WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S Episode 3, "Extracurricular Activities (Of Course They're Not Normal)," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Episode 3 of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S consists of three short stories loosely connected by the theme of hobbies (or "Extracurricular Activities" as the title describes them). In this episode, Ilulu discovers games, Miss Kobayashi rediscovers her old cosplay ambitions and Tohru struggles to figure out what the point of even having hobbies is before finding a hobby that's simply too perfect for her personality. Dragons and office ladies alike need to do something for fun.
Ilulu is quickly becoming one of Dragon Maid's most interesting characters. She might have the most ridiculous design, but her character arc is surprisingly emotionally compelling. In the first story, she wants to play games with Kanna and Riko but feels she doesn't deserve to have fun because of all the destruction she's caused and the people she's hurt. With an assist from Lucoa's pee magic (don't ask), Riko ends up befriending the new dragon -- she might not be able to destroy cities like Ilulu, but Riko has her own violent side sometimes. Ilulu is finally able to let go of her self-flagellation and joins the kids to play card games and Monopoly.
Ilulu and the kids are so into their monopoly tournament that they sit out of the next story entirely, even though Tohru has gathered everyone else to help Kobayashi out. Tohru has learned of a sad story from Kobayashi's past: the one time the maid-obsessed office lady tried on a maid outfit, everyone laughed at her. Tohru wants to find the perfect maid outfit for Kobayashi. She rejects most of her friends' suggestions, but Georgie gives an impassioned speech about how any outfit worn by a maid can be considered a maid outfit. This inspires Kobayashi to try on a maid outfit she'd once dismissed as "inauthentic": Tohru's. Kobayashi relishes the chance to dress up cute, and her once-destroyed cosplay dreams are rekindled.
While Ilulu and Kobayashi have been enjoying themselves, Tohru is struggling with understanding what it is that makes a hobby fun. She tries out both guitar and wood sculpture, excelling at both but finding no joy in either. The issue is that she's too talented, doing tasks so perfectly that she can't put passion into them. Tohru goes to Kanna to observe the younger dragon's hobbies for inspiration -- hobbies which include walking on street lines and, uh, holding donuts up to her eyes like glasses (if you can consider that a hobby). Kanna notes that her classmates are into idols, but Tohru says she isn't into "idol worship."
Inspiration suddenly strikes when Ilulu turns on the TV and watches the music video for "Aozora no Rhapsody" (the opening theme for Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid Season 1). Imagining Kobayashi as the singer, Tohru realizes she would be an idol fan if Kobayashi was an idol. When Kobayashi returns home from work, she arrives to find Tohru has mass-produced merchandise of her likeness and is singing her praises. Kanna and Ilulu are understandably disturbed by Tohru's obsession, but Kobayashi can't judge -- she's not that different when she gets drunk. Tohru's love song becomes the new (most likely temporary) ending theme.
New episodes of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid stream Wednesdays on Crunchyroll.
