Going one layer deeper than the basic gag is the characters themselves. The show is mostly centered on the elf and her keeper, and the two have a great give and take that not only works well in comedic scenes, but also plays into their deeper friendship beautifully. There are a handful of side characters who add some flavor, including other elves and their keepers who have great personalities, and some human friends who I wish we saw more of but all have their own interesting personalities. Similar to "And Yet the Town Moves", this is also a great show that does a nice job showing a tight-knit community and how those communal bonds can make a group stronger, even if nobody outside the shrine really seems to notice how strange their deity really is. The show never goes to full-on tearjerker mode, but there are these really nice subtle melancholy moments stemming from the fact that Elda is immortal but the friends around her aren't and it adds depth to her relationships with everyone.
Then even deeper you have what may be the true purpose of the show: stealth edutainment. Elda came into the "real world" in the Edo period, and frequently relates aspects of the culture of that time to the problem she's facing in the current day. You learn a surprising amount about the history of consumer products and services, along with social trends. My favorite thing I learned is the Emperor really liked outlawing things that were fun and then the citizens would basically find a way to cheese the law and get around it. Good job Edo-Period Japanese people for not letting the man get you down! The history bits are a ton of fun, they remind me of Wilson from Home Improvement telling Tim about some ancient thing, or Tito's "as the ancient Hawaiians used to say" bits on rocket power.
The production value is also excellent. You don't always get amazing visuals from Slice of Life shows barring stuff like DIY or Bocchi, and this show makes it's way into the pantheon of SoL's that are a cut above visually. There's clear effort put into the artwork and character designs and it's not just the standard copy-paste template you tend to see on cheaper productions. Close-ups and facial expressions have a ton of great detail, and the flashback history lessons have their own oldschool historical style that looks great. Beautiful colors and linework abound, and there's even some cool mixed-media stuff going on in the outro (both the intro and outro songs are also bangers). The VA's also nail it and Elda's airy, whispy, delivery is always comic gold.
This is just a good solid show that works at every level, the jokes land, the characters are great, and it gets you to care all while tricking you into learning something. Hopefully we get more in the future.
