On June 27, 2025, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: A Lonely Dragon Wants To Be Loved anime movie premiered nationwide in Japan. The beloved supernatural slice-of-life series finally came to theaters eight years after the premiere of the TV anime adaptation, based on the manga Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid by Coolkyousinnjya. With Kyoto Animation behind the work, I knew it wasn’t to be missed on the big screen.
Truthfully, three days ago, I hadn’t yet seen the 12-episode second season of Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid (plus its additional OVA episode), which premiered in 2021. I watched the first season as it was airing in 2017, but I just hadn’t gotten around to Season 2 until I decided to binge it in a night before going to see the movie. I always try to prioritize seeing anime movies in theaters here in Japan, as it’s such a fun experience to even see anime in a cinema, considering it was such a rare occasion when I lived in the United States nearly a decade ago.
I have no regrets spending the last few days locked into Kobayashi, as Season 2 was even better than Season 1, and the movie was the cherry on top. To be spoiler-free, this review won’t go into too many details (I saw it in Japanese without subtitles, so I followed along with my mediocre Japanese as best I could), but if you are even slightly an enjoyer of Miss Kobashi’s Dragon Maid, the movie is a must-see in theaters.
And don’t worry if you aren’t in Japan, as Crunchyroll already announced theatrical rights to the film in all regions outside of Asia.
On the surface, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is a slice-of-life, supernatural comedy following a Japanese salarywoman and her strange life living with dragon girls. It’s moe, it’s funny, it’s heartwarming – but if you’ve only ever caught the series while watching over someone’s shoulder, you may have missed out on the explosive action and detailed lore within the show.
The movie, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: A Lonely Dragon Wants to Be Loved, directed by Tatsuya Ishihara, hits the staple characteristics of a moe slice-of-life, but expands on the fights and lore more than we’ve ever seen in the series before. While the TV anime tends to jump back and forth between lighter and heavier beats, the movie leans more towards the heavier themes in the franchise, which is what I wanted to see from the film.
The story is straightforward: the young dragon, Kanna Kamui, is requested by her father to leave Japan and fulfill her duties back in the dragon world. Kobayashi and Tohru are hesitant to trust Kanna’s father and hand her over, which is where the conflict begins.
I don’t even need to rave too much about Kyoto Animation, as their works speak for themselves with anime like Violet Evergarden and Sound! Euphonium. Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid never really needed pristine animation to win me over – the moe goodness was always enough for me. But seeing a “slice-of-life” anime receive so much detailed and dynamic animation on the big screen had me wishing for this kind of quality in every moe slice-of-life show.
The scenery has never been better and never more important in Kobayashi than it was for this film. Kyoto Animation’s fight scenes in the movie felt more expressive and flashier to me than even when I saw a Dragon Ball Z movie in theaters a few years ago (I was dragged there by a friend, I don’t even remember the name of it).
It’s not every episode of Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid that we get to see Tohru and the others fight it out DBZ style or in full dragon form. Kobayashi herself is even more of a badass than normal in the work – if Kobayashi is your “best girl”, then this movie is going to please you the most! If you’ve appreciated the shorter fights from the TV anime, you are surely in for a treat with A Lonely Dragon Wants To Be Loved. The recent trailer also gave a taste of this.
The music is part of the reason I got a bit choked up during the movie. I honestly didn’t expect CLANNAD levels of heart-pulling piano scores, but they got me good. The sadder bits hit even more when you remember that the original director of Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, Yasuhiro Takemoto, was tragically killed in the Kyoto Animation arson attack in 2019. It’s hard to believe that the devastating event happened over six years ago, and I thought about how far Kyoto Animation has come since the attack to have put out such a beautiful work as A Lonely Dragon Wants To Be Loved.
While the movie focuses more on Kanna’s story, beloved characters from the TV anime make an appearance and join in on the fight for Kanna. I wouldn’t shove this film to the side, thinking it’s unrelated to the main story, as it tells us a little bit more about the dragon world and how dragons and humans try to live together in the same universe.
For casual fans of the first season (like I was three days ago), to hardcore Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid lovers, you’ll want to see this film in theaters when it premieres in your region. Or, if you find yourself in Japan, you probably have about a month and a half to see it in Japanese. If you do see it here in Japan, you’ll receive a printed piece of art along with your ticket while supplies last. Mine is pictured below, featuring Tohru drawn by Kyoto Animation character designer and animation director, Miku Kadowaki.
You can watch Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid on Crunchyroll in select regions or on Netflix in Japan.
© Coolkyousinnjya / Futabasha / Dragon Lifestyle Improvement Committee
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