We have always viewed dragons as proud and dangerous creatures. They breathe fire. They crush people underfoot. They lay waste to those around them. They hoard gold. They can fly. I mean, THEY CAN FLY!!! You do not want to mess with them. Even the bravest of the brave have second thoughts when they have to go up against dragons, even if it is a ‘little’ dragon. (Hahahaha! You said ‘little’ like it makes a difference! Hahahahahaha!). Well, what if the dragon was as big of a doofus as the rest of us? (Look, I believe in recycling. Just think of this intro as the return visit). We meet another less-than-meets-the-eye dragon in the mile-long titled “A Herbivorous Dragon of 5,000 Years Gets Unfairly Villainized (“Yowai 5000-nen no Sōshoku Dragon, Iwarenaki Jaryū Nintei”, or “A 5000-year-old Herbivore Dragon Was Recognized as an Evil Dragon For No Reason”).

We have the Great Evil Dragon Ravendia, who has been living in the mountains, atop a village, for a long, long time. Many maidens have been sacrificed to protect the village from the wrath of this Demon Lord. To this end, Lingzi (her of the barrel; she may also be known as Reiko) presents herself to Ravendia, to be eaten, to save everyone. Except…..Ravendia is meek and cowardly and is an herbivore. There is nothing he enjoys more than munching down a field of grass and sleeping for a few hundred years.

In order to placate the vociferous Lingzi, who will not go away, Ravendia tells her that he has devoured her soul, and so the sacrifice has been made. You may go home now. Lingzi, however, sees this as that she is now his disciple and will do his bidding. No matter what Ravendia says or does, he cannot get rid of Lingzi. In trying to return her to her village, they are beset by Dark Wolves.

Lingzi now believes that because she has no soul, she has unlocked talents and abilities she does not know of and she dispatches the wolves. However, Ravendia earns the enmity of Raiotto (that panicky blond), who has feelings for Lingzi and he will stop at nothing to wrest her soul back from the soulless dragon. The series details their adventures as they leave the village.

This is a series where no one listens to anyone and if they do, they glom onto the key words and completely misinterpret what is being said. And the harder Ravendia tries to extricate himself from this mess, the deeper down he goes. Look, he’s the Great Evil Dragon, OK? Fear and respect him! In this series, everyone is a few sandwiches short of a picnic. The people of the town of Selianen are joyfully stupid, as they always see the silk purse instead of the sow’s ear. The brave knight Aliente (red hair), is wary of the dragon’s intent. I mean the real intent, as, well, it’s the Great Evil Dragon. You don’t just get that title from a Cracker Jack box.

Even the Water Saint of the city (lower left) has her doubts as well, especially when the city is put into peril and our herb dragon must do battle to protect the populace…sorta.

If you are like me and enjoy taking the wind out of the sails of dragon epics, this series is a hoot. The only one with anything coming close to smarts is the dragon and even he gets overwhelmed by events and circumstances. And any decision that is made is the wrong decision. You will not be able to choose anything that will help you. All of a sudden, a secluded cave is looking really cherry.

The only point of concern is that the episodes are only about 13 minutes long. Is this good or bad? Would the series have lost something if it was 10 minutes longer? Hard to say, as it does compress the dopiness of the show, which might get tiresome at 23 minutes. There is also a very loose interplay with the artwork. Kind of chibi, without really being full chibi, but still chibi. And when the GED is completely at sea, inundated by not being in control, his blank expression and panic is delicious.

You can binge this show, but I would approach it slowly, as you want to enjoy these pointless encounters and useless conversations, as the characters just do not understand anything. Even at 13 or so minutes, you want to savor all that is presented.

On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork           8 (Rather wild and uncontrolled)
Plot                  8 (Marvelous misunderstandings)
Pacing              8 (Builds nicely and consistently)
Effectiveness   7 (Mistakes can get a bit tiring to hear again and again)
Conclusion      7 (It reaches a coupler point, but does not end)
Fan Service     2 (A similar show would be “Okamisan”)
Bingeability    9 (But do take it slower)

Overall            9 (He ain’t never gonna win)

And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it. Old me just wants to take a nap.