After the events of Haruhi and K-ON, Kyoto Animation has been somewhat of a lost soul, trying to find its place in the world. Their newest title, Maid Dragon, manages to establish itself by rolling the clock back and going back to their origins. It has the vibe of something that may have been animated in 2005, and that's exactly what makes it so unique in the current harem and superpower environment.
It also has a clear objective and never strays from it in an aimless attempt to please everyone, unlike many of their more recent games. Despite having a cast of evil dragons, it never plays around with drama and never focuses on action and explosions. It's absurd. It's soothing. When it tries, it can even be a little endearing. Did I also mention that Tohru is quite adorable?
Some people might cringe and sigh as soon as they read the series synopsis. The mix of maids and dragons doesn't seem like it would make for a very interesting scene, or anything that would take more than a few seconds to consider. Every possible object has, or will eventually, get some kind of series with adorable females randomly slapped upon it. People are conditioned to be pessimistic by modern anime.
The artwork of Kyoto Animation is great in general, but in Maid Dragon's instance, it really shines. The anime is perfect for screenshotting because of the adorable and funny expressions that the characters-especially Tohru and Kamui-make, even though there aren't many sequences that stand out for their animation. Tohru has incredibly detailed eyes that highlight her dragon nature without ever coming across as blatantly unnatural. The anime aims to create a fluffy, peaceful environment, and bright colors and smooth edges help to achieve this goal. Some of my issues with KyoAni's other titles, like Hibike Euphonium, stemmed from the fact that they always seemed so drab and boring.
It also has a clear objective and never strays from it in an aimless attempt to please everyone, unlike many of their more recent games. Despite having a cast of evil dragons, it never plays around with drama and never focuses on action and explosions. It's absurd. It's soothing. When it tries, it can even be a little endearing. Did I also mention that Tohru is quite adorable?
Some people might cringe and sigh as soon as they read the series synopsis. The mix of maids and dragons doesn't seem like it would make for a very interesting scene, or anything that would take more than a few seconds to consider. Every possible object has, or will eventually, get some kind of series with adorable females randomly slapped upon it. People are conditioned to be pessimistic by modern anime.
The artwork of Kyoto Animation is great in general, but in Maid Dragon's instance, it really shines. The anime is perfect for screenshotting because of the adorable and funny expressions that the characters-especially Tohru and Kamui-make, even though there aren't many sequences that stand out for their animation. Tohru has incredibly detailed eyes that highlight her dragon nature without ever coming across as blatantly unnatural. The anime aims to create a fluffy, peaceful environment, and bright colors and smooth edges help to achieve this goal. Some of my issues with KyoAni's other titles, like Hibike Euphonium, stemmed from the fact that they always seemed so drab and boring.