Elfen Lied is an anime produced by ARMS studio in 2004. Based on the manga of the same name by Lynn Okamoto. If you haven't already heard about Elfen Lied before you should know that it has a reputation of being one of the most violent anime/manga series around. So if you're the squeamish type this series is not for you.
The series is about a Diclonius called Lucy who escapes from a facility where she had been held captive. A Diclonius by the way is a person with horns on their heads and invisible hands, called Vectors, who also happen to be extremely violent.
As Lucy escapes she suffers a head injury and is found washed up on the beach by two college kids, Kohta and Yuka. However due to the head injury Lucy suffers amnesia and instead of acting like a murderer she acts like a baby. Kohta and Yuka name her Nyu and decide to look after.
Unfortunately for them they don't realise that the people Lucy escaped from are after her and want her dead. Plus whenever Nyu is confronted with violence or hits her head Lucy awakens.
The story is a mix of violence, comedy, drama and romance. The series contains a lot of fan service and nudity as well as the extreme violence. The series deals with issues such as bulling, sexual abuse and racial discrimination, among others. While this show has quite a bit of comedy it tends to feel a bit off when you see a fan service scene in between seas of blood.
The characters in this series are a hit and miss. Lucy is an anti-hero type character and is one of the few characters to get good character development. Her other self, Nyu, acts like a baby but as the series goes on she starts growing a tiny bit smarter and shows subtly that she knows that she is Lucy.
Kohta is an average guy. So is his cousin Yuka. However Kohta does get some good character development but he just forgets it all. Yuka is my least favourite character in the series because she kinda does nothing except get jealous that Kohta is with Nyu.
There are four other major characters in this show as well. Mayu, a kid who ran away from home; Nana, a Diclonius who doesn't like fighting; Bandoh, a man who wants to see Lucy dead; and Kurama, a man who is one of the leaders at the place Lucy escaped from.
Animation wise the series is solid. Nothing too special or anything except for the vectors which are transparent so that the viewer can see them. Sound wise the OP is a sad hymn song that gets played during important parts of the show. The ED theme is odd because it is a J-Pop song called "Be Your Girl" and the tune is really upbeat but the episodes don't really end upbeat.
Voices aren't that stellar. In both dubs that is. In the English dub you will find that Yuka, Mayu and Nana all have some of the most annoying voices ever. In Japanese they are tolerable. Nyu's voice is practically identical in both versions while Lucy's voice sounds a bit strange but isn't annoying like the three mentioned earlier. The guys in this series have good voices, nothing too special, except that Bandoh swears like every second.
DVD Extras include the usual clean OP/ED and trailers. It also contains production sketch's and interviews with the people behind the anime, as well as reversible covers on volumes 2 and 4.
Overall this show is defiantly worth it if you can handle violence and fan service. My only real problem with the show is that it does not complete the story in the manga so you are left with a lot of questions unanswered. However it is not enough to stop enjoying this show.
7/10
Buy it in NZ at : http//www.mightyape.co.nz/product/Elfen-Lied-Collection-4-Discs/1540802/?r=1614259
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