Type: Television Show
Episodes: 13, 1 OVA
Rating: Mature
Runtime Per Episode: 25 min
Director: Kanabe Mamoru
Produced By GENCO VAP
Year Produced: 2004
A Serious Warning:
This is a very graphic anime, no matter what anyone might say, me included. I may make jokes about situations, but this is not something that should be taken on lightly (unless you're a gore junkey).
There are more than a few things in this anime that are beyond the pail for an average, unprepared viewer, and I implore anyone not 100% sure about it to not take the chance (unless, as I said before, you have a high tolerance for gore, nudity, and other inhumane scenes/implications/situations).
That being said, I'd also like to downright state that this story is something that should be experienced, so if you don't think you handle watching it, then I'd recommend reading it (I'll provide a link or two at the end). I'm afraid that it's not a story that you can appreciate by looking at a summery on Wikipedia... or here (duh), and because of the overall message that it sends, you'd do well to understand it. I think I'll read it again too, actually.
Despite what some might call excess blood, gore, and nudity, Elfen Lied is what I call a must-see, and not just that, it's also an absolutely a must-read. The manga by Okamoto Lynn is extensive and utilizes an art style that is unique and strange for these genres of anime (those being horror and alike).
Now the anime covers about half of the manga, taking bits a pieces out of the later halves, and then resolving with a different ending.
For obvious reasons, the anime was not aired in the U.S. as far as I can tell, despite the fact that there was a strong desire to by the Programming Director (look at Wikipedia or whatever if you want to know more), though it was later released.
In a quiet, island research facility, something terrible has happened. For some reason, a test subject has gotten free of her restraints... and doesn't seem too happy about being restrained in the first place.
Using some strange kind of power, this test subject, named Lucy, is now roaming through the installation, trying to find her way out.
She's the quiet type, but that doesn't stop her actions from being loud... and... red.
Now I'm no doctor, but that's too much blood to be coming out of three people (trust me, it's three people).
Emotionless and very deadly, the facility's staff use everything they've got to try and stop Lucy, but can't even scratch her as she cuts through them.
When she finally gets to the front door, they box her in, but someone in the control room (also filled with dead bodies for unknown reasons) unlocks some kind of emergency, way too convenient side-doors, and Lucy goes out into the open air.
...What the hell?
... where she is hunted from afar.
Vectors?
The sniping attempt fails to kill Lucy, just blasting the helmet off her head, and her unconscious body falls into the ocean below.
Back on the mainland, a college student named Kouta has just arrived in town.
While walking up some stairs to his favorite place to watch the ocean, he is called to by his cousin Yuka, who's been looking for him at the train station.
As you might have been able to tell, Kouta has been here before, when he was a child, but that hardly matters right now. What's more important is that Yuka, who's had a crush on him since childhood, drags Kouta down to the beach for a trip down memory lane.
But what they find is a little more interesting than some rather depressing memories of Kouta bulling his younger sister.
... um, hello?
Are those... horns?
Why yes they are! Not in the conventional devil sense, but rather in the kind of cute, kitten way. Nyan!
With an obvious head wound, and probably severe trauma, this naked girl was the beginning of a very interesting road for Kouta and Yuka.
Different from what I was expecting it to be, this anime was more than I bargained for, then again, it was my fault for watching it at night. I just got sucked in and ended up having a monstrous headache from the sound piping into my skull.
The character development took a more hasty approach than I probably would have normally liked, but I knew that they needed to cram a lot of information into a short period of time, so I'll let it slide.
The character development was not so great to one of my favorite characters out of the manga. In the anime, they only took him a little further than his starting place (I'll tell you who it is during the spoiler part).
That being said, if you go into an anime expecting the in-depth detail you'll get out of the manga, then you'll be disappointed at the least.
The art was a lot different than the manga. Elfen Lied was Okamoto Lynn's first manga, and it's easy to see his progress as an artist through the story. The anime had a different approach, it kept the moe-ness that Lynn started off with (one of the things that made this manga unique was it's lighter art style combined with the heavy storyline and scenes).
As far as I'll say, there were at least two animation styles combined into this anime (or at least into scenes of it). I don't know if it's right to say this, but there you go, I already have.
There was the normal animation style for pretty much everything, but during the fight sequences, there was a special style that was preformed to create the vectors.
You should stay with the Japanese version on this. Although it managed to get an English cast, it wasn't anything exceptional.
Actually, you should make a point to watch the Japanese version, at least of episode 12. The creator Okamoto Lynn makes an "appearance" as "Special Guest", whatever the fuck that means. If you can figure it out please tell me. The best I can figure is he's the SAT member who actually says something.
Actually, you should make a point to watch the Japanese version, at least of episode 12. The creator Okamoto Lynn makes an "appearance" as "Special Guest", whatever the fuck that means. If you can figure it out please tell me. The best I can figure is he's the SAT member who actually says something.
I'm betting it's the guy who says this, since he the only irregular in the list of people who spoke during the episode.
The beginning theme was something opera, and therefore, not to my liking. It was also repeated endlessly through the course of the anime. It's not a bad song I suppose, the melody's melancholy, but kind of interesting. I just wasn't thrilled with it, that's all.
Another thing about the opening was that those images are adapted from a painter named Gustav Klimt. I don't understand the significance of that, so don't ask me.
That being said, I did kind of like the ending theme. It was a cool riff and stuff like that is usually more important to me than the words.
Another thing about the opening was that those images are adapted from a painter named Gustav Klimt. I don't understand the significance of that, so don't ask me.
That being said, I did kind of like the ending theme. It was a cool riff and stuff like that is usually more important to me than the words.
If you still want to watch this, please do, but refer to the opening section of this post again, just to make sure.
Kai Doh Maru!
