Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S

Episode 12

What an emotionally satisfying and heartwarming conclusion to the season. While much of this second romp with the dragons has focused on characters and relationships outside of Kobayashi and Tohru, the first half of this episode zooms in as Kobayashi herself gets introspective. Is she completely honest about her feelings?

Well, no. In the end Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid is only willing to be gay up to a point, and that's framing all romantic and familial interactions that way but making sure at least half of its primary couple never confirms it out loud. I'm not trying to be a hard ass, because this episode did deliver some really poignant dialogue and its primary conflict is Kobayashi wanting to feel special as Tohru becomes less reliant and co-dependent on her. She spends a lot of the summer festival contemplating how to express this without interfering with Tohru's more fulfilled happiness; happiness that also exists outside of her reliance on Kobayashi. You can't ignore the implications of her pulling on Kobayashi's sleeve and asking her to walk around the festival one-on-one. It's Anime Date 101, but I would have liked something a little more verbally reciprocal from Kobayashi after Tohru confesses to her. I just don't really see the point in being coy about it. This isn't a harem anime.

That confession, though, played my heart like a fiddle. There was something so genuine about Tohru expressing all her concerns about her own inadequacies only to admit that Kobayashi helped her let go of those expectations so she could find fulfillment in being true to herself. The way her feelings were expressed felt very grounded, and it really resonated with me as a person who struggles with this particular thing very deeply. I was also surprised at how natural Ilulu and Taketo's interactions felt here. The pair have managed to develop some really great chemistry over their limited appearances this season and while it wasn't on screen, I thought their body language during the fireworks segment suggested the possibility they were holding hands. I also liked their rapport during the shooting range bit and it was fun to see Ilulu's sexual energy played off in a way that felt appropriate.

The latter half I enjoyed for its comedic shenanigans and beauty. I'm going to choose to ignore that the cherry blossoms were actually...dragon flesh. It was nice to see everyone hang out, Elma get silly, and the close out with the pretty bridal dresses. The chase segment at the end was capital-A Anime but I found myself smiling much like Kobayashi as she flees her Dragon Wife.

I think it was fair to have some trepidation about this season of Dragon Maid. Some of its less savory elements were still present but with the exception of the first two episodes, I found it otherwise to be a pretty great (and gorgeous) season of anime. Ilulu became much more than what her character design initially suggested and my fav Elma got a lot of great moments.

Here's hoping for another season!

Rating:

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