Farming Life Episode 4 gives Hiraku the ultimate isekai cliche: a harem of elf girls, almost to the point of parody.
The following contains spoilers for Episode 4 of Farming Life in Another World, "Waterways Make Life Feel Complete," now streaming on HIDIVE.
Farming Life in Another World is one of several isekai titles of the Winter 2023 anime season, and so far, this iyashikei farming anime has proven to be one of the season's weaker offerings. Farming Life does very little to stand out in the isekai crowd, and it also seems afraid to take risks. In fact, it's formulaic to the point of making fun of itself.
Episode 4 is a good example of that, with protagonist Hiraku Machio simply moving on to new farming projects while not revealing anything new about his character. His new friends and allies aren't much better, and Episode 4 even embraces the worn-out harem cliche of isekai. Anime fans might joke about an isekai lead having a harem of attractive elf girls, but Farming Life Episode 4 has the nerve to actually make it happen.
Farming Life in Another World's fourth episode continues what Episode 3 started, with Hiraku Machio and his elf maiden squad working together to build up their forest farm to cultivate new crops. These seven elves are used to a hard life on the road, so they're good with their hands and can build things better than Hiraku can, including making things with metal. These elf maidens are invaluable to Hiraku's farm's success, but Episode 4 still can't resist the urge to turn them into lazy fan service. This fan service may be tame by anime standards and doesn't involve steamy mishaps like someone slipping and falling onto their lover in the bath, but even so, it makes for a weak episode.
Aside from helping Hiraku build new things or commenting on Hiraku's rice crops, the seven elf girls have little to do but serve as eye candy, which is a ridiculous waste. Even if they don't have memorable personalities or magical powers so far, surely Farming Life can do more with the seven elves than make an obligatory harem out of them. Granted, the elf girls aren't fighting over Hiraku or trying to seduce him or vice versa, but Farming Life is still following the isekai harem formula, and no anime fan will be impressed.
Aside from a short narrative from a dog named Kuro, the episode ends with the elf girls, Lulucy Lu the vampire lady and Tia the angel joining Hiraku in the steamy bath house, and it's nothing isekai hasn't done before. It's like Episode 4 is trying to remind its viewers that yes, this is a basic and unoriginal anime after all — but it doesn't have to be that way. The narrative has planted other storytelling seeds that can and should have a chance to bloom.
It's already clear that Farming Life in Another World will never join the ranks of truly great, iconic isekai titles like Re:Zero, Overlord and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. However, that's no excuse for the series to stop making an effort. Instead of defaulting to predictable clichés like elf girl harems and bland self-insert protagonists, Farming Life can and should carve out its own identity with its mild but appreciable strengths as a pleasant, constructive farming story. The first few episodes have already laid the groundwork for this, so Farming Life should stop wasting time with token isekai harems and cultivate its potential.
Farming Life can be a very scaled-down Reincarnated as a Slime and give itself an inspiring, wholesome tone by having Hiraku give other people and animals a chance to start over on his farm. Rimuru Tempest often did this in Slime, recruiting many different monsters and sometimes forgiving or redeeming them in the process. In fact, he built an entire monster nation where all monsters may co-exist in peace and tolerance in a new life together, and Hiraku can do that on a more modest scale here in Farming Life. He already did that with the wolves and Lulucy Lu, so he should do the same with future characters. This can lead to more substantial character arcs that don't just fall back on isekai clichés.
Louis Kemner has been a fan of Japanese animation since 1997, when he discovered Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z in elementary school. Now he’s a bigger anime/manga fan than ever, and is ready to share what he knows with readers worldwide. He graduated high school in 2009 and received his Bachelor’s in creative writing from UMKC in 2013, then put his skills to work in 2019 with CBR.com. He’s always looking for a wonderful new anime to watch or manga series to read.
Farming Life in Another World: Episode 4 Gives Hiraku a Cliche Elf … – CBR – Comic Book Resources
