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A Sneak Peek at the New Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid Movie

There's a lot to love about Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid. Some of its humor might be an acquired taste, but there is a lot of heart and passion behind the series. One thing that drew me into the show is its found family message. As the worlds of human and dragon blend together, we discover that different types of creatures might not be so different and that we could all learn to live together under the right circumstances. Some of the best episodes of the series focused on the circumstances of specific characters. Still, Kyoto Animation is putting out an entire movie that centers around a beloved character, Kanna. When I say beloved, I really mean beloved based on what I saw from the voices behind the show and an overwhelming amount of fans at the panel at Anime NYC 2025.

The panel featured Yūki Kuwahara and Maria Naganawa, the Japanese voice actresses for Tohru and Kanna, respectively. They entered the stage in full cosplay of their characters, putting on a wonderfully charming performance of the first season's ending credits. These two have gone to various countries to promote the movie ahead of its limited theatrical premiere on October 20. After a delightful performance, the audience got to check out the first six minutes of the movie itself in an exclusive sneak peek.

The film opens with dozens of dragons flying through a gorgeous-looking sky. But there's one dragon that is running through golden fields on the ground just below them. We don't get a good look at this dragon, but instead we see Kanna gripping onto the back of this creature tightly as we find out that this dragon running on the ground is, in fact, her father. We quickly cut to Kanna waking up in her room in Kobayashi's apartment as she reminds the audience that, despite her appearance, Kanna is a mighty dragon.

I will admit, at first, it looked like there wasn't much difference aesthetically between the film and what you would see in the TV show. The preview even showcases a standard anime opening as if this were the first episode of a third season. However, some additional details show the presentation might elevate to a different level. There is a lot of extra shading to emphasize light pouring into the rooms, making what appeared to be typical conversations have an extra layer of nuance to them. There wasn't much to extrapolate from these first six minutes after that initial opening scene, as the rest of the preview was very typical with Tohru and Kobayashi having their usual back-and-forth, while the final scene was a quick cut of Kanna asking for a smartphone.

That little glimpse might not have given us the whole picture, but questions answered by the two voice actresses, as well as from some live dubbing scenes, added more context. Three scenes were showcased via screenshots on the projectors as the voice actors redubbed lines that will appear in the movie. The first one is of Tohru reflecting on the fact that Kobayashi is steeling herself for a big confrontation. However, the other two scenes done by Maria Naganawa are a true glimpse into the real heart of this upcoming movie. The first one is a scene of Kanna remembering a time when her father embraced her. She compares the experience to how humans would embrace each other to keep warm. In many ways, this reinforces the message of the overall series.

But the second scene that was dubbed was absolutely bone-chilling. Kanna is not a character who shows a lot of outward emotions. In fact, part of the joke around her is just how muted she is compared to everybody else's zaniness. However, Naganawa made it very clear that we are going to see a very different side to Kanna in this movie, one where she showcases emotions at a level that she has never done before. I think the scene they selected gave us a glimpse into exactly what she meant. The scene in question showed Kanna yelling and crying about how lonely she was. Naganawa locked in and really portrayed just how hurt and sad Kanna really was as a character. Even if I don't know the full context of the scene, I felt it.

Kuwahara commented on how there's going to be a lot of fun action throughout this movie, so much so that she actually had to rest her voice after they recorded it. But the true point of the movie is to showcase the emotions Kanna is experiencing. It feels like the film is going to be a slow build-up to an emotional breakthrough for the character to process, and it seems as though the relationship between her and her father is going to be at the center of it. The panel ended with Kuwahara and Naganawa putting on another lovely performance of another ending theme from the anime series. I was already curious about this film, but given just how powerful everything here was, I am definitely more excited for it now.

ANN's coverage of Anime NYC 2025 is sponsored by Yen Press!