The Construction of Intimate Relationships in Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid: "Atomized Individuals", "Heterogeneous Beings", and the "Mimetic Family"

Abstract

Taking the anime Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid as a starting point, this paper delves into the construction mechanisms of novel intimate relationships against the backdrop of modern urbanization and the digital economy. The research points out that the industrialization process has dismantled traditional families and clans, creating urban "atomized individuals" who are highly alienated by labor. Meanwhile, the "heterogeneous beings" (dragons) seeking identity in human society serve as a metaphor for groups that have lost their social belonging. Facing the survival pressures of modern cities and the weakening of traditional primary social groups, both parties break through the barriers of conventional blood ties and marriage through trauma complementation and emotional compensation, constructing a "mimetic family" based entirely on mutual selection. Although this quasi-family model exhibits a utopian fragility in the face of realistic economic costs and high social mobility (reflected in the "lifespan theory"), when viewed through the lens of historical materialism, it profoundly reflects the inevitable developmental trend of contemporary youth reshaping social connections and exploring new emotional sanctuaries as social productive forces evolve into the atomized stage.