Those Who Hunt Elves

Summary: >

In a mysterious world of magic, three travelers try to find their way back to Japan. Junpei: the martial arts expert, Airi: the beautiful professional actress who can deceive anyone, and Ritsuko: the school girl who is extremely adept in operating military equipment. The three of them have decided they'll do whatever it takes to get back go Japan, even if it means stripping the clothes off of every elf in the land... which oddly enough is what they might have to do. The three eventually receive help from the high elf Celcia, not because she likes them, but to get them out of her world as quickly as possible. Normally you'd think the elves weren't so happy to cooperate, but when you travel a land of fantasy with a T-78 tank; people become cooperative quick.

Thoughts: >

Amongst the many many 1990s titles where a group is thrown into fantasy land, Those Who Hunt Elves strives to have fun with the idea. Does it work? Kind of yes. Aside from being a bit brainless in concept, it's generally entertaining - something many such titles seem to struggle with after a few episodes.

What tends to make this anime work are the characters. They come from different walks of life, and each has a talent to contribute to the group. What's amusing is that they don't get along very well. The main comedic element works with Junpei, the dense martial arts master, and Celcia, priestess of high elves who just wants to get them out of her universe.

The story unfolds in a way very typical. At first they're trying to collect spell fragments on various elf girls, but once they suspect they've found one, end up helping her with her situation. It's very episodic, but it's light and fun, with only a handfull of dud episodes. Towards the end there is a bigger plot which isn't anything remarkable, but works well enough for a fluff title like this.

An odd thing about Those Who Hunt Elves are differences between the dub and subtitled versions - especially at the end, with the dub putting a slightly different spin on the story. The dub doesn't just tweak phrases, it re-writes a lot of dialog. What's surprising is that the writing team is actually pretty funny! As a comedy first the added jokes are a bonus, so I'd recommend the dub over the sub.

After the first 26 episodes, there is Those Who Hunt Elves II. Unfortunatly the antics start getting old. More problematic are many of the problems the group tries to solve are very boring. Not a bad watch, but the signal to noise ratio deteriorates.

For a 1990s comedy title Those Who Hunt Elves does well for itself. Assuming you're not tired of the fantasy land idea, and shut your brain down before watching it's not too bad.

Screen Caps: >