English Dub Review: Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S “Kanna’s Summer Break (Broadcast In Two Languages!?)”

Overview

After having a fight with Miss Kobayashi, Kanna runs away from home. Since she doesn’t want to go back, she flies across the ocean to somewhere brighter where the sun’s still out. Kanna lands on the continent she happens to find during her flight, putting her in New York, the city that never sleeps…





Our Take

This episode was Kanna’s time to shine. It started out as your “Running away after getting into an argument” story. Only for the twist was Kanna ending up in New York of all places which was a surprise. It didn’t take long for her to get used to the American culture and the scenery. You also learn how the Dragon people have the strange ability to somehow adapt to any language. I watched both the English Dub and subbed versions, and surprisingly for a brief period of time, there’s a scene where actual English is spoken in English subbed version with Japanese subtitles when Kanna enters NY before the rest of the proceedings are changed back to Japanese, while the Dub has a completely different voice cast with stereotypical New Yorker accents which I guess helps for authenticity.

At one point, Kanna even ends up helping out a young blonde girl named Chloe that out of sheer happenstance was kidnapped by random thugs. The two of them had a lovely adventure in the big city, where the attention to detail of the city looked great, especially the well-drawn NY scenery that looked so lively and dynamic. The second half of the episode was a wholesome adventure with Kobayashi, which led them all over their neighborhood where Kanna learned about the concept of Sewage Man-holes.

Overall, despite this feeling like another filler episode, this was wholesome beyond measure. Aside from the premise alone, one of the best standout moments was a conversation between Kanna and Chole both have about the themes of family and having a home to come back to which was effectively conveyed here. Though I do wish they actually showed why Kobayashi and Kanna were fighting in the first place as it would’ve helped give the audience context, perspective, and valid motivations behind Kanna’s reason for leaving…