Dragonar Academy

Have you had a tough week at work or at your educational institution? Are you looking to unwind with some good anime comedy sprinkled with great fanservice to soothe your body and mind? So why not live out a reasonably humorous dragon fantasy with some Ecchi on the side? This certainly isn’t “How To Train Your Dragon,” but surely anime can also hit a few nails under the dragon umbrella? Let’s find out!

“Dragonar Academy,” also known as “Seikoku no Dragonar,” is a 12-episode TV anime series that aired from the 5th of April until the 21st of June in Spring 2014. It was produced by Media Factory, AT-X, Sony Music Communications, and Tsukuru no Mori, licensed by Funimation, and brought to life by Studio C-Station. Kurokawa Tomoyuki was the co-director and episode director, alongside producer Maru Ryoji and director Tada Shunsuke. It featured the genres of comedy, fantasy, and ecchi blended into a school and received a rating of R+ for its mild nudity.

Dragonar Academy is based on the source light novel of the same name (Seikoku no Ryuukishi, or The Star-Carved Dragner), which ran for 20 volumes from the 25th of June 2010 until the 25th of November 2015. It was the work of author Mizuchi Shiki and artist Shimesaba Kohada. As such, the anime adapts the first four volumes of this light novel series.

The tale is set at the Ansarivan Dragonar Academy, where its students diligently learn to ride and tame dragons. This comes relatively quickly for most students, except for our male protagonist, a first-year student named Ash Blake. Ash is well known by his classmates as the "number one problem child" of the institution, leading him to become its laughingstock in more ways than one. Despite possessing an unfashionably large Star-shaped brand that marks him as a future Dragon Master, he has nothing to show for it as his Dragon has never appeared… Of course, all of this changes on one fateful day when Ash's dragon finally awakens in full glory.

Regardless, when Ash thinks he's finally got the break he was looking for, he discovers that this new dragon has a lot of attitude to spare. However, the issue is that it appears to be different than any other dragon ever seen—in the form of a beautiful girl, no less! This girl promptly enlightens him that she is the master and he the servant, kickstarting a spiral of problems for Ash concerning Dragon Riding and much more…

The story of Dragonar Academy begins quite intensely because the first episode lays the groundwork for much more potential in the future. Unfortunately, it is becoming less and less as each episode passes. The story will likely pique your interest initially because it feels unique, with elements reminiscent of other fan-favorite anime such as Soul Eater.

However, as the series progresses, it appears to unapologetically abandon its somewhat intriguing plot in favor of covering it up with numerous Ecchi and Harem elements. Before long, you’ll notice how it has degraded into nothing more than another fanservice-centered series with nothing else to offer.

Don’t get me wrong; Harem and Ecchi anime have their charms, but they need an actual story backing them up so they don’t become mindless wish-fulfillment. The fact that it had a good story to begin with makes things worse because they just dropped it in the sewer and never looked back. I, personally, felt a wave of disappointment over the sheer wasted potential, so don’t expect a fantastic tale to keep your mind engaged here. On the other hand, the pacing is pretty good, and it doesn’t feel forced at all.

Story aside, the worst thing about this anime is its characters. Most of these characters feel paper-thin and need to have more personality. They just don’t seem to have anything going on in their lives and just exist for the sake of existing. A few of them got something like character development, while everyone else was just left behind, like set decorations.

This cast was bland, and the series ultimately failed to live up to its potential charm. It's sad because most of them felt like they had many complex layers hidden underneath their pretty faces, but it turns out there are none. The antagonist wasn’t any good either, completely lacking in depth and personality as well. Ash does a decent job as the MC but is not an interesting character. You’ll see so many overused tropes and stereotypes here, so you better accept that if you plan on watching.

The art and animation department is pretty good. It has attractive character designs, and all the girls look incredibly cute. The dragons also looked pretty cool, although they could’ve looked even better with more details in their designs. The backgrounds and scenes were well presented, with this world’s fictional beauty brought into the limelight. As such, this anime deserves praise in this department for its overall beautiful visual style.

The Sounds and Music department is also worthy of praise. The opening theme is "Seiken nante Iranai" by Yui Sakakibara, and the ending theme is "MOST Ijou no "MOSTEST," sung by the character voice actors Mariya Ise, Ayane Sakura, Marina Inoue, and so on. Both of these songs are well done, with great visual sequences. While the opening showcases excellent aspects, the ending portrays loads of cute and fun moments, but they can be hit or miss depending on your preferences.

The OSTs were decent too, but nothing stood out as groundbreaking. Undoubtedly, the voice actors did a consistently superb job on this series, genuinely trying to pump some life into these bland characters.

The thing about Dragonar Academy is that it’s neither really good nor bad. Depending on your tastes, you might enjoy it despite its sad story and blank characters. On the other hand, no amount of visual and audio appeal may salvage this sorry series in your eyes. This series is full of issues, and they become worse when you realize how much potential was destroyed here. So if you focus on the details, you’ll end up severely disappointed.

While I doubt it’ll become a memorable anime for anyone, it becomes a pretty mediocre Harem series for anyone who watches until the end. So yeah, if you love Ecchi and harem aspects in general, I recommend this. If not, it's best to stay away!