OrphanN64's Full Review: Those Who Hunt Elves - Chapter 1
I am a semi-big fan of the Magical Girls genre in anime. You know, the ones with a pretty fighter(s) in cute but wild outfit(s) shooting sugary sweet attacks at the monster of the week. The major flaw of these shows are that they get soooo repetitive and you have to wait until the last 5 episodes until you get to the plot (which is usually very, very good). There were a few that were better at not having too many repetitive episodes (Nurse Angel Ririka SOS, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Hime-Chan's Ribbon come to mine), but overall they just do the same thing over and over. You may be thinking what does the Magical Girls genre have to do with a funky comedy/action. The answer: Everything.
The main plot of the TV show is three stereotype travelers (dumb bodybuilder, smart actress, chipper weapon-freak) are transported to a strange and magical land. The Elf Priestess tries to send them back using a spell that requires her complete attention. Due to some rude remarks by the bodybuilder she loses concentration and the spell splits and travels to five different elves's bodies. Now they have to travel around in a bulky tank stripping every elf they see to find the parts of the spell.
Many shows are built on the first episode. It must introduce at least some of the characters, tell you the plot, give you somewhat of an idea of the mood of the show, while still being enjoyable. Those Who Hunt Elves skips the pressure by using an original tactic: The first episode will actually take place while they are looking for parts of the spell so it will show you what a typical episode will feel like while the second one introduces the characters, tells you the plot, etc. The bad side to this tactic is that you won't really understand or appreciate the first episode until after you have seen the second.
Now I will get to the part about the Magical Girl genre comparison. Like basically all Magical Girls show it has a very imaginative plot yet is the same thing over and over. Every episode goes something like this: Trio sees elf, fight or use magic to save the day, strip elf, find no spell, leave. They basically just change the Magical Girls phrase, "Monster Of The Week" to "Elf Of The Week." Of course in the second episode the actually do find an elf with the spell but I am against spoiling too much.
Other than that TWHE don't have too many more problems. The box art is fabulous and the art is average for a TV series (contrary to popular belief, this ISN'T an OAV). The dub is slightly above average. I REALLY liked the voice for the actress but Cecelia's just doesn't match. The character design is nice for the main characters but the minor are rather boring. Overall, I suggest picking up something like every 4 videos because you really don't want to watch EVERY episode because nothing will really change in the plot other than a new piece of the spell every 10 episodes. Though vol. 1 is really a good tape to sit down and watch once or twice.
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