Otaku Elf

Episode 5

The Otaku Elf's eager assimilation into These Modern Times has already been a key component of this show, so how much fresh entertainment could really be gleaned from "Elda get iPhone"? The answer turns out to be "enough", since as usual Elda and Koito's personalities and dynamics are enough to carry even something as simple as text-message spam in the first half of an episode like this. It's all in the spirit of the presentation of the show, celebrating the simple, low-key beauty of the area around the Takamimi Shrine by still rendering it with a cute, colorful style.

Ami Koshimizu's voice acting for Elda continues to be a key component of the entertainment in watching her just learn the ins and outs of her new cell phone, but I mustn't discount the visual element of the character as well. C2C's animation for this series has been modest, but effective, so things like Elda's adorable little ear twitches of happiness as she succumbs to the magic of things like LINE stamps and mobile ports of classic RPGs provide a moe appeal I can't pretend to be immune to. That kind of character acting is compelling all across this episode, actually, seen also in the episode's second-half story, wherein koma instructing Elda to straighten out her posture turns her into a cool, confident beauty clad in Koito's trenchcoat. It's all simple stuff but helps communicate the layers these characters can contain even within the gag-series roles they primarily fulfill.

It's layers like those which help something like the cell phone story feel not at all like it's dragging on. We can immediately clock the kind of text message monster Koito might have inadvertently created when she introduces Elda to the wonders of this kind of technology. But her concerns are pushed aside at first not out of simple denial, but a genuine feeling of happiness from the joy of her charge. One thing I've liked about Otaku Elf so far is that while Elda and Koito can absolutely spar over matters, they don't feel at all adversarial in their relationship. It's more of an interesting mix of co-workers and family, and it manifests in those contributions by both sides, between Koito passing the cell phone on to Elda, or Elda expositing on the Express Messengers of the past to Koito, who always comes off genuinely interested in these little history lessons.

Of course, Koito still struggles with some issues in how she gets on with Elda in spite of herself. This episode reminds us of her now-embarrassing idolization of the elf as the "Lady in White" from the first episode. Already rough enough as a phase, but even worse when koma is bringing it up right as Elda is sitting across from Koito with ketchup spilled all over her kimono from an absolutely ridiculous (yet delicious-looking) sandwich. It gets taken even further during that trenchcoat dalliance, Koito is infuriated at how much better Elda rocks the look she's been chasing, as well as perhaps getting only a little hot and bothered by this person she knows is otherwise a greasy gamer gremlin.

We all contain multitudes, after all, and the end result of this fashion detour comes in the form of Elda providing a truly nice favor without any amount of prodding. Her giving the furisode to Koito for her Coming of Age ceremony is a genuinely, unironically sweet gesture that also speaks volumes about her relationship with her Miko. Koito inheriting the garment down from those multiple generations helps assure her that she is growing into the adult she's so desperate to become, while we witness Elda's bittersweet hope that Koito not grow up too fast. The cherished impermanence of mortality is another endearing recurring feature of Otaku Elf, a reminder of why simply spending time with people and characters is as valuable as watching them get into wacky adventures.

It means that while this episode didn't introduce new characters or anything like in prior weeks, it still felt like it was moving forward and building on what the anime has always been doing. We got a sense of the different layers of Koito and Elda's relationship, and there was still plenty of space for playing off the edutainment elements of the series. Elda's unique sense of time leading her to believe there was still a chance she might be arrested on account of Edo-period "Extravagance Bans" was a cute detail. And I was amused to learn about the shrine's use of amulets with scraps of her old clothes in them, like those special trading cards that come with parts of players' old jerseys. It's neat that even without any properly propulsive plot, Otaku Elf can still communicate that sense of time going on the more we spend with these characters, making it feel just a little richer compared to some of the other slice-of-life series out there.

Rating:

Otaku Elf is currently streaming on HIDIVE.

Chris is keeping busy keeping up with the new anime season and is excited to have you along. You can also find him writing about other stuff over on his blog, as well as spamming fanart retweets on his Twitter, for however much longer that lasts.