Hisone to Masotan (Dragon Pilot)

Aka when you work an administrative job in the JASDF and are suddenly eaten by a dragon during an errand, which makes you The Chosen One.

Aka WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT THIS?!

The first episode was fanfuckingtastic. From the story to the visual style to the dialogue to the voice acting to the music, everything felt… I don't know… fresh. First, following an ordinary woman in the military is not at all common in anime. And I mean the real-life military, not stuff like Girls und Panzer or Kancolle. Well, except for, you know, the dragon.

Second, the pacing is extremely fast and dense, yet it never works to the episode's detriment (except that it makes it hard to remember some characters' names). In fact it was so dense that I was certain I had just watched a 40-minute episode at the end, but nope. It does a really good job at making us know and like Hisone in just a few minutes.

Third… The dragon looks like a freaking pokémon, and it's adorable. Not to mention the breathtaking flight scene. And the artstyle in general feels very unique − slightly sketchy à la Mob Psycho 100, but cutesy at the same time. In any case, it works wonders.

So yeah, jumping into episode 2 as soon as I can. If this keeps up this level of quality, it might be the Yorimoi of this season for me.

The only minor complaint I'd have is that the music, while good, is a bit too loud and omnipresent to the point it almost drowns the dialogue sometimes.

edited 23rd Apr '18 5:13:46 PM by Lyendith

I liked it. First episode felt a bit rushed, but the second calmed down a bit and felt more even

Don't really care for the art style, though

Really? I found the art style wonderful. It's unique and lends itself perfectly for the comedy of the show.

But yeah, I was wondering why no one was talking about this. This show looks great. It's my favorite of the season thus far.

edited 23rd Apr '18 5:46:19 PM by TheLovecraftian

Episode 2 is indeed a bit more chill. Hisone and Nao's relationship is really sweet. And now that I think of it, Nao actually reminds me of Kogami Akira in Lucky Star… The costume designer is a tad creepy…

And then came the ending theme…

The song's lyrics have fuck all to do with the show, but still a nice homage. RIP. On the other hand I'm surprised that the opening sounds so sweet and melancholic. I expected something more hectic.

PS: I started a (beginning of) character page. Feel free to contribute!

edited 24th Apr '18 5:41:41 AM by Lyendith

Their dance in the ending is pretty nice, though. And it's surprising to see a french song being used for this.

The dance kinda gives a Konosuba OP2 vibe, doesn't it.

Episode 3: We get to meet the former D-Pilot, and Masotan misses her it seems. Also turns out our dragon's pretty shy. And it seems like Hisone's finally getting the hang of piloting. Speaking of her, her unwitting shots at Nao have me laugh out loud every time dammit.

Seems like episode 4 will finally introduce the other girls of the ED. It's about time, because while the show and its character interactions are great, it doesn't really have a plot to speak of so far…

PS: I wonder if there's a reason Masotan only seems to eat girls…

Episode 4 introduces a few more D-Pilots, all charming in their own way. Though the last few minutes were the most interesting part, with everyone breaking down a little (except for Ririko). Hisone's non-communication skills are really starting to bite her in the ass. And now we have the "trainer that only treats their Pokémon as a tool." Classic. Looks like the plot is starting to show its face too in the last scene…

Meanwhile, Nao is Sexy Jaguar. Or she'd like to be.

Episode 5 has some nice bonding between our D-Pilots… except Hoshino, unsurprisingly.

Normally in this scenario it takes at least a few days for everyone to start acting nuts, but here it took about 5 minutes. But talking to Wilson Nao's head did help Hisone in a way…

Strangely enough, it seems like the peculiar artstyle of the show also affects the voice acting. It feels somewhat different from conventional anime acting. More subdued and more… out there.

edited 19th May '18 3:15:12 PM by Lyendith

To be fair, they're all already nuts.

This was a nice episode. I'm surprised the thing with Hoshino isn't being so quickly resolved, but it's been good so far. And the ending theme with everyone singing together is fun, if a bit too cacophonic.

Also, Nao-san's head is the best thing.

edited 13th May '18 7:57:19 AM by TheLovecraftian

Episode 6: WILSOOOOOOON!!! D=

F2 finally has a name and the ice queen defrosts. That was pretty heartwarming. Hisone is still the cement of the group, and Ririko trying to express emotions is disturbing in a way I can't describe. Really great dynamics.

Still… so far I love it, but is this 12 or 24 episodes? Because if it's the former, it's strange that there's still no discernable plot at the halfway point (outside of a vaguely hinted mystery regarding the OTFs' origins)…

PS: Also a bit of a Fridge Logic… Why didn't Norma help Hoshino himself by changing back to his dragon form instead of using afterburners? I know he stayed in his plane form to please her, but still…

edited 19th May '18 3:32:46 PM by Lyendith

To be fair, that was a great loss for the field of comedy

Nice episode. Hoshino's arc was really well done, and Norma is best dragon as far as I'm concerned. The scene with Hisone figuring the whole thing out was also really good.

And the minister is looking more and more like a villain to me... if we even have a villain, I'm pointing at him.

edited 19th May '18 10:12:04 PM by TheLovecraftian

This week in "Oh Yeah, This Show Exists", the minister tries to implement one of APE's rejected plans. And the JASDF literally has a professional Shipper on Deck.

This episode was freaking adorbs. Okonogi and Hisone's date was cute as hell. Mayumi has a lot more charm than she realizes. And you gotta admire Zaitou's perseverance, if anything. As for Liliko… I don't know if the way she's bribed is sad or hilarious. (funnily enough, this episode comes out just a week after Kingdom's French release was announced).

Still, not sure what to think of the fact that the OTFs are basically jealous possessive boyfriends.

Seems like Hinomoto's gonna be more than a mere Recurring Extra, though that was already hinted at.

edited 26th May '18 5:21:49 PM by Lyendith

That was surprisingly goofy for such an asshole plan

There's no way Okonogi is gonna follow the second step of the plan of his own accord anyway.

Huh. An evil, love-crushing plan does sound stupid when it's put that bluntly.

The episode was pretty fun. And adorable. Poor girl, getting duped like that with manga. At least she was completely innefective.

And yeah, that plan ain't gonna work. The minister is an interesting villain, though, if only because he seems so out of place and so comically serious. Can't wait to see what's the importance of the Joa lady, though.

Episode 8! So turns out Sada was Masotan's pilot from 74 years ago, and the girls' new instructor and the island of episode 5-6 was actually a big ass sleeping dragon. Iiboshi didn't exhibit any villanous behaviour this time around… His "evil plan" will probably pop up again eventually though, especially when at least two of the D-Pilots are now dangerously close to falling in love. Also Okonogi is connected to the ritual. That one I didn't see coming.

So yeah, that's actually a pretty densely packed episode, information-wise. The relationship between the girls and the dragons are as heartwarming as ever. "Don't lull me to sleep like that…" Of course you can't stay awake for 3 days in a row, you dummy. The music, the voice acting and the pacing really do a great job at conveying all the emotions. Now so far I'm not sure what, in what we've seen, makes this ritual so insanely expensive.

…And of course, something very unusual, they changed the opening, but only the second half of it. Makes me want to hear the full song even more now.

edited 3rd Jun '18 4:44:08 AM by Lyendith

"Extremely Spicy Grandma Flavor" sounds very, very wrong...

That said, the episode was great. And adorable. Seems to be the standard for this show now.

I like the Joa lady actually being a hardass. It's a good flip on the character archetype. She looking like the Big Good of the show, to me. And while the minister didn't do anything villainous this time (although with the introduction of the miko, I have my doubts on that), the music seems to freak out and go tense every time he appears.

We're finally seeing the main plot as well, and the endgame rears it's head. I like it. It's pretty apropriate for what the show has been doing so far. I also like how Hisone keeps demonstrating that she's the main character, despite being one of the more passive personalities in the show. She's really good protagonist material.

The opening changing mid-way is pretty normal, I think, although it happens to 24-episode shows more often than 12-episode ones. The new one certainly fits the information we got this episode, though.

edited 3rd Jun '18 7:18:25 AM by TheLovecraftian

I know, what's unusual is that they suddenly changed which parts of the song they used. Darling in the Franxx kinda did that, but in the second cour.

…I wonder what role Nao is gonna play in the remaining episodes. She hasn't really had much to do ever since she became a backup pilot.

edited 3rd Jun '18 7:36:33 AM by Lyendith

Yeah, I kind of fell bad for her. She's being sidelined hard recently. Although she is the only person to have done something to the villain: she drank the Joa he wanted.

I'd be fine if he held a grudge against her because of that, and his whole plan ended up being undone because he couldn't handle her drinking the Joa that one time.

I loved how there was actual Kingdom content in episode 7.

Also the ending is nice, what with the voice actress not being the same in every episode. I wasn't a big fan of France Gall, but that hommage is nice (was she bigger in Japan?).

So I just finished the second episode, and I'm experiencing some major dissonance. Is this show actually as perverted as I think it is, or have I been fully corrupted by the internet?

I think the problem is on your end

This is quite an innocent show.

It does feature intense licking action.

Episode 9 was… a little too romcomey for my tastes in the first 15 minutes, but then it all made sense. I certainly didn't expect the rejection reaction to be this violent and this… well, physical. It's not just jealousy, it's an actual physical intolerance. Nice job breaking it, Natsume.