Those Who Hunt Elves II

Sometimes after watching a serious anime you need to watch something a little lighter and less intense. Like in my case, after watching Blood+ this is just what I needed to make me laugh and feel optimistic about the world again. There's never really been a lot of talk about this show and I only stumbled across it myself because I wanted to see what other shows had Shelly Calene-Black as part of the cast. This review will be about both “Those Who Hunt Elves” 1 & 2 since I'm a marathon watcher and the show might as well have been one complete anime....like Saiyuki[why give a series a different title, if it's just a continuation of the first series?] ~art Both part 1 & 2 are only a few years apart, like 3 – 4 years so the art barely changes. Part 1 was made in the 90s and therefore has that 90's anime look and the second part was 90's inspired so the shapes and coloring are very similar....but you can tell that the second part was slightly newer because the coloring was a little smoother and edges aren't as sharp. ~sound I watched this show in English dub, and the biggest perceptible difference between Those Who Hunt Elves 1 & 2 is the dialogue. Just like with the first part of Saiyuki the language is seriously hardcore, people were calling each other bitches and even f-bombs were being dropped every now and then. And frankly, I like anime shows that talk dirty like that, maybe because that's how I speak and it just seems more genuine that way or it just seems funnier to me. I just don't find many people who speak in a squeaky clean fashion anymore....not since grammar school anyway. But I guess as compensation for cleaning up the language in the second part we get Shelley Calene-Black as Celcia which is cool because she has this incredible knack for conveying a lot of sarcasm and is way funny....although the first actress who played Celcia wasn't bad either. ~story The story concept is pretty original: 3 individuals from the world as we know it get transported to a fantasy land that has elves and a bunch of other strange creatures. Due to a botched ritual to send these 3 individuals home, Elf High-Priestess Celcia scatters the elvish spell symbols all over this new world and now they have to go around stripping female elves to recover the spell symbols. But even though the concept sounds original...it's really sorta like Inuyasha in a way with the collection of the Shikon shards. Also the narration is rather simplistic...not that I'm saying anything is wrong with that. Actually I think keeping it simple really worked for this anime, it allowed us to really enjoy the humor without having to look for hidden meanings or interpret any subtext, there weren't any complicated plot twists or surprise character appearances. Just a new and funny adventure that gets resolved each episode. ~characters I really love small casts. It seems more intimate that way and it makes the viewer feel like they are part of the gang. With a cast as small as this [4 main characters] you get the opportunity to become familiarized with each character and although this is not a hard-hitting dramatic anime with overly complex characters you still get a little insight on how each character thinks as they develop along with the show. I had no favorite character for this series, I liked all four characters equally. Junpei, being the only guy in the crew, was very funny he's very blunt and eventho he doesn't admit it...deep down we know he loves stripping those elf-women naked. Celcia is by far the most sarcastic, her comedic timing and one-liners keep me laughing non-stop. Airi I like because she puts out this refined Meryl Streep Oscar-winning vibe on the surface, but deep down she's pretty sadistic and likes toying with people. I also liked how nobody can fool her, she's really more of a psychologist than an actress. And then there's Ritsuko this teeny-bopper girl with a severe military fetish who likes to play with landmines and grenades and has a pet tank that's possessed by a cat-demon and a teddy bear that shits toilet-paper. They are all so very original. ~verdict don't pick this title and expect the reinvention of the wheel...that's not what this show is about. It is a funny, simplistic show that makes fun of itself and the fantasy genre of anime. This show has a decent amount of slapstick which is always good however if you are a quick-witted person who likes a lot of fast-paced witty banter and verbal exchange then you will truly appreciate this show more.