The Dragon Dentist (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray & DVD) Unboxing

The Dragon Dentist (龍の歯医者, Ryuu no Haisha) is a 2017 television special produced by studio Khara and based on the short ONA episode from Studio Khara’s Animator Expo series directed by Ōtarō Maijō. Staff credits for the television special include director Kazuya Tsurumaki, writers Ōtarō Maijō and Yōji Enokido, and music composed by Hiroshi Nakamura (i-dep) and Tomisiro. The two-part special first aired in Japan on February 2017.

Background:

“What do you find between a Dragon’s Teeth?

Going into war against a dragon takes incredible courage, but even that danger pales in comparison to the hazards of young Nonoko’s job. As a Dragon Dentist, she’s charged with venturing into the jaws of the country’s dragon protector to keep its pearly canines free of plaque, decay, and other debris.

One day, Nonoko discovers an unconscious soldier between her dragon’s teeth instead of a cavity, and she finds herself caught up in a series of events that have been foretold to bring disaster to her people!”

Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, June 2020.

Studio Khara are mainly known for their work on the Rebuild of Evangelion film series, but they did produce a series of shorts called Animator Expo, which were really good and covered a wide variety of animation styles and genres, including some classic franchises making appearances like Gundam, Gridman and Patlabor. Among those are original works like ME!ME!ME!, which went viral for its music video, and Dragon Dentist which out of the lot got a new project.

Dragon Dentist I don’t honestly remember much other than being a good short, so it’s interesting to see it was chosen to get new material in the form of two OVA specials. These were broadcast on NHK World before eventually acquired by Sentai Filmworks and Anime Limited. The latter took their time and eventually released it in a mini collector’s set in 2020.

Collector’s Edition Contents:

The Dragon Dentist is another one of Anime Limited’s releases that utilises their earlier designs that had the logos and information on the artwork itself, but much like KOKKOKU, the front side is clean and the BBFC logos are not on the front and spine either.

The package is presented as a rigid box with an digipack housing the discs, and a few physical items; a poster and a 30-page booklet with character designs, an interview with director Kazuya Tsurumaki, and comments from original writer Otaro Maijo and Studio Khara founder Hideaki Anno.

As mentioned, the artwork has information printed on the back cover and the company’s logo is on the spine. The collector’s edition Blu-ray & DVD combo pack is limited to 1000 units for SRP £34.99.

The anime was one of the titles made available for a discount during the Summer sale (£14.99) and I believe is the first time it had gone on sale since its early bird a few years ago and that mystery box bundle during Christmas time.

Physical Contents:

• Rigid Box with clean artwork and digipack packaging
• Info sheet for specification and BBFC description
• 28-page Booklet
• Poster

On-Disc Contents:

Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 29th June 2020

The collector’s edition release for The Dragon Dentist contains both parts of the special on a single Blu-ray disc and DVD disc, with the encode and authoring produced by Sentai Filmworks. Audio options include both Japanese with English subtitles and the Salami Studios English dub presumably commissioned by NHK World when it was being broadcast on the station in 2017.

The yellow subtitles are locked during playback, and the regions are accessible to Blu-ray players set to A & B, and DVD players set to 2 in NTSC format.

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages	English, Japanese
Audio	English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Video	1080p High Definition Native format 16:9 aspect ratio
Region	A B
Subtitles	English
Locked Subtitles	Yes
Discs	1 BD-25

DVD Specs:

Languages	English, Japanese
Audio	English Dolby Digital 2.0 Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0
Video	Standard Definition in NTSC format 16:9 aspect ratio
Region	2
Subtitles	English
Locked Subtitles	Yes
Discs	1

Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:

• Japanese Promo
• Also Available from Sentai Filmworks
  • School-Live!, Chihayafuru, Food Wars!, Valerian & Laureline

DVD On-Disc Extra Features:

• Japanese Promo
• Also Available from Sentai Filmworks
  • School-Live!, Chihayafuru, Food Wars!, Valerian & Laureline

Unboxing Photos:

Final Notes:

The Dragon Dentist is available to order across multiple retailers in the United Kingdom. The collector’s edition Blu-ray & DVD combo pack can be acquired on Amazon UK, Anime Limited’s store, MVM’s Anime-on-Line, and United Publications.

(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)