Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid: Episode 12 (Review)

By: EyeSpyeAlexI’m here with the penultimate episode Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid! I can’t believe we’re nearly at the end of the first season. Missed my last review? Check it out here!We enter in on a scene that is typically a source of contention for couples; choosing a meal for dinner. Miss Kobayashi asks Tohru to make a dish she likes for dinner. After thinking, Tohru says she’ll make Omurice. Miss Kobayashi heads to work and Kanna to school, while Tohru plans to make it her best day yet. After making sure the house is spotless and chores are completed, a package arrives. After making note that it’s for Miss Kobayashi’s lower back pain, she starts a trial run of omurice…which is average.Lucoa pops in, Tohru asks her for advice on how to improve her omurice. Lucoa suggests buying better ingredients, which turns out to be more expensive than Tohru planned. Tohru decides the best place to get fresh ingredients is the dragon realm. Although the ingredients look weird, Tohru insists they are the finest.Meanwhile, Kobayashi reminisces that the first normal meal Tohru ever made for her was omurice. We then have a flashback to the night Miss Kobayashi met Tohru. Kobayashi was dealing with immense pressure from her boss to meet a deadline and tells him to shut up. After that, she gets drunk, misses her train stop, and ends up wandering around a forest. There she meets Tohru – who has a giant sword sticking out of her side. Tohru tells her to leave, then says it doesn’t matter as she’s dying anyway. Kobayashi removes the sword from Tohru’s side, then insists Tohru drink with her.After imbibing on several drinks, Tohru and Kobayashi become extremely friendly with each other. The moment takes on a serious mood when Kobayashi wonders why she’s alone. After Tohru laments that she’s also alone, Kobayashi asks her if she wants to stay at her place. When Tohru agrees, she excitedly tells Tohru to be her maid. Back in present day, Kobayashi gets off the train and makes it home in time for the omurice.The following day, Kobayashi asks Tohru to tell her more about her life and interactions with humans. Tohru thinks back to the time she met a bandit girl in her world that talked to her about freedom and choice. She tells Tohru that if she had the choice between being a maid or a bandit, she’d pick a maid. At least at that point she’d be choosing to be subservient rather than being forced to be subservient. This strikes a chord with Tohru, who is upset at her owned forced subservience due to the war between dark and light dragons. Before the girl leaves, she asks Tohru for a ride on her back. Tohru scoffs and says no, and the girl runs off. We later see that same girl, a little older, in a maid outfit.On the other side of town, Takiya is rushing home in the rain. He comes home to find that Fafnir left out some towels and dry clothes for Takiya. We also see Elma reading a book on programming in a café. She thinks about how far she’s come in terms of assimilating into human society.At the end of the episode a portal opens over Kobayashi’s apartment building. There’s a lightning flash, followed by a glowing red dragon eye.This was a great episode in terms of character development. We can see that both Miss Kobayashi and Tohru have changed for the better. Both have become more compassionate, well-rounded, and giving beings. It will be interesting to see how their new character strengths are tested in the finale.Want to catch the finale in real time? Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid airs Wednesdays on Crunchyroll at 11:30am EST.[yasr_multiset setid=11]