Now that the initial setup is out of the way, it’s pretty much the norm for Kazuhiro and Marie to alternate between their respective worlds. Whenever Kazuhiro works his day job, Marie bides her time by watching television to learn Japanese. That I admit is a funny development considering that we the audience hear her speaking Japanese just fine. It’s easy to take it for granted that this is not actually the case in-universe. Knowing light novels and anime, Welcome to Japan could very easily had Marie watching a bunch of anime and turning into an otaku NEET in the process so I appreciate the restraint exercised here.
After dinner, Kazuhiro and Marie return to the latter’s world. Their adventure this time around is to explore a pyramid in the desert region for rare magic stones Marie can use for her sorcerer studies. Good thing Kazuhiro has unlocked the ability to fast travel (I’m not even kidding here). How ironic that the scenes set in our world are likely going to be set in Japan only but with the fantasy segments, the characters are free to go wherever they please. Not that I blame the original creator for sticking with that they know for the Earth side of the story but the scope does feel a bit lopsided now.
I got to say, this show might be the first time in a while where the video game status screen cliche doesn’t annoy the hell out of me. Usually, I really hate it because it’s a lazy means of providing shorthand into the worldbuilding. Technically speaking, that still is the case in this show but at least the show is using it to push the characters’ chemistry with one another. Kazuhiro and Marie show each other their statutes as a sign of trust and there’s some humor to the scene as well, such as Marie making Kazuhiro not say anything mean about her stats.
At some point, some aquatic monsters called kuppas ambush our leading duo. I’ll be frank: the ensuing fight scene is not very good. Part of that is the animation quality but in Zero-G’s defense, I’m not sure if they have much to work with. It’s just Kazuhiro spamming a short-range teleportation skill to get the jump on the kuppas, with Marie’s fire-breathing Pokémon helping out. Even if the fight was worth writing home about, having action in this show just feels out of place. I get that this is an adventure anime but I much prefer the more peaceful resolution provided by the previous adventure.
The commotion attracts the attention of some bandits. The leader takes even more interest when he uses his X-ray vision and notices the dragon-related items in Kazuhiro’s possession (nice bit of continuity there). The bandits then force a catboy they’ve imprisoned summon a serpent to attack Kazuhiro and Marie. Lacking the firepower to fight back, Kazuhiro lets the serpent kill him and Marie so that they’re both transported back to Japan. Funnily enough, this actually screws over bandits’ plan to rob them as their bodies and possessions disappear when they dimension hop.
Obviously, Kazuhiro and Marie need to think of a solution to defeat the bandits…but that can wait since it’s now Kazuhiro’s day off and Marie needs to see more of the city. I’m all for more sightseeing but it is a little weird how these two are giving their predicament as much urgency as the playable cast of a JRPG. Maybe the detour will give them some inspiration on how to tackle the whole bandit situation but that remains to be seen and it’s not like the last adventure did anything like that.
Watch Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf! on Crunchyroll
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