>Hello its me again, the guy who likes to talk about random stuff and occasionally do a review!
This time with a review for a pretty interesting and obscure show
Why am i doing a review on this one?
Basically because it doesnt have any and is a series i wanted to take a deeper look at.
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But what is Those Who Hunt Elves??__
Is an isekai that was released in 1996 which is based on a manga with the same name. Originally created by Yu Yagami. This adaptation is directed by Kazuyoshi Katayama he has worked in some more known anime projects but mainly in less prevalent staff roles, some examples are: Attack on Titan Final Season, Samurai Champloo, Ergo Proxy, The Big O and his 2003 sequel (both as a director).
The studio in charge of the animation was Group TAC which clossed in 2011.
Whats the deal with the show?
Its mainly a goofy Isekai that parodies a lot of fantasy and pop culture elements from the 90s. The main premise is wacky being heavily focused on slapstick / meta comedy, so most of the time there is going to be something dumb going on. Although it hasnt aged in the best way is a great window to look how the world of TV entertaiment, specially anime was in late 90s early 2000s.
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The Story
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Our main cast is trapped in a fantasy world, filled with magic, extrange creatures, furries, multiple cultures and a lot of silly people (that includes our main characters).
But what makes the story / premise of this show special compared to other isekai?
__I would say mainly the execution and the tools & skill sets the characters have at their disposal. They even have a tank lol, a type 74.
Irl T-74 and Mike the T-74 from the show__
Spoiler, click to viewclick to hide
The t-74 at the 5th episode gets possesed by the spirit of a Cat that is able to possess inanimated objects. This introduces one of the most peculiar characters in the whole series and my favorite for how goofy and absurd it its.The spell to return our party to Japan fails exploding. Then all the fragments are expelled into the world and find themselves landing on female elves skins. So they have to go out and undress all the elves they find in search of said fragments.
The characters get involved in all sorts of wacky situations and the show follows a more episodic aproach. (villain of the week style) until the last 2-3 episodes, where a big issue is revealed. Similar to what starts happening to Earth in Re:creators.
Usually after saving an Elf the main cast (mainly Junpei) break the cliche gratitude sequence making the question:
>Can you undress?
The Isekai genre was pretty different in the 80s-90s and this anime shows it in a really explicit way. Isekai protagonists normally had the goal of returning back to their original world and the main premise of the series goes around that, the characters got randomly summoned to the other world and they want to go back to their usual lifes on Japan. Very different compared to modern Isekai that is more like an allegory about escapism from reality and second chances in life. Its a product of his time and it shows that in almost every aspect.
Overall the story is showed in a episodic way so the plot doesnt move fast until the last episodes of the season. that could turn away people wanting a more linear story with heavy character development. It really feels like watching a late 2000s cartoon where the plot kind of an after thought most of the time and the shows most of the time focused on being easily digestible and entertaining and having to deal with all the shenanigans of TV´s channels.
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Characters
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Our main cast is formed by:
Junpei: a martial arts expert that is most the time an impulsive person and acts normally on his own behalf. Even with all the nasty stuff he does, he posseses a "honor" type life style.
Ritsuko: she a weapons expert / enthusiast. She normally makes maintinance of the t-74 and has a emotional driven actitude most of the time. She posseses a lot of weapons:
"Heckler amp; Koch USP40, G36C Assault Rifle, PSG1 Sniper Rifle, a sheath knife and some C4."
Airi: one of the most interesting characters besides Mike. She´s a famous actress and normally is the brain of the group, she does all kind of mental games against their enemies and is able to disguise as other people in a really efective way.
Celcia: she is the elf wizard who was in charge of the return spell. She´s very skilled magician but a kind of psychotic person. She usually fights with Junpei, but she has a crush for him.
Mike: explained in the spoiler tag before. basically a Cat Tank.
But whats the deal with all the stereotype thing?
Well the characters follow a really goofy stereotypical traits pack:
Junpei is a brute most of the time, is the muscle of the group, is impulsive and even careless sometimes. But is a really skilled martial artist, being able to battle against powerful enemies. He´s basically the Karate man per say. Ritsuko follow a female teeneger character´s style, emotional, passionate and kind of complainer. Meanwhile having a lot of knowledge and abilities that are escencial to the group. The Gun Girl. Then Comes Airi, she´s more or less perfect i a lot of ways, she´s famous and extremely smart. She´s like that "perfect" actress archetype character. Lastly Celcia is the classical girl who has feelings for a certain person but is afraid to show them, usually fighting with his love interest. At the end she cares for everyone in the group and shows it.
The support characters are really not that interesting, the average villain, the classical town man and all the kind of female elves possible.
Overall the characters are a good complement for the humour and the wacky premise, but besides the main cast arent that memorable.
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Animation / Music
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The animation by Studio TAC, certainly feels like watching a classic Hanna Barbera cartoon, but in anime. There is a lot of recycled sequences and some backgrounds. Even with that the show is pleasant to watch, specially for old anime drawn style lovers. Part of it is that there is no CGI. CGI itself isnt bad, it can reach great things like the Dorohedoro adaptation by MAPPA, or the 2 well known Land of the Lustrous and Beaststars by Orange Studio. But usually i cant stop thinking that CGI is really overused in situations where is totally unnecesary, decrementing the quality of multiple shows. Nowdays most of the time the 3d is lazily made and looks bad, making the recycled sequences from animes like this one a far better looking option and i might point out not soo much costly (but well, we all know how anime studios works, which is horrible).
Just Imagine the T-74 made in CGI.... Sheeesh...
Some examples i was able to find
The music is really catchy most of the time and the intro is a banger. Really liked those aspects, is not a masterpiece or anything but is really enjoyable most of the time.
Angel Blue / By Hamasaki Naoko
OP version
Complete Version
Overall is a really good looking anime with a really decent OST. Considering the low budgeted production it surely had, keeps being visually appealing although it shows his age. A little time travel machine into 90s TV anime.
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The Humour
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This is an aspect of the show i enjoyed a lot. There is a pretty decent variety of jokes, slapstick, meta comentary, occasional 4th wall breaking an even some surreal comedy.
An usual joke is a bout how Junpei does something stupid or gets in an argument with Celcia. Leading to a kind of clunky but funny exchange of slurs
Next is a recurrent element, but is spoiler territory, although isnt soo big of a spoiler so feel free to read it anyways!
Spoiler, click to viewclick to hide
Celcia transforms into a dog, trying to deceibe the group. After being discovered by Airi, Celcia agrees to help our party but there is an issue. After discovering and botaining the first fragment, she is unable to change back to her Elven form, being trapped in the body of a dog. Most of the insults Junpei uses against her are related to this fact. Even some members saying that they miss Celcia and that the dog isnt her. Not even counting that the spell´s fragments leave silly marks on her face, making everything worse.
A recurrent element is the surprising turn of events from the elves the group saves, on which after thanking them they get a really disgusting surprise in return. The main cast doesnt feel good about it either so they tend to comment about it a lot.
Spoiler, click to viewclick to hide
At one point it gets soo annoying for the elves that they demand to their leaders the jailing or even execution of the Elven Hunters for their crimes against the elven racePublicity trying to atract our group
Another joke is how the technogical advangate of the group destroys any opportunity to win of their enemies. A perfect example:
There is the occasional comment about pop culture or how Junpei normally points out that the show is a "comedy" or a "magic fantasy" while some characters even respond to his claims, refuting it or reaffirming it.
Never forget the goofy frames:
Overall the show has a wide variety of humour types. But is kind of outdated and isnt for everyone although i liked it alot.
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Conclusions
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Those Who Hunt Elves is a really special and obscure isekai, which is filled with silly characters, an interesting world to explore and a really memorable main cast / OST. Even if the show hasnt aged in the best way its still really enjoyable, i recomend it specially for people who suffer from burn out with modern isekai / anime and really havent watch older isekai or older anime in general.
Its a great opportunity to watch how the isekai genre and the anime industry as a whole as evolved over the years. The comedy is subjective so is not for everyone, is a goofy old anime and things like plot importance or narrative prowless really didnt come into play at those years. But i recomend you to give it a try anyways. The animation is really decent for the low finnancial budget which is really noticable when you compare it to modern seasonal low budged LNs adaptations.
There is a second season too, i will be watching it but i think i will not do a any kind of review for it because is more of the same for what i have been able to read. But stay tunned for that too anyways!
And Seriusly guys, what modern isekai has a goddamn tank????
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