The beginnings
Since my family still has cable t.v., my first exposure to the Disney animated show, Dragon Striker, was by chance. I remember being intrigued by the character designs and expressive voice acting from the one scene I witnessed, but I simply said to myself “seems cool”. Then I went back to my task in the other room, and forgot about it for a while. However, I managed to come back to it when Youtube showed me that the first episode was online as well. Ever since watching episode one in full, I have pretty much been hooked on this series. The show brought back a nostalgic feeling that made me feel excited to witness the characters work towards their goals, and gain respect from their peers. It even managed to make me think of my first anime experience, without feeling like an imitation.
An overview
Dragon Striker centers around a magical sport called “gorotama”, and main character Key’s sudden introduction to the sport’s mysterious, competitive world. As he discover’s more about his past and his own abilities, the locations in the world become more and more interesting. We get to experience places like Key’s home town, and Kal Asterock through the eyes of someone who is always excitable and curious. This makes the world feel like it is full of wonders. It also allows Key to show off his optimism in a way that feels natural, and progresses the narrative.
The Characters steal the show
The biggest thing keeping me watching is the characters and how they face challenges in unique ways. While one might deal with the highs and lows of optimism and reality, the others might be struggling with reputation, confidence, or communication. Each character is introduced in a memorable way that makes their personality contribute to a problem or solution. This allows the introductions feel natural, rather than forced.
My personal favorites are Ssyelle and Key, but there are plenty of side characters that get the chance to leave their mark. Ragno, Ameline and Pregrina have moments of strength and weakness to make them memorable, and set up future tension and mystery. Everyone has a clear personality, but does not lean too far into stereotypes.
The designs of each character also are easy to distinguish from each other, with plenty of fashion and hair styles to go with them. I can see plenty of young artists drawing fanart of their MVPs.
The world feels grand
Even though we are mainly focused on the school for gorotama players, the world still has plenty of areas to explore. The school itself has many nooks and crannies that are begging to be explored. From training grounds to spooky crypts, the characters find themselves navigating a floating school of magical architecture and atmoshpere.
The show also hints at a deeper history to the sport of gorotama and its past players. The generations of teams before our main characters have plenty of complicated relationships. One moment the professors are acting chummy with each other, the next they are insulting each other’s skills and reputations. This allows for future developments to be introduced that will surely be filled with lore and drama.
Critiques
The few criticisms I have still have me interested in how the show will handle things going forward, rather than driving me away from watching. This is already a good sign, but they might be difficult to work on with such short seasons.
Some of the characters’ main issues come from a refusal to communicate. For example, I like Ameline and her antics, but seeing her get closer to characters while still keeping secrets, can get frustrating. Some conflicts would have been solved within minutes if she had confided with her friends. Hopefully, she and the other students will get some backstory to explain why talking to others is so hard for them.
Another issue is the school’s lack of rules that don’t have to do with tradition. Magic school shows have been criticized for not valuing the safety of the students and dragging their feet with clearly necessary change. Kal Asterock unfortunately falls victim to this with the coaches rarely punishing instances of reckless endangerment and bullying. They themselves even try to hurt the students and take out personal grudges on them. This is realistic to some real life schools, but the fact that there are no side eyes from outside the school, other than Key’s father, feels off putting. Perhaps there is a reason why the school seems to get a pass for its dangers, but it needs to be explored sooner rather than later.
Closing thoughts
Even with my critiques, it has still been a great experience watching this show so far. It is clear that a lot of thought and love went into bringing this world and its inhabitants to life. The fact that this show has already been given a second season gives me hope that Disney will treat this show with the respect it deserves. Here’s hoping Dragon Striker will grow from here, and become more popular.
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