Saikawa comes to play with Kanna and meets Ilulu. Kobayashi and Tohru pursue their hobbies and interests.
Episode 3 – “Extracurricular Activities (Of Course They’re Not Normal)”
Hmm.
The theme for Dragon Maid this week is forgiveness. Ilulu felt she couldn’t have fun with others yet after trying to destroy their town. She thought she needed to do more penance before she could deserve making new friends. Ilulu was not ready to move past her sins even though Tohru and Kobayashi already had.
Through Lucoa’s actions, Dragon Maid gave us a great lesson on accepting forgiveness from friends. Often, it is pride that holds a person back from receiving forgiveness. Ilulu did horrible things to Tohru and to Kobayashi. How could they forgive her so quickly? Ilulu imagines that she would not do so as quickly. She needed to forgive herself before she could reconcile with her community of dragons and humans.
Lucoa, representing an Aztec god of wisdom, gave Ilulu the right push to join a little game between children. Locking Riko Saikawa in a bathroom with Ilulu counts as a wise action. Ilulu rejoined her dragon and human community meaningfully because it relates so specifically to her past. Slice-of-life is neat, isn’t it? Dragon Maid’s small scene of children playing cards is full of truths.
Heh.
Yay! Riko Saikawa is here to play with Kanna! I love how Riko thinks of Kobayashi as Kanna’s “mom.” Hoho. Riko plots what to do with Kanna when they’re alone together. Climb the stairs to adulthood! Ah. Not so alone together. Ilulu is on the toilet. Has no one shown Ilulu how to lock the door? Kanna calls Ilulu a friend. Simple enough.
Dragon Maid’s slice-of-life transitions are prosaic. Three sparrows on a wire, but one is alone. It totally sets up Ilulu staying separate from Kanna and Riko. Good stuff, KyoAni. Ha! Riko notices the oddness about Kanna’s circumstances. She calls her mom “Kobayashi.” She calls her maid “Lady Tohru.” Doesn’t matter. Kanna is so darned cute! Aw. Riko invited Ilulu to play with her and Kanna, but Ilulu doesn’t feel like she deserves to have fun yet.
Har. Kanna’s penalty game for Riko is more like a reward. Dragon girl belly rub! Riko is self-aware. It’s a reward! Oh, yes! Finally! Lucoa has joined the game. Lucoa POV has innate blind spots… Lucoa talks with Ilulu about accepting forgiveness. That’s a heavy theme for Dragon Maid this week. Ilulu’s closet already has cute decorations. Lucoa recognized that Kobayashi has a sweeter way of talking to dragons than she does.
Uh oh. Kanna noticed that Riko is losing on purpose to rub her belly. Har. Lucoa has a urination beam… Neat. She figured a human girl would be more convincing to Ilulu than another dragon. And Lucoa locked Riko in! What a conniving vixen. Aw. Riko and Ilulu have much in common. Violent delinquents! Lucoa realized that Ilulu is still a child emotionally. Children learn how to forgive and forget through playing together. Playing together means more belly rubs for dragon girls! Lucoa is awfully pushy for a dragon in the Observing Faction. This montage of children playing together is pure healing anime (iyashikei).
Welp, Ilulu is an official member of the Kobayashi family now. Time for the fun slice-of-life stuff in Dragon Maid. Tohru gets the wrong idea about Kobayashi, as usual. Kobayashi is meido-sexual, so she’s obviously not ogling Tohru. Yup. She’s thinking about Tohru’s maid uniform. Hoho! Kobayashi in a maid uniform! Oh… “Not cute at all,” said her family.
Emergency meeting! Tohru needs her friends to brainstorm a maid outfit that would look good on Kobayashi! Nice. The kids don’t involve themselves in this farce and play Monopoly instead. Shouta makes an appearance! Elma came for the snacks. She still can’t find a jacket to fit over her shoulders… Har. Georgie calls Kobayashi her “comrade.” She’s right.
Fun. Ilulu joined the Monopoly crowd too. Kanna has specific ideas on what a monopolist should do. Uh oh. Shouta, the little genius, knows how to maximize Park Place. This chapter of the Dragon Maid episode is pure gags. Elma’s ideal maid uniform for Kobayashi has pockets for daifuku everywhere! Haha. They sent Elma to the kiddie room! Takiya’s perfect maid uniform matches Kobayashi’s past rejection. Harsh! He didn’t draw it with her in mind! Scratch Fafnir’s idea, then. No magical girl maids in this show. I liked Lucoa’s presentation the best. Not the ancient Aztec garb, but how she displayed it. Kobayashi belly button! Ooh. Tohru respects Georgie’s opinion the most. No daifuku pockets anywhere!
Oho. Georgie went platonic on maid uniforms. Dragon Maid gets philosophical. The ideal maid uniform is what that maid wears. It’s the maid that makes the outfit! One must be a maid before one wears a maid uniform. Georgie gobsmacked Tohru. Oops. After all this discussion, Tohru couldn’t think of a maid outfit for Kobayashi. Aw. Tohru just wanted Kobayashi to wear her maid outfit. Kobayashi claims Tohru’s uniform is too cute for her, but that’s not for her to decide. What kind of maid personality would Kobayashi have, anyway?
Kobayashi received a fuller perspective on fashion from Tohru’s maid uniform question. Kobayashi needed to think of herself as cute first, then anything she wore would be cute. A woman makes the clothes; not the clothes make the woman. Oh, right. The kids are still playing Monopoly. Shouta Street is where dreams go to die… Ilulu went bankrupt.
The next Dragon Maid chapter lets us meet the Kobayashi neighbors again. We’re deep into the slice-of-life genre this week. Not even a hint of dragon battles. One neighbor’s blender is too loud. Fun! That’s KyoAni’s animated version of fhána’s music video! Tohru now has a lot of free time since Kanna started going to school. If she picks up a hobby, what should it be? Let’s ask the neighbors! She’s too good at death metal. She’s too precise at wood carving. Tohru needs curiosity and emotion for a satisfying hobby. What gives her those things? More like, WHO gives her those things?
Oh no. Kanna calls Kobayashi for an emergency. The dragon maid has lost it! What. The. F… afnir. Tohru combined all the neighbors’ hobbies into a Kobayashi love song, paintings, dolls, and figures. Kobayashi can’t complain since she acts like this about maids when she gets drunk. The Monopoly vignette is pure comedy. Worship Kanna!
Amazing. The end credits have Tohru’s love song for Kobayashi! “Cross-species Relationship” calls back to the first season’s ending theme, “Cross-species Communication.” Love kiss, lick kiss, love Miss Kobayashi! Check out all the lovey-dovey moments from the Dragon Maid first season too. Next time, we get to spend time with Elma and her ill-fitting jackets. Lucoa’s Sagittarius tells us to mind the lock on the bathroom door in the end card.
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S (Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon S) streams on Crunchyroll and VRV.
