The first two episodes of the series managed to be funny and engaging all at once. There's an instantly classic scene involving a giant golem and a cannon - I won't spoil it for you, but needless to say, it makes renting the first volume worth the price of admission. After the second episode, however, I began to ask myself: "How long can this really stay funny? Is this all they do, wander around and make the same 'Take off your clothing!' joke in every episode?" My questions were soon answered - Those Who Hunt Elves manages to be painfully repetitious, following a skewed version of the monster-of-the-week formula used in most magical girl shows. To top it all off, the series' animation is embarrassingly bad - stiff and stilted, with a very low frame rate and lots of slow pans across stills. At a curt 12 episodes, Those Who Hunt Elves may be a short series; but sitting through more than two episodes feels like an eternity.

Each of the three protagonists has a valuable skill, and they evolve into a good team, and their characters are slightly developed over the episodes. Plenty of action, more comic than dramatic, unfold as their journey progress. Their bizarre quest makes them enemies, while their fighting skills win them friends, and their plight keeps the audience's sympathy. The simplicity of their quest, and their approach to it, keeps the story simple and shallow as well.