So, this was originally going to be a digest post. Because, to be honest, I’m not interested enough in Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon to give it a full one under normal circumstances. But here’s how bad this season is – I couldn’t even find anything notable enough to include in a digest impressions. Hand Shakers was so grisly visually that I just want to forget it as soon as possible. One Room seems to have taken the next logical step in the devolution of “romance” anime, cutting out the male protagonist altogether and just giving us the leering stare. Kobayashi-san may be nothing special, but in the land of the blind…
To the extent that there’s anything interesting about this series, it’s that Kyoto Animation chose to adapt a manga, and one they don’t own at that – which has become an extreme rarity in recent years. The question begged is, why this one? There doesn’t seem to be anything especially brilliant or memorable about it, and it hardly fits with the usual KyoAni template. This premiere wasn’t bad or anything, but it was so eminently forgettable that it seems very odd that KyoAni would choose to break with their usual business model to produce it.
Takamoto Yasuhiro is in the middle of KyoAni’s pack of directors – not the best, not the worst (though he did helm Hyouka, one of its best series). Here’s he’s got the story of a curmudgeonly salarywoman who, on a drunken ramble into the mountains (that’s never a good idea) invites a dragon to live in her apartment. The dragon turns into a hyper-kawaii maid with a big green tail. Hijinks ensue. Why does any of this happen? Because that’s the story – if there’s any more urgent reason of logic to it, I fail to see it. It’s inoffensive enough, which in this parches desert of a season makes it nearly an oasis. But it’s mediocre to the core – including the art and animation, which is about as nondescript as any Kyoto Animation series can be (which is to say, pretty good but nothing special).
People like to refer back to Winter 2013 as a rival to this season for worst in recent memory, but here’s the thing – that season may have been short on good original series but it was loaded with strong sequels and carryovers. If you were following anime in Winter 2013 you could watch Chihayafuru, Hunter X Hunter, Shin Sekai Yori, Minami-ke Tadaima, Bakuman 3, Ginga e Kickoff, Shirokuma Cafe, Zetsuejn no Tempest, Robotics;Notes… Honestly there’s no comparison whatsoever. We’ve seen a further decline in multi-cour anime and what’s more, a lot of the bad shows in Winter 2017 aren’t just bad – they’re truly offensive in how bad they are. “Rakugo” is wonderful, for sure, and there are a few other nice series out there. But this is a sad state anime is in right now, and there’s no hiding that fact. That’s not Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon‘s fault, but it’s still depressing to think this is closer to the best series of the season than the worst.
Hijokkle
January 11, 2017 at 8:55 pmI was going into this series expecting nothing, but I actually found it enjoyable. I know it’s just the usual KyoAni pandering (I think all Hibike fans were pretty burned by the end), but I found Kobayashi and Tohru to be quite an endearing ‘couple’ and I hope it actually goes somewhere. Plus it was funny at times (Kaphir’s “Kill them!” was great), so there’s that.
On a side note I liked Kobayashi’s character design and personality. It’s quite refreshing.
Hijokkle
January 11, 2017 at 8:56 pm*edit: maybe not all Hibike fans, but I’d say a considerable amount.
Guardian Enzo
January 11, 2017 at 9:01 pmWell, I finished it, and that it means it won anime today because I couldn’t finish either of the other premieres I tried. But I didn’t find it especially endearing or charming, more just mechanical.
Redice
January 11, 2017 at 9:20 pmOh man, I was hoping you’d give Scum’s Wish a chance.
Guardian Enzo
January 11, 2017 at 10:01 pmWho said I wouldn’t?
Originally was supposed to be out tomorrow (and with A-Prime, who knows), but it came out a day early just a bit ago. Haven’t had time to even watch it yet.
Redice
January 11, 2017 at 10:19 pmWhich two premieres that you couldn’t finish were you referring to then?
Guardian Enzo
January 11, 2017 at 10:40 pmHand Shakers and One Room.
Haraga
January 12, 2017 at 12:33 amGive Chaos;Child a chance. The original material is pretty strong, somewhere between Robotics;Notes and Steins;Gate in terms of quality I’d say. Unfortunately it is not that easy to adapt, but it is still worth a look. At least it shouldn’t be an absolute disaster like Occultic;Nine, considering Naotaka Hayashi was actually involved.
Deluxe
January 12, 2017 at 1:12 amIs this the same Takemoto who directed Hyouka, i.e. the best show Kyoto Animation ever produced? Then it’s a shame to see him wasted on show like those. which
contrary to the popular belief are not even commercially successful.
Guardian Enzo
January 12, 2017 at 7:43 amYeah, same guy, hard as it is to believe.
roger p
January 12, 2017 at 3:36 amI also tried Hand Shakers but stopped watching after a minute or so… Will give Kobayashi-san a chance though.
Gan_HOPE326
January 13, 2017 at 2:03 amHand Shakers was indeed pretty ludicrous from what I’ve seen. I haven’t bothered watching the entire episode, only bits and pieces. “Motion sickness” isn’t in the range of emotions I want to get from an anime.