Dragon Pilot: Dragons Away!

 

Greetings, fabulous people of the Internet!  Hanime on Anime here and welcome to what is the first written review in about a year (and I kinda miss it)!  And in continuing with Novembflix, do you like dragons?  Well, then you’ll love this show.  And as a fan of no particular taste of the creatures, I enjoyed the show.  But at the end of the day, that’s all it really seemed to have going for it.  That being said, let’s get started with today’s review on Dragon Pilot!

Set in a world where dragons are actual living creatures, Hisone Amakasu is a socially awkward pilot for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.  Stationed at the Gifu base, she later discovers the base’s dragon, or Organic Transformed Flyer (OTF for short) and soon becomes his pilot after choosing her.  This soon leads to a series of events that helps Hisone learn about herself and who she is and unlock some kind of ancient secret that could determine the fate of humanity, I guess.  Like I said before, there really wasn’t that much going for the series beyond it’s use of dragons, and you’ll find out why in a second.

Well, I guess with that statement, I think you could assume where this review is headed.  Granted, it’s not as bad as I make it out to be, but there are in fact some big problems with it. Overall, I give Dragon Pilot a 72. So in looking at the show as a whole, again, the dragons were the best part of the show.  And it’s not that hard to see why.

If hasn’t been clear by this point, I’m a big dragon fan.  So the show’s lure for me was pretty obvious.  The concept of the show is fun and imaginative and yeah, I think the dragons in the show are cool and powerful creatures and their presence has an impact.  And even though I feel like this would have been better suited for a show with a strong high fantasy setting, the show makes due with what it has and gives audiences something unique. Granted, if you’re as big a dragon fan as I am, your liking of the dragons depends on if you prefer Smaug the Destroyer or Puff the Magic Dragon.  Masotan- Hisone’s dragon- is absolutely precious, almost like a giant dog (so definitely more Puff).  But he’s still seen as a powerful creature and weapon.  And speaking of weapons, the military aspect of the show was also welcome and hit close to home being the daughter of a former US Air Guard pilot.  The dragons were in fact the show’s strongest aspect and it’s biggest attraction.  Though besides that, the characters, like the D-Pi’s themselves (most of them), were also enjoyable.

While the characters who weren’t covered in scales nothing too spectacular, I felt like everyone else in the show was quirky and fun enough to keep audiences entertained.  In fact, the show actually got a lot more interesting when other D-Pi show up. It would have been better if they were introduced at the beginning of the show, but the other pilots were some of the best characters in the show.  There was also another character named Nao, another pilot who was supposed to be a D-Pilot but lost that opportunity when Hisone came along.  She almost reminded me of this hybrid of Bakugo from My Hero Academia and Asuka from Neon Genesis Evangelion.  Actually, there was an episode where Nao tries to sabotage Hisone’s chances of flying, and it  made me think of Asuka if she got fed up with Shinji and Rei outdoing her in the Evas and decided to sabotage them so she could be the only Eva Unit pilot.  But what makes Nao likable and hilarious in this regard-despite the fact that I normally hate these kinds of characters-is that much of her attempts backfire.  So in a way, she’s like Asuka if she got her comeuppance.  So overall, the dragons and a few of the characters were great parts to the show that are sure to entertain. Granted, if you watched the dub like I did, I wouldn’t blame you for feeling like the show was a secret Kill la Kill English dub reunion in disguise.  Yes, many of the voice actors from the show were featured here, and it was a bit distracting at times, but not as much as you’d expect.   It wasn’t the show’s biggest problem.  What was among other things was the main character Hisone.

Getting straight to the point, Hisone is not a good protagonist.  Now I get that her being socially inept is a character quirk of hers that she eventually grows out of, but I’m sorry, the show goes to the extremes with it and it is in no way charming.  Hisone is beyond obnoxious not just because she herself is just plain annoying, but the fact that she can be annoying or do stupid stuff that almost jeopardizes missions and still gets away with it Scott-Free.  No kidding. She whines, complains, and cries, and yet things still work in her favor.  At one point, she berates Masotan and he not only continues to fly for her, but he takes her abuse as motivation!  While you can have a character that can do similar things and still be a good character, there is a limit to what you can get away with and the character has to retain some charm.  Hisone has and does neither of these things.  In fact, the show almost became difficult to watch because of her.  And on top of that, the writing was kind of lousy, especially when it came to the introduction of the other D-Pi’s. 

A quarter of the way into the show, it’s implied that the D-Pi are integral parts of some kind of ritual, and a lot of that solely relies on the pilots’ relationships with their dragons and each other.  Yet for at least three episodes, we get this loose arc of Hisone and Masotan trying to bond, and then by episode four, the other pilots come in.  If this was so important to the story, why is it that we get introduced to the other pilots nearly halfway through the show?  Why not have the pilots already be there at the beginning and Hisone gradually join the group.  The show also makes it clear form the very beginning that having a harmonious relationship with the dragons is vital and helps the girls learn about who they are.  This eventually leads to a character arc for one of the pilots later on.  So why not see this from the start rather than throw it in like an afterthought.  As I said earlier, they’re actually very charming and funny characters, so what would it hurt to see them from the start of the show?  But then again, Netflix anime are notorious for having mediocre writing that results in odd pacing and missed character opportunities, so for the show to pull this shouldn’t be a surprise.  Bottom line, Hisone wasn’t all that great and it could have been written better in places.  But at least the dragons were awesome!

So overall, while the dragons were the best part of the show, I feel like the problems outweighed the good here.  The main character is lousy, and the writing was off.  Still, if you’re a dragon fan, I think you’ll enjoy the show.  It won’t light a fire in you to watch it, but it’s still a high-flying ride.

And that wraps up today’s written review!  Be sure to look out for Character of the Month next week and another video review to close out 2019.  And finally-while it’s very much be-lated-, I would like to dedicate today’s review to all of our service men and women who work hard and give their lives for the protection of our country in honor of Veteran’s Day.  Thank you for all that you do!  Till next time, bye!

-Hanime on Anime

Dragon Pilot Trailer