MANGA REVIEW | "Kanna’s Daily Life" - Volume Eleven
There’s a warmth to Kanna’s Daily Life that can’t be found in the main Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid series. While Coolkyousinnjya’s series has a great sense of hilarity and sweetness, there’s a much friendly tone in Mitsuhiro Kimura’s spinoff. Volume Eleven puts a lot more focus on this warmth, as Kanna, Saikawa, and their friends entertain with tales of sweets, cooking, and the occasional chaotic misadventure.
Since Kanna’s Daily Life takes a more episodic route, there isn’t so much in the realm of character development. What is there is how Kanna and her friends continue to strengthen their bonds of friendship. A video call test helps Kanna, Saikawa, and Chloe with keeping close with one another, especially with Chloe living in America. Not only are their online interactions sweet, they can bring about some solid laughs (Saikawa’s frozen screen being one of this volume’s comedic highlights).
It’s not just their faraway friends they bond with; Kanna and Saikawa also play with their classmates in humorous fashion. Toyama spends a day with the duo, as her little sister Yuki tags along. “Playing House” results in some unique ways Kanna portrays a parent, while she and Saikawa try to prove why having a maid isn’t abnormal. But it’s when Lucoa and Fafnir show up when Toyama & Yuki realize that Kanna’s friends aren’t exactly run-of-the-mill; in fact, they pretty darn intimidating!
Speaking of the other dragons, Elma takes the young girls out for a day of fancy eating. What could’ve easily been a chapter in Ayami Kazama’s Elma’s Office Lady Diary spinoff instead turns into a tale that’s best suited for Kanna’s Daily Life. Saikawa’s attempt at ordering foreign food is certainly relatable, leading her and friends to do what most of us wind up doing when we need to get our food on. The one downside is that that particular chapter lacks a good punchline ending, one that’s either sweet or funny.
But it’s when both Kanna herself takes center stage where the stories are at their strongest. From a trip to the nurse’s office to online gaming with Saikawa, the smol dragon shows off many ways her friendships have blossomed. Aiding the candy store owner, cooking with Miss Kobayashi, and finding a way to enjoy a magical girl spinoff are showcased with both a childlike mentality and a strong heart. The volume ends with a harrowing tale for Kanna, with her stuck in her dragon body looking for her way home.
Kanna’s Daily Life isn’t as strong as the main Dragon Maid series. However, it does deliver some solid cuteness with a dose of moral lessons. Volume Eleven focuses more on being adorable than silly, and sometimes that’s okay. After all, when it comes to Kanna’s Daily Life, the smol dragon always finds a way to bring even the tiniest bit of warmth into its readers’ hearts.
