Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon S – 08

「世界に一つだけの（好きな言葉を続けてください）」 (Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no (Suki na Kotoba o Tsuzukete Kudasai))
“The World’s Only (Insert Phrase You Like Here)”

Father’s Day

I’m surprised Kobayashi is surprised. If she hadn’t noticed, she has been doing all the archetypal stuff a father of a household would usually do when it comes to raising kids in Japan. Nevertheless, Kanna’s affection towards Kobayashi is extremely touching. If I ever have a daughter, I sure hope those are the kind of thoughtful gifts I would receive!

On the other hand, if I had a son, I would definitely appreciate the sort of cool stuff that Shouta whipped up for his father. Any DIY, hobbyist good is a surefire win in my books. A magic crystal is certainly one of a kind, requiring copious amounts of effort from Shouta to foment in the first place, thanks to his eureka moment in realising the need to adjust his recipe to reflect the place it was originally created.

His dad didn’t quite exhibit the emotional reaction I was hoping for. But at least Lucoa stepped in to give him a reward for his endeavours. Sorry Dad, if it was between praise and getting patted on the head, or getting motorboated by my girlfriend, it wouldn’t even be a choice for me.

Kobayashi’s Illness

Dorogons don’t have to worry about dying to puny malafflictions. Humans on the other hand? We’re not quite so sturdily built. For most of her life, we’ve seen that Tohru wandered the world without a spark of joy in her eyes, plodding on to discover the meaning behind existence. The joy and spark in her eyes make it abundantly clear that her meaning is derived through connections with others, having established her own place and a ‘family uni’ of sorts with Kobayashi. So naturally, even the remote possibility of Kobayashi dying, when she’s become the centre of Tohru’s meaning to exist, throws her into an existential crisis where she’s at her wit’s end. To us, it looks like the common cold. From a dorogon’s common sense, seeing illness easily wipe out human life in their hundreds of years of living, it very well could be the death knell for their human being. For those reasons, Tohru goes above and beyond to try and save Kobayashi – even though it turns out to be a common cold Kobayashi staves off through normal medication, sleep and hydration.

And that’s the beautiful thing about relationships this segment highlighted. Too many folks out there won’t consider the efforts or good intentions meant by their significant other in a relationship, even if an action turns out to be incorrect or redundant. Kobayashi’s consideration for Tohru is exactly what anyone should expect from a life partner. She doesn’t even mention anything negative, simply thanking Tohru for the medicine while reassuring her it worked with a genuine smile. To be honest, even if Tohru saw through and realised Kobayashi had already recovered, I’m sure she would acknowledge that the loving consideration and tender feelings going both ways are what truly matter.

The Lost Doll

Before, I wasn’t too sure about Iruru’s introduction because we already had so many characters. And I was wondering how the show was going to juggle everyone around, especially after Take got introduced. You know what, I can really appreciate that Maid Dragon has done a fantastic job of fleshing out Iruru’s character without sacrificing anyone else – with every character having their moment to radiantly shine so far this season.

I just love the dynamic between Take and Iruru. What makes it so easy to root for them both is that they are both god damn likeable. Iruru is a dorogon whose common sense may be peculiar at times. But she’s vigorously working towards redeeming herself from her chaotic and destructive past against humans. Take is a relatable teenage boy who tries to act cool, gets flustered every now and then, but ultimately is a considerate boy who does his best to respect boundaries and avoid being a creep. There are honestly many times a less savoury individual could have pushed their luck with Iruru, given the ways she’s left herself open. And I know people will say that he’s doing the minimum for being a basic human being. But I guess I just wanted to also highlight how it shows his feelings to her are earnest. Even if there might be a lustful component in the mix which he is adamantly resisting.

Take is not a clingy person. But he hangs around to watch out for her when required. And even brought her an umbrella through the rain. Yeah, that actually takes me back to when I’ve carried umbrellas for my girlfriend through many rainy English days. Perhaps there’s nothing really romantic to the action itself, wherein it’s an association perpetuated by literary tropes and pop culture. But for me, the act of holding an umbrella for a girl is deeply intimate and romantic. It’s like you’re protecting your loved one from the rain, and sharing an enclosed space just between the two of you while the pitter patter of raindrops continuously fall around you.

At the very least, Iruru was able to unite the doll with its original owner, gaining something that could be described as closure on one of her greatest regrets, where she abandoned her own doll. There was a real cathartic mono no aware to that reminded me of Toy Stories. I think almost every person has been in that position where they’ve felt pressured by societal and social expectations to give up something childish they love. In this episode, the highschool girl gave up what she thought was childish heading into adulthood. That actually hammers home just how early Iruru was forced to grow up after the loss of her parents, when choosing to abandon her doll as a kid. In that way, growing up can be an aching sort of pain, and seeing that coming of age process unfold evokes all sorts of colourful emotions from me. I have nothing but praise for the profound and mature way in which Coolkyousinnjya wrote out the scenario.

Anyway, that’s about everything I wanted to discuss. As always, thanks for reading this post and see you all next week!

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