as far as I could tell) section part way through the movie where two characters are separated, one engaging in combat and the other running for their life. As fun as it may have been to watch their individual scenes, it didn’t really serve a purpose in the movie and could easily have been cut. The method in which the major conflict was also felt pretty undeserved, with the idea being a “sacrifice” of something that gave a character power that they really shouldn’t have been able to attain. Apologies about the vague description there but to keep it spoiler free you’re going to have to watch the movie to really understand that bit.
Now with the negatives out of the way, it’s time to get onto the main part of the movie, which I would say was told beautifully. The story of Kanna Kamui, the “lonely dragon” of the movie. Kanna is typically a character with subtly visible emotion, with much of the comedy and charm of her character being her rather quiet and small reactions and expressions. Her character is also that of a child, with all the stories she’s in through the show being fun and lighthearted. This is what makes the movie so emotionally impactful and investing, because this is completely turned on its head in the movie. I won’t say too much to avoid spoiler territory, but a lot of this movie contains Kanna at her emotional lowest. With some of her scenes and reactions, while usually adorable and comedic, were genuinely heartbreaking. I went to see this movie twice on opening week, and both times I found myself tearing up at one of her last scenes in the movie. The portrayal and development of both Kanna and her father Kimun throughout the movie is for me easily the best part and I would say is a highlight of the Dragon Maid animated series as a whole so far.
As always, Kyoto animations are just on a different level of visual beauty than most studios. This movie looks absolutely stunning. I mean that literally, during the last third of the movie where the visuals were at their peak I was actually shocked at how gorgeous everything looked. The animation is wonderful as always, with the fights with both dragon and human forms being a joy to view. Especially a fight involving Kanna, which I was gripped watching both times I went to see it on the big screen. But more than the animation, the art quality was really something else in this movie. Near the end there’s a few sunset scenes with some of the best looking shots I’ve seen in anime. It’s unfortunate that it’s probably going to be a bit until the digital release because there are many shots I would love as a desktop background.
All in all, I really liked this movie. It certainly isn’t without its flaws, and I think Kyoto animations could have done a bit better on the adaptation of this arc as a movie, perhaps making the non-manga material fit better into the story. Kanna’s story if nothing else is worth seeing this movie for, but Kyoto animation’s visuals are a big bonus. Overall if you like the Dragon Maid series, you’re almost certainly going to like this movie and I would really recommend going to see it in the cinema if you can.
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