The return of Kobayashi's Dragon Maid has a weak beginning but manages to regain its footing and end as strongly as the previous season. Anya's existence and the overall impressive animation work definitely push it to a level above average. It's fine, fun popcorn entertainment for the whole family and for worn-out adults who've been beaten down by capitalism and the workforce in general. To put it in shorter terms, Spy x Family never feels like it's about to crash and burn under its own ambition, but it also never strives for anything more. Without her numerous over-the-top facial expressions and her ability to read minds serving as the crutch of the show's comedy, it wouldn't be as successful. Might as well just call this The Anya Show because she's the reason everyone is so hyped up about it. Loid is a suave, calculating individual kind of reminiscent of James Bond, Yor is an oblivious idiot who is just too obsessed with killing and bloodshed to even notice that the man she just married is a super spy, and Anya carries the whole show. There are a lot of visual flairs here and there and the animation really does elevate it above most other The jokes can be hit or miss for some, but I don't view this as a comedy, more so a wholesome slice of life. Some of the dialogue can be overly-dramatic or unbelievable.Īs someone who's read the manga, it's the type of show that's practically impossible to screw up unless the mangaka does something drastic like add in an out of nowhere plot twist that's so absurd and makes no sense to the flow of the narrative. The soundtrack is good, but stretched a bit thin. A few characters aren't good enough to justify the focus given to them. +Despite its complexity, the plot is easy enough to follow. Facial expressions and environments are especially well-done. +A story that is largely grounded in reality, but still manages to be much less predictable than most fantasy settings. Many of my favorite episodes have little to do with the overarching plot. Whenever an episode seems like filler, it ALWAYS turns out to be a worthwhile story. +While the story could have been tighter, I'm not convinced that would have been an improvement. +Morally gray characters that each go through massive amounts of development. In just 4 episodes, it was clear to me that Monster's 74-episode length was not going to be a problem. The main character is a top surgeon who decides to save one person over another - what could go wrong? EVERYTHING, as it turns out.