Elfen Lied

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I first heard about Elfen Lied on the IGN Boards, where some people said it was great, others said that it was “too disturbing” for their tastes, and everyone only seemed to agree that the opening music was great. Then I read its page on the Wikipedia which basically starts off with: “The story contains graphic nudity and a great deal of blood and gore, as well as psychological violence and extreme graphic violence.” By now I was already expecting it too be the goriest most disturbing thing I’ve ever seen. But it wasn’t. It certainly does have “nudity”, “a great deal of blood and gore”, “psychological violence” and “extreme graphic violence”, but none of it is there just for the sake of it. There is a reason why each one of those “disturbing” aspects is there. From what I had read, I actually thought it was going to be bloodier, sometimes people get cut up in half and there’s not that much blood coming out of them. Even Kill Bill is bloodier.

If you continue reading the Wikipedia article in search for what Elfen Lied is about you’ll reach a link to a Wikipedia entry titled “Elfen Lied body count” and then a description of how the show starts, which basically says that there is a naked girl killing everyone she finds. And its not wrong, but that’s not at all what Elfen Lied is about, at least not in my opinion. Basically, what I’m saying is just a remix of the good old “don’t judge a book by its cover”.

Elfen Lied is great in many aspects. The animation is good, and the backgrounds are simply beautiful; the music (especially the opening song) is great; the story keeps you interested throughout the series; most of the characters are very deep; and even though I don’t understand an ounce of Japanese, I thought the voice acting was good. However the depth of the characters is what surprised me the most. Each character has his or her own story and their actions reflect their background. In particular Nyü/Lacy’s character is simply amazing. In theory you should hate the character but in practice you end up liking her. Somehow although she is the one doing the most brutal killings, the others turn out to be the bad guys. Actually this is my favorite thing about Elfen Lied, it’s often hard to tell who’s right and who’s wrong. Most of the characters seem to either be doing the wrong things for the right reasons, or the wrong things because they were pushed into that position, and only a few characters seem to be doing the right things.

I won’t say anything else about Elfen Lied because I don’t want too spoil too much about it. But if you have a chance you should consider watching it, I highly recommend it.

19 thoughts on “Elfen Lied”

  3. i LOVE Elfen Lied!!! but i was kinda upset by HOW they ended it….. i dont read manga but its making want to.. lol Lucy as the far best character there ^^ but with Kouta and Yuka…. that kinda creeped me out BADLY in episode 6 -_- its WRONG!!

  4. I completely agree that you should never judge a book by its cover, and as for the situation in episode six, I believe as long as both individuals are consenting then there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it. Though I would not want a relationship of a sexual nature with a family member, if someone else does that’s their business. As for the rest of the aspects of Elfen Lied I again am not offended. I really enjoy it as a series and this is an anime that really evokes strong emotions in the viewers, granted some of the content may not be appropriate for everyone but as a very open minded person it doesn’t bother me in the least that these things are in the series. Needless to say Mayu’s home situation greatly disturbed me, and well it should have, but that only added to the realness of the story, because in the real world bad things happen.

  5. yes episode 6 was wrong i find it really good its sad at the school place and loved the music

  6. actually in japan its completely accepted and a common practice to be intimate with a 1st or 2nd cousin, maybe thats y their population grows so fast?!

  7. this is the best anime i seen i watched all episodes like month ago but the ending is still bothering me so if you watch this, dont watch the END of final episode lol

    everything else in the final episode is super but the ending…. kill me pls

  8. Best anime I have watch in a while now =]
    Laugh so hard in ep9 when they went to the zoo X]
    and ep 13 was so heart breaking ='[ *snifs*

    and seriously for those people who cant get over the nudity grow up jezzz it not that big of a deal =.=

    The killing is not that bad, maybe if it was made into a movie or something with real people it would be, seeing heads blow up and eyes being poked out would be cool. A lil scary then yes but its all animated and that wat i like about it =]
    A world where anything is possible

    Yes yes the cuz thing is creepy
    Maybe they just translated it wrong =S

  9. In Japan, marrying cousins is very common. I’m pretty sure it started as a way to keep things ‘in the family’. In Maria-sama Ga Miteru, Sachiko-san is betrothed to her cousin.
    Amazing anime, btw.

  10. this anime is so awesome and i just cant get enough i tell my friends and they are so scared of me now espesially after i told them about the dog and the three boys and the tattletale girl i thought that was pretty cool i loved it mostly cuz of all the sadness and yes ppl grow up the nudity isnt that bad i mean its a cartoon if it was real now thats just wrong but hey animes fine i just love the opening song i wrote it down on a peice of paper and cant wait to get a speaker so i can hear it again every time i think about elfen lied i get so happy and airy it scares my friends they are scared to watch it after what i said i havent watched the eps since like june so i dont rlly no much anymore i cant even rem their names much i just love ths show so much i cant get over it at all by the way how long ago did this air cuz i dont think it airs on adult swim anymore i just saw a little show on youtube and i had to check it out and thats how i got hooked

  14. I think it is an excellent anime. It doesn’t matter about the nudity, as you’d have to be really childish to judge it on a single picture and avoid it for life. The opening theme is no less of amazing and the storyline is very touching.

  15. Bueno SoLO lES dIgO k Si Les guSTa esTA SerIe k TaMBiEn Les REcOMiEnDo La D3 “CHOBITS” ***byE *** HEaVy mETal…***

  17. Hi!
    Elfen Lied it’s great. I think it’s a mastermpiece and I love everything about it. And it’s not so bloody becaeuse I’ve seen Kill Bill too and I enjoyed it. 😀
    But both of them are great. *I watch horror and that sort of movies/anime’s and I haven’t seen an anime sogood before in my life* I love it!!!
    And I recommend it too!!! ^_^

  18. IS THE MOST PERFECT ANIME, I SEE THE ALL AHH IS VERY SWEET LOVE INTOO LUCY/NYU AND KOUTA

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