Episode 6 — “The Hindsight Bones and the Snowy Dragon”
Plus-Sized Elf Makes Me Go Heh.
The progression of time in Plus-Sized Elf emphasizes how the anime is a gag comedy without an overarching plot. We should turn on the show, enjoy jiggly body parts, and laugh at the jokes through an isekai fantasy lens. It’s been months since Satero invaded Naoe’s apartment and his dreams, meaning the osteopath has had a steady stream of monster girls in his home. Has anyone’s relationship with him changed? No. Romance? No.
At least the guy isn’t lonely, but it appears he never had many visitors before the monster girls started watching over him. How do you explain to buddies and girlfriends the presence of fat chicks with strange ears? Naoe never had to. That’s odd in a drama but not for a comedy setup. Just laugh, ogle, and jiggle the Jello from Plus-Sized Elf.
Pudgy Skeletons in Plus-Sized Elf?
I like how we only know Raika the Lycanthrope’s name because she refers to herself in the third person. It’s already winter in Naoe’s city. Will Elfuda gain even more weight from french fries during the colder months? The monster girls still protect Naoe from Satero (last week’s Plus-Sized Elf episode). Raika keeps her bones under Naoe’s bed, which means he doesn’t keep his porn down there. Ack! She brought back a skull! Did Raika kill someone?
Hahaha! When Naoe complained about Raika crawling under his bed, he claimed it was because it was dusty. If so, that explains why Raika took so long to collect 206 bones for a complete skeleton before Naoe discovered it. Raika doesn’t eat people but does nibble bones. Oho! The skeleton is alive! See? Raika is a good werewolf. Oku explains how their parallel world in Plus-Sized Elf conflates undead skeletons with Japanese ghost myths. Unfinished business or grudges animate skeletons rising from the grave!
The skeleton introduces herself as “Honeda,” another Plus-Sized Elf inside joke. In Japanese, the “bo” sound comes from voicing the “ho” kanji (ほ, ホ), so ボネ (bone) becomes “hone” if you remove the dakuten (the diagonal strokes denoting a voiced sound). Honeda’s name (ホネダ) is the pun version of “There’s a bone.” Honeda thanks Raika for her hard work. She’s so pleasant, so how can Honeda hold grudges? Ah, betrayal, death, and despair of a mage. She returned as a skeleton, walked through the gate to Naoe’s town, and Truck-kun spread her bones all around. But Raika put her back together, and Honeda intends to enjoy her new undead life in another world. Reverse isekai again!
Thicc Skeleton Exercises, No Dieting
What’s a skinny skeleton doing in Plus-Sized Elf? Oh. Will we have jokes about anorexia? Oh, good. Honeda has pudgy magical flesh. She was a beautiful mage! So, was Honeda (Kaori Maeda — Ririsa Amano from 2.5 Jigen no Ririsa) thicc before she died, or put on weight as a skeleton? Now Naoe can join the story as a personal trainer. Why is Honeda slouching? Could it be the heavy weight of her magical tatas? Naoe’s protective monster girls demonstrate strength training stretches for the lower back and shoulders. Yay! No more back hip flab on Honeda.
Uh oh. Honeda made friends and enjoyed her time in another world. No more regrets! It’s time to ascend to heaven. Her human body confirms her former pudginess. The Plus-Sized Elf mid-season episodes skimp on the nudity. Now she’s a slim Fairy! Alas, poor Honeda, we hardly knew ye. Hahaha! She came back! Honeda regrets leaving her new friends, so she’s a skeleton again. Will she stay thin? How does this work? Naoe wants his sad feelings back.
Smol Dragon, Thicc Tail
Did it snow in the forest where Elfuda came from? She’s in her element. Kuroeda, not so much. Dark Elves must not wear much clothing in their land. Kuroeda is a much better dresser than Elfuda. Ha! It was only a matter of time before Plus-Sized Elf referenced stereotypical Japanese aphrodisiacs. What does Kuroeda use dried lizards for in her magic? And why does she have it in her pocket when she’s out and about with Naoe? For a little sprinkle in his food when he’s not looking? Bad luck for her. Naoe hates reptiles. What a prologue to finding a hibernating dragon in a snow drift!
Dragons speak telepathically in the Plus-Sized Elf anime, but you can also hear their thoughts. The smol dragonette wants to eat meat, lose weight, and is hungry. Reptiles, being cold-blooded, become lethargic in the winter. So why did the smol dragon venture out? She’s desperate to reduce her thicc tail! Smol, thicc dragons like Ilulu (Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid) are showing up more often. Aha! Kuroeda thinks she can milk money from a dragon hoard. Remember: the Dark Elf works at a convenience store because she needs to pay for her magic research materials. And Elfuda can buy more french fries! But will Naoe, the Dragon Slenderer, help for free?
Plus-Sized Elf vs. Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid
Gonda (another play on Japanese words, as in ドラゴンだ — dragon da → gon da — there’s a dragon) needs to hide her tail because Naoe freaks out at reptiles. This won’t end well. Naoe doesn’t even bat an eye at strange monster girls in his house or telepathic voices in his head. Elfuda’s blonde hair matches her airheaded personality. She can’t stop talking about Gonda’s reptile and dragon nature. Kuroeda keeps her eye on the dragon hoard prize. Gonda gives Kuroeda palpitations, too. Okay. Time to be quiet and exercise.
Oga has a problem belly from drinking too much beer, so her exercises should apply to Gonda. I’d like it if Plus-Sized Elf showed the hip-rolling exercises from the reverse perspective. Whoops! Naoe is not a fan of dragon tails. But his advice works, so Gonda agrees to pay. Shiny toilet gems? Human world hoarding isn’t as profitable as the other one.
Honeda and Gonda take their turns in the end credits. Gonda’s bikini and beach ball will have to wait for summer.
Plus-Sized Elf (Elf-san wa Yaserarenai.) streams uncensored on Hidive in Japanese audio and English subtitles.
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Will you ever look at undead skeletons in isekai fantasies the same way again? In my mind, Honeda dresses her Fairy ghost body around her bones. Now, I can ogle her without turning my brain into a pretzel at the contradiction of a plump skeleton. Do you prefer a svelte Honeda or her thicc version? Let us know in the comments below!
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