[Haru-Sensei]

The Diclonius, a mutated human that is said to be selected by God and will eventually become the destruction of all of mankind, possess two horns in their heads. In addition, they have vectors, or invisible hands, that can kill their enemy in an instant. Due to this dangerous power, they have been captured and isolated in laboratories by the government.

Lucy, who is said to be the first Diclonius, manages to break free of her confines and brutally murders most of the guards in the laboratory where she was being held. She eventually gets shot in the head and drops into the ocean. She survives and manages to drift along to a beach, where two teenage cousins named Kouta and Yuka discover her. Having lost her memory, she was named after the only thing that she can now say, "Nyuu”. The two cousins allow her to stay at Kouta's home. However, it appears that Lucy is not dead just yet, and the government is not going to sit back and let her run free

Elfen Lied ran for 13 episodes on Japanese TV in 2004, adapting roughly the first 60 chapters out of the107 chapters (12 volumes) of the manga. The series was re-broadcasted in 2005 and was licensed by ADV Films in the United States in 2004, but not released until 2005. According to ADV, the anime was one of their best-selling releases of 2005.

So, who has seen it? Thoughts? Opinions?

[ベト]

I've heard of it and I've seen the trailer. It's quite gorey and i couldn't tell whether or not if lucy was a confused-finding her place-wants to be good-type of girl character OR a confused-wants to be bad-murderous-sadistic type of girl. Judging by the trailer did she killed all of those people on accident or did she mean to do it?

[Haru-Sensei]

She definitely meant to do it, but it's partially their own fault since they are the same people who submitted lucy to horrible testing and kept her locked up. It's partially Lucy's fault because she is an Diclonius whose purpose in life is to kill all humans.

[Angantyr]

I have seen an AMV for it and it looked real good, kind of reminded me of Resident Evil as an Anime but much better. I have little idea what it is about but apparently its real gorey and shit so I just ordered Volume 1 with the Box (Can't buy them in 1 package) but its not currently in stock so it could take a while but I look forward to watching it and I will let you know after I've seen it.

[Haru-Sensei]

If you enjoy blood, nudity, and extreme violence, as I know you do. Then I suggest watching ang totally owning this one.

[Bryan 2.0]

Elfen Lied was the first anime that I had ever purchased. I didn't really watch anime until I bought the first volume of Elfen Lied. I bought it when it was first coming out. To this day, it's one of my favorites.

I'm glad to see that other people are starting to watch it. It's a really good anime.

[Tifa]

Could probably consider this necro-posting, but this forum's dead enough as it is and I'm bored anyway.

It's partially Lucy's fault because she is an Diclonius whose purpose in life is to kill all humans.

Spoiler: I wouldn't say that. Nana was also a diclonius, but didn't have homicidal tendencies. Supposedly, they have homicidal tendencies due to the horns. Which can be prevented by removing the horns. Forget where I read that, but it isn't presented in the main series so I could be wrong. What makes me wonder is, why is Nana different ... and would being in a non-hostile environment growing up change things?

Overall the series was pretty good. I kind of watched it out of order. I watched starting from 6 to the end, and then went back for 1 to 5. The cliffhangers are killer. Personally, the nudity and boob rubbing was a little ridiculous ... and if I watched the beginning episodes I probably wouldn't like it as much, lol.

I rather enjoyed the gore as it provided much lulz. Mostly when people would be talking and then their heads would get ripped / cut off.

[Rydia Alexander]

I just finished watching the series awhile ago, its a shame there's only the 13 episodes. I guess Ima have to buy the manga's cuz they left so much unanswered. Overall this is one of the best animes out there.

[Jingles33]

I just started watching this anime and i really like it, the gore is great! I was a little confused on what was going on in the 1 episode but after the 2nd and 3rd. I understand more, I think the animation is outstanding, and Nyuu as a good-girl is just the cutest thing ever! Then she turns bad ass! It is great all around I can't wait to see the ending.

[Angantyr]

Well after waiting 2 months, my copy box with volume 1 finally came so I put it in and watched. The first thing I noticed was the animation is some of the most detailed stuff (at least in the background) I have ever seen in an Anime, however the people, blood and all that not so much so. The story seems quite solid so far, typical perverted Japanese stuff which I admired, though also somewhat unique. I still have the next 3 DVDs to get so thats on my to buy list with FMA and Yu Yu Hakusho.

[~FANTASY-ENDER~]

I waited till the complete series came out, I bought Elfen Lied about two weeks ago and I love this anime, its the best anime that I've seen so far. Elfen Lied has humor, drama, and a surprising ending. I give this anime a perfect 10/10.

[Domino56]

I was watching such things as naruto and Inuyasha and even fruits basket and Death note and all i ever got were recyled characters that have already been on the manga before then i watched Elfen Lied and my love for anime came back, i was happy and felt like all animes didn't have to have a female fan girl a hot headed boy and they both make out so the hot headed boy stops being such a jerk when the female should be dead by now with 10 times the amount of claws and explosives thrown at her.

Elfen Lied is now my favorite anime because of a great storyline and a use of different characters and for once the main character was a girl which is something i don't see very often *ignores Inuyasha...i always do anyway*

[Lilium]

Elfen Lied has one of the most unique storylines in anime. The characters were great, and developed very well over the course of the story, pretty cool first 7-10 minutes, very unique monster/hybrid/humainoid being (dubbed "diclonius"), etc. The overall series was amazing. Definitely in my top 10.

[loner-kid]

ah, elfen lied is probably my favourite anime. At the very least it's the only one i've watched five times. The story never loses its power or its depth and I realise different things whenever I watch it that change the way I see the story. Lucy in particular is an amazing character (and handled much better in the anime I think) yes she's psychotic but at the same time she's sympathetic, no matter how much death she brings you can't help but feel her sorrow alongside her.

One thing that I vastly prefer about the anime as opposed to the manga is how the diclonius are always driven to destruction by some form of trauma or injustice at human hands. It makes them understandable and capable of redemption. However in the manga they are just naturally evil completely lacking a conscience and every time a human shows them mercy or tries to do the right thing that human is always killed. I understand that the whole gist of the concept is that diclonei have an in built desire to kill humans but they also possess minds of their own and should be shown as being able to overcome that desire.

[Unknown Entity]

For me it's been a stop and start thing when watching this. I watched the first episode, thought it was pretty good, and then stopped... only to come back a few weeks later to watch the second episode. I've watched a good couple of them now, but because the last I watched was about a month ago... I can't remember where I am. xD;

So far, I'm loving the story and the themes, and getting to know the different characters. The gore is pretty okay I guess, just not as detailed as the rest of the animation as I would have liked.

I can't help but sympathise with Lucy. I don't know if this is the case (I'm still new to this, and I've not watched it in a while, remember? ), but I don't think that killing is what she wants. Being locked up because of the humans' fear for what she is capable of can't have taught her much about being able to communicate, or how to control this killing urge (of course, if it can be properly controlled).

Overall... I can't say it's my favourite, but because I don't watch that much anime, but it's certainly up there.

[yuki]

the truth is that iliked the art work in it but wasnt 2 amaized by the blood shed (hates blood)
kinda left me empty minded after finishing it (that was 2 years ago)

[Insufficient Mage]

Originally Posted by Tifa

Could probably consider this necro-posting, but this forum's dead enough as it is and I'm bored anyway.

Spoiler: Its been years since I've seen it, but Nana may have been different due to the nature of her upbringing? Chief Kurama basically adopted her, so unlike Lucy and the other younger diclonius (her name escapes me), who were treated more in the manner of true test subjects without the love of a parental figure, Nana was treated like a child, which probably includes being taught morals and all that.

[Xanatos]

WOW...I might be the only one here who actually doesn't like Elfen Lied. Anyway, I've heard many good things about this anime, I even bought the DVD but honestly I was highly disappointed.

Actually the worst part for me was the story itself, yep, that's right, the story. Somehow it wasn't interesting enough and it was also kinda too short. Characters weren't that bad but in all honesty nothing special. Also there was too much of senseless violence and a lot amount of blood (don't remember any anime with this much blood though), not that it bothers me but some scenes could been done without it.

If you think that I don't have anything positive to say about Elfen Lied, well, you're right, I don't. Don't get me wrong, I've seen much worse but Elfen Lied simply didn't fulfill my high expectations. I watched it a long ago and I still have it on DVD so I might give it another shot, who knows maybe this time I even like it (highly doubtful).

[Dodie16]

Nope. You aren't the only one who wasn't a fan of this anime.

I heard lots of good things about this as well, so I decided to watch it. I thought the opening theme was great, but other than that, it was a pretty dissapointing anime, at least compared to all the things that I heard about it.

Yes. There is lots of blood, and I am not a fan of anything that is overly violent. Also, lots of shots of nudity. I think the human body is beautiful and everything, it's just that a lot of these scenes were pretty much just thrown out there.

As for the overall story, I hear that a lot more of it is explained in the Manga, and a lot was left out of the anime. I guess that's the case with many manga to anime shows though. I thought it was a bit strange the Kohta was so easy to forgive Lucy

SPOILER!!:

When she killed his family

I suppose it had to be quickly done because this anime is indeed very short. Also, the ending was very anticlimatic.

So overall, I personally wasn't impressed with this anime, but this really isn't my kind I like to watch anyway.

[Unknown Entity]

Originally Posted by Dodie

Yes. There is lots of blood, and I am not a fan of anything that is overly violent. Also, lots of shots of nudity. I think the human body is beautiful and everything, it's just that a lot of these scenes were pretty much just thrown out there.

Agreed on the nudity. So far of what I've seen, a lot of it from what I've seen was unnecessary. I don't mind nudity at all, but there is a bit much there that needn't be there.

As for the blood, I don't mind a little bit of gore. Would have been nice with some extra details, but hey - it was aired in 2004.

So, Xanatos-444 and Dodie... you both don't like it very much it seems. Would you say it's worth watching the rest? I'd prefer to know if I'd be wasting my time by watching it. I'm on the fifth episode (cheeked yesterday, and thought I had watched much more of it than that... >>; ), and so far I like it. Will I be disappointed later on?