Dragon Pilot Review

Once again my heart has been captured by an anime: Dragon Pilot. I watched the entire 12 episode series in a single afternoon. This is a fantasy, character-driven drama with aspects of action-adventure and comedy. It takes place in a world similar to our own, but there exists dragons that can disguise themselves as regular airplanes (kind of like Transformers). The story follows a young woman named Hisone as she discovers the existence of these dragons and is chosen by one to be its pilot.

I think what makes this anime so special is the characters. The protagonist, Hisone, might seem shy, but she is one of the most brutally honest and courageous women you’ll ever see. Every friend she makes is unique and charming in their own way. But the most important aspect of the characters is how real they feel.

Hisone and others behave and act like a real person would. The viewer becomes attached to them and invested in Hisone’s story almost immediately because of this. When Hisone was swallowed by a dragon, she was just as terrified and grossed out as the rest of us would be if we found ourselves drenched from head to toe in the gastric acid of a dragon. The characters’ deep and consistent personalities give this anime its charm and reverence.

There’s not a lot that I could point to in this anime that was done poorly. Maybe the lack of an antagonist might seem weird at first, but I actually think it doesn’t negatively impact the enjoyment at all. Some of the antagonistic characters are really interesting because they walk the tightrope between evil and good. For example, Iboshi, the government supervisor, is so focused on results that he feels like he could become an enemy at any moment. However, the things he says and does are not inherently evil and he often helps our characters. He is so shrouded in mystery I could spend a whole post on him. So what does Dragon Pilot do poorly? I’m not really sure. Leave a comment if you have an idea because my head might be clouded by how much I like it.

Anime Stats

Overall Enjoyment: 82/100

Characters: 95/100

Plot: 80/100

Setting: 80/100

Animation: 80/100 (different but not bad)

I liked Dragon Pilot and you might too. The characters are charming and the plot is suspenseful. The animation might be simple but it works, and really well. This really is a hidden gem. Go watch it on Netflix.