This time we take a look at トラドラ! with emphasis on the 'ドラ' Dragon Crisis.





Animated by Studio DEEN, Dragon Crisis is a series that leaves you wanting more. More being more of everything, since it's a bit lacking in punch.


Like a few of the other series this season, it's quite clearly divided into arcs, each one focusing on a different damsel in distress (women sure have a way of getting into trouble don't they?). Also like other series that follow this format, the damsel in distress ends up with feelings for the protagonist, who more or less solely belongs to Rose (the blond in midair).

You've got the first arc, where Rose serves as the damsel in distress. It's also the set up arc to introduce the main cast, get Ryuji (name sound familiar?) some fighting capabilities and show off the power of dragons. Also, Rose learns to speak Japanese in a night.

ゴジラアアアアアアアア！！！！

We're also introduced to who will likely play the role of final boss, Onyx.  For those who can't read the katakana, it says 'gojiraaaaaaaaa!!!!', or Godzillaaaaaaaaa!!!!

Onyx's human form.

The second arc's gal happens to be less helpless than she looks, those she doesn't do too much in the arc itself, other than lose the top of the swimsuit and freeze stuff.

And the wonderful enemy of the arc, an overzealous Christian priest. It's always either the Christians or the Buddhists when it comes to things like this. Spoiler: One thing I didn't like with this is that the had him possessed. It would've have more impact if his ideals were actually his.

Arc also had a great shot of Rose flying in the night. Quite a nice shot if I must say so myself.

Third arc brought in the wolf girl, Ai. This wonderfully and lightly dressed wolf-eared and tailed thief might have been my favourite so far. Again, like previous girls, the most she does is run with Ryuuji.

The enemy of the arc was Doc Oc a mad scientist hell bent on getting his revenge on the ones who let his loved ones die. He's also an ass. Spoiler: Who kidnaps little girls and turns them into wolf girls?


The arc also had bondage, more bondage, and stripping scientists.

Oh and a short lived bath scene.

 By this episode, everyone should realize that it will end with Ryuji and Rose activating their contract ability and blowing away the enemy. It didn't happen in Ai's arc, but it does with everything else. It's a reused transformation-like scene, but a wee bit shorter.

Latest episode brought a scientist from America with boobs to rival Eriko's. She's also got a SMAW. As much as she causes the distress, she ends up getting rescued.

This woman. She's the assistant of the first enemy, Onyx, the black dragon (not being racist). Seems that either she's watching or she had a hand in the events of the episode. I'm putting bets on the latter, as it better foreshadows the eventual return of Mr. Black Dragon.

Also, Rose now goes to school and engages in エローエロ with Ryuuji in the health office.

Art wise, it doesn't look like it fluctuates too much, it at all. The action scenes are quite sparce despite what you might think, so I don't think they have too many problems animating them and staying in budget.

Character wise, aside from the single arc characters (like Marga and Ai), I think they're a fun bunch. Ryuuji is a bit annoying, but at least he's not overly naiive. I liked that he didn't trust George, as it's not the typical 'he seems like a nice guy so he has to be a good guy' thing. Ryuuji isn't exactly an interesting protagonist, though. He pretty much takes everything as it comes and doesn't have any traits that makes him stand out.

The normal characters, like Misaki and Mao, are great when they do show up. They're no overly important to the story, but normal characters are quite nice when the other characters are summoning waves of multicoloured butterflies or shooting flames out of their hands.

Misaki also serves as one of the many girls vying after the heart of Ryuuji. She's the normal girl who doesn't seem to stand a chance, seeing as Rose more or less holds a monopoly over him.

And now for the bad news. The series is rather lackluster. Like I've said, the action scenes are sparse, and even they aren't exactly exciting. Ryuuji doesn't have enough characteristics to make him interesting, and the rest of the characters are rather one sided.

After everything's said and done, the series isn't exactly difficult to sit through, but it does make for a rather unentertaining watch. DEEN's reputation continues to take hits with this series too. They never seem to get a break. The good thing, of course, is that they're also doing KoreZom, which I totally forgot to mention in it's respective post. It doesn't seem like a DEEN project at all. I'll have to end this post before it becomes a DEEN post. Over and out!

Before I go, I must mention that series is simulcasted on Crunchyroll.

Onyx is a pedo.