Dragonar Academy is a Japanese light novel series written by Shiki Mizuchi, illustrated by Kohada Shimesaba, and published by Media Factory under the MF Bunko J imprint. The first volume was released on June 25, 2010, with a total of 20 volumes available in Japan so far. A manga adaptation by the illustrator, Ran, began serialization in Monthly Comic Alive during its June 2011 issue. It was one of five MF Bunko J light novel anime adaptations announced at Media Factory's Summer School Festival event on July 28, 2013. It has been licensed for North America by Funimation.
Plot
On the continent of Arc Strada, civilians called Breeders raise and train their Parrs, dragons bonded to Breeders via a magical link called an Astral Flow. Races of dragons are born from Breeders who are deemed worthy and marked with Seikoku at a young age by the Mother Dragon at the Orphan Rite. Breeders may eventually achieve the rank of nobility by helping their Pal become a Maestro, or Holy Dragon. Learning to ride and tame dragons comes easily to most students at Ansarivan Dragonar Academy—except for Ash Blake, a first-year student who is known by his classmates as the "problem child". Despite Ash having an unusually large star brand that marks him as a future dragon master, his Pal had never appeared, until now. While challenging a fellow student, Princess Silvia Lautreamont, to a dragon race, Ash's dragon appears, but in a form different than any dragon ever seen before—a beautiful girl. Ash names her ″Eco″ and soon discovers that this new dragon has attitude to spare, as she promptly informs him that she is the master, and he, her servant. Ash's problems with dragon riding have only just begun.
Dragonar Academy began as a light novel series written by Shiki Mizuchi with illustrations by Kohada Shimesaba, published by Media Factory under their MF Bunko J imprint. The first volume was released in Japan on June 25, 2010, and the last on November 25, 2015, with a total of 20 volumes published.
Drama CD
A CD drama was released by Media Factory on October 24, 2012. The drama is split into two episodes: "Eco the Dragon Girl" and "The Streets of Ansarivan". The opening theme is "Astral Flow" by Haruka Shimotsuki, and a short version of the song was featured as a bonus track. The full song was later featured in Uta J, Media Factory's album commemorating MF Bunko J's tenth anniversary, released on August 29, 2012.
Manga
A manga adaptation illustrated by Ran began serialization in the June 2011 issue of Monthly Comic Alive. The first bound volume was released by Media Factory on October 22, 2011, with a total of thirteen volumes published under their Alive Comics imprint. The manga is licensed in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment under the title Dragonar Academy. In July 2020, the manga became one of seven titles to be removed from Books Kinokuniya in Australia for claims of promoting child pornography.
Anime
An anime television series aired from April 5 to June 21, 2014, on AT-X and at later dates on Tokyo MX, MBS, TVA, and BS11. The anime series is animated by C-Station and directed by Shunsuke Tada. The opening theme is "Seiken Nante Iranai" by Yui Sakakibara while the ending theme is MOST Ijō no 'MOSTEST' by Mariya Ise, Ayane Sakura, and Marina Inoue under their character names. The series adapts the first four volumes of the light novels. The series is licensed by Funimation in North America and aired on their TV station.
