There’s really nothing too complicated about Isekai Ojisan, it seems to me. It’s actually one of the simplest formulas around – a lot of comic riffs on the same basic premise. A gag comedy, basically, albeit one that benefits from the gag being expansive enough to avoid too much repetition. But because of that simplicity (right down to the animation) it relies on the stuff at the margins to really sing, and one of the most important is the cast. It’s hard to overstate how important having Tomatsu Haruka, Aoi Yuuki, and Komatsu Mikako in the three main female roles is. They’re so good, all three of them – among the very best in the business.
While the production values are nothing special (and indeed it was widely rumored that the production itself has been something of a dumpster fire), it gets one thing very much right. The way the reaction shots of those three characters are drawn perfectly complements the performances, and vice-versa. That’s why simple slice of life stuff like the cooling spell can deliver comedically as well as they do. It actually occurred to me that Uncle might be trolling with that whole business of the spirits wiping out humanity’s food supply if they weren’t given a cow’s head in tribute. But that’s not really his style. Fortunately the spirits were willing to accept a fish head (a much easier get) for services rendered.
That weird bit with Ojisan and Takafumi turning into dinosaurs was mysteriously ignored for a while, until Fujimiya mentioned it in passing. And it turns out those were dragons (okay…). Uncle cautions the young ‘uns that a transformation left too long can become permanent – and promptly pulls up a memory video of it happening to him. He wound up spending a month as a dragon after transforming into one to look cool, and only the intervention of tsundere Elf turned him back. Although it’s actually “Princess” Tsundere Elf – though Ojisan declares that being a princess is not that uncommon in fantasy realms (which if you stick to games, I suppose is true).
That’s all this ep was, really – a string of gags around stuff like that. Like Uncle rescuing Elf from a creditor, then pissing her off even more by offering a ring matching her own to the guy. And Uncle busting into Elf and Mabel’s room at the inn to examine their bellies (which Elf really didn’t seem to mind at all – once it was her turn, that is). That was to check for evidence of what seems to be “Alien” – and the only one actually infected is Uncle himself, which puts the kids off fresh fish for lunch. What leads to the epilogue, a totally gratuitous pizza scene which is only there for the lulz. A very fitting way to end an episode of this show.
