Kuutei Dragons

It has been half a century since humans took to the sky to hunt dragons. Although dragons present a great danger, every part of them is extremely valuable, and brave dragon hunters, called "drakers," risk their lives aboard special dragon-hunting airships to pursue them.

However, despite the thrill and excitement of hunting, the life of a draker is not easy. Ostracized by society, the drakers have no place to call home. Life in the air is not any easier either: maintaining an airship is dull and expensive—and dragons are even harder to catch, as each one is unique.

One of the last remaining such airships is the Quin Zaza. Its courageous crew includes Takita, an eager newcomer trying to earn her place on the ship; Mika, a reckless but highly skilled hunter; and Jirou, an earnest young man chasing both the dragons and his past. United by the same goal, these hunters face arduous aerial battles that involve daring feats of skill, strategy, and more than their fair share of danger.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Mika Main

Maeno, Tomoaki Japanese

Takita Main

Amamiya, Sora Japanese

Vanabelle Main

Hanazawa, Kana Japanese

Jirou Main

Saitou, Souma Japanese

Katja Supporting

Sakura, Ayane Japanese

Gibbs Supporting

Suwabe, Junichi Japanese

Gaga Supporting

Kumagai, Kentarou Japanese

Faye Supporting

Furukawa, Makoto Japanese

Ascella Supporting

Sakamoto, Maaya Japanese

Soraya Supporting

Uemura, Yuuto Japanese

Mori, Akitoshi Producer

Yoshihira, Tadahiro Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Iwanami, Yoshikazu Sound Director

Yonebayashi, Taku Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Feb 12, 2020

LIEfina

Recommended

This is the first time I write a review. A few days ago, this show has a 6.X rate here (now 7.X) and I am very curious as I have watched ep1 when it aired all 12eps. I don't think it will be that low so I go to watch more. I eventually finished up the whole show, which doesn't always happens.

After finished this show, I think people may have two main problems to be disappointed.

First: this is a CGI show, it cannot give us detailed facial expressions with this quality, and the expressions are rather rough especially in close cut for their eyes. And ... of coz it is in 12 like the other JP 2D/3D animes. (I didn't do any research on this but I believe it is due to the file size or format limitation of airing on TV, or even just the conventions, even Beastar is in 12)

Second: they are killing dragons which reminds people of whaling. They also aviod to address the problem that killing dragons is not a health way to the make human society works. They treat this as a food show with yummy dragon dishes almost every ep, it may make you feel uneasy about all this.

Okay, so what do I think?


Story: 8
As I mentioned above, "whaling" is a serious problem for this show, but I do think they are not showing this just to disgust you, they show all the yummy dragon dishes just make me think what human are actually eating, because I don't know how dragon meat tastes like, this is just we human messing with the Earth itself, just using dragons as a way to get us the audiences to have a weird feeling, so not a big problem in my opinion.

The setting of this world is unbelievably detailed, the whole system of hunters, use of dragon's meat, oil and organs, and also how they fly etc is amazing and real. The different kinds of dragons are also well written and intriguing.

However, I think they can tell us more about the world, the character and the history of the world, I am pretty surprise they managed to make me finish the whole show without telling me enough of these.


Art: 6
This is a CGI show, and it is not gonna be the best for me as a 2D art lover. The 3D feeling works quite well for the dragons and some scenes but when it comes to character development it always lower the impact, especially when we need great facial expressions.

(I must admit the quality is good, so if you don't have a thing for 2D art you won't have problem with this show)


Sound: 9
OP: amazingly fitting the feeling of the show
ED: normal for me
OST: stellar level, in ep1 the beginning I am in love with it, the isekai fantasy and adventure feeling is almost perfect


Character: 8
Mika, Takita, Vanabelle are very likeable. I don't need to tell you the details, you just need to know there are a bunch of characters as they work on a ship, but you can easily find everyone unique and they work tgt around the main characters effectively. (Some side characters like Ula and Nanami are also likeable)

But, you will be going through this show without knowing the background story of the main character, I must say this is a weird thing as I don't feel off about it when I am watching.


Enjoyment: 8
I enjoy the story, the world, the setting and the music, I don't really enjoy is the yummy dragon dishes they are showing but it is not a dislike from me, just don't really enjoy. Also, I find that they don't have railing on the airship is kind of odd, but they don't really explain anything and the enjoyment comes from auidence's own understanding of the show, weird enough.


Overall: 8



Well, I must say I will probably hold the ep1 watched status forever if I don't see the 6.X rate here. It is hard to tell you to watch it til the end, but you can certainly give this a shot and even if you don't feel like watching the whole show, you may want to pick it up suddenly like me.

This is not going to be a show for everyone but I hope you will not be brothered by the two main problems I mentioned above too much if you are watching it.


LIEat

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Feb 11, 2020

delta5

Mixed Feelings

Kuutei Dragons had all the components necessary for a really interesting show but ultimately failed to put them together in a satisfying way. Airships straight out of Laputa, amazingly beautiful dragons, world travel and adventure...what could go wrong? Well, a few things.

First off, the sole motivating force of the show is just "we hunt dragons for money and because they taste good." We never get much more than that, and it's just not enough to drive twelve episodes unless you really, really like watching dragon hunting (and eating). Almost every one of those scenes, and there are a lot of them, play out identically: people ... fire guns at dragons, dragons get hit, one particularly reckless character (Mika) jumps on the dragon to kill it, and then we see Mika drool over whatever dragon meat dishes the cook prepares.

This is a shame because there are so many suggestions of what might have been. There are hints that some characters, especially the outwardly cool beauty Vanabelle, have complex prior histories that they're trying to escape by signing up to become drakers on the Queen Zaza. Takita, the newest crew member and the main character of the show, is given slightly more character development but we still never know why the hell she joined up for what is described, by all present, as a thankless, low-paying, and low-status job. And then there's the resident glutton, Mika, who lives only to eat every species of dragon possible and take insane risks in pursuit of that goal. You'd think that, as much screen time as he gets, Mika might become more complex. You would be wrong. The other characters just fall flat, even when they're given chances to shine.

Similarly, the world building is actually really great, but it rarely gets the attention it deserves. The episodes spent with a focus on towns or cities shone as great examples of how to create a complex backstory about an economy and culture that's in some ways dependent on dragon hunting yet suspicious and possibly a bit fearful of those who do the actual dirty work. There are also great moments that expand on the insular world of the drakers, who have a history and hierarchy all their own. I really wanted more of this, as it provided a richness that the vast majority of the other episodes just lacked.

Secondly, the CGI animation is frequently very distracting, especially when it comes to characters' facial expressions. I'll fully admit that, compared to a lot of CGI shows I've seen, Kuutei Dragons was far better than most, but the faces were frequently awful and drained a lot of emotional impact from otherwise intense scenes.

And finally, I just wasn't sure what this show wanted to do. It clearly didn't want to problematize the idea of dragon hunting in a moral way. It also wasn't sure if it was a slice of life story that just happened to be about dragon hunting, or if it was mainly an action story that put hunting first and foremost above everything else. Because what we got was a lot of slow, slice of life material without any character development, and hunting scenes that ended up being too formulaic and repetitive to drive an action-oriented series.

Without having read the manga, I can only hope that, if Kuutei Dragons gets a second season, we delve more deeply into the characters and the world they live in. The show has potential, but after twelve full episodes they didn't convince me that anyone knows what to do with it. (Also, could they please build a railing around the entire ship's deck? That's been annoying me to no end, and it's ridiculous).

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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May 4, 2020

Shocky1

Not Recommended

Basically whaling.... Yep, it's a show about killing flying whales that don't appear to be harming anyone "Dragons", harvesting, eating them and selling them for profit. Okay there is more to it than that but it's kinda hard to get past that if I'm honest, they're not heroes, they're "whalers" killing harmless creatures for profit.

Whats next, animal traffickers for wet markets?

If you can get past it the series does get a a little better, the show has it's moments I guess but most of the characters are unlikable from the start for me.

I know whaling is a thing in Japan but to ... put out a series out that resembles this act in any way is distasteful and will be divisive. I'm surprised Netflix would want this show, they must be desperate for content.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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