So is she actually an elf?
Impression
You know, Elf has all the elements of a perfect tsun female lead in the making. She’s had past history with Masamune, in that he’s been saved by her writing before. They live next to each other. She likes him more than she herself knows, and even though the two always seem like they’re arguing they actually have really good chemistry together. It’s basically a perfect rom-com setup. If only… if only this wasn’t an imouto fetish anime taken to its extremes, where the little sister in question loves panties more than anything else in the world.
Every week, I’m reminded that this is the most degenerate anime airing this season. And every week, I feel a burning shame that it’s probably one of the ones I genuinely enjoy the most. The others are works of actual quality, like Uchouten Kazoku. I like that because it’s really good, from an objective and critical perspective. The setting is wonderful and the narrative is interesting. But this… yeah. I may be blogging this, but if someone asked me in person what I was watching this season, this isn’t the sort of thing I’d very quickly reveal, especially as I don’t have an imouto fetish. I’m serious. Imoutos may be related to and often coupled with lolis, but that’s a happy coincidence at best. I don’t actually like imoutos as a concept which, as I’ve mentioned before, probably has something to do with me actually having an imouto in real life. 2D imoutos are cute, but whenever I see one I’m aware that her cuteness derives purely from the fact that she’s 2D. It’s a cute that gains its cuteness precisely because she’s not real.
Anyway, let’s talk about Elf. This was an Elf episode. I liked her a lot more here than I remember having done in the source material. It definitely felt like her personality (or at least, the better parts of it) shone through a lot better this week than it did when she was in the ASCII Media Works office. On one hand, she’s supposed to represent that small handful of light novel authors who can write super mega-hits and strike it rich without the story itself necessarily being good. On the other, she’s just a young girl who probably doesn’t have many friends her age given her attitude, and is secretly quite happy with having Masamune for company. If you’ve seen Oreimo, and you must have done if you’re still reading these posts and watching Eromanga-sensei, Elf is basically the Kuroneko of this show. Not literally, as they’re totally different in personality. But that’s the role you can tell she’ll have. A potential romantic interest that could derail this very determined incest train. And that’s the thing about the Sagiri route in the end. She’s a hikki, so she’s absolutely limited to the confines of her house. Which might not be so bad given that Masamune lives alone with her, but unfortunately Elf’s house is next door, and Masamune’s always hanging out in her room which just so happens to overlook Sagiri’s own room. Poor Sagiri’s having to hide behind her curtain watching Elf and Masamune get closer every day.
I kind of want her to glare at me with a face of scathing disgust though. Is that wrong?
