Overview:

When you are just sitting there wanting to see some titties but then come out changed with a new philosophical outlook on the world… well Elfen Lied is one such anime that could lead to that lol. Its an anime filled with torture, sins of man, feelings of disdain and anguish with a dash of dat lil sweet thang to keep you going :mrclean:.

Starts out immediately with Lucy causing a bit of trouble with a bit of a teaser as to who was behind it. The person behind it within a couple eps is introduced and well the climax of that is quite the splooge. Their goals were simply not compatible, I guess.

For the most part the show goes over Nyu and the capture for the organizations hidden agenda. They push hard to obtain her with an ending that was left up to the viewer to decide… stay after the credits to know what this means.

Throughout we are introduced to a few characters and each intertwine at one point or another due to various reasons. Background and flashbacks are pretty brief given its only 13 ep series. When flashbacks are given though, they can be pretty powerful and just as the series as a whole have a pretty good message included in it.

Visuals/Music:

Visuals are one of the things that given its time, are clean and detailed. They can still hold up decently well and with the type of styling it has. I believe would still top a fair amount of cheap copy paste style stuff from a few studios that pump a plethora out each year ~~A1~~. Everything is fluid and the way they depict everything matches quite well with the source. It’s a darker and more mature themed show with its animation matching to better help the viewer get immersed.

As for music, the opening speaks for itself. Lillium is a beautiful song. The visuals alongside Lillium are up there with some of the best Anime has to offer. The opening showcases and captures the entire vibe of the show that the viewer will be dragged into. It isn’t often that shows can capture the feeling spot on. One other that is well known id say is the first opening to Naruto Shippuden, Heroes Come Back by nobodyknows+. Completely different genre of show but the way that opening hits is quite similar where you know what’s going to happen. Rest of the OST’s are pretty well placed throughout with a attention to getting the viewers immersed and helping the emotional aspect of the scenes. By far the opening is what puts the seal and wraps it nicely though.

Final Thoughts:

Elfen Lied is a personal favorite of mine since first viewing. Love the series quite a bit and holds a special place. It is one of the shows I cannot recommend enough to people. There is nudity but it is used to more enforce a message than anything. You see it but its something that is just there. Nudity isn’t like a lot of other shows where it is used as a method to capture more viewers’ attention. The show itself is one that if a person wants, they can go in and come out with nothing and just a ‘eh that’s nice’ feeling and story or delve a bit with the topics they put forth.

There are some pretty serious differences between the manga and anime. The story follows the same general path but that’s about it. The main points are pretty much there with the message which is what matters most. The main differences being some characters not introduced and some of the… fetish type things missing. Like the Lucy peeing herself :poortom: some parts better left out but at the same time would rather no matter how out there the source gets at least keep to it. Either is great in their own respects. Can’t go wrong with either. Anime is an unfinished story but will likely not get finished due to the tangents in comparison to the original either requiring a massive amount of conveniences, plot shifts or changes… or just a straight up reboot to flow and work properly.

Remember if you ever find yourself in a low state of mind, Elfen Lied will enter chat showing how fucked people are. False promises followed by deceit and heartfelt words claiming to understand. Faithless lies and fluff pushed as reason they care when its just that mute words of nothing. Usually ending with statements of missing the days of old… even though the real meaning behind those words are missing the memories of/with the person not the person.

It is a dark and depressing show. Watched it when was younger and has been one that hits pretty hard in some of the topics they show throughout. Nowhere near perfect in any sense but what makes it so good is the execution and story aspect.

Lucy though… heh, she still my favorite female character out there in all aspects. From her personality to looks :LC_A_Perfect: . Her longer hair preferred but she pulls off short hair just as well. She was for a lack of better words just a wee bit misunderstood and the circumstances around her led to the path of death to those around. Was the easiest and quickest path to achieving the self-gratification that otherwise wouldn’t have been granted. She seeks to be good but in action couldn’t be. Then the moment she decided to take the leap of putting trust in another, they simply betray her with the guise of not knowing it would end like that . Every moment of her life was shrouded with deceit and ill minded people that sought to belittle and raise themselves above for their own self-satisfaction… strange, correlates pretty well with people in schools and society, well the concept and idea, not necessarily the mass murder lol. Her inner self was split and torn into Nyu, Kaede and Diclonii (or known as Lucy). Even that aspect of the 3 personas correlates to Kaede being normal while Nyu and Diclonii representing Angel and Demon on each shoulder that is frequently discussed in religion. She veered more towards the demon side but only due to events of past. Essentially from the day of birth being ousted by society and the place that takes her in… only having a certain fear and disdain towards her for having horns. Both the staff and children would constantly mentally and physically abuse her. One of the most prominent showings in the anime being the dog scene. Where the one person she decides to put her trust into simply puts that false face on in what I believe was an act of further hurting her. Acting close but with the reason of gaining the love and trust of her only to leave and break it, which is one of the most hurtful ways to harm a person. Casting love only to never have had such emotions, leading the person to believe in an undoubtably bleak future. The mental abuse that leads to a person unable to trust fully in those that even have the intention of wanting the same. All of the abuse was unjust and much like it doesn’t make sense why people would do it in real life. The reasoning of assuming that one holds power over the other holds true. It’s an unspoken hierarchy that gets crafted anywhere. More harshly showcased in smaller groups and places such as schools when we are young. The children form groups and likeminded social statuses where there is always a person put down at the others expense. Ones loss is another gain type thing, similar to capitalism where one’s loss is another’s gain. In this aspect the loss is the persons sense of self-worth (leading to self-hatred and self-deprivation filled emotions), trust and humanity, while the other gains the false sense of elitist power over the other where they believe themselves better and above the other. Difference is the children in the orphanage were all in a state of despair and the way they coped with their situation was the outward expression of hate towards Lucy that got progressively worse until she finally snapped. Lucy was not blind to this though and very much understood both sides but I mean c’mon now, who didn’t have a smirk and feelings of extasy as they faced punishment for their deeds… knowing full well that what she did wasn’t something to be proud of. Followed by her meeting Kouta where she was sketch after being subject to the orphanage’s treatment. He is the only person she was able to put show her true self to, being her kind and bashful self. Like she waifi at heart is all that matters lol. Kouta realized fast with his mental blocks of why its best to not lie to her… even though Kaede again understood what was happening and spared him knowing her actions were unjust but not knowing how else to express herself sadly. She wants the best but at the same time will not put her trust in such things due to having no faith in it.

Nana and Mariko who had to go through similar hardships but chose vastly different paths of coping to deal with the hurt and pain. Nana refusing to give into the darker side and bar herself mentally away with the outward expression of Papa… which is sad all on its own. Mariko neglecting both sides and refusing to accept the reality in front of her. Only expressing herself in a way that is best put a child. She was young, yes, but the way she coped with the institutes methods was holding dearly to the resentment she has towards her father and mother just to keep herself sane…ish. Both still felt pain and know the feelings of neglect, detesting both. They’d put on the front but when reality was thrusted upon them they’d snap back, especially Nana. All 3 of them do this to a varying degree as well. Each aspect of them contrasts well and pretty much shows how everybody is different mentally with how they go about themselves given adversity. Afterall a person’s true self is shown only through adversity.

Characters (main) – 4/5

Characters (sub) – 4/5

Enjoyment – 5/5

Visuals – 5/5

Music – 4/5

Story – 4/5

`<code>Overall Ratings - Rec: 5/5 Raw: 86%</code>`