Anime Reviews (2020s): Drifting Dragons: Complete Collection (2020)

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If you are looking for a short anime series featuring a lot of action and adventure and is so darn entertaining to watch… Definitely give “Drifting Dragons” a try! Recommended!

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TITLE: Drifting Dragons: Complete Collection

ANIME MOVIE RELEASE DATE: 2020

DURATION: 12 Episodes (Duration: 300 Minutes)

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (16×9), English and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English Subtitles

COMPANY: Sentai Filmworks

RATING: TV 14 V

Release Date: April 12, 2022

Original Creator: Kuwabara Taku

Director: Yoshihira Tadahiro

Series Composition by Uezu Makoto

Character Design by Kotani Kyoko

Art Director: Omi Chihiro

Music by Yokohama Masaru

Anime Production by Polygon Pictures

Featuring the following voice talent:

Maeno Tomoaki/Billy Kametz as Mika

Amamiya Sora/Cassandra Morris as Takita

Takeuchi Shunsuke/Alejandro Saab as Oken

Uemura Yuto/Bryce Papenbrook as Soraya

Kugimiya Rie/Christine Marie Cabanos as Capella

Inoue Kazuhiko/Christopher Smith as Yoshi

Hanazawa Kana/Colleen O’Shaughnessey as Vanabelle

Sakamoto Maaya/Cristina Vee as Aschera (Ascella)

Enoki Junya/Daman Mills as Hiro

Toriumi Kousuke/Doug Erholtz as Berko

Seki Tomokazu/Jake Green as Crocco

Saito Soma/Johnny Yong Bosch as Giraud

Matsuyama Takashi/Jonah Scott as Badakin

Kumagai Kentaro/Kaiji Tang as Gaga

Sakura Ayane/Kayli Mills as Katja

Suwabe Junichi/Keith Silverstein as Gibbs

Senbongi Sayaka/Kira Buckland as Nanami

Suzuki Kiyonobu/Kirk Thornton as Ula (Ura)

Sasaki Hiroo/Kyle McCarley as Lee

Akasaki Chinatsu/Reba Buhr as Mayne

Sakurai Takahiro/Todd Haberkorn as Niko

Furukawa Makoto/Tony Azzolino as Faye

Dragons may be huge flying leviathans, but their colossal bodies are also treasure troves of valuable oils and enough succulent flesh to feed small villages. So, even though it’s incredibly dangerous, the profession of draking is still profitable enough for the crews of airships like the Quin Zaza to risk their lives in the deadly pursuit of the airborne behemoths.

The mortality rate can be high, however, and the Zaza’s newest recruit, Takita, will have to learn the ins and outs of her lethal new vocation quickly, even as her reckless crewmate Mika seems determined to set the worst possible example. That leaves it up the rest of the Quin Zaza crew to keep the new rookie on the right side of the food chain as they pursue the deadliest catch of all!

Mangaka Kuwabara Taku created his manga series “Kutei Dragons” (Airborne Dragons) back in 2016 and the manga was serialized in “good! Afternoon” and a total of eleven volumes have been released.

With the popularity of the manga series, an Original Net Animation (ONA) series adaptation was created by Polygon Pictures and titled was released on Netflix Japan in January 2020 and on Fuji TV’s “+Ultra” and the anime series would receive its international released in April 2020 as “Drifting Dragons”.

And the anime was released on Blu-ray courtesy of Sentai Filmworks.

“Drifting Dragons” revolves around a time when groups of drakers who ride airships to kill and capture dragons for profit. The larger the dragon without damage to corpse means big money, considering dragons has become a popular luxurious delicacy.

And for this group of Drakers, known as Quin Zaza, the the team includes Mika, a member who can be wreckless but he is brave and his motivations is partly because of his love of wanting to eat dragon meat. There is Takita, a new recruit who needs to pay her massive debt, so she becomes a new member of the group. There is Jiraud, a person who is trying to find himself, by becoming a member of Quin Zaza. There is Vanabelle, who tries to figure out why she is into draking and befriends Mika.

Together, with numerous crewpeople, the Quin Zaza are on a mission to catch dragons but what happens when they come across the most dangerous dragons that they have seen so far.

Having watched “Drifting Dragons”, it’s one of those anime series that I enjoyed so much that I watched it from start to finish in one setting.

At first glance, it seemed like a group of pirates but in airships that go after dragons but the more you watch, the more depth that you feel with each of the prominent characters.

The character of Mika is your banal protagonist, a hothead who looks forward to the fight but heroic in nature and cares deeply about his crew and of course, food.

Takita is the person who wants to grow, as the newest member, so she’s trying to get her feel of being a draker and fit in with the members of Quin Zaza.

Jiraud is your meek member, who is looking for inner strength and you get to see his development throughout the series.

Vanabelle is a person who seems like a woman with no emotions but the more you watch, she also starts to discover more about herself.

In many ways, the anime series is about self-discovery but also the importance of teamwork.

In some ways, it reminded me of the Star Trek series, as you have your people in charge of flying the airship, people who are responsible for the engineering, people who are responsible for the security of the ship and protection of its members and more.

And with each episode, they come across dragons that are monstrous and situations that take them to far areas. So, there is a lot of action, a lot of adventure and fans will be entertained by the series.

The animation by Polygon Pictures is wonderful. Background art to character design is wonderful, colors are vibrant in HD and soundtracks in Japanese and the English dub is well-done.

There are a few special features such as Japanese promos and trailer along with the opening and closing animations.

Overall, if you are looking for a short anime series featuring a lot of action and adventure and is so darn entertaining to watch… Definitely give “Drifting Dragons” a try!

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