Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid

Episode 5

Anyone looking for a guide on how to make a story both silly and sweet need look no farther than Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid. Maybe that's overstating things a little, but this combination has become the show's hallmark, and episode 5 does it particularly well. In part, this is accomplished by not dividing segments into “cute” or “funny” content – both elements are incorporated into each mini-storyline. Although they aren't the strongest sections, we can still see this best in the school snippets, where Kanna and her friend have tiny interactions that get a major overreaction. Since we know that neither girl had any close friends prior to meeting each other, there's something adorable about it. But it's also pretty funny to watch, especially when moe lunch lady feelings win out over a disgust of sweet and sour pork with pineapples.

The bigger plots this week follow Tohru as she “secretly” accompanies Kobayashi to work, Fafnir's decision to move to the human world, and finally Tohru's weird obsession with ESP and magic tricks. Of the three, the last is the weakest, probably because there's only so much that can be done with the premise. It still has some very good moments, such as when Kobayashi realizes that Tohru's trying to relate to humans by mastering their “skills,” or the Ranma ½ style training that Tohru and Kanna embark upon. However, most of the best scenes are reserved for the first part of the episode, when Tohru decides to find out what her beloved does all day.

While the action of this section has plenty of humor, such as a fabulous scene of an invisible Tohru repeatedly tripping Kobayashi's jerk boss as he tries to stand up, it also speaks to how close the two women have become. Kobayashi's coworkers comment on how she seems much happier lately, and although she hasn't given it much thought, she realizes very quickly that it's because she now has Tohru in her life. She thinks that she can't remember what she was like before, an old romance trope typically used to show how much better life is now that the significant other is present, and it's backed up by the fact that even though Tohru has blocked perception of herself (via magic, not a “maid skill,” the text tells us), Kobayashi still knows she's there. On the one hand, her basic knowledge of Tohru's protectiveness may have tipped her off that there must be something Tohru-esque about her boss' inability to stand up. On the other, we can read it as Kobayashi being so attuned to Tohru that she can simply tell she's there by the way that she feels. The ending of the segment would seem to support the latter reading, but either way, it's wonderful to see Kobayashi acknowledge that her life is better with Tohru in it.

We see the same thing from Tohru when she's talking with Fafnir about his decision to move to the human world. He claims to be concerned about Tohru getting too attached to humans, who will die within a century and leave her alone, as well as if she'll be able to go back to killing them in her own world. Tohru makes it clear to him that she has no intentions of going anywhere – it isn't easy in the human world, and she doesn't always understand it, but being with Miss Kobayashi makes her happy, and that's what she really cares about. Of course, it turns out that Fafnir may care more about the opportunity to play more video games. I'm really hoping we get scenes of Fafnir's life with Makoto in his Den of Otakudom, because that's a pair of roommates with some serious comedic potential.

As a final note, I think the moment this week that made me laugh the hardest was when Tohru was watching a talk show of some kind, and it was revealed that what girls wanted most from their boyfriends was to be pushed against a wall. To Tohru, that didn't indicate sexual overtures à la shoujo manga, but rather that humans communicate via non-verbal sounds. Instantly, she flashes to a fantasy of Kobayashi backing her against an alley wall, pounding her fist while Tohru smacks the wall with her tail. I now refuse to think of that trope in any other way. So thank you, Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, for making one of my least favorite romance scenarios into something I can laugh at – life really is better with Tohru in it!

Rating: A-

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.