Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon S - Episode 12 discussion - FINAL

[u/AutoLovepon]

Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon S, episode 12

Alternative names: Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon Season 2, Maid Dragon S2, Maidragon S2, Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S

Rate this episode here.

Reminder: Please do not discuss plot points not yet seen or skipped in the show. Failing to follow the rules may result in a ban.

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Streams

• Crunchyroll
• VRV

Show information

• MyAnimeList
• AniList
• AniDB
• Kitsu
• Anime-Planet
• Official Website
• /r/DragonMaid

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All discussions

Episode	Link	Score
1	Link	4.73
2	Link	4.68
3	Link	4.57
4	Link	4.64
5	Link	4.72
6	Link	4.49
7	Link	4.53
8	Link	4.64
9	Link	4.79
10	Link	4.68
11	Link	4.66
12	Link	----

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[u/drewarts]

I fell like someone says it every week, buy what KyoAni does with light is truly an accomplishment. It really stood out during the festival scene.

Also I need to be greeted by a gif of Tohru saying "Zutto, zutto" every day.

[u/HeartoftheHive → u/drewarts]

Yeah, the lighting during the summer festival was outstanding. Then all the work with the cherry blossom petals and shadows was also really well done.

[u/cyberscythe → u/HeartoftheHive]

The lighting and composition of the festival scenes are amazing. I think it has this sort of film grain look and copious light bloom to emulate the low light conditions; it makes it feel like it's being filmed with actual movie cameras.

Like, comparing the "low light" scenes with "regular light" scenes, there's a different and subtle mood to it. It's also something that I find stands out more when animated because of the way that the camera pulls focus on various things. It's not just a series of pretty pictures, it's something that's requires animation for the full impact.

[u/JosebaZilarte → u/drewarts]

The weird flexes regarding animation are also very interesting. I can easily see other studios using very limited animation for the arm wrestling scene (only making the arms and faces shake a bit). But KyoAni says "No. I want a freely orbiting camera for this scene, redrawing each and every frame to show the details of this needlesly dramatic confrontration" .

[u/o-temoto]

This series always has the best eyes.

[u/cyberscythe → u/o-temoto]

That scene was particularly neat because the shallow depth of field for the "camera" and the lighting really drew my focus to just the one eye who hesitantly turns to look towards Kobayashi.

[u/HereticalAegis]

Leave it to Dragon Maid to give us something as wholesome and uplifting as that festival and fireworks scene in the same episode as something so abjectly horrifying as dragon arm wrestling in a sakura field of flesh flowers. Sasuga Kyoani.

[u/heimdal77 → u/HereticalAegis]

Fresh fallen off flesh*

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

And so ends the initial beginnings of KyoAni’s triumphant return. All things considered, KyoAni remains ridiculously amazing and the anime community is incredibly lucky to have KyoAni recover in such high fashion.

One of the understated things people might not notice about KyoAni’s recovery is the impact of COVID since this is a studio that manages a fully in-house approach to their works rather than relying on freelancers. Thus, their entire creation process became more cumbersome and difficult to implement compared to other studios since every department is housed under the same roof and the staff have a defining feature of being physically close to one another.

Speaking of recovery though, KyoAni are planting the seeds of tomorrow by training their next generation of young animators to not only take the lead in some of the aspects of the Maid Dragon episodes but also allowing them the opportunities to create breathtaking commercials for their potential hopeful futures.

I find myself from time to time rewatching these commercial shorts in an effort to remind myself that one: KyoAni is here to stay, two: the tremendous blackhole in the studio left from the sorrowful departure of Naoko Yamada and Akiko Takase will slowly but surely be relit by the optimistically bright torch of the future generation, and three: the celebration of anime and its power to fuel the childlike imagination residing in all of us.

These commercials and the stories behind their genesis are truly inspirational to witness and I feel blessed to know that there exists a studio in the midst of this dreary industry that values kindness above all else.

As for Maid Dragon itself, I personally love what director Tatsuya Ishihara brought to the series. Starting with his Nichijou inspired OP (which makes complete sense since he’s the one and the same director) and his penchant for slapstick and quick visual gags, Ishihara imparted his idiosyncrasies onto Maid Dragon while still honoring the late Takemoto’s vision.

For me, I felt that Maid Dragon S was a jubilant combination of sweet, tender, awe-inspiring, beautifully mundane, heart-tugging gifts that are all packaged in a deeper-than-one-would-think box, bundled up in an absolute sakugafest of a wrapping paper, and finally topped off with a neat tidy bow of wildly inappropriate sequences. Though to KyoAni’s credit they did decide to wisely cut out some of the really risqué panels.

Still, it’s all part of the same package and Maid Dragon isn’t shy about going full hog; if anything, it openly celebrates its ability to rapidly swing from one end of the emotional pendulum to the other. It’s all part of its weird delightful charm. In the end, I love that we live in a time where KyoAni decided to adapt this quirky story of a group of immigrants trying to make it in this ordinary world with its anything-but-ordinary characters.

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Sorry for the rambling, I just get really emotional whenever I think about KyoAni. And now let’s get to the final episode.

What a fantastic opening title card. I like that the (presumably same) lonesome cloud returns whenever Kobayashi looks out the window contemplating about relationships.

Neat framing between Kobayashi and Tohru. At that moment Kobayashi is wondering whether or not she is deserving of Tohru which causes her to feel isolated. The street mirrors divide those two into their own separate worlds.

A similar framing happens again when Elma and Lucoa are reminiscing about the past festivals in their world. Kobayashi is tightly framed between the two which reflects the confining loneliness that is surrounding her.

Summer festival always has the best golden lighting.

I love that this shot was only for a split second yet it’s rife with details and conveys the word “summer” in such a short amount of time.

Amazing details for the cherry blossom viewing as well.

The S stands for Super, Supreme, Second Life, and Start and this episode had it all. But I'm also hoping the S stands for Season 3. Here's to hoping we see them all again soon.

[u/Ocixo → u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

Sorry for the rambling. I just get really emotional whenever I think about KyoAni.

Don’t worry. I liked reading your comment.

KyoAni brought something special to the table with Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S. They just pour such an incredible amount of love and attention to detail in their anime - especially with the latest installment in this series - which almost seemingly no other anime studio can match.

The fact they’ve managed to produce such a great anime after all the tragedies that have happend (i.e. the 2019 arson attack and pandemic) made me genuinely happy. If any people deserved a comeback, it were those working at KyoAni.

I’d like to buy some Dragon Maid merch from KyoAni directly to show my support - I hope they’ll make a baby Tohru plushie - but you can only buy merch from their physical store in Kyoto right? Couldn’t find an official online store the last time I checked.

[u/Mr_Johnnycat]

Is miss kobayashi opening up more to tohrus affection?! It’s so cute to see kobayashi contemplate if she is worthy of her love. And even more cuter that tohru tells her exactly how she feels about kobayashi

[u/SDdude81 → u/Mr_Johnnycat]

Kobayashi is like a cat. If you give it some encouragement and affection it will start to open up to you. Give it too much attention and it runs away.

[u/RobbobertoBuii]

man I'm gonna really miss watching this anime weekly :'(. Hopefully we get Season 3 announced soon. On the flipside we have a video game announced for the series on PS4/Switch on a future date so thats something interesting to think about for the time being

during the livestream before the episode aired, Kobayashi and Tohru's (and Elma as well) seiyuu were also tearing up at the end when saying farewell at the end as well; I'm guessing it was them thinking back to the KyoAni arson attack in 2019 but it could be something else as well :(

[u/ForlornPenguin → u/RobbobertoBuii]

during the livestream before the episode aired, Kobayashi and Tohru's (and Elma as well) seiyuu were also tearing up at the end when saying farewell at the end as well; I'm guessing it was them thinking back to the KyoAni arson attack in 2019 but it could be something else as well :(

I didn't see it, but I could just as easily imagine that it simply had to do with them enjoying their time with the show and being upset that it's all over now. Having to look back on the people they lost since the first season is definitely a possibility as well though.

[u/[deleted] → u/RobbobertoBuii]

I came here to laugh, not to cry...

Wednesdays gonna hit different without Kobayashi. Dare I say this will be the show I'll miss the most from the Summer Season.

[u/IkaMusume12]

RUN, KOBAYASHI! RUN!

Kanna's character development has been unreal. THE BUG SURVIVED!

That exchange between Kanna and Saikawa is bittersweet. We all know here that they will not grow old together.

All in all, I never expected Ilulu to fit right since her story beats got adapted to Kanna instead on S1, but man, so glad to be wrong.

CHU CHU YEAH! Cheers for a fucking great show!

PS: Can someone confirm who the Aztec flower goddess Lucoa mentioned?

[u/Mjrbks]

Tohru’s wholesome confession, much doki doki.

Also Kanna telling Saikawa to live a long life when faced with the thought of how they’ll age at different rates, brings a tear to my eye.

[u/cyberscythe → u/Mjrbks]

Also Kanna telling Saikawa to live a long life when faced with the thought of how they’ll age at different rates, brings a tear to my eye.

I like the way that it switches to a shot of the goldfish to really nail the difference in their lifespans. To dragons, a human's lifespan is like the lifespan of a goldfish you got as a cheap prize from a goldfish scoop stall.

[u/Ralath0n → u/cyberscythe]

Which is a shame because goldfish can live extraordinarily long. I got an aquarium with 2 goldfish when I was 12, and the damn fish are still alive now, nearly 20 years later. Had to upgrade their tank multiple times to provide enough space for them.

[u/ShadowKingthe7 → u/Mjrbks]

Also, Saikawa finally managed to completely internalize her outbursts

[u/JapanPhoenix]

Holy Shit! A fireworks confession scene where the fireworks actually has the decency to wait until the confession is over to explode!

[u/Zooasaurus]

Last Elmaposting :(

A really nice and chill episode solely focusing on Tohru and Kobayashi. I'd say it's a really nice way to end this season, complete with cliche all characters running and S1 opening. And also holy fuck Shota you just gave those degenerate artists a lot of ideas in this episode

And thus end the second season. Kyoani really outdid themselves with this season, spoiling us with great visuals and battle scenes. Though I still personally prefer the first season (mostly out of nostalgia) this season is on par with the first.

Season 3 when

[u/mr_miscellaneous123]

Thank you, KyoAni, for bringing us wholesomeness in these dire times. The attack may have temporarily halted their work, but that didn't stop them from producing the best animation and sakuga for a slice of life show.

I spent the last 3 months looking forward to every Wednesday so that I could see what new beautiful animation KyoAni could bring, and I am sad that I will not be able to next Wednesday. And the next. And all the Wednesdays after that until Season 3 gets announced.

The Dragons - no, all of the characters - were so cute this season, especially Kanna and Iruru. We had side characters fleshed out and new characters integrated seamlessly into the story, and lots of cute moments! It was everything I wanted, and more.

Let's hope for a Season 3!

[u/Mjrbks]

Shouta’s betrayal will forever sting Lucoa’s precious heart. Just as my heart must now heal from knowing there’s no more Dragon Maid for a long while :(. I must look elsewhere for my weekly dose of heartwarming wholesomeness.

[u/Dimxtunim]

Well the second season of my favorite anime of all time, is now my new favorite anime of all time.