Elfen Lied

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Elfen Song, Elfic Song, Elf Song
Japanese: エルフェンリート
English: Elfen Lied
More titles

Information

Type: TV
Episodes: 13
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Jul 25, 2004 to Oct 17, 2004
Premiered: Summer 2004
Broadcast: Sundays at 22:30 (JST)
Producers: VAP, Genco
Licensors: ADV Films
Studios: Arms
Source: Manga
Genres: ActionAction, DramaDrama, HorrorHorror, RomanceRomance, SupernaturalSupernatural, SuspenseSuspense
Themes: GoreGore, PsychologicalPsychological
Demographic: SeinenSeinen
Duration: 25 min. per ep.
Rating: R+ - Mild Nudity

Statistics

Score: 7.471 (scored by 874890874,890 users)
1 indicates a weighted score.
Ranked: #19882
2 based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity: #74
Members: 1,511,192
Favorites: 24,141

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Streaming Platforms

7.47
Ranked #1988Popularity #74Members 1,511,192
Add to My List
Episodes: /13

Synopsis

Lucy is a special breed of human referred to as "Diclonius," born with a short pair of horns and invisible telekinetic hands that lands her as a victim of inhumane scientific experimentation by the government. However, once circumstances present her an opportunity to escape, Lucy, corrupted by the confinement and torture, unleashes a torrent of bloodshed as she escapes her captors.

During her breakout, she receives a crippling head injury that leaves her with a split personality: someone with the mentality of a harmless child possessing limited speech capacity. In this state of instability, she stumbles upon two college students, Kouta and his cousin Yuka, who unknowingly take an injured fugitive into their care, unaware of her murderous tendencies. This act of kindness will change their lives, as they soon find themselves dragged into the shadowy world of government secrecy and conspiracy.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Background

Elfen Lied is based on Lynn Okamoto's seinen manga series of the same name and premiered while the manga was still in publication. The anime follows the source material through the first 7 volumes, with several alterations to the story, and concludes with an exclusive ending. In an interview, director Mamoru Kanbe expressed his disappointment in having to 'condense' to story into 13 episodes and felt that more were needed to include significant plot details that would have made the series more emotive.

The artistic design of both the opening and ending sequences are heavily inspired by the works of Austrian symbolist painter Gustav Klimt. Colors and patterns resembling Klimt's distinct style were used and characters of the series were drawn to recreate several paintings from the artist’s golden period, including The Kiss (Lovers). The opening theme Lilium, which is sung in Ecclesiastical Latin, uses lyrics taken from The Bible, the Renaissance hymn Ave mundi spes Maria, as well as the alchemical compendium Theatrum Chemicum.

Related Anime


Characters & Voice Actors

Lucy

Main
Kobayashi, Sanae
Japanese

Nana

Main
Matsuoka, Yuki
Japanese

Kouta

Main
Suzuki, Chihiro
Japanese

Mayu

Main
Hagiwara, Emiko
Japanese

Yuka

Main
Noto, Mamiko
Japanese

Kurama, Mariko

Supporting
Kawakami, Tomoko
Japanese

Bando

Supporting
Nakata, Jouji
Japanese

Kurama

Supporting
Hosoi, Osamu
Japanese

Number 3

Supporting
Takahashi, Mikako
Japanese

Kanae

Supporting
Yamamoto, Maria
Japanese

Staff

Suzuki, Seiji
Assistant Producer
Kanbe, Mamoru
Director, Episode Director, Storyboard


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Opening Theme

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Amazon Music
Youtube Music
"Lilium" by Kumiko Noma
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Ending Theme

"Be Your Girl" by Chieko Kawabe




Reviews

Mar 21, 2008

--The review contains spoilers--


Elfen Lied: Infamous for its bloody mess of gore, cruelty and nudity. A combination that could make many a person turn away. Yet, a huge number of people watch this, knowing (to some extent) what they're going into, and it's one of the more popular and well-rated series here on MAL. Some people call it a 'masterpiece', people some call it 'perverted', some people don't know what to say, and some call it 'horrible'. The first is true, the second is an exaggeration, the third is understandable, and the fourth is so wrong.

The first episode starts off with what is the bloodiest ...
May 7, 2010
Mixed Feelings
"Elfen Lied" has been nothing short of a phenomenon. There were no big budget promotions (like "Full Metal Alchemist" had), the manga wasn't exactly red hot property (like "Death Note" was), but it was suddenly catapulted to fame in an incredibly short time in 2004. It's the kind of overnight success story that films and anime have been made from. But does it deserve all this hype?

The short answer is no. The long answer is nooooooo.

Only kidding - this review is the long answer, obviously!

When I first noticed "Elfen Lied" on an anime site, it was listed as horror. But the picture shown ...
Dec 12, 2013
An anime can be critically successful for many reasons, it could be due to a well written and engaging plot, innovative ideas that are perfectly handled or even have a deep plot revolving around thought-provoking themes. More so, "depth" has been a cause for the critical success of many anime over the course of time for example "The Tatami Galaxy", but for a show to have a level of depth is not an easy task for any writer. However, superficial depth can be achieved easily and even more easily confused for genuine depth. Such superficial depth ranges from cheap shock factor to random philosophical questions that ...

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