We're Living in the Anime Elf Renaissance

We are undergoing a Renaissance of elves in anime. What makes the recent deluge of anime elves so fantastic? Let's discuss.
Chapters:
0:00 Prologue
0:49 Elves in Tolkien
2:08 Elves in Legend of Zelda
2:35 Record of Lodoss War and Deedlit
3:25 Just a Few More Anime Elves
4:07 The Problem with Modern Anime Elves
4:58 Let's Talk About Three Elves...
5:15 Delicious in Dungeon
6:18 Frieren
7:37 Who Wants to Live Forever?
9:00 Let Me Cook....
10:31 Forbidden Knowledge and Detachment from Reality
11:30 Conclusion
This video mentions:
Record of Lodoss War
Frieren
Delicious in Dungeon
Plus-Sized Elf
Legend of Zelda
Re:Zero
Lord of the Rings
The Hobbit
Chobits
Elfen Lied

[@swtormadness]

I also don't see the harm in what Elfuda does. She is actually directly contributing to breaking the stereotype that elves can only be skinny and I'm ALL FOR IT. Eat processed food, enjoy yourself, Elfuda. I don't mind at all. Who needs fantasy world anyway? Here you have cars and planes!

[@agramuglia]

Elfuda is wonderful and deserves to be protected.

[@swtormadness]

@@agramuglia Do they have fries in fantasy world? I doubt it! On more serious note, the story seems interesting, but I'd probably not be able to withstand the bodyshaming you mentioned in one of your TikToks. It's such a shame that a manga with the best body diversity has such a flaw in form of body shaming. BTW I wonder what people would choose: access to our food or fantasy world? There was recently an isekai story in which guy's special skill was the ability to buy food via Japanese internet and it got transported to the fantasy world he was stuck in. It really drove the point home that a lot of us wouldn't be able to stay a day in fantasy world if we didn't have access to all the best food.

[@kurathchibicrystalkitty5146]

I'm so glad that Frieren is getting more love! I have to wait 'til the physical Blu-Ray release to watch it [hopefully sometime later this year], but I like hearing people talk about it in the meantime. Elves are one of my favourite fantasy creatures, and it frustrates me a bit when creators don't do anything interesting with them, and just copy-paste everyone else's versions.

[@KarelPKerezman]

Thank you for pointing out that while we've had elves all along (figuratively speaking) we don't often get much intentionality to the choice to make a character an elf. ("And this haremette has pointy ears! Isn't that cute?" and/or "This haremette has forest magic!") Frieren is the poster child(-sized thousand-year-old gremlin) for how to make What She Is integral to the story and everything she does.

[@agramuglia]

That's the thing i feel people miss out on. Elves are more than just pointy eared fellows. They're meant to be SO MUCH more...

[@thetribunaloftheimaginatio5247]

I'll take "Elf Who Can't Fit Through The Portal Back Home 'Cos She Likes French-Fries And Can't Be Bothered To Work Off The Pounds" over The Golden One's ideal of Elves, namely "Ubermensch With Pointy Ears." Forget elves as characters with personalities and goals and aspirations... nah, Elves are better when they KNOW they're better than you, and can only be bothered to interact with "mere mortals" when it benefits them in some way we can't hope to understand because we just can't wrap our primitive monkey-brains around it. Lars Goldieswole likes it when Elves treat humans the way humans like himself- a lily-white Swede- treat anyone with extra melanin in their skin "who hail from bountiful lands far to the south that produce weaklings who can't compare to the Nordic demigod." "Plus-Sized Elf" spits in the eye of the notion of Elves as "Better Than Humans Because Elves." And I'm here for that.

[@agramuglia]

100% agree on all counts

[@rb1691]

I was muchly intrigued by Wendy Piri's Elfquest graphic novels in the 1970's-1990's

[@animeator]

Deedlit is... One of few characters I wish I could actually talk to, because if I could understand half of what goes on between those ears....

[@bluebaron6858]

Interesting to see whats happening in the anime world currently.

[@Laezar1]

3:32 is it tsubasa reservoir chronicle or is it one of those other parallel universes with the same characters but not exactly?

[@nobody4248]

So that's why studies forbidden magic. A necromancer that doesn't want to outlive others.

[@larsbrown9933]

My only experience with Deedlit is beating the dungeon game using the chainsaw. Does she get a chainsaw in Record of Lodoss War? Because damn I need more of that.

[@agramuglia]

I don't recall any chainsaws in Lodoss War. I think all fantasy can be improved with one.

[@SylemGistoe]

This is awesome, I had actually been thinking about much the same... I really need to get on watching all the shows talked about in this, really.

[@agramuglia]

Plus-sized Elf will be coming sometime later this year, so no one has seen that anime....yet.

[@SylemGistoe]

@agramuglia oh you can guarantee I'm waiting for that one- I mean, what? Lmao.

[@Kuudere-Kun]

On the subject of being that are not called Elves but have most of the essential qualities you could have mentioned the film Maquia or the Cetra form FFVII.

[@agramuglia]

There were a few almost-elves i was considering mentioning, but the Cetra weren't one of them. That's a huge oversight on my part...

[@suto5704]

Great video

[@byttercandy]

3:33 Tsubasa Chronicle 😁

[@agramuglia]

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR SENIOR DISCOUNT

[@temporalwolf7054]

This is a good excuse to say that if you enjoy the existential tragedy that Freiren explores, play Lost Odyssey. I am no longer asking.

[@agramuglia]

Guess i will need to play it....

[@stevencontreras84]

The good anime elf*

[@wiel5908]

>makes video criticizing the concept of evil r4ces in fiction >proceed to like the anime that has a evil r4ce as villain the jokes write themselves

[@agramuglia]

This in reference to Frieren? I have a whole section detailing them in the prior video.

[@wiel5908]

@@agramuglia _Sem Tempo Irmão_

[@SaiyanHeretic]

Nobody talked about Otaku Elf last year. Elda deserves better than to just be a footnote, now that elves are mainstream again. 🥲 Also, I was always preferred Pirotess.