400 years ago, Elda the elf was summoned by Tokugawa Ieyasu and enshrined in Tsukishima shrine. “Otaku Elf” follows her modern life with Koito, a high school girl and novice shrine maiden that grew up at the shrine. This work is an easygoing slice-of-life comedy that puts a spin on the isekai genre. Instead of being transported from the real world to a fantasy world, Elda was summoned from a fantasy world to the real world. The story is usually told from Koito’s perspective. Elda and Koito are polar opposites – Elda is a 621-year-old gloomy shut-in and hardcore otaku, while Koito is a bright and active 16-year-old that isn't nerdy at all. Koito is at the mercy of Elda’s excessive otaku interests and anachronistic common sense, always playing the “straight man” (tsukkomi) to Elda’s “funny man” (boke). The story is centered around Elda, Koito, and their interactions with Koito’s friends and family, as well as the shrine’s parishioners. Although it is set in modern Japan, the story also features other elves that have been summoned and enshrined elsewhere. Like Elda, they are paired up with a young human shrine maiden and have a similar comedy dynamic.
Koganei Koito works as the teenage shrine maiden at the Takamimi Shrine, catering to the whims of its resident: a centuries-old elf who loves video games as much as she hates going outside! Line up your offerings for the otaku elf - some energy drinks, chips and video games will do nicely - and watch her new friends scramble to keep up!