Anime: Elfen Lied 184b3u

Critic’s Log - Earthdate: October 31, 2013. Review #64: Elfen Lied

There are some things that have to be seen to believe, but in spite of that… there are things that are seen that cannot be unseen. This is Elfen Lied. (pronounced “El-fen Leed”)

The Diclonius, a mutated human that is said to be selected by God and will eventually become the destruction of mankind, possesses two horns in their heads, and has a "sixth sense" which gives it telekinetic abilities. Due to this dangerous lethal power, they have been captured and isolated in laboratories by the government. Lucy, a young and psychotic Diclonius, manages to break free of her confines and brutally murders most of the guards in the laboratory, only to get shot in the head as she makes her escape. She survives and manages to drift along to a beach, where two teenagers named Kouta and Yuka discover her. Having lost her memories, she was named after the only thing that she can now say, "Nyuu," and the two allow her to stay at Kouta's home. However, it appears that the evil "Lucy" is not dead just yet…

To be technical, this is a Studio Arms production, he he…Arms. Considering what’s in Elfen Lied, this is kinda funny. Anyway, Elfen Lied is probably the most recognizable show that Studio Arms has produced and that’s a real damn shame. The animation is mostly alright and decently polished, but it’s not at a high caliber… but that’s okay. My only complaint is some of the character designs and some of the backgrounds displayed in Elfen Lied. Overall, the animation is pretty decent but nothing more than that.

The music by Kayo Konishi, Moka, and Yukio Kondoo is the strongest factor in Elfen Lied. It fits the right tone when appropriate and makes the terror and horror extremely effective even though the amounts of nudity was a bit excessive. Considering the events that take place in Elfen Lied, it compliments the show and may even make the viewer emotional at times. The most talked about topic regarding the soundtrack is the Opening theme “Lilium”, it is a very damn good opening. It is a beautiful theme, even with it’s somber, melancholic tone. The opening is also a very artsy opening too as well as it pays homages to some art pieces. It is a very memorable opening as well. There is a motif in the soundtrack that has to do with the opening and that is fine. However, if there is one specific part of the soundtrack that does not fit anywhere, it would be the ending theme “Be your Girl”. I know it may have something to do with the contrast of Lucy and Nyu, but the song is forgettable and it’s a bit out of place. But regardless, the soundtrack is really good in this show.

Now as for the voice acting, The Japanese cast is ok. Chihiro Suzuki is pretty generic as Kouta, Mamiko Noto is ok as Yuka despite having hundreds of anime roles and video game roles in Japan. Sanae Kobayashi is a noteworthy performance as Lucy/Nyu, and Osamu Hosoi is ok as Kurama. If there are any seiyus worth noting about, it would be Jouji Nakata as Bando and he has had better roles before and since. Now as for the Dub, you are going to be in for a disappointment on this one. Adan Conlon was terrible as Kouta, Nancy Novotny is hit and miss as Yuka. Kira-Vincent Davis is noteworthy as Lucy/Nyu and probably the only good role in the dub, and Jay Hickman is hit and miss as Kurama. The Dub also has John Swasey and Luci Christian but they had better roles than this anime. Jin Ho Chung was the ADR director of Princess Tutu and that had a great dub, but this is his lowpoint of ADR direction. So stick with the subs here.

As far as characters are concerned, This may be a questionable factor. Kouta is pretty bland at timest, but at least he is somewhat relatable. Yuka was a bit bland at first until you see a questionable side of her that might be a little uneasy at first but yet, it’s an interesting thought-provoking idea to some extent. Mayu is an ok character, Lucy is a pretty interesting character until the end, but the personality transition between Lucy and Nyu is kind of hit and miss. Nana is a pretty good character for this show. Kurama however is a character that is interesting from start to finish and Mariko, well… she got a few episodes and that’s it, oh and Bando is pretty one-dimensional at times. My main problem with Elfen Lied is that some characters are not fully developed and a few are pretty close. Which leads me to the story.

The story in Elfen Lied is indeed a tragic one, It actually was somewhat interesting. But I should warn you that if you do not like a heavy amount of gore, you may want to avoid this one, because during the first 10 minutes, the viewer is presented just that. The music does serve these moments well, but this anime is pretty damn intense too… But does it hold up? Yes and no. The emotional moments are really good and is a good reason to watch this show, but here’s the problem. The story isn’t really written well at times, and this is evident with the development of characters. The ending is a bit rushed, but not terrible. There was a point where the show was somewhat a bit boring, but that was for a little bit. Another thing that did bother me was that there was a lot of exposition. However, some of the themes in Elfen Lied do stand out, but they are not used to their fullest potential and this is where I think Elfen Lied does suffer from. Just because it’s gore level is really intense doesn’t make it compelling fiction, but it does tackle the human condition at times but not used effectively except for some moments. The final episode is pretty interesting, but it does have some flaws. This anime is not meant for those with a weak stomach, as for recommendation. I will leave that entirely up to you.

Elfen Lied was available by ADV films and it is out of print, the manga by Lynn Okamato was never released in the United States despite being released in other countries. An OVA that is simply known as “Episode 10.5” was available by ADV Films alongside the show, like I said… it is out of print.

With all that said, Elfen Lied is a very notable anime with its level of gore and blood. It does not have a well-written story, it does not have well written characters, but it manages to have a noteworthy soundtrack that proves to be listenable without the show, but it’s animation is pretty decent for the most part. This is definitely an anime worth looking into but don’t get your hopes up. I will say that this is an optional viewing after 2 episodes or so.

I give Elfen Lied a 6.3 out of 10, it is DECENT!

Feel free to leave a comment.

At first, this show just looked like a bloodbath, repeatedly so. Then after a the first few episodes, an intricate story develops relating the past of a college boy and a girl he met when he was younger. I would not classify this as a horror, just a drama with a lot of blood. That being said, those that are opposed to gore should not watch this.

Animation:
Personally, I feel that Kota needs to be drawn in a slightly more mature fashion if he is a college student. Otherwise, the drawing is very detailed in general and they do not spare you the details when limbs are chopped off so little ones stay away! If you're okay with a lot of red liquid then the animation is very good, especially for 2K4. I particularly liked the detailing of the background.

Sound:
As with the animation, do not expect to be spared sound effects. The sounds of ripping limbs and blood splattering are quite realistic.

As for the OP/ED, the OP is very unique in the sound as well as the drawing. The OP theme is used throughout the anime as a music box tune that Kota liked when he was little. The minor chords resonate perfectly with the dark tone of the series and greatly accentuate the atmosphere. I don't recall the ED being anything nearly as spectacular.

As for voice acting, all the characters were done very well (of course I have a soft spot for Nyuu).

Story:
Kota and his cousin are wandering on the beach when... they discover a naked female with a head injury. Thus is the beginning of his memory of what happened the last time he visited the particular city.

Other characters are introduced and the story eventually reaches a point where Kota re his past and how the diclonius girl he found changed his life. And what's more, now there are people hunting down the escaped diclonius girl.
I thought it just a little convenient for Kota to be living in essentially a hotel with his cousin (family restaurant) but otherwise the story makes perfect sense. The placement of the episodes is perfect and the choice of when to divulge Kota's past was very well done. Don't expect all your questions to be answered by the end of the series as the conclusion doesn't complete the manga.

Character:
There are not that many characers in this show but all of them are very important. Don't get too attached to all the characters because not all of them may be around at the end.

Nyuu is the literal definition of cute. Her character alone puts this +3 over an average anime. By contrast, Lucy is sadistic, and Kota is her only hope for the humans. She has a very sad past full of being pursued for being different and as most other diclonius's, she cracks.

Kota is overly nice, because of an event that happened in the past. And because of that, he tries to help all females that need help. Therefore, if you don't like nice do-gooders you won't like Kota. There is a little bit of humor/romance between Kota and the girls that eventually him but it is overshadowed by the conflict between Lucy and the people trying to capture her.

Value:
I had trouble placing the genre on this. On the one hand it is a gore-filled thriller, on the other hand it is drama about a boy and his lost past. However, there are so many themes that are well-integrated into such a small and well-animated series that it doesn't matter. This show is definitely worth re-watching. Don't be surprised if you pick up more subtleties your second through.

This is not a conventional review as I usually write. All there is to be said about this series has already been said from multiple angles in all the wooping amounts of reviews this title got. This will be more of a meta-thinking essay on the series than an actual analysis of the various sections of the anime. So if you expect info on what the series is all about, stop reading and look elsewhere. The following text will be quite boring if you don’t like stories AROUND a series rather than ABOUT a series.

…

If you are reading this line I assume you are interested. So take a deep breath because here comes a hell of a wall of text. Be warned that I hate this series and I normally use the harshest words against it but for the sake of reviewing I will be as polite and objective as I can. That is a huge sacrifice on my part!

There are thousands of anime made throughout the decades but only a few manage to be engraved deeply in our memories. Fond childhood memories is a main factor as so is the first time you come to witness or experience something new. Series like Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon and even Pokemon are not famous just because of lots of marketing (although that did play an important role too). They are famous because they were the best of what the tv had to offer back then. There may be far better titles in each genre but since we never got to watch those back when we were greenhorns, they never managed to transmit the same feelings years later when we actually got our hands on them. We may be itting their superiority over the previous favs but they still weight less in our minds.

And this is what Elfen Lied is. A series most of us watched as greenhorns and that is where most of the mythos and the rave around it come from to the most part. You see, back when it aired anime were still not so well received by most young people. Most saw a bit of Dragonball, a bit of Pokemon, a bit of Sailor Moon and thought that this was the extend of what an anime can get to. Now as much as you may have liked those series, you MUST it that they appear quite silly for someone who first watches them and that is enough to never be bothered with them.

And then Elfen Lied (henceforth called EL) comes along and brakes that assumption. True, there were already violent anime airing, as there were anime full of nude, full of interesting story ideas and nice visuals. But EL happened to have mixed all of the above in the same package. For example, let’s look at the first 10 minutes of the first episode. The opening song and video are haunting and artistic, intriguing and eye-catching. Then we see in just a few minutes a massacre of the highest possible gore and splatter you could ever dream of witnessing back then, backed up by a scary naked woman wearing a demonic metal mask and horns. You even see a person who acts all silly assuming to be the main comic relief character throughout the series to be eventually brutally murdered in seconds. WOW, HOLLY SMOKES, WHAT IS THIS??? Instant hook! And here starts the rave of the series. Sex and violence always sell and EL happened to have an extremely amount of both. Also, there wasn’t anything remotely similar airing on mainstream channels back then and that made the impact to be tenfold.

There are many who can say that is was Dragonball who got them hooked to anime. Others that it was Naruto or Sailor Moon. But all these people already were ready to accept the weirdness of the Japanese culture. They had their mindset ready to watch silly boys throwing energy beams and klutz girls with magic wands. There were not many of those around, I guarantee you that as I was one of them. EL happened to hook to anime a far more broad group of people, who until then only saw anime as silly and childish. But splatter, nude, a haunting intro and a story full of misery and social issues around cruelness? That was so political incorrect that drew people in by the thousands. Because after all, the more political incorrect something is, the more attractive it appears to young people. And let’s face it, all other anime at that time had the archetype of the stupid teenager helping innocent people and defeating bad monsters. EL was nothing like that. Everyone was either crazy or evil; there were no clear good guys and bad guys. Plus, it was the first series that directly presented on mainstream channels in the west a world where humans are not good by default and are tormented by monsters. No sir, here the humans are sadistic little bastards who like tormenting little girls and are being slaughtered like pigs as revenge. Even children and women were not spared! When was the last time they showed even women and children being killed? Heck, even kicking puppies was quite cruel and rare back then.

So as you understand, it was all so original and extreme back then most immediately fell in love with it for being so damn different. And needless to say, thanks to it the anime communities worldwide were doubled in a few years. “Anime are cool; look what they show” many were saying and showing scenes of the series to their friends, not afraid to be called geeks anymore because it was so damn violent and sexy it could not be labeled nerdy. And many of those friends actually became fans themselves and got to bring in more of their friends to the gang. As petty as it sounds having gore and sadism to be the magnet of interest, it is a fact that in order to be an anime fan you just gotta love that sort of shit. It is a fact…

Now let me make it clear that in the following years all the elements of EL were copied in following series. Mainstream anime nowadays are far more sexual and violent, something that EL helped visualizing thanks to its gargantuan fandom. People wanted sex and violence and that is what they got. Open any recent anime and there is little to no chance to not see nude, splatter, lolis and all the sick stuff successful series like EL helped to establish.

So far so good, sounds like the best anime in existence, right? … Not by a longshot really. It does feel shocking and different and special if you are a newbie in the field without any previous exposure to this sort of anime but otherwise it feels quite ridiculous by itself if you are already a veteran viewer. As I was the first time I watched it. You see, I got to watch far more dark and brutal titles since I was 6; many years prior to watching this anime. How is that possible you ask? Well, it is simple, adults back it the 80’s couldn’t imagine an animated series to be violent so they pretty much had no age indicator on the VHS titles. Everything was labeled “for kids” and was placed on the same shelf. So this is why I was watching fairy tales on one moment and heads jettisoned away the exact next. Yes, I got to watch Birth, Windaria, Choujin Locke and Nayuta before I was even 8. Anyone familiar with those really old titles will easily ask why I didn’t become a serial killer by being exposed to such gargantuan amounts of violence in such a tender age. Ok, I it, those movies affected me to a great extend and now I am this loli-lover, Angry Video HS Nerd you all tolerate through my reviews. What I mean is that I was already exposed to far more sinister stuff way before EL and guess what, it didn’t seem worth not even half of what everyone was raving about. Because the shock value was low.

And here is where this series most aims at in order to impress. Shock value. The more it shocks you, the better it appears to be. Because without it, it feels as silly as watching Goku eating a mountain of food without gaining a single pound.

Let’s get now to more conventional analysis, starting with the animation. The intro song is marvelous and artistic, a very good initial impression. But the rest of the series is actually more about bright colors and cute albeit crude character figures than actual quality. The bright colors are actually a smart move as they make the splatter scenes to appear even more shocking. You wouldn’t expect so much violence in a series with cheery colors. At the same time they give that harem fuzzy feeling of multicolored hair bimbos doing silly stuff all over the place. It helps to hook you by the extreme amounts of fan service it has. There are panty shots and boobs almost every 5 minutes, while underage girls are most of the time shown being tortured. Yeah, great eye catcher stuff for sadists.

Still, the actual amount of detail given to character figures is quite simple and almost crude, as the girls have ridiculously huge eyes and simple face structure, while the gore scenes themselves are not really paying attention to body anatomy. This of course sounds as peanuts as you can get a boner by even two spheres that are supposed to be boobs as well as being shocked by 5 fishsticks which are supposed to be fingers, being severed from a hand. So although the quality of the animation is not really high, it gets the message across even if it was just wireframes.

The music part is a threshold. The opening songs is amongst the best music pieces in anime history while most of everything else in it are subpar and forgettable. The dialogues themselves are retarded as hell but it is all part of the “so extreme it is no longer stupid” feeling of the series. If there are two words I clearly from the series, that is “Nyu” and “AAAARGH”. The rest were nonsense I have deleted from my mind as the story I will now criticize is for me one pig pile of steaming manure.

Ok, the story is essentially about humans being sick bastards who like tormenting little girls in an attempt to not be exterminated by a new race of horny (literally) red haired lolis which are genetically created and programmed to kill everything that moves. So, the story gets more complicated when the female ringleader of those lolis has convenient memory loses and turns from a heartless killer to a playful pussycat everytime the scriptwriter wants to prevent the story from ending. Also, the characters keep behaving in the most ludicrous way possible as means to not end the whole mess in 10 seconds by implementing common sense. And if you don’t believe me, think of this:

“Hey, mister police officer, I found a naked girl on the beach. Better take care of her because I am a male teenager living alone and can’t just take her home where anything can happen.”

There, see, he just took her home and didn’t do anything to her, despite being defenseless and amnesiac, all excused by the fact that he was very pure in heart … and missing a dick. Then follows a long line of enemy waves who want to capture Lucy, the ringleader. But are all so damn stupid, they can’t even breathe without chocking to death. Imagine sending in a sadistic military dude to capture Lucy. He will be talking for half an hour about what a bastard he is instead of just capturing her, until Lucy conveniently gains back her memory, cuts him to pieces and then conveniently forgets everything again. Then imagine a girl who was being molested by her father and another horny girl who was almost killed by Lucy, to be accepted in Kouta, the dickless boy, in his house. Supposed, they are safer in the house where Lucy kills someone every now and then than just going to the police. Or the police themselves being so autistic they never do anything about the dozens of people who are being found in pieces right outside of that house. Wait, that could be because they are in league with the villains, right? … Sure, and that is the only reason the dickless boy and his harem of lolis don’t leave that house despite being targeted by manslaghtering sadists every two days. Add to this the way they throw in incest and even more amnesia for other characters just as extra shock value that has nothing to do with the story, how everyone meets (or meats lol) someone, re and forgets, finds and loses, in the most far-fetched ways possible and always in the most convenient times and… well… the story is written with the mentality of a 5 year old, not better than that of the other classics around that time on tv. But as I said it is all about shock value rather that realism. The plot is quite fast for its duration and shocking every 5 minutes, while there are many social messages to leave you something to think about. Still, as I said, it only works if you are a newbie in the field who never thought of such things up to that moment. The logic of the drama is paper thin to fall apart while the ending is left so open to interpretation, it hardly feels as closure. Many remained faithful waiting for the sequel but there is nothing you can’t get by reading the rest of the story in the manga… Which becomes even more extreme and obscure to the point of “so stupid it is no longer smart”. But hey, the vagueness and ludicrous behaviors are all part of its appeal too. Even the manga ending is made to feel like the good ending of a date sim, proving that it was essentially made to please otakus and not other people. Yes, it was a series by otakus, for otakus after all.

In all, if it got to shock you the first time, it is bound to become your fav for many years and even open a portal to you, leading to the darker regions of the otaku realm. It has done so a million times already. All I can say is that it is much harder for someone to be impressed today by it because most modern anime are far more violent and sexual. Heck, even cartoons are. Also, after other titles like Higurashi or Mononoke came along, the throne of grimness is no longer EL’s for most. In fact I know many who it that they have no idea why they liked that series so much. Simple, the shock value faded away and left behind only ashes and bones. So while I give it a high Value for its very important contribution in mainstreaming anime (for good or bad; I kinda hate the way most modern anime are all full of fan service) I must still give it a very low mark in Enjoyment because it doesn’t work if you are not a newbie and in no chance in hell it feels good if you are a veteran viewer. I got the same messages the series has in Akira, the same type of gore in Choujin Locke and those felt far more realistic and credible, without fan service and ridiculous behaviors fooling you to consider “idiotic” as “brilliant”.

That’s it, I finally got to write this damn review. If you want more laughs please read Pantha’s review as he is far more funny and straight with how he feels about the series than I can ever hope to be.

Note: This review is based on fansubs. Recommended.



Original drawn as manga by Kanbe Mamoru (I''s Pure) Elfen Lied[/b] is in essence a violent love tale between a human and a being from another step of the "evolution" ladder. While it is told through the overused and kind of lame anime harem theme (adapting most of its weaknesses) it still is a psychological (a bit) thriller and certainly doesn't shy from showing you your favourite character's intensities. On surface it concentrates on an freshly facility escaped two-horned telepathy wielding superhuman, also known as diclonius, Lucy (who for some reason nets herself a split-personality) and her new life in Kouta's, the most normal guy's in the world, house. The two themes this show adapts (harem and thriller) don't go along so well and it appears quite fractured sometimes, it doesn't take long to see the pattern of ecchi happening at the beginning and middle of the episode and violence, action and other sick things happening near the end (and usually at night). Nonetheless, though very flawed, Elfen Lied is ultimately sewn up to quite an entertaining show. As long as you can turn a blind eye to some obvious inconsistencies with reality and logic, you will find Elfed Lied a nice show which is quite hard to forget.

Not only Elfen Lied is one of the most popular anime in the realm it also appears to be one of the most hated. Even if you haven't seen the show you might have already seen some hater going on about how bad this anime is. And while indeed Elfen Lied is not even half the show its hype made it out to be, it's also not as bad as many delusional haters paint it. But I guess it is not something to be surprised about, as it's natural that after every hype people with their expectations raised somewhere above Mount Olympus watch the shows only to get disappointed with them. Personally, I took Elfen Lied into my hands five years ago with lowest expectations and found myself pleasantly surprised by its, while not exactly good, at least entertaining things. The biggest problem this show has is likely its inability to tame the suspension of disbelief as you will constantly find yourself being very timid to believe in SOME of the awkward actions taken by characters. That is also probably the reason why so many people have either love or hate relationship with this show. You will either believe into everything it throws at you and enjoy it for what it is, or keep rolling your eyes until severe muscle damage. Of course, you can always tell yourself the show is set in dimension where common sense and logic is slightly (or entirely) different from ours and fool yourself into enjoying Elfen Lied. It worked for me.

To be more specific, Elfen Lied as awkward as it is, poses a full-fledged depressing story full of violence and thorny love. It combines your average harem with a bloody thriller and, though the execution is far from perfect, the end result (depending on what you have initially expected of course) is satisfying enough. Unfortunately, the overall impression of the show is brought down by its cast, since half of them could have been switched by packing material and be twice as interesting (original Lucy's persona and few guys from the side cast are about the only people worth paying attention to). Animation has aged considerably and sound, while with a few genuinely great tracks of music, is more repetitive than any non amnesiac would like. Nonetheless, dark and cruel atmosphere which (inadvertently or not) makes you think about humans a bit makes this flawed show into a very worthwhile watch, especially if you have sadistic tendencies.

Animation: 6/10

Animation done by Arms (Genshiken 2 and many hentai titles) was okay five years ago, now, however, it's nothing to be excited with. The fact that this show adapts little artistic value and goes for technical prowess with bright color palette, usage of lighting (dated) and detail in various things of gore flying through the air (like severed limbs, heads or even organs) makes it very easy to age; especially since the quality of animation was improving rapidly in the past few years. Nonetheless, Elfen Lied doesn't look bad, drawings might not impress you anymore, but it's unlikely they will retract anything from your enjoyment either. Backgrounds are, for the most part, average and hardly memorable (though there are few nice sights offering a plausible level of detail). The show, kind of, goes around one place all the time so the number of different scenery is certainly not impressive. I, personally, found color palette a little bit too bright considering the atmosphere this show brags about. I mean, bright colors certainly work for the ecchi part and so on, but bright severed limbs look kinda off. There is little to comment on motion fluidity as well since it's exactly what you would expect from a show with adequate budget. You wont find any particularly impressive movements, nor is there much battle choreography, however, neither simple movement nor more complex stunts ever look awkward and details of gore fly through the air with grace. The few inbetweens present are mostly used up on all the gory things.

What might certainly disappoint, however, is character designs. First thing - eyes are big. And, you know, we are all used to big eyes in anime now and all, but in Elfen Lied some characters (particularly Nyuu and Kouta) have their eyes take half of the face. While to some fetishists it might sound like a good thing, most people will find it hard to get used to this, almost, insect level of largeness. It's made even worse by the fact that there is a serious lack of facial detail making heads of some characters appear as balls with faces painted on them. Well, it might no be as bad as I describe, but character designs, save maybe for Lucy, are certainly below par and age is not to blame here (it's not even that old anyway). Also as I have already mentioned before, artistic value of the show starts and ends with limbs flying around (I wonder if some other studio made the OP, the artistic level of the intro and the real thing are like forest and desert).

Sound: 7/10

First and foremost I would like to comment on the most awesome of OPs I have ever had the pleasure to hear and see in any anime so far, Lilium by Kondou Yukio (I''s Pure) is also a mixed bag. In essence you could say there is but one melody in the show (the same that plays in the OP) and its various variations play over and over. If there is any other music you will certainly never notice, or even if you somehow will, you wont it. Anyway, though the original melody is certainly a great piece of music and I find it hard to believe there are people who could dislike it; it still gets tiring after the millionth time you hear it. Nonetheless, though extremely repetitive, it still is one of those melodies you actually like to hear a lot of times and the overall impression is, well, good. It would have been nice if they had a little bit variation, but the one song they go on about is a good one and certainly works.

Voice-acting is for the most part average with very few performances worth nothing. Lucy is about the only one who has some energy and memorability in her voice at times sounding just as chilling as her cold murderer's blood is. It's not a surprise though, as she was voiced by Nakata Jouji sounds below par in this show; maybe because his character sucks, but certainly the worst performance I have ever heard from him.

Story: 7/10

It would not be a lie if I said that the first impression of Elfen Lied is highly positive. Soon after the artistic OP the show jumps into some sort of research facility where a naked and seemingly emotionless red haired woman with a grotesque mask is chopping through armada of security guards immersed in a depressing Latin choir music you'd expect to hear in a church. Human experiments? Illegal imprisonment (ever since reading Dumas' The Vicomte of Bragelonne I have this special reaction towards masks)? Religious sin remarks? Something about evil? Well, certainly the themes I personally find attractive and thus high hopes for Elfen Lied had been lit... up till the middle of the first damn episode where a generic harem lead character invites the aforementioned split-personality murderer girl (during her below 50IQ mode) into his house and has many Chobits-like ecchi situations with her. What the hell is going on, where did all the solemn atmosphere suddenly go? Anyway, while the show certainly falls into many traps for lonely illiterate otaku it also offers some nice views on the darker side of humanity, depressing atmosphere and much delicious explicit violence to lighten the mood up... Err, I mean, the other way around.

Anyway, the show works as a harem (was all that ecchi necessary?) at day and bloody thriller at night (various people usually getting decapitated by Lucy). This awkward combination continues up until the show finally hits Lucy's backstory in the second half and without all that crappy sexual harem innuendo the quality shoots upwards. And, frankly, it's much more interesting to see where did exactly Lucy lost that screw from the head than watch all that melodramic crap between Kouta and his cousin. Once you learn some substance behind Lucy's behavior it gets more interesting to see what will become of her; and the show remains kind of fun till the very end. Kouta makes some awkward decisions which might make you question his sanity, but overall, Elfen Lied is moderately well paced and tied exactly at the point where it should have been. It's not particularly easy to predict and if you wont expect too much - you will certainly have fun with it. Though adapting a lot of unoriginal things from various shows Elfen Lied still maintains a relatively distinguishable level of individuality and is certain to remain in your memories after many other harems will fade way (if only for the violence).

Characters: 4/10

The main problem with characters is that their behaviour, sometimes, goes against the laws of logic resulting in many very awkward situations. There is this scene where a girl approaches a completely maimed gunman, who is having convulsions and is shouting about how he will fucking kill everyone, and asks "What happened?" in casual manner. Then there is this moment where Kouta runs half a kilometer towards a bloody girl surrounded by an army of soldiers and doesn't notice them until they start shooting (which is after he actually reaches the girl and talks with her). The best, however, is the scene where a person is killed in a train car and blood splashes all over Kouta. Kouta, obviously, starts shouting and so on; and the the other enger in the car asks him "What's wrong?". Now... I either smell some serious cases of mental problems or lame scenario planning here. And something tells me it's the latter.

Anyway, apart from some completely whatever characters like this insane gunman without a backstory or any reason to do all the nonsense he does, Kouta is the worst character in the show. If he was just an idiotic harem lead, which he also very well is, it would still be plausible, but thanks to the aforementioned "awkward" behaviour his personality is reflected even in a worse light. Not only the guy has absolutely no personality traits, he is stupid to boot. Not to mention he is damn malignant, he talks inconsiderate nonsense - gets slapped by Yuka; exhibits violent behaviour towards girls for no reason and contradicts himself more than the previous US president. Frankly, if you will not want to shoot the damn bastard to death by the end of the first episode your nerves are made of mithril... sir.

And if the guy is not annoying enough, we have Nyuu, the result of Lucy's mental illness. A girl with a mental age below three (I'm serious)... it took the scene where she pissed on the floor (in the first episode) for me to realize that her characteristics might be... hard to predict. Thankfully, during the better moments of the show original Lucy takes her body from Nyuu back and does some serious killing or other pleasantly sinister things. She, herself, doesn't let you know anything personal until the flashback episodes kick in; but don't worry - not only she is a full fledged character, she is certainly the best in the show (not that it says much, heh). Anyway, she has a past, and her past affects her in the way logic tells it would, her resolutions and feelings are well conveyed. Though it will depend on your set of values what exact emotions you will feel towards her, you will doubtless realize that at least there was some actual and sensible work done with her personality.

There are many side characters; many of whom are not important (still better than Kouta). Highlight of the side cast would certainly be Kurama and his relationship with his "daughters". Though Nana certainly can get annoying at times with her father complex, she is still one of the few characters in the show who actually tend to make sense more than not. You might even get emotional when it comes to some more complex situations between her and Kurama, but that's a long shot. There is also this homeless girl whose personality doesn't make sense given her background, but some of her interactions with Nana might pull a bitter smile out of you. Anyway, though not particularly good, side cast is okay, I guess... as long as you can turn blind eye to some reeeeeally awkward reactions.

Lucy - INFP (D)
Mayu - ISFJ (F)
Nana - ISFP (E)
Yuka - ESFJ (F)
Kouta - ISTP (F)
Kurama - ISTJ (E)

Show Spoiler

Value: 6/10

Elfen Lied is kind of fun the first time, but the second doesn't work as well (I know, because I've just scrolled through it again; even though I originally planned to re-watch it). It's not as fun when you know the conclusion, and those awkward situations are easier to notice when you go for seconds so it's a lose-lose situation. You might want to check it out again if you have some weird fetish for flying limbs, but I'm sure by now you can find it animated better elsewhere.

1. Conclusion[/u]:[/b] Elfen Lied is a psychological (a bit) violent harem thriller with elves, telepathic powers and protagonist whose behaviour goes against all sense of logic. ...The mix of all these things, however awkward, ends up as something fun and entertaining if not particularly good or deep. So give this show a shot if it sounds like something you'd like as there is nothing quite like it (or at least I haven't seen it yet). At the same time it's not exactly original, I mean, it's on surface an awkward combination of the stuff you never mix but eat a lot... Err, like ice cream with salt?

[/ol]

All reviews for art are subjective. Someone can like a piece of art that somebody else does not. It's all just opinion. (I regard Anime as art - some I like, some I don't.)

Visuals:
The sole reason why I've rated the visuals as "average" (rather than below) is because of the unrestricted nature of the violence and gore. It's a pleasant change to see an anime series that doesn't fear to shock and appaul when it's least expected, and with no second thought to what may or may not seem too much. What brings the visuals down is the shoddy sub-par animation. The background artwork is pretty decent, but the anime lacks the fluid animation which i would expect from modern anime series. All these factors make the visuals average for that time's standard - you've seen worse, but definately better.

Sound:
Now we unfortunately move onto the sound. I was trying really, REALLY hard to avoid being so negative about it, but could find no worthy positive aspects about it. The opening and closing themes are horrible in my personal opinion; and the repetitive musical score and main melody that reverberate throughout the series are irritating.

I found that the music rarely changes dramatically enough to express the change of mood. When something truly shocking happens, the music attempts to let you know, but fails to have any effect. And lastly, the voice acting - OH MY GOD is so abismal i felt like gouging myself to death at times. The only voice that was any good was Lucy's. That particular one demonstrated a decent grasp of the emotion and anger of the character. Most of the other main characters have a whiny, bland, pathetic, mourngie tone, obviously trying to show innocence, which wasn't necessary in my book, and constantly just made me think these characters were contrived.

Story:
The plot has a mature theme, centering on a teenage girl (Lucy), known as a Diclonius, with powerful supernatural destructive abilties, who loses her memory whilst escaping from a lab and is taken into care by 2 other (Kouta and Yuka) teens. Kouta and Yuka innocently believe that they have a responsibility to look after this seemingly lost and child-like stray, (who they name "Nyuu") and let her live with them. Throughout the series however, there are times when Nyuu regains her memories momentarily and reverts back to her original, angry, destructive self (Lucy). Chaos and much violence ensues.

The story, to be honest, was poorly executed. Perhaps I've become sinicle over the years, but every few minutes I kept thinking, "in this situation, that would never happen". In the fictional world that has been created, I was presented with no reasoning to think that human instict is any different. But yet, in the opening episode we see a boy and a girl teenager finding a naked girl with horns and amnesia on a beach, and what do they do? - take her home and hide her. What on earth would make them think THAT was the best course of action?

At first I thought the boy wanted to do something perverted to her - which would explain why he didn't want to take her to the nearest hospital, but this wasn't the case. Kouta and Yuka in my opinion do not seem fit to raise another girl their age on their own. They're teenagers! What possible reason did they have (at THAT time), for not trusting the authorities? Many parts of the plot I felt showed this colossal level of ignorance and far-fetched attitude and it just ended up dissapointing me. In this particular case, it is because the context of the anime seems mature, and so these sort of plot routes just seem unconvicing. If it was a shounen anime, then maybe it could get away with it. But it isn't.

The other major bad point of the story was it's lack of ambition. When the series is over, you don't really feel much has happened, since a lot of time was spent explaining a cornily coincidental back story. With the powers the Diclonius' have, I was mislead to believe that some event on a larger scale would take place, rather than the small areas of the city they were confined to. So in the end it didn't even deliver a decent enough climax to make up for the shoddy plot. Which is just depressing for someone like me who was just waiting for the "moment" where it finds its stride.

Characters:
The characters for the most part were simply awful and irritating in my opinion. Most of the characters in the series seemed to have the maturity of someone ten years younger. The Kouta and Yuka example of "hiding a stray girl" being a prime. And like I said before, most of the voices were horrible to hear. All whiny and stereotypical for their characters. Kouta just seems like a pathetic excuse for a main character - young Kouta was alright before the incident involving his sister and dad (which may perhaps explain why old Kouta is so unlikably bland and boring).

Mayu and Nana, who are basically the same character but halved, are way too stereotypically and obviously played out. They've had hard and harsh lives, but that doesn't mean they have to have the voices and behaviour of innocent 5 year olds. The only saving grace is Lucy (not silly Nyuu), who seems like a genuinely cool and disturbed character, and is played exceptionaly well and maturely. However, one character is not going to change my overall opinion that the characters as a whole in this series were forgettable and cliched, regardless of their diclonius abilties.

Value:
The replay value for Elfen Lied is also very low for me. What would attract me back to it is of course the unmatched violence levels, however as a series it's so tremendously slow at times that I often wished I could fastforward the repetitively dull and lacking character development until something more interesting happened. Even the climax was a let down in my opinion.

Enjoyment:
Overally, I perhaps ONLY liked this series for all the obvious reasons of shock value and disturbing scenes. The pacing was all messed up - way too many slow and droning parts for a series that has such shocking moments. With some totally confused and downright ridiculous characters (what's with that commando army guy who can't seem to die? why is he such a nut job?), and an unambitious story that seems extremely forced with unnatural progression, I feel a little cheated by all the hype (most of which for me, came from other reviews). I was expecting something great, but didn't find it.

I recommend this anime to those who aren't easily shocked - possibly yound-mid teens in fact, as I think the bold nature of the gory scenes are quite something. But let it be known that this alone, in my opinion does NOT make a "good" anime series in my book, and as such I don't class it as one (though I was really hoping to).

H-hey! Are they nekomimi~!??... oh, they're horns...[br] ^ (for the record i hate people who insert one japanese word into a sentence... figured i'd try it... its gay)[br]It's really all been said, but after seeing Elfen Lied in its entirety today, I have decided to spout another review (yes, one for the queens of pop), so that one person in particular can have a read. My quest: make a review more irritating than the show. Prepare nothing more than the ragings of a retard along the basic line of the plot :/[br]--[br]Dear Elfen Lied,[br]Welcome to Mediocrity.[br]Sincerely,[br]Haruhi.[br]--[br]So basically this anime is about a blue statue who kisses people and makes them cry while neoclassical music plays in the background... i'd like to get in his shoes... well, not really [was he even wearing shoes? (what statue does?)] - that's just the OP animation... but still, I wouldnt mind it..... anyway[br][br]I had heard a lot of great things about Elfen Lied, and only recently (after minimal effort on my part) obtained a copy of it + the extra. One of the first things I heard was that the OP was fantastic. Really, the first time I heard it, I was quite impressed and decided to check my extensive physical collection of neo-classical works, only to find later that it was titled Lilium and was an original to the series. Hm, marvellous work here - a really pretty song that sticks true to the masses from the classical era of music - baring resemblance to a few select Mozart pieces... call the musicologists!. Anyway, so the series started on a good note.[br]Despite hearing "D minor is the saddest keys!!11" I soon found myself sadder than D minor, because it kinda looked like the plot was going nowhere.[br] [br]The first episode I noticed boobs... and gore... and in the second episode? You guessed it, boobs and gore. The show is essentially something that takes place over a fortnight (well, it could have been less from the number of things that happened) with some backstory into childhood. Sure, it has been done to death, but what is an anime without its characters? It's really too bad that the characters in Elfen Lied are somewhat two-dimensional - most of them falling into the la misere or, heaven forbid, "emo" category. Sure, hardships are great in an anime, but it becomes a bit of a bummer when the cardboard-cutout characters of the same person.[br][br]Third episode... boobs... and gore (oh, and probably a bit of story - most likely linked to boobs). The characters themselves in Elfen Lied have some series holes in them as well (none of which seem to be a vagina... dont worry, I checked several times.. although there was one shot... but that was more a canyon than labia... even though one of them can apparently reproduce)... In I think it was the first episode the tragic hero and his childhood friend notice a nude girl on a beach... what do they do? Invite her in for food. In episode two a young girl sees a guy with his eyes poked out and blood running from both and with an arm (or three...) torn off... what does she do? "Are you okay, mister?" - which unfortunately wasnt a lame crack at humour. Spoiler: eventually it turns out that somehow only one of his eyes were damaged, even though they had both been damaged...[br]^ Unfortunately this doesnt really change, and in fact at times some reactions seem forced - to the point where even the animations seem forced, such as pacing three feet to lean on someones shoulder while hitting them and saying "I love you!!" (ps may be an exaggeration...). Speaking of being forced and exaggerations... there is a lot of gore (and boobs...)... too much in fact...... way too much. I love boobs and I love gore (and the upskirts they threw in so seamlessly), but they really forced it out :/.[br][br] the OP? Yeah, it was quite the masterful construct - seemingly suggesting a profound and meaningful... Hey! I have an idea!!! Let's use it in the anime (let's say... every time there's boobs or gore [not strictly true...])... Having watched the anime in one day, to be quite honest after hearing it inserted for the 50th time, I became quite sick of it and found myself actually skipping the OP towards the end of it (I consider this a big no-no, generally)... sorry big blue statue :([br][br]The animation is pretty decent, but I was kind of shocked to see that the anime was released in 2004, having thought that it looked more like a 2002 production, but I did not really have any problems with that... the boobs were a bit funny too [I think they over did them... the nipples too high etc, but that's personal taste really (I wonder how they'd taste? They'd probably have a bit of perk to them *cough*)]. That said, the anime is drawn something like you would expect a comedy - not a deep and profound anime that pours misery and the human condition, oh no. That said, there were a few times where a laugh nearly crept out (well, okay - once) but generally the humour was pretty bland. That said, I've used "that said" too many times. That said, in the extra, the humour (and the whole thing in general) was much better (they didnt fix the boob problem though... ._.)...[br][br]Given all this - I still found it an enjoyable watch for the most part... However one thing was missing... Gorey-boobs character driven plot. From such an evocative OP, you'd like to see lots of revalations, but unfortunately all we are left with is a character with amnesia, and an acquaintance who has a split personality that results in similar effects... Of course, by the end this all clicks with the ever-popular "I suddenly ed", bringing the anime to an abrupt (dare I say terribly anticlimatic) end.[br][br]There are a few twists here and there, but they were, for me, very predictable. I don't mind getting things right from time to time, but when the big twist is something so easy [and then left unresolved(!)] it becomes irritating... Speaking of irritating *whistles the OP*... Sorry, it's a nice tune so I thought i'd bring it up Again.[br][br]There's nothing truly wrong with Elfen Lied, but theres nothing particular good about it. In my personal opinion, this is best left to obese, freckly american women with brown hair and brown eyes whose online name is "xxxdeadlyprettyxxx" who want to suck your penis online... you know the ones- the ones who only qualify as pretty if you describe them as appearing "pretty deadly" (like a basilisk?). Hm, I wonder how the community will enjoy this review...[br][br]Animation - 4. It doesnt suit the anime and looks outdated for its release date (if anyone whinges i can probably scrounge a few titles...)[br][br]Sound - 5. Really well constructed OP... ED sounded like it belongs on the radio in the 80s rather than anime (even though 80s radio was pretty decent...). Other tracks in the series werent that memorable... The voice acting was pretty good: I just cant say no to Sanji (the one piece character - whose voice actually didnt suit a minor character... but oh well :p). a 5 for this because the OP just got annoying after so many replays... (it was only 13 +1 episodes ffs)[br][br]Story - It's pretty abysmal, but theres a bit of imagination, and I like the powers they gave the women (unfortunately they werent boob rays that make gore, or gore rays that make boobs, which I think would have suited the anime better...) 4[br][br]Character - Pretty poor here too... they were two dimensional and often expressed similar feelings. it was nice to see a love triangle, though (of however little consequence...). The female lead was fairly strong, though (however anticlimactic) 4[br][br]Value - You get to see boobs and gore, a few panties and you get to learn a song. an easy 10 (how do you do onomatopoeia for a donkey noise?)[br][br]Enjoyment - it was nice to see some gore and some boobs. The power was pretty cool too. It kept me alive during times of insomnia... 5[br][br]I hope you enjoyed my review, that one person in particular... *walks into the sunset humming "lilium" <- btw, it's a pretty good song, you should use it as much as you can in casual conversation online*[br]Thanks for reading, i hope it wasnt too chargrilled.[br]PS. Ignore some mistakes in expression/grammar (there's bound to be a few)... watching anime nonstop for 3 days ._. (it's made me smell funny and obsessed with parentheses and ellipses...)[br][br]I like the "best quote" idea this other guy used... so i thought i'd quote my favourite line from a review here...[br]"The Sound was amazing also, everything that happened had sound"[br]^ sweeeet[br]PS, im sorry this review was so negative... Let's sing together so we can move on[br]O! Quam sancta~[br]Quam serena~[br]Quam benigna~[br]Quam amoenaaaaaaaa~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[br]