KOBAYASHI-SAN CHI NO MAIDRAGON: SAMISHIGARIYA NO RYUU

DESCRIPTION

CAST

OVA ComedyKobayashi-san Chi no Maidragon S: Nippon no Omotenashi (Attend wa Dragon desu)
MANGA ComedyKobayashi-san Chi no Maidragon

REVIEWS

• 

  SlimeClinic

  76/100
  An imperfect, but moving and emotional movie with spectacular visuals

  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.

  Thank you for reading all the way to the end

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• 

  PolyBBenson

  100/100
  KINO: Everything I love about Dragon Maid.

  It's kino. Amazing. Spectacular. Awe-inspiring. Positive superlative thesaurus dot com. It's all I've ever wanted from Dragon Maid as a series.

  When I first heard of Dragon Maid, I didn't even know it was called Dragon Maid. I just saw a picture of Kanna and thought, "Wow, cute anime girl!" and that was my relationship with Dragon Maid for like two years. Then, I decided to watch the first season of the anime on Netflix on a whim and I was hooked.

  It goes without saying that Dragon Maid looks amazing. That statement is general because it applies to all three permutations of the anime. It's something to be expected from an anime from Kyoto Animation, possibly the best animation studio in the history of ever, but what KyoAni brings to Dragon Maid is important. This studio has brought more life into these characters than what Cool-Kyoushinja could feasibly achieve in the pages of the manga. The mannerisms, the micro-expressions, the soundtrack, the moe, all of that is what KyoAni adds to Dragon Maid, sans the moe since that was already in the manga to begin with, but was enhanced by the adaptation. Nowhere is this more apparent than in this movie.

  I'm going to be honest for a second. I didn't really care much for this arc in the manga. It was good. It did a lot for the characters and introduced some that would become great recurring characters later on, but as a whole, it didn't tickle my fancy like other arcs in the manga did. This is not true for the movie, because this movie is one of, if not, the best piece of the Dragon Maid anime. KyoAni went above and beyond, and beyond even that to make this arc one of the most enjoyable and heartfelt movies I've ever watched. When this arc ended in the manga, I smiled and celebrated its ending with mild fanfare. When I finished the movie, I cried real tears and was figuratively kicking my feet in the air because of how much joy the movie gave me. It's great.

  Another thing this movie did is distil the best parts of Dragon Maid into a single package. I'd even say that you could watch this movie without watching the previous two seasons of the anime! (Though, you shan't skip watching them entirely, since both seasons of the anime are two of my favourite anime ever.) It's a great introduction to the series. The heart, Kobayashi's wisdom, the series' themes of diversity and companionship between seemingly incompatible parties is represented immaculately in this movie. They are what keep me coming back to Dragon Maid, and what makes the series live rent-free in my head. Except the comedy, you won't see a lot of that in here, but the arc is serious business, so it makes sense.

  This movie is also something I can recommend watching to anyone wholeheartedly, since all of what people usually complain about is completely absent in this movie, which also brings a unique problem. Since there is no 'weird diddy blud' stuff in this movie (other than Ilulu's mere existence), it is a very different experience to the show. It's a great introduction, but it's missing some key elements that the show has that make the show what it is. There is no ecchi. Like, at all. Lucoa doesn't show up for most of it, and when she does, her usual antics are completely absent, and there aren't any questionable scenes with Kanna either (why would there be? Kanna's plights are not to be made light of!) The movie is a bit sanded down, Dragon Maid Lite, if you will, but... I'm okay with that. It's not like the absence of those elements make this film worse, every part of this movie is carefully crafted to make the best version of this movie that could feasibly be made, and that's great.

  When some wise guy said that perfection is achieved not when you have nothing left to add, but rather when there is nothing left to remove, this movie is a prime example of that. It's pure, distilled, Dragon Maid Heart, and it's great.

  Go watch it, seriously.

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