Review of Elfen Lied

Title: Elfen Lied Manga, Anime: Elfen Lied was originally a manga created by Lynn Okamoto, and it ran in Weekly Young Jump from June of 2002 to November of 2005. Twelve compiled volumes were released, with a total of 107 chapters. The Elfen Lied manga has not been licensed Stateside, and no one is making any moves to do so anytime soon. More on this later. The anime itself was produced by Studio ARMS (who also did the production for Genkishen 2 and Ikkitousen: Dragon Destiny), and directed by Mamoru Kanabe (who also directed the OAVs Demon Prince Enma and I”s Pure, both ofwhich you probably won’t know). It ran on Japanese TV from July 25th, 2004 to October 17th, 2004. ADV licensed it Stateside, and the fourth and final volume was released on November 14th, 2005.

Story: So, the episode kicks off with a ten-minute killing spree in an underground research facility (cause why would they be anywhere else?) with plenty of blood and gore by a naked chick in a helmet, as she attempts to escape. Yum. Eventually, someone ends up sniping her in the back of the head, and she falls off a cliff into the ocean.

Cut to a random, unnamed seaside city. A girl (Yuka) gets off the train and ends up looking around town for her cousin (Kouta), who she's going to be going to college with. After finding him, she drags him down to the beach, where they reminisce about his little sister.

And then they look up and notice that there's a naked chick with horns standing in the middle of the water. Though you have to wonder how oblivious they were not to notice it...

Thus begins the saga of Elfen Lied, which centers on the naked chick with horns (also known as Lucy/Nyuu, depending on which personality she is on the moment.

This is one of the more fucked-up, depressing offerings that anime has.

Take a look at our three main characters, to get a good picture of this: the cousins are in love with each other, the boy can’t remember a good chunk of his past, and the chick with horns has two personalities: a sweet amnesiac named “Nyuu” by the cousins, and a homicidal maniac side known as “Lucy”. And that’s not even to mention all the side characters, all of whom are messed up in their own psychotic, special ways.

As for the depressing stuff, there’s bodies flying left and right, puppies getting killed, child molestation, suicide, and a whole lot of other stuff that I can’t go into without spoilers.

The anime itself is an amazing juxtaposition of horror, slice of life, sci-fi, and romance, and even more amazingly, it works. And it’s good. Normally, all of the above would be incentive for me to drop a series like a hot potato. But all that stuff only ends up being a part of why you love the series so much. You care for all of these fucked-up nutjobs, and you watch to see if things will get any better for them, and to find out just what the hell’s going on.

I don’t know how this pans out, with regards to faithfulness to the manga source. All that I know is that the manga was still running when this started and finished airing.

There are two main issues I have with this series, though. One is the ending, which is an anticlimax and a big letdown after everything that’s happened; you don’t know what happens, and it’s kind of a cliffhanger. The other is the rampant fanservice. At least once every episode, you are going to be treated to a nude female character, or some kind of sexually suggestive scene. The series didn’t need all that fanservice; it could’ve gotten on just fine without it. And really, did they have to have kiddy nudity?!

WARNING: There is gore galore, there is blood by the bucketful, there is rampant nudity, there are sexually suggestive scenes, there are puppies getting killed violently, there’s very graphic violence period, there is child molestation, and really, if you’ve read this far and aren’t turned off, you’ll be fine with this series, even though there’s far more than this. If any of this makes you uncomfortable, run away from this series screaming. And definitely stay away from the manga if this is the case, because it’s supposed to take all of the above to a whole other level. Thus, why it has yet to be licensed Stateside.

Art: The art for this series is absolutely beautiful. The studio apparently had the budget to include outfit changes for all of the characters once every two episodes at the least, and it’s a nice touch. The backgrounds are exquisite, too. The OP is absolutely amazing, especially when you consider it’s basically animated versions of Klimt art (if you don’t know who he is, go Google his art, and you’ll see why I’m amazed). The CG stands out a bit, but its main function was to portray an otherworldly aspect of the chick with horns’ powers, so it works well. And, as much as I hated all the nudity, it was lovingly detailed.

Music: This is one of the few soundtracks that I’ve actually actively noticed since Gankutsou’s OST. There are several variations on the opening theme (which is awesome in and of itself, as it’s in Latin, and is something you’d probably heard sung in a Catholic Mass), and they’re absolutely beautiful, and end up producing the desired effect of the scene that they’re playing in. Also, they use the cello and traditional instruments to great effect. The ending is a fairly stereotypical JPop number, and kind of a disappointment, really.

Seiyuu: Joji Nakata’s in a smaller role, but still, it’s Joji freaking Nakata.. And Lucy/Nyuu’s seiyuu is the same girl who played Eleanor from Victorian Romance Emma, so that’s a nice touch. Ooh, and Daisuke Ono shows up briefly! And there are a lot of other seiyuu that show up here that I like, and I’m not going to list them all, because that’ll take up too much space. xD

Length: Just right. The pacing doesn’t go too fast, or too slow; the series finishes at just the right time (though how it ended is a bit of a sore point with me, as I mentioned earlier).

Overall: If you can get past the violence, the letdown of an ending, and gratuitous fanservice, this is a great show.

Story: 8/10
Art: 8/10
Music: 9/10
Seiyuu: 9/10
Length: 8/10

Overall: 42/50; 84% (B)