Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf!

Episode 7

Okay, so Marie and Kazuhiro haven't completely adopted Mewi, yet, but they at least got to catch up with the lad and involve him in their protracted quest to get involved in this whole dungeon delving business. We got some nice, low-key world-building for the fantasy half of the setting, some more scenes of Marie being obsessed with making Mewi end all of his sentences with -nyan, and even a cute new outfit for our heroine to distract Kazuhiro with. On top of all that, Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf! even threw in a trio of adorable dragon hatchlings to gawk at, as if it already knew the immeasurable disappointment I would feel at being denied the full commitment to Mewi that we all so richly deserve.

In other words, this is a solid episode of Miss Elf. What I really appreciated about it is the way that the fantasy world section of the story is getting some much needed expansion beyond being the location for the occasional side-quest. Just like Kazuhiro's regular friends expanded the possibilities of the Earthbound stories, the expanding cast of characters in Isekailand will only help Miss Elf succeed equally in its various narrative pursuits. Mewi is purrfect, as always, but we've also got some new faces in the academic world that Marie hails from. This Sven guy and his little gremlin henchperson even seem like they'll make for a legitimate antagonistic element, which could be a nice change of pace for this show.

More than anything, though, I enjoyed this excursion to Isekailand for how it helped to balance out Kazuhiro and Marie's whole dynamic. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate an excessively cute elf getting into fish-out-of-water scenarios as much as the next guy, but that shtick runs the risk of infantilizing Marie and reducing her to an animate Sexy Cartoon Waifu Pillow. In the fantasy realm, though, Marie has a lot more experience and social grace compared to when she's in Japan, and it allows her to take the lead in matters of information gathering and diplomacy compared to the awkward Kazuhiro. It's almost like she's a complex human(adjacent)-being, and not just a vehicle for Kazuhiro's domestic fantasies…

In all seriousness, though, the relative nuance of our protagonists' relationship is what makes this show great. It's what leads to great moments like the two of them getting embarrassed into oblivion by the entire band of Ujah Peak adventurers losing their collective shit over learning about Kazuhiro and Marie living together. Notice that they don't deny being a fully committed couple; they simply ensure to everyone that “all [they've] done is hold hands.” What perfect little dorks. God bless their innocent virgin, souls. We can only hope that their pure spirits are not too broken by whatever chaotic shenanigans await them when Lady Arkdragon shows up to be a third-wheel on their hot-springs trip...

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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.