Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf!

Episode 5

I was worried that this episode of Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf! would end up being a step down compared to the incredibly cozy stay-home shenanigans that Kazuhiro and Marie got up to during last week's Physical-Media-and-Chill date night. Thankfully, while the show is still decidedly weaker at depicting traditional action-adventure spectacle than it is at giving us the comfy goodness we usually crave, “Illusory Swordsman” remains a fun time all around. This is, of course, mostly due to the ungodly cuteness of Mewi the Cat Boy. For one, he is a cat boy named Mewi. Also, just…I mean, freakin' look at the little guy. Look me in the eye and tell me that you also wouldn't stab a dozen random dudes to protect Mewi's smile. Yeah. That's what I thought.

It's a good thing we're all on board with our heroes' mission to risk life and limb to rescue the poor little kitty that has been exploited by these desert bandits, because the climactic battle to conclude the quest is basically the entire episode. I said before that one of the strengths that Ms. Elf has going for it is that it can decide on any given day whether it wants to be a slice-of-life rom-com or a classic fantasy adventure story. Personally, I think this show is at its best when it's balancing a decent mix of both elements, but I'm glad to know that we'll still be in good hands whenever Ms. Elf decides to focus entirely on a good old fashioned dungeon delve.

Funnily enough, my favorite aspect of “Illusory Swordsman” is also the source of my biggest gripe with the episode. I love it when any action anime makes good use of its casts' diverse strengths and powers, and this episode starts off by giving both Kazuhiro and Marie some fun beats as they execute Operation: Adopt a Cat Son. Kazuhiro does his usual hack-and-slash routine, while Marie gets to play a more supportive role with her summoned critters. This is great, but the episode does eventually kind of forget about Marie so it can focus on Kazuhiro showing off his swordplay skills. It wouldn't be an issue if Ms. Elf was really good at crafting exciting and well-animated visual spectacle, but it's…well, it's fine to look at, but nobody is ever going to be watching this cartoon for it's sick fights, you dig? The episode ends up becoming rather repetitive in the middle as a result, though you could admittedly do far worse.

It's all worth it, though, because Mewi is great, and I fully sanction any murders or murder-adjacent crimes done to keep him alive and happy. I won't act like the show's treatment of its beastmen races is mind blowingly unique or deep, but it's a cut above the usual non-effort that we get from this series' isekai competitors. Even the tiniest layer of texture and nuance can elevate an anime's world-building enough for its otherwise generic setting to get the job done, and Ms. Elf has consistently been providing enough of it each week for me to stay involved with the scenes that don't focus entirely on Marie and Kazuhiro being a power couple.

The next step, clearly, is to bring Mewi over to the other side so he can enjoy the delicious cuisine of Japan. He's going to be straight up drowning in grade-A seafood, and I honestly couldn't be happier for him. The only question is how, exactly, this process might work. Will he just look like a regular kid? Will he turn into a housecat, or some other less conspicuous animal? I honestly think it would be funny if Kazuhiro and Marie just had to figure out how to pass off a full-on furry child in modern Japanese society, but either way, Mewi had better stick around. We should bring back his drunk dragon auntie for good measure, too.

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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.