Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Season 2 release date for FUNimation English dub in August 2021: Kyoto Animation returns for Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid S [Trailer]

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S
The Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Season 2 anime will introduce several new evil dragons that cause chaos and comedy in the human world. Pic credit: Kyoto Animation

The Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Season 2 release date has officially been confirmed to be scheduled for July 7, 2021, the summer 2021 anime season.

The second season’s official title is Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S (Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid S), with the S standing for “Super Supreme Second life Starts.”

The English dub actress for Tohru, Sarah Wiedenheft, retweeted the news of Dragon Maid Season 2 on her personal Twitter account back in 2019.

FUNimation created the original Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid English dub. The English dub featured Wiedenheft as Tohru and Leah Clark as Miss Kobayashi.

Here is the full English dub cast:

  • Kristi Rothrock as Ilulu
  • Jad Saxton as Kanna
  • Jamie Marchi as Lucoa
  • Rachel Glass as Elma
  • Macy Anne Johnson as Shouta
  • Garret Storms as Fafnir
  • Felecia Angelle as Georgie
  • Sara Ragsdale as Riko
  • Jeff Johnson as Takiya

FUNimation’s Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S dub release date was on August 4, 2021.

Better yet, Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon Season 2 will be produced by Kyoto Animation!

It’s been a long time coming since any news updates have been announced concerning Dragon Maid Season 2. Back in February 2019, Volume 8 of the Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon manga series announced the production with a wraparound jacket band.

It was not until August 2020 that Kyoto Animation was reported to be still returning as the animation studio. Before that, fans could only guess.

Back in June 2019, a KyoAni stage event scheduled for November 2019 listed the Miss Kobayashi anime on the agenda, which had some anime experts believing that was evidence the studio was returning for Dragon Maid Season 2.

“[Dragon Maid Season 2] was meant to get announced at the studio’s event last November,” tweeted kViN of Sakuga Blog. “I hope their decision to move forward with it despite Takemoto no longer being with us was entirely due to their desire not to waste anyone’s work, which their president has alluded to.”

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S
The teaser visuals for Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Season 2 (Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon S). Pic credit: Kyoto Animation

The returning Japanese cast:

  • Mutsumi Tamura as Kobayashi
  • Yūki Kuwahara as Tohru
  • Maria Naganawa as Kanna
  • Yūki Takada as Elma
  • Minami Takahashi as Lucoa
  • Daisuke Ono as Fafnir
  • Yūichi Nakamura as Makoto Takiya
  • Emiri Katō as Riko Saikawa
  • Yuko Goto as Georgie
  • Kaori Ishihara as Shōta Magatsuchi

The new dragon girl character Ilulu will be voiced by Tomomi Mineuchi.

The second season will be helmed by new director Tatsuya Ishihara (Sound! Euphonium), replacing the late Yasuhiro Takemoto, who is credited as series director. Writer Yuka Yamada (Samurai Warriors) is returning for the series scripts.

Character designer Miku Kadowaki (Beyond the Boundary) is returning, as well as chief animation director (Nobuaki Maruki (Amagi Brilliant Park). Composer Masumi Itou returned to create the music.

The Dragon Maid Season 2 opening (OP) theme song music is “Ai no Supreme” as performed by fhána while the ED (ending) is “Maid with Dragons” by Super Chorogonzu.

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid Season 2
The key visual for Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S released in June 2021. Pic credit: Studio Kyoto Animation
  • Updated June 5, 2021: Exact Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Season 2 release date confirmed!
  • Updated April 24, 2021: Added Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Season 2 OP trailer.
  • Updated March 28, 2021: Added Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Season 2 OP/ED info.
  • Updated February 23, 2021: Dragon Maid Season 2 director confirmed. Added Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Season 2 trailer.
  • Updated January 19, 2021: Dragon Maid Season 2 release date confirmed for July 2021.
  • Updated December 31, 2020: Added character videos.

This article provides everything that is known about
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Season 2 (Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon Season 2) and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain.

Coolkyoushina
The manga author’s Twitter account hyping up Dragon Maid Season 2. Pic credit: Coolkyoushina/Twitter

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S release date suffered from setbacks

The elephant in the room is the deadly Kyoto Animation fire of 2019. The 2017 TV anime was helmed by Kyoto Animation director Yasuhiro Takemoto, who died in the KyoAni fire. The arson attack also killed 27-year-old Shiho Morisaki, who worked on the Dragon Maid anime.

Before the fatal fire, Kyoto Animation was known for releasing several projects a year, although, in recent times, they have focused on producing films and not TV series.

They recently finished up the Tsurune anime series, and next up is an adaptation of the 20 Seiki Denki Mokuroku novel. Otherwise, they’re planning the Violet Evergarden movie for late 2020 they’ll be finishing the next Free! movie sequel in 2021. They’re also planning on adapting the light novel series 20 Seiki Denki Mokuroku.

The Violet Evergarden movie release date was initially scheduled for January 2020, but the film was pushed back to September 2020.

And then there the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus pandemic, delaying the Dragon Maid Season 2 anime’s production even further.

Considering this studio schedule, it’s not surprising that the Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Season 2 release date was scheduled for the Summer 2021 anime season.

Director Yasuhiro Takemoto killed in KyoAni fire honored by second season

For Dragon Maid Season 2, Takemoto is being replaced by director Tatsuya Ishihara (Air, Clannad, Sound! Euphonium). But KyoAni is honoring Takemoto by still crediting him as the Series Director for the second season.

For a complete list of the Kyoto Animation fire victims, please see the article by Crunchyroll.

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid manga compared to the anime

The Dragon Maid manga series began serializing in Futabasha’s Monthly Action magazine back in May 2013. The creator, Coolkyoushina, is mostly known for creating slice-of-life stories.

Including the Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid anime, some of Coolkyoushinja’s most famous published works, I Can’t Understand What My Husband Is Saying and Komori-san Can’t Decline!, have received anime adaptations.

The adventures of the Kobayashi family continue to expand with multiple spinoff manga series.

The main series Dragon Maid Volume 10 was released on August 11, 2020. On the same day, the three spinoff manga series also published their latest volumes.

Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon: Elma OL Nikki (Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Elma’s Office Lady Diary) began serialization in 2016 and is currently up to Volume 4.

Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon: Kanna no Nichijou (Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Kanna’s Daily Life) began in 2017, and it’s currently up to Volume 8.

A third spinoff manga series called Kobayashi-san-chi no Maid Dragon: Lucoa wa Boku no xx Desu. (Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Lucoa is my xx) launched on January 25, 2019. It’s up to Volume 2.

The English translation is licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment, and so far, the English version is caught up with Volume 9. The release date for the English Dragon Maid Volume 8 hasn’t been announced yet.

Seven Seas is also publishing the English translation of the spinoff manga series. They’re all caught up except for the Volumes that released in August 2020.

In the December 2018 magazine issue, it was revealed that the manga’s story is nearing its “climax.” Does that mean the manga could be ending? Whatever the case may be, the anime is definitely just getting started.

Dragon Maid 10
The cover art for Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Volume 10. Pic credit: Coolkyoushina

Kyoto Animation is well-known for expanding upon the premise of a story, and Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid anime was no different. The studio writers expanded on the story significantly, introducing entire episodes based on original stories.

For example, Episode 10 was an original story featuring the Little Match Girl play. What’s more, the school sport’s festival was changed from a parent’s day school event.

The anime also adapted many manga chapters completely out of order. For example, the flashback featuring Tohru and Miss Kobayashi’s first encounter on the mountain came from manga Volume 4.

This change was probably necessary for linear chronological storytelling since the manga pretty much dropped readers into the action without much explanation.

Other changes made the scenes a little confusing. Tohru’s abduction by her father led to the ending of the first season, but in the manga, Fafnir and Lucoa were worried, so they went looking for Tohru.

The chapter in which they checked on Tohru featured the dodgeball fight, but since this scene was shifted to Episode 4, the concern expressed by the two dragons lost its original intended meaning.

The action was also amped up significantly. The manga mostly focused on slice-of-life shenanigans, while the anime added more cinematic elements. For example, the anime portrayed the appearance of the Emperor of Demise in a far more epic fashion, and the battle sequences went way beyond the manga.

The first season ended happily enough with everyone in Kobayashi’s home, but in general, the anime adapted the majority of scenes before Chapter 30, which is when a significant plot development takes place (see the spoilers below for more details).

Episode 13 was based on Chapters 19 and 20 of Volume 2, but the anime also borrowed slice-of-life scenes from later volumes.

Taken all together, that means Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Season 2 has over 50 chapters worth of source material to draw upon at the time of the Season 2 announcement.

Assuming that Kyoto Animation expands upon the premise once again, or that some scenes are borrowed from the spinoff manga, there’s arguably enough content for a two-cour second season with 24 to 26 episodes.

Dragon Maid Tohru
The tone of Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S anime will be a little darker in comparison to the first season. Pic credit: Coolkyoushina

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Season 2 spoilers (plot summary/synopsis)

The introduction of Dragon Maid Season 2 heralds in a dark new chapter in the story. Yes, there are new oddball dragons, and there will be plenty of comedic moments, but it won’t be all slice-of-life stories this time around.

That’s not to say the emphasis won’t be on light-hearted plot elements. Many manga chapters focus on ordinary matters like mountain camping trips, flower-viewing parties, nursing sick people, odd sleeping habits, and even arm wrestling tournaments. Kobayashi also has a maid outfit specially designed for her!

The beginning of the second season will likely open with the news that a mountain landslide has destroyed the location where Kobayashi and Tohru first met.

Tohru knows it’s not a natural occurrence since she placed a barrier to preserve the spot for all eternity. Now, Tohru seeks to send the culprit to… hello, a new dragon just appeared?

Iruru desires the destruction of the world, and she has been observing Tohru as her first target.

This new dragon doesn’t mind fighting dirty and targets the human city to gain an advantage on Tohru. But what confounds Iruru is that Kobayashi, a mere human, convinces the dragon Elma to help save Tohru from destruction.

Iruru had always been told that humans were enemies, so it’s this action, and Tohru’s concern toward humans, which causes Iruru to want to know more about humanity.

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid Season 2
The female dragon Iruru (sometimes written as Ilulu) is known as an extremist in the chaos dragon faction. Pic credit: Coolkyoushina

The Iruru story arc is focused mainly on explaining Iruru’s hatred of humanity. She suspects Kobayashi’s kindness to be trickery and believes the only choice is war. But Iruru has an excellent reason to hate all humans.

When the dragon was a child, she used to play with humans in the other world, but then the dragons’ land was invaded by humans. It’s implied that humans killed her parents, and now she harbors animosity for all humanity.

Kobayashi proves her character true by defending Iruru. A harmony faction dragon named Cremene the Slaughterer, is obsessed with purging the world of all he deems evil. Acting as judge, jury, and executioner, Cremene targets Iruru for death but is saved when Kobayashi intervenes, and Tohru fights Cremene.

Once Iruru is fully introduced, the darker themes settle down a bit, and the characters get to relaxing. The first season hinted at a future hot spring visit, which is the focus of Chapter 33.

The scene has all the characters stripping to nothing. The manga explicitly showed Tohru without any clothing, but the anime version will likely not be as sexually explicit.

The scene isn’t for mere titillation since it explains why the dragons appear as beautiful women. It turns out the dragons’ human bodies are simply idealized forms based on their preferences, and it’s possible for them to gender swap if they wish.

But Iruru is something of an exception since she can’t control and maintain her human appearance properly. Besides having trouble adapting to her new life, this evil little dragon can’t hold back on the sex appeal, and when Tohru asks what she wants in life, Iruru blatantly declares, “I wanna breed with Kobayashi!”

Considering how Kyoto Animation likes to produce an original spin on stories, it’s difficult to say where Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Season 2 will find an ending. Let’s just hope it’s even more action-packed and humorous than the first season. Stay tuned!

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