Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid: Episode 9-10 (Review)

By: EyeSpyeAlexI’m back with an opinion on the most recent episodes of Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid! Check out my recap on previous episodes here and here!It’s sports festival time at Kanna’s school, and she is both curious and excited to participate. After learning that parents typically come to watch and cheer on their child, Kanna invites Miss Kobayashi. Miss Kobayashi immediately says she has to work that day to meet a deadline and can’t go, which devastates Kanna. She tells Miss Kobayashi that she sees her as a mother figure and goes to sulk in her room, leaving Kobayashi confused. Tohru reveals to Miss Kobayashi that Kanna’s parents basically left her to fend for herself, believing that being from a strong dragon lineage would help her grow up without any assistance. Desperate for her parents’ involvement, Kanna began pulling pranks to get their attention, which led to her banishment from their world.This sudden revelation causes Miss Kobayashi to feel guilty over saying no. After thinking it over, she comes to the conclusion that she ought to go, and wants to go. With Takiya’s help, Kobayashi pulls some long nights to finish the project and her assignments in time. When Miss Kobayashi tells Kanna she’ll be able to go after all, Kanna tells her that she loves her.The day of the sports festival arrives, and the excitement is palpable. For Kanna’s class, victory comes down to the relay race. Saikawa manages to pull off a big lead for the class, but then drops the baton. Flustered, she passes the baton off to Kanna in tears. Kanna, determined not to let her friend or classmates down, runs as fast as she can (without alerting people to the fact that she isn’t human) and wins the race and the sports festival.From there we enter the holiday season! As Kanna enjoys a childlike sense of wonder that is associated with the holiday season, Tohru has a more cynical attitude towards the festivities.After seeing their favorite butcher suffering from a foot injury, he laments that he can no longer perform at the nursing home and asks Tohru to perform in his stead. Tohru agrees and begins recruiting her friends to assist and come up with ideas. Saikawa suggests putting on The Little Match Girl, and auditions begin for the play. After Fafnir and Lucuoa struggle to play the part of a director, Elma takes over and picks Kanna to play the title character.As rehearsals take place, Elma struggles to get the gang to act in character and to stick to the script. Meanwhile, Kanna has some concerns involving a certain man in a red suit. After worrying about Santa finding them, Tohru installs a chimney. When Kanna worries that Santa won’t know where she lives, Tohru gets a little more creative. Opening night arrives and Miss Kobayashi and Takiya show up to watch the play, only to be surprised by some of the creative liberties that the gang decided to take with the story. As the play progresses with scenes of grandeur, Kobayashi starts to worry that the gang is going to give themselves away as otherworldly beings, but stops when she sees how happy the old people are.After celebrating, Kobayashi decides to let Tohru fly her around the city. While flying, the two decide to exchange presents. Miss Kobayashi gives Tohru a beautiful scarf with a dragon embroidered on it, while Tohru gives her “something to ease her lower back pain”, which just so happens to vibrate.Both episodes were solid in that they used a main event to allow some real character development and to add some depth to our main characters. We see further changes in Miss Kobayashi’s demeanor. She deeply cares about Kanna and Tohru, and is willing to sacrifice for them to make sure they’re happy. She also is more trusting of their judgement and their ability to keep a mostly low profile and blend in. We also have confirmation on Kanna’s real reason for coming to this world. It will be interesting to see how the characters continue to grow from here.You can catch up on previous episodes on both Crunchyroll and Funimation. New episodes air Wednesdays at 11:30am EST on Crunchyroll. Next week’s episode is New Year’s themed so be sure to check it out![yasr_multiset setid=11]