Otaku Elf

Episode 11

I knew this episode of Otaku Elf would be more engaging than last week just from reading the title. "Detective koma-chan"? That's a terrific setup for a character who's been fun, but underutilized so far. And an enshrined elf deity knows I can sympathize with Elda's stress over the fate of her limited-edition plastic model. It even gets a bit meta, given that the whole exercise mostly plays out because koma is bored, and hey, who wouldn't be after that lower-key last episode? koma, in her dashing style which gets Elda to immediately swoon over her, is here to sweep us back into Otaku Elf at its most earnestly silly.

Though as an aside, the show also gets to deploy what feels like a little more edutainment material this week, possibly also to make up for how light on the historical context that the previous episode was. This one's littered with simple, yet informative nuggets on Japan's Edo-era policing and detective system, and how that contrasts with its modern equivalent. It plays off an understanding of how these systems grew out of their establishments, the roles of constables and detectives being the same in olden times, probably on account of population-based practicality, before being separated in the current era. The show doesn't get too deep into any kinds of complications or shortcomings that might have occurred as a result of these later-excised intertwinings, likely because this simply isn't that kind of series. But it's a decent enough backing concept as we watch koma effectively screw around just trying to kill time amusingly.

It's an appreciable indication that just holding up the historical aspect and letting characters engage in decently fresh activities is enough to keep Otaku Elf feeling lively, even as this episode, technically, isn't really any more activity-packed than the languid last one. But it's the energy carrying it through, contextualized in Koito's knowing reactions to her friend's eccentricities, even as we find out she's also shouldering the burden of being the kit-kidnapping culprit. It drives up the tension more than koma's flighty faffing-about of an investigation does, as we're immediately driven to anxiously ask "Koito, what did you do?!" It's honestly a sign of how close she's become with Elda, in that she does immediately confess when pressed, even as she's so isolated from understanding these otaku elements that she thought scotch tape was an acceptable way to repair a plastic model kit.

It kind of nets us two storylines just in this first half of the episode, seeing Koito put on trial for the murder of the mecha. We briefly get to reflect on older systems of law before the trial pretense is mostly glossed over to contrast Elda and Koito's attitudes in this situation, and how their relationship has developed. Elda almost comes off like the smart, sensible one here, for a change, before it's pointed out that her own irresponsibility and slovenly habits created the situation for the model to be stepped on in the first place. Then on the other side of things you have Koito leaping to take responsibility for the "crime" anyway, which could be seen as borne out of her workaholic tendencies and/or her desire to be seen as "mature". Which makes her being sentenced to watch a cartoon as punishment all that more ironically appropriate.

The other irony is koma's annoyance at the end when she doesn't feel this whole exercise killed enough time or wasn't interesting, since we in the audience (or at least me, anyway) had a great little time, especially compared to last week. But if that was all still too much seemingly inconsequential fluff for you, the other half of the episode seems set on stepping up the substance more solidly. There's a celebration coming up in the Yumimimi Festival, with a cliffhanger ending to the proceedings that indicates this might be leading into the most dramatic thing Otaku Elf would want to muster as a season finale.

Just the base setup is fun as we've come to know this world and characters though. It's funny to see Elda excited about something like this on account of believing she won't have to do anything. Have I mentioned yet that she's an elf after my own heart? But the detailing of her having to return to the role of the Oyumi ritual, and her issues surrounding it, fill the series out in honestly engaging ways. The whole bit about her falling out of the boat one year, inadvertently starting a new take on the tradition, works well as both a funny gag and also an acknowledgment of the idiosyncratic ways these sorts of things usually come about. It lets us reflect on the looser approach the characters have taken with these elements all season, from the incidental stop for convenience-store noodles that turned into one ongoing ritual, to Elda bringing Koito with her out onto the deck of the Skytree for her own comfort.

It's an understanding that rituals and traditions need not be about rigidly maintaining the actions and activities behind them, but rather working towards whatever brings peace and comfort to the people they're meant to be for. On another level, it's why so many of the edutainment segments of the show have been about the contrast between the past's way of doing things and how those evolved into the modern takes. Things change and get updated for reasons, and being aware of those reasons helps us accept new shifts when they have reason to arrive.

And so that manifests by the "dramatic" To Be Continued of this episode, and the implication that Koito's grandpa won't be able to step up for the Oyumi ritual (they say it's because he got injured, but we all know it's because he's contractually obligated to never actually appear on-screen). It's funny because it's prefaced with Koito explaining that her grandfather already doesn't feel especially beholden to traditions, and now even being shunted into the role as she has, we can presume from her…uncertain practice shots that her take on the ritual will wind up going differently than any amount of historical precedent. But that's been the whole point Otaku Elf has been leading up to, that a "deity" who's come all this way up from the past can keep learning and evolving from her interactions with the present.

Rating:

Otaku Elf is currently streaming on HIDIVE.

Chris is keeping busy keeping up with the new anime season and is excited to have you along. You can also find him writing about other stuff over on his blog, as well as spamming fanart retweets on his Twitter, for however much longer that lasts.