Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S

Episode 11

This week's episode of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid is a lot of pontificating about freedom when what I really wanted was Tiny Tohru Adventures. That might sound dismissive for what was meant to be another heartwarming episode that highlights how Tohru's complicated past has led her to live as a human maid, but this one just didn't tug the right heartstrings for me this time.

The episode is made of two segments this time, but the first part feels like a natural lead-up into the themes of the second part, although it isn't very graceful. Kobayashi is suffering from joint and muscle pain due to her long work hours and poor posture, an issue I can relate to but am somewhat less sympathetic towards given her actions in an earlier episode. Tohru is sure that if Kobayashi just ate her tail meat, it would cure her problems, but Kobayashi remains opposed to the idea and instead buys a lot of various massage tools. After a somewhat obtuse conversation with Elma and Takiya, Kobayashi comes to the conclusion that being considerate of another person's feelings is just as, if not more, important than 'curing' them.

The second portion is primarily a flashback told from Tohru's dad's perspective. It fleshes the intimidating patriarch out a bit. My previous limited impression of him as the head of the Chaos Faction was that he was the embodiment of those ideals. This episode pulls back to show how it's a little more complicated than that and in fact, Tohru's dad is a pretty good parent. He didn't want to pigeonhole his daughter into a role just because of his own beliefs; in fact, it becomes a little dubious whether he even believes everything associated with the Chaos faction. His original goal was to loosen the grip of the multi-world gods' hold on their fates.

The reason Tohru's been able to observe and formulate her own ideas about how she wants to live and what happiness means to her is largely thanks to her father for letting her explore the world. Still, finding the meaning for living is highly personal. Regardless of her dad's best intentions, Tohru still ended up feeling boxed in and her attempt to secure freedom for herself and dragons as a whole is what led to her injury and meeting Kobayashi. When Tohru tells it from her own perspective, there's an additional layer revealed and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Tohru is initially scared of freedom and having to decide completely for herself. Some of this is the freedom of having no connections, like after she's injured, but some of it also seems to come from a place of anxiety. When she contextualizes it with her happiness in being a maid, I found myself fluctuating on what to think of it.

One of my takes is if it makes her happy, good for her. However, there are at least some shades of anxiety avoidance here, and Tohru may take comfort in a subservient role that has clear expectations rather than having to decide everything for herself. Which is also fine, I guess. The lingering issue is that there have been times throughout the series where it feels like Tohru's motivation to please Kobayashi isn't entirely reciprocated. Kobayashi often comes across as someone who goes along with things because it's simply easier to do so, not because she's particularly enthusiastic.

That said, Tohru's dad basically tells Kobayashi to take care of Tohru until she dies, which Kobayashi agrees to, so as far as I'm concerned they're married now.

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Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.