Caught the theater-only movie at Anime Festival Asia, and what can I say...KyoAni is to Maid Dragon, as much as Maid Dragon IS to KyoAni as its spoken masterpiece series of the late 2010s and even to this day.
Take note that the movie IS a sequel to the TV anime, so the anime has to be watched before the movie.
The movie's plot of adapting Chapters 65-78 of Volume 7 and 8 of the manga, transforming the mundane lives of Kobayashi and the dragons to facing the fear with the burly man of Kim-un-Kamuy and his strategist Azas to come back for Kanna with her prank signature, but for a duel betwen the hermony and chaos factions by claiming her having the all-important dragon orb. But Kobayashi instinctly knowing that this'll bring trouble to Kanna being dealt a whole lot of criticism against her father, even with the dragons and her fellow colleague Makoto, plus the unexpectedness of her director being understanding with his interactions with Lucoa and Shouta, considering the 200 years that the dragons has had this war incoming. Add to that with Azad basically working as a double spy to disrupt both factions as the true villain, that as Ilulu suspects, but the mage having an edge in terms of his powers that she has had some experience in the past, this fruitless battle is within the dragons of their world, and Kobayashi choosing to enter this battle for Kanna on her own regard, with Tohru having Fafnir to force and mold her back to shape.
Sadly, Kam-un-Kamuy requesting his daughter to go back to him, while not knowing of Azad's villain plot, it just turns a bad situation worse with Kanna having to leave everyone, with Kobayashi and Tohru making the fateful journey across to the dragons' world, where with Azad having full reign of the mana to disperse the duo, sends Tohru to face against the harmony faction. while Kobayashi gets some help from the fairies as payback for Kanna taking care of them. For sure, Kanna also proved her maturity in dealing against Azad knowing that he's trouble incarnate by having the dragon orb to instigate war to fulfill his rather "sad" backstory that all dragons must be decimated, as is Kobayashi trying to call for a ceasefire between the two factions, that the unexpectedness of Kanna's and Azad's conversation being recorded on the former's voice recorder for all to hear, Kanna's orbs truly make and/or break the situation. If not for Fafnir and Elma's intervention for Tohru and Kobayashi to chase the father and daughter head on against the mage, the battle taking quite the turn when the dragon orb is used to control the majority of dragons to heave a bloody finish, the one-shot blow that the latter learned from the book that deals quite the sacrifice of not being able to use magic forever (that honestly, Kobayashi doesn't need one inch of it in the human world) to take Kim-un-Kamuy down.
Azad having to meet his end from Lucoa (who belongs to the Spectator faction) and Tohru is one thing, but it's Kanna coming to terms with her ignorant father that truly show a different side of her, the sentiments that the mage failed to consider as Tohru drains all of his magic to stop him from going berserk ever again. It's a shame that Kanna won't come back to the human world (which absolutely saddens Saikawa)...or should I say, it's more of the visitation that she now considers Kobayashi a part of her family.
fhana's OP and Sachiko Kobayashi's ED, even when it feels simplistic at best, are solid songs.
A solid movie for the most serious arc of the manga yet, though don't hope for a Season 3 fast given KyoAni's commitment to both time and quality should they want to continue Maid Dragon in the future. |