Elf wo Karu Mono Tachi

Title:Elf wo Karu Mono Tachi
Those Who Hunt Elves
Overall:Rent
Keywords: , , , , , , ,
Notables: MITSUISHI Kotono
R1 Distributor - Section23 Films (ADV)
R1 License - Sentai Filmworks (ADV)
SEKI Tomokazu
TACHIKI Fumihiko
TOMIZAWA Michie

What do you think of an actress, a 6-time martial arts champion, a school girl weapons expert, and magic wielding dog with a bad attitude driving around a parallel universe in a tank and forcing hot, young elves to strip? Such is the preserve fate of three people stranded from our world who need five separate pieces of an ancient incantation to get home--which happen to be somewhere on the bodies of five elves throughout the lands. They're determined to find their way home even if they have to strip every last elf to do it!

12 TV episodes. See also the sequel Those Who Hunt Elves 2.


R1 by ADV Films

From the creator of Dokkoida
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Watch 6 6 6 5 5 5 Ggultra2764 [series:368#1552]
This is one of those stupid-funny anime comedies with the habit of milking on the same tiresome gag throughout its run. In this case, out lead group stripping random elves in their search for pieces to a spell that will let them return to Japan from the fantastical world they are set in. While I found the twist to its comedy amusing at first, the hammering of the gag and the characters coming out as nothing more than two-dimensional archetypes eventually wore its interest in the series for me and it didn't help matters that the anime purposely sets itself up for another season. Only really worth watching if you don't mind shutting your brain off to embrace the one-trick pony that the series offers up for its humor.

Last updated Sunday, March 13 2016. Created Sunday, March 13 2016.
Buy Forbin [series:368#1573]
Anime Types
DramaLowThe drama is a small love affair
ComedyHighComedy and Profanity go hand in hand
ActionLow/MedMostly Junpei fighting
SciFiMedEveryone Uses magic but it's not too obvious
EcchiLow/MedYes I know it's stripping but only 1 person has a frontal shot
You know I've had this anime on my shelf for over a year now and I have avoided watching it. Elf stripping for fun and profit? What a dumb catchphrase. I started to watch and after 3 episodes, I was oh, this is a low rent, then when you find out why they are there (Episode 5 I think) I realized I was laughing more and more at this show. The guy Junpei (Ooooo Ichigo 100 Flashbacks) is so singleminded in stripping all elves (No nudity just a lot of clothes flying) that he doesn't even stop to think just how much he is offending them. The other 2 girls are quite aware of the fact that elves don't like to be stripped but they want to go home too and Junpei's way is the fastest.

Episode one starts out not explaining what the heck is going on. That's episode 2. Episode 5 FINALLY explains why they are in this world. No explanation why Ritsuko loves guns and tanks.

My favorite part is that ADV actually took the time to add American localization jokes over bland parts or Japanese localization. It actually made me smile more and more. Also as an FYI this is one of the most FOULMOUTH animes I have heard. I was very surprised at all the swearing going on. This is defintely one with an 'R' rated language track. Yes I know that most people would be very offended that they took out the Japanese localizations but as I LIKE Dub over sub this was a welcome change.

BTW Most of the cast of Sorcerer Hunters worked on this too.

Favorite Line? Junpei : 'Knock Knock, Avon!'

Last updated Tuesday, January 24 2006. Created Thursday, January 19 2006.
Rent Stretch [series:368#628]
While watching episode one of Those Who Hunt Elves, in which Airi, Ritsuko and Junpei defeat a band of remarkably accurately drawn fish-turned-pirates (no kidding!), the first impression I got was "this is weird!"--but weird in a GOOD way. Perhaps the keyword "silly-funny" would be appropriate for this series. I had seen it's coming attractions many times on ADV tapes, but it seemed so absurd that I couldn't believe there could be a clever plot behind it all. I was mistaken--TWHE leaps right into the story, without much explanation of how the three citizens of Japan and their tank wound up where they are--it's not until episode six that we learn who was responsible. I think my favorite episode is number seven, in which a night in a haunted house works out OK as a fragment of the missing spell is recovered. The OP/ED music is good, though not quite great. One minor gripe, from a person with a fascination for military technology, is the way deadly weapons are sometimes treated as little more than toys--Claymore mines do NOT leave people slightly stunned and with smoke on their faces! But all things considered, I am quite satisfied. Though by no means a masterpiece, TWHE is an affordable assortment of simple-minded fun. Good enough for me!

I tend to prefer Dubbed anime, partly because it tends to cost less and partly because I cannot both read subtitles and fully enjoy the animation at the same time. However, I read a warning at "Anime Jump!" that the dubbed version of TWHE "is one of the most colossally f----d up attempts at localization" the critic had ever seen (what colorful language they use over there!). It's true, a lot of liberties have been taken with the dubbed dialogue, in hopes of making it more pleasing to Americans. For example, I doubt if while banging on a door, Junpei says "Avon calling!" in the subtitled version. To save money I found myself with a 50-50 mix of subs and dubs, and thankfully concluded that although the subtitled version was definitely preferable, the dubbed episodes hadn't been rendered completely worthless. Indeed, the "localized" humor could be genuinely funny at times, though bordering on vulgar. At least I wasn't having to continually "pause" the VCR to read the subs because the charachters were speaking so rapidly!

My favorite line: "How can you be so shallow?! Curl up and die, your idiot lordship!"

9/03 #58

Last updated Wednesday, February 13 2008. Created Monday, September 01 2003.
Watch 7 6 7 6 7 Kaneda [series:368#87]
Well , the series is pretty amusing for the most part , and the premise of running round stripping elves is really funny and the characters are really quite amusing but other than that its kinda immature , but definetly worth watching.

Last updated Sunday, January 12 2003. Created Sunday, January 12 2003.
Rent 9 9 7 8 7 AstroNerdBoy [series:368#436]
This series came to my attention while I was browsing the anime selections at Amazon.com. I figured it was some sort of hentai title since the names of the DVD's were "Ready, Set, Strip!" and "Elves Stripping for Fun & Profit". I'm sure whomever named these thought they were being clever, but I'm also sure it has put off many people.

The premise is that three people who were in Japan suddenly find themselves on a strange "fantasy" world of magic and such. How they end up with a T-74 tank is a mystery as is how the school girl Ritsuko can drive it (or be a military expert). Some more background information would have been nice, but then again, character depth isn't the name of this anime. It is ALL comedy with a little adventure as a side-dish.

The series starts with the powerful leader of the elves Celcia attempting to send everyone back using her magic (which is impressive). Unfortunately, she is sidetracked by Junpei and the spell words are sent across the land to tatoo themselves onto elven women's bodies. So, this band has to strip every female elf in order to find the fragments so that Celcia can redo the spell.

There are only 12 episodes in this mostly unknown series. Some stories are taken from the source manga and some are anime original stories. It is a fun show to watch, especially after something like the dark and depressing ending of Neon Genesis Evangelion! The characters are likeable and as such, we are able to laugh at the constant fights between Celcia and Junpei. The final two episodes take a more serious turn as they attempt to wrap up the series.

The fan-service is surprisingly low in this series, more so since the source manga does have nudity. There is a certain unpervertedness to the stripping of the elves and most of the time, we are shown nothing (which is good in my opinion). There were a couple of episodes were some Barbie Doll nudity was shown (non-descriptive nudity), but it was brief so as not to get on my nerves. Junpei (who does most of the stripping) actually does care that he is offending these women by doing what he does, but his desire to return to Japan justify his actions to himself and the others.

Bottom line: This is a pretty fun series with one or two funny episodes. Worth watching.

Last updated Sunday, November 25 2018. Created Saturday, January 04 2003.
Buy Robbie [series:368#192]
I was a little worried about this title at first, but then I tried it and ended up loving it! Please note that Those Who Hunt Elves is not a hentai title. It is actually far from it. Here's a short synopsis:
3 humans from our world land in a world of elves along with their T-74 tank. In hopes of sending them back home, the high elf Celcia tries to translate an ancient spell into the modern language so that she can cast it. The translated spell would have been rewritten on her skin, but something goes wrong and the spell breaks into 5 parts and shoots away. Now the 3 from our world have to go and find the parts that are written on the skin of 5 elves in the land. Their only choice, strip as many elves as they can until they find the 5 pieces.
This anime is pure comedy! I love all the gags and arguments between Junpei and Celcia. Plus you think that Celcia actually wants her elvin kin to go through all the embarrasment of being stripped by the other 3? I supose as long as no one knows that she is helping them.
Anyway getting back on track. This anime is excellent. The animation is about average. The music is pretty good and so are the voice actors. This is a really great light-hearted anime and is sure to give practically anyone a smile! It's also cool for anyone that likes fantasy or elves with a kind of comedy twist. I would say that about anyone 10 or over could watch this, nothing really bad.
So what are you waiting for? Go out and buy Those Who Hunt Elves today! Note: Get the subtitled version. I've never liked AD Vision's dubbed titles. And I'm usually pretty forgiving on dubs, so that means a lot coming from me.

Last updated Wednesday, July 10 2002. Created Sunday, March 10 2002.

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