Elfen Lied-Review

Elfen Lied is one of my favorite shows and is actually worth buying DVDs for as opposed to pirating, though I can't blame you if you grab the freebie.

The series really starts you off with a jolt as you're introduced to the show with a naked chick, named Lucy, telepathically killing guards and soldiers by ripping them apart like paper. It's a very bloody scene, and it's not particularly for the sensitive anime viewer. She escapes from the institution, but because of a direct shot to the head she loses her memories. She's found by Kohta and Yuka, cousins living together near the beach where they find Lucy, whom they name Nyuu. It's later learned that Lucy is part of a new killer race created by a mutation that grants the girls telepathic vectors known as "hands," and they are all marked with pinkish hair and horns.

I'm not going to go too much into detail about the rest of the plot or the characters at the moment, but I'll come back to it later should it come up in discussion. All I will say about the rest of the series is that it has both it's really brutal moments and its sickeningly sweet moments. Overall, though, it's a very dark series with it's theme being the depressing-sounding Latin hymn, "Lilium." It's a decent length, at about only 13 episodes and an OVA (which I haven't seen yet).

I recommend this series to anyone over the age of 14 mostly because it does contain some disturbing imagery at times and has some rather harsh plot points. (One I find particularly awful involves a flashback in Lucy's past and her puppy.) If you aren't into violence or have issues with naked girls being tortured, then this show is not for you. It's a great story, however, and I would urge any anime fan to give it a shot.