WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Dragon Goes House-Hunting, Episode 2, “A Home with Falls”, now streaming on Funimation.
Unlike most slice-of-life series, Dragon Goes House-Hunting started off by sharing a ton of information about its world instead of easing its audience into the series, which may have turned off some viewers. But Episode 2 introduces the house-hunting angle in a more tangible way, with some clever sales pitches and meta-humor that sets the tone of the series: an easygoing comedy that requires very little effort to enjoy.
Since the series premiere, some viewers have complained about how weak Letty. However, along with this season’s I’ve Been Killing Slimes and the mega-hit Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, Letty is another — albeit extreme — example of a series more interested in its story than tropes. It’s also important to note that this is not an action anime, so Letty is not going to level-up, meaning he won’t get any less wimpy — but that’s a part of his charm.
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Episode 2 is also made better with the formal introduction of Dearia, the architect/real estate agent who is also the Demon Lord of this world. Dearia is the complete opposite of Letty — he’s calm, shrewd and incredibly competent, and his deadpan reactions make him a great comedic foil to Letty’s overly dramatic personality.
But seeing the different houses is still the best part of the series, and this episode takes an in-depth look at two familiar fantasy locations: a dungeon and a haunted house. A dungeon is an obvious choice for a dragon’s house, since most dangerous fantasy creatures in RPGs live in dungeons. The problem for Letty is that he keeps stepping on the anti-Hero death traps and getting into trouble. And being a dragon, he’s still the primary target for any adventurer that happens to wander into the dungeon.
While the jokes made in the dungeon are more or less making fun of RPG tropes, the haunted house part pulls out all the reference stops. Dearia takes Letty to stay in the house overnight and hands him a vacuum cleaner for protection, a clear reference to the game Luigi’s Mansion. He also gives Letty a typewriter and ink ribbon — save point items in the Resident Evil series. There are also references to classic horror movies including The Shining and Ju-On/The Grudge via visual and music cues.
These references are easy to understand and iconic enough that even casual viewers will recognize some if not all of them. And they are also appropriate for the situation, since all of the works referenced are about haunted houses. Fortunately, the ghosts of the house Letty’s viewing are friendly, and they usually live in the cemetery next door, but often go back into the house for fun — this is also the kind of info Dearia is required to disclose to his clients.
Dearia shows off his sales skills by making this house sound livable, even enticing. He points out that, since the house is old and rundown, Heroes rarely come rummaging because there is nothing valuable left, making it a good fixer-upper. Moreover, those afraid to be alone can always enjoy the company of a group of fun-loving wraiths and ghouls. Too bad it’s not enough to sway Letty, but this might be a good thing, since the seemingly welcoming former owner of this house is actually a vengeful noble who killed everyone surrounding the house after he was betrayed by his friend.
Episode 2 is definitely an improvement over Episode 1 both in terms of plot focus and the brand of comedy. There are also some clues about Dearia’s past to keep up some intrigue. While this is not a groundbreaking series by any means, the relatable comedy and the fun references make this a good series to relax with.
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