Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf!

Episode 3

Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf! is lucky that I'm such an easy mark for this kind of thing. This week's episode of the show is not without its flaws, so much so that I am still seriously struggling with whether or not I bump the episode score down compared to last week's review. Then again, can I really argue that any episode of television that features Marie the Elf adorably learning Japanese so she can greet her new lunchbox-husband after work could ever deserve anything less than three-and-a-half stars? These, folks, are the questions that keep a critic like me up at night.

Let's get the rough stuff out of the way first, so you can at least understand where I'm coming from. For one, this episode doesn't take advantage of the mixed-setting isekai angle nearly as much as the last one. Instead of a fun and complete adventure that involves a cool dragon lady, we get the first part to a merely so-so quest involving ancient ruins and nasty bandits. It's not bad, but it drags its feet a little too much before just kicking our heroes out of their dreams and back into Japan for a big ol' anticlimax of an ending.

Also, while I'm not expecting Ms. Elf to ever blow my mind on an aesthetic level, this is the first episode of the show to look downright bad in certain scenes. Characters are frequently off-model in a way that looks sloppy instead of stylized, and the stiff character animation drains the energy from beats like when Kazuhiro instinctively hugs Marie after their narrow escape from the desert ruffians. It's a shame, too, because this is a show where stronger production values would really elevate its already solid foundations to another level. Instead, this episode made it harder to enjoy the stuff that did work without getting distracted by the clunkiness of it all.

That said, there was a lot to like about “Lost Magic Stones,” in spite of its shortcomings. The aforementioned Marie cuteness can still carry this show a long-ass way, and I continue to enjoy the natural chemistry that the characters share, whether they are marching through an unbearably hot desert or trying to decide what boozy beverage to pair with their gyoza dinner. For goodness' sake, the show managed to actually find a creative and charming way to integrate those insidious goddamned stat menus into the plot. Who would have thought that all I needed to get on board the Stat Menu Bandwagon was a scene where two likeable adult leads use them to make flirtatious small-talk? You know, if I were feeling more antagonistic, I could very easily make a crack about how much these isekai stories improve when they don't have to pander to an audience that the creators cynically assume have never been on a real date with a human being…

All of this is to say that I had a good time with this week's adventure with Ms. Elf, but I am concerned about its ability to deliver a quality product with weekly consistency. Kazuhiro and Marie are likeable enough that I would probably enjoy their banter even if the show was just some cheap-looking motion comic, but I sure would prefer if the animation in this anime actually looked good most of the time.

Rating:

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on Twitter, his blog, and his podcast.