Every periodical season of anime have a lot to offer in content and entertainment, but this Winter 2017 season has a unique blend of shows ranging from fantasy, comedy and drama genres. We got to see shows such as “Konosuba”, “Tales of Zestiria the X”, and “Blue Exorcist” enter their second season as response to their vast popularity, to new shows such as “Interviews with Monster girls” and “Gabriel Dropout” that bring out the little subtleties and joy that you can only get from school. Although there is one show that has been bringing me back every week to watch due to its’ adorable adventures, incredible moments of animation, and hidden message in its’ show: “Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid”.

*Minor plot spoiler ahead*

We are introduced to our main protagonist, Kobayashi, an average working class women who seems to live a normal everyday life. One day, she performs her morning routine, but with a bit of a hangover from the night before, and when she opens her door, she is greeted by an enormous green dragon! Just as the end we perceive comes in, the dragon transforms into a blonde lady named Tohru (pronounced: “tore-ru’’) dressed as a maid offering her services to fulfill a debt. Remember that hangover? Apparently, Kobayashi was so drunk the night before that she wandered across Tohru, as a dragon, with near-fatal wounds and she saved her. They begin to have a conversation and bond so much that Kobayashi offers Tohru a place to stay. Needing to fulfill a life-saving debt, Tohru offers to be Kobayashi’s personal maid. As of now, this show has ten episodes; all of it subtitled and are currently being dubbed in English.

Now the show is under the genre of slice of life, so if you are looking for amazing, heart-wrenching plot, I’m sorry, but that won’t be as present in this show. In case, you’re wondering, slice of life entails everyday life in shows with mishaps and small joys. You’re not going to find crazy stuff such as wizards and monsters here, oh wait a minute? Never mind, but this show, I guess you can say is everyday life and what it would be like if dragons were real. But, what really gets me about this show and I could only have seen this after a few episodes, was the hidden message. That message I received was the accepting and toleration of others. Of course, I’m not saying I needed this show to teach me those lessons, but it's interesting how this show decided to include the said message.

In a time, where recent political action from the U.S. president has gone underway, tensions have never been so high. Now how does dragon maids relate to this? Well, Kobayashi was reluctant to accept Tohru into her home due to her dangerous nature, but she gives her a second chance to see how well things can go. After some bumps and turns, Tohru is eventually accepted into Kobayashi’s home as the maid. This is where we start seeing some similarities between the show and reality. Even though, Kobayashi: a human, and Tohru: a dragon have obvious differences in culture and physical appearances, that doesn’t stop them from learning more about each other and bonding over their experiences. Even the dragons from Tohru’s world such as Kanna, Fafnir, and Elma try to convince her to come back because she ‘doesn’t belong there’. Tohru expresses that she doesn’t care and is there for Kobayashi. Even when the dragons mention how they live a much longer lifespan than humans, revealing that Tohru would outlive Kobayashi; that doesn’t deter Tohru from being with her. Over time, Kanna, Fafnir, and Elma realizes how Kobayashi’s world offers so much that they decide to look past their differences to live in it. Fafnir, who was the most vocal and despises humans the most, bonds with Takiya, an Otaku (geek) friend of Kobayashi through video games and even decides to live with him. Countless myths have shown dragons and humans locked in life or death battles; dragons are portrayed to lack empathy, abhor humans, and care for only their treasures, but in this show, the dragons moved beyond hoarding gold and jewels to simply enjoying the time they have on Earth with Kobayashi, in school, or even in their human jobs. Looking past the horns and tails, the dragons are truly similar to humans, eventually accepting each other for who they are.

Overall, the show did well on keeping things simple in terms of plot and story for the slice of life aspect. If you just go through this show with an absent mind, you may just simply enjoy the show for what it is on the outside. However, when you look past the visuals, animation, and art style; the message of this show is clear. Accepting, tolerating, and learning other people’s cultures, values, and norms are incredibly rewarding. I never expected that a show like “Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid” would ever make an impact like it did on me. This may not be my top favorite anime show, but I truly appreciate coming across it and taking my time to see what it was about. If you are interested in checking this show out or any of the other shows I’ve mentioned, go to crunchyroll.com and enjoy with new episodes of “Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid” premiering every Wednesday!