Those Who Hunt Elves. V.1, Ready Set Strip! V.2, Elf Stripping for Fun and Profit.
TV series (12 episodes), 1996. Director: Kazuyoshi Katayama. V.l — V.2, 6 episodes/150 minutes. Price & format: DVD bilingual $29.98. Distributor: A.D. Vision Films.

© Yu Yagami/Media Works-Amuse-Sotsu Agency.

Was anyone nervous about turning Yu Yagami's fantasy-comedy manga Elf o Karu Monotachi (Those Who Hunt Elves) into an animated (the Group TAC studio) TV series? It was limited to twelve episodes, broadcast October 4 through December 20, 1996. It was popular enough that the conclusion was made as Those Who Hunt Elves II, appearing a year later (October 2 through December 24, 1997). This DVD release (and A.D.V. Films' earlier video release in 1999) is of the first series only.

"Adolescent TV anime" implies zany and mildly raunchy humor. This series drops the viewer right into the midst of it. There's this Tolkienesque fantasy world, see, inhabited by Medieval European humans and pointy-eared elf sages, and piratical fish (huh?). And there are these three strangers from our world who just want to go home to Tokyo: a muscular martial-arts champion (sure), an Oscar-winning Japanese actress (hmmm) and a teen schoolgirl with her own AK-47 automatic rifle and T-74 tank (wait a minute...). And the tank is haunted by the ghost of a little kitten (you really don't want a T-74 tank trying to cuddle up in your lap playfully). The only way to get back to our Earth is by a powerful magic spell which, inconveniently, has been divided into five parts, each of which is written on the skin of a beautiful elf maid. So to assemble the complete spell, our band of gonzo adventurers must travel from town to town, tearing off the clothes of all the elf girls they meet to find the five who have the spell components upon them.

Can such a sexist plot be made tasteful? Surprisingly, yes. At least, the raunch factor is downplayed in favor of humorous dialogue and an emphasis on character interplay. Two of the three, the actress Airi Komiyama and schoolgirl Ritsuko Inou, are women themselves who are embarrassed by what they have to do to return to our Earth. Junpei Ryuzouji, the muscle-headed fighter, delivers a few stereotypical "Oh, boy! Babes!" lines, but he acts more like he has not discovered girls yet. His schtick is food; he spends most of his time searching taverns and restaurants for Earth-style beef curry. A fourth member of their party is Mistress Celcia, the elves' high priestess, who is accompanying them in the hope of finding the spell fragments and getting rid of these louts as quickly as possible. An unforeseen complication of the mixed-up magic turns Celcia into a funny-animal dog, and you can imagine the double entendres about the female dog in their midst. Much of the humor depends upon cultural incongruity (a Roman Catholic elf? Medieval fast-food restaurants?) and situations which give the stripping of elfmaids a socially redeeming justification. (Elf warrior maid Milliea donned a suit of enchanted armor to fight a monster. She won, but the armor will not come off her. After three years, she really wants to get out of it and take a bath!) The nudity is limited to quick flashes of bare breasts; quite mild for adolescent anime. Will this sell well enough that A.D.V. Films will release the sequel? To quote one of the episode teasers, "Please watch us again next week, or I'll hate your guts!"

Fred Patten has written on anime for fan and professional magazines since the late 1970s.