Wait, I haven't reviewed this before?
During a drunken night out in the mountains, Miss Kobayashi pulls a holy sword out of an injured dragon, grateful to her saviour, Tohru decides to become Kobayashi's personal maid, followed by other dragons, the life of Kobayashi is about to get more interesting.
Kobayashi feels so unique compared to other stories of this type and was really the trend setter for including more office workers as leads, what really makes the series work, is how much heart comes from the show as a whole and both seasons really thrive on that, even Ilulu proves to be a source of wholesomeness, you'd think you would be expecting this anime to function in a certain way with its copious amounts of sexy dragons but it never goes there, it helps that Kobayashi isn't a typical anime protagonist, she's far too intelligent to fall for any of the trappings this type of anime could pull but not so above it all that she can't join the madness, KyoAni smashed it out the park with this one, I wish the dub kept it's politics to itself and follow the original script, yeah the dub is a disgrace, don't watch it.
Final Verdict: Dragon Maid is a phenomenal anime that needs to be watched by everyone, it's heart will keep you watching for hours.
The world is tough for mobs
After being blackmailed into playing an otome game which ends up killing him, the lead awakens in the game world as Leon Bartfort, growing up fully as a nobleman passed and thrown around by the world's women, Leon uses his game knowledge to gain a high enough position to avoid being dragged into the story however the story doesn't go as planned as the leading lady and the villainess are driven out of the main plot by an interloper, out of sheer contempt for the so called princes, Leon uses his new found mech to mess with the establishment and try and bring balance to the story but he still keeps being dragged back in.
This works because Leon has the same chaotic mindset as Konosuba's Kazama and I can't really blame him as it was his sister who caused his death and is still ruining his life now as Marie.
Olivia and Angelica the otome protagonist and villainess become friends instead although Olivia is a huge blubbering mess that could be felled by a feather but at least Angelica has enough pride to get over not marrying the prince.
I chose to watch the sub as the dub is probably bad.
Final Verdict: it's not bad, the lead definitely makes the series work being a massive prick to a really toxic cast giving it some semblance of satisfaction but I wish it ended with Leon getting what he wants instead of keep pushing him into a story he doesn't want to be in.
And the romance genre was doing so well.
Futaro Uesugi is an academically gifted student but stuck in a bad financial situation with his family, an opportunity presents itself as he is hired to tutor the Nakano quintuplets, Ichika, Nino, Miku, Yotsuba and Itsuki with each one having a different feeling for Futaro.
Ichika is Tsundere towards him.
Nino is Friendly but wouldn't go all the way.
Miku is clearly in Love.
Yotsuba is Playful and never disliked him.
Itsuki just hates Futaro.
Wait a minute, this is just Love Hina!
And if you disagree, plot twist, he met one of them as a child and made a love promise, that's literally Love Hina.
And it makes it all the more disappointing, but what I find more egregious is how little the Quintuplets care about their situation, if it weren't for the plot point of Futaro needing money, he seems like the type of guy to just say "screw it you're on your own" as the fact that they are so rich, they couldn't give two shits about their education, they don't even complete their main goal in season 1, they just ass pull saying that combined we technically pass.
As for the girls, anything less than Miku winning, the only girl who actually has chemistry with Futaro, I do not recognise.
The dub is pretty standard fair.
Final Verdict: A poor version of a romance anime that was already doomed to fail the moment you realise you're watching a poor man's Love Hina, Miku is literally the only character who deserves to win.
And we have more romance now.
Tomo and Jun have been friends forever and act like a pair of real bros, but at some point Tomo is revealed to be a girl, the feelings between the two start growing into love as Tomo wants to be seen as a girl while Jun is conflicted with his feelings knowing that he can't ignore the fact that Tomo is a girl.
Backed up by Misuzu and best girl Carol, Tomo hopes to one day become a couple with Jun even if the path to femininity goes against her entire personality and feels more alienating than helping.
Misuzu's manipulation is very polarizing as you wonder if her advice and suggestions are actually helpful or she just gets a kick out of messing with people.
Carol is what saves the series from falling off the cliff, the only case of a Japanese and English dub actress being the same.
Tomo-Chan can be frustrating to watch as a romance series as all the shenanigans makes it seem like the romance will never have a payoff, something which I complained about in My Tiny Senpai, thankfully it does have a payoff.
The dub relies alot on Western slang which suits the series way better than others but can be distracting, Carol is perfect.
Final Verdict: A decent showing that could easily have failed but thankfully we never get to that stage thanks to mostly Carol for being the wholesome gremlin that she is.
Let's hear it for the boys!
Yuri Katsuki is a professional figure skater at the end of his rope having had a torrid season, not holding much hope for the next season, he pours his sorrows into a practice skate which goes viral online and brings champion Victor Nikiforov to Japan to coach the hapless Yuri, this angers another Yuri from Russia as the two compete for the finals of the mens figure skating with all the flare of the other male skaters joining them, can Yuri Katsuki unleash his inner eros to finally claim the championship gold?
It's about time we had a wholesome story of men that flows like a proper anime and isn't reliant on cheap yaoi to sell, it's allowed to blossom naturally between Yuri and Victor giving the story a deep passionate feel I've only seen in female sports anime, it also helps that the rest of the skaters have their own individual goals, personalities and stories and get enough time to shine as the second half of the anime treats each skate like an actual figure skating competition, this pairs nicely with one of anime's most impressive soundtracks.
The dub feels right out of hetalia but less stereotypical than hetalia.
Final Verdict: A beautiful story of male figure skating in an anime world where this sort of positive male casting is extremely rare.
