Valwin's Blog

Back to Valwin's Blog

WARNING: Mild spoilers, vile language and more ahead.



Recently I finished watching this popular anime series, which not only stirred quite a commotion among anime enthusiast’s when it was aired, but was actually really well received by a wider audience. At this very moment, the weighted score for this anime on MAL is 8.17 with more than 130k ratings submitted by site’s users. Needless to say, it's also very popular

I figured I might bring up couple random quotes from online review’s to enrich this little text.

This series is often described as : “this anime is something that just doesn't come around that often”, “masterpiece anime”, “this series has completely changed my perception of Japanese anime”, “absolute must-see”, “it’s very well balanced out”, “it’s a true work of art, there is simply nothing sub-standard about it” or “simple, yet, unique drama with something for most everyone”.

Is this one of the best anime to ever exist?

Well.. I guess it’s about time I state my opinion on this series.

How should I put it…

Oh, I know! It’s a senseless fucking bloodbath. Cheap, misleading and pointless disgrace of an anime.

Lovely description, ain’t it?

And yes, it’s ‘this’, you guessed it.


I took notes on what’s wrong with this anime as I was watching it, which is something I’ve never done before. This alone is quite a warning already.

I thought that these notes might be better than standard review. I believe that this kind of form may be like a breath of fresh air..? Or maybe I’m just lazy. But no, really, I think it may be interesting. I didn’t write it in any particular order so.. One time I wrote few words, the other time couple sentences, there’s no chronology, but I don’t think it’s a flaw. Basically, when I saw something I wanted to point out I wrote it down, and when I remembered other issue I’ve done the same. Anyone who watched it will exactly know what I’m addressing. So.. yeah. Here it is. Have fun.

(NOTE: Everything that follows is as I originally wrote it down. No editing allowed. )

(NOTE2: Please forgive my bad jokes and puns if some were to occur. This anime managed to actually put me in some weird mood)

- Character’s are soulless – the first instance you see them you know everything there is to them. No depth, no thought put behind, they didn’t even try, whatsoever.
- Decisions they make leave me stunned. In a bad way (ex. -> Nana fights to death vs. this robot-arm dude, then they talk, then they’re cool. Even though he almost fucking killed her. *You try to kill me, well I might help you out* Nana’s unbelievably forgiving.)
- It suffers all anime shortcomings possible – meaning – it’s cliché as it can possibly get (ex. School bullying [btw, nobody found it disturbing to have a kid with horns attend regular school,eh ?], dreadful childhood [which is cheapest way to make viewers sympathize with the character -> *aww, that’s so cruel and unfair*], hopeless male lead [seriously, Kouta’s just unbearable] that all female characters can’t get enough [yeah.. there’s also harem aspect of this anime],
- Some worst lines and most awkward scenes I’ve ever seen in anime [ex. scene when Arakawa was shot, finale on the bridge, and many more],
- No character development (few childhood scenes is not enough to make a certain character believeable)
- Drags too long (it could have been 6 episode series, and still it would be horrible)
- 1 episode -> hey, there’s a girl with horns, covered in blood standing naked on a beach [which is only attended by lead and secondary characters for some weird reason, I can’t recall a single scene where there would be some stranger walking along shore] that can’t speak no real language. Let’s take her home!!
- Cheap and pushy fanservice/ecchi scenes (whatever you may call it, it’s perverted, allright). Easiest way to attract attention of male adolescent – creators new this series sucked,
- I like your horns, I’ll take you home (flashback episodes - Kouta and Lucy),
- I don’t know you, let’s be friends (same)
- Shallow excuse for Lucy to fucking slaughter everyone,
- Shallow attempt to have some fucking sense and proper rationalization,
- I’m ashamed watching this, actually (I want to get it over with asap)
- … “Nyuu”?... oh man…
- What do you know.. horns are actually neko mimi’s. That’s so fucking cute.
- Pointless gore and brutal scenes that failed to shock or even make any kind of impression on me,
- Oh, gothic-ish opening (soo original) (do anime creators somehow connect gothic esthetics [soo dark-toned and mysterious] with an excuse to develop storyline which is based on some half-assed pseudopsychological exploration and then analysis of some cardboard’s character dull and defective state of mind which is supposed to be study of dark side of human nature? Does this gothic atmosphere take part in misleading the audience into thinking that all this slaughter has some actual meaning? I think so. Along with the mysterious, highly dramatic and completely meaningless babbling which is supposed to be next episode preview, this opening, and not only that, is one big failed attempt to mislead viewers into thinking that this is some intelligent, a bit avant-garde and highly thought provoking series which is trying to confront audience with some difficult and extremely sensitive matters.
- Some sick fuck wrote screenplay to this, seriously (why’s there so much young girls nudity that might have been easily skipped?)
- Lucy’s thought process -> people are inhuman [eureka!] I can kill them all now,
- Another cliché – parents are non-existent. Bunch of kids living together, ending up in hospital, and there’s no notion of them having any family, whatsoever. There are no parents in Japan apparently. Or they just don’t give a fuck,
- Young Lucy is a metaphor for a lonely, misunderstood emo-kid (I’m sad, alone, there’s no one who cares about me, so fuck, I’ll kill them all),
- I love how Kouta is such a dumbass – he doesn’t even realize that Lucy is a fucking lunatic with split personality,
- I guess I’ll have to address everyone who wrote in their review’s something like that “if you’re too sensitive and don’t like blood, gore, and killing and all that, don’t watch it” or “it’s not for everyone” (as if it’s somehow special, unique in some messed up way). Yup, “Elfen Lied” is pretty messed up and doesn’t even try to cover it. But don’t give me this “it’s not for everyone” bullshit. You should rather say that it’s not for those who don’t enjoy watching lolis being decapitated and humiliated in every possible way. I like being honest. Really. Because if you say that it is “not for everyone” you make it seem as if it is a gem of some sort. Underrated, and not easily understood. That kind of description is utterly dishonest and extremely wrong. It’s a nice dodge, I must admit it. Fans of the series would probably accuse me of being too limited to truly understand the meaning of this “state of art”. By doing that someone may trick youngsters into thinking that this is all about fatalism of human existence, injustice of life or demise of human kind. It’s a fucking sensless bloodbath.
- Wow, Lucy is a tsudere [proof – cute when spending time with Kouta, still not sure how to act around him, but able to massacre whole families without a second thought] (I hate that kind of character, it’s very overused and somehow manages to annoy me every fucking time),
- I hate each shallow attempt this anime undertakes to make me think that everything Lucy does is so tragic and haunting, and most of all so much painful to herself. These scenes when she’s facing her inner voices that lead her to conclusion that it’s ok to kill everyone are extremely cheap and are stripped of any sort of proper rationalization and substance.
- I’m quickly coming to conclusion that everything here was planned is such way, so that gore, and nudity were involved. This is what this anime is all about. Cheap shock. I don’t know how people can praise this and pretend there’s more to it.
- Young girl is jealous of a possible rival (it’s so tragic and heartbreaking) What’s the solution? Kill Kouta. Yeah, why not?
- Such a tragic fate of a tsundere, misunderstood Lucy.. why am I watching this?
- What’s more tragic than puppy being killed in front of our own eyes? (another easy way out – you must have no soul to not be touched by this.. apparently),
- I’m simply astound how brutality and nudity of this anime is supposed to be targeted towards adults but the whole storyline, characters and their motivations lead me to conclusion that it’s targeted towards kids. Who is supposed to watch this?
- I’m different and misunderstood -> I’ll fucking destroy this world,
- Btw. -> arms that are as sharp as blades? How much thought process was put behind this? So uninspired..
- Tear-jerking scenes that make me fell disconcerted,
- It may look as if I’m trying to mock this series and it’s fans, but actually, it’s quite the opposite. I’m honesty trying my best to be as objective as possible, and to do this anime a justice and also to somehow understand it’s popularity (at least among western audience; can’t tell if ‘Elfen Lied’ earned recognition and appreciation amongst Japanese viewers). Though (sorry guys) you have to be aware that some things must be made clear,
- Unaware Kouta.. that’s his nickname from now on,
- Did I see right? Nana used her.. ceramic (I don’t even fucking know..) arms as a weapon and threw them at the opponent? It’s getting more grotesque than I imagined,
- Another irritating anime cliché -> german titles in the background, or any sort of similar things (I mean german subtitles of episodes and such). I’m quite used to the fact that when anime creators want to leave an impression that presented issues, or just simply narration is very intellectual, intelligent or maybe even philosophical, they use this stupid gimmick. It’s obviously recycled, uninspired, and again, it does not raise certain anime’ value, let it be artistic, intellectual or emotional. This trick is outdated, guys.
- ‘we almost killed ourselves, let’s have a dinner together! 'Nyuu!’
- Let’s all live together, why not! (harem, once again -> yes, it IS a flaw),
- Laboratory or some kind of a fucking institute (idk) that’s conducting vile and inhuman experiments -> never seen that one before [and that, my folks, is a joke],
- Some rubbish about human evolution. What’s next? Is God involved?
- Some fucking Sherlock Holmes shit right here -> ‘Diclonius kill humans. Diclonius are enemies of humanity’ 0_0 pure genius right there How did you fucking even.. (reminds me of ‘people die when they are killed’ line),
- Once again brutality in this anime is certainly not contaminated with any kind of thought process. Even when it comes to pure shock value. I’m really unimpressed. Honestly, I’m pretty much disconcerted. I guess it’s a fault of people who worked on character presentation. They’re so believeable and so human-like that I’d feel more compassion towards some stranger being slaughtered by Lucy, rather than if she were to kill Kouta, or Yuta or fucking anyone who is supposed to earn viewers sympathy.
- Do I care about them? You sir, guessed it. I don’t.
- They didn’t even try to make it bearable,
- Maybe I shouldn’t take it seriously. But then.. why does the story try to cover such issues like sexual abuse of children, death, or why does this anime try to have it’s take on humanity in general..? I already addressed this -> who is supposed to be target audience for this?
- After watching Nana being humiliated some more I’ve come to a simple conclusion -> quality over quantity does not apply here (anime has no quality whatsoever, but correspondent number of gallons of blood was splattered all over the place),
- Many tend to praise this anime’s presentation. From the visual point of view, I can’t say much. I have this.. sort of distortion, which makes me immune to influence of graphics on my overall evaluation of a certain series. I’m firmly convinced that graphics and visual presentation in general plays minor role, if none. I can enjoy series that look dull. That’s not the substance of an anime. Therefore I find it awkward to rate looks of an anime. But what I saw later on is that many tend to over exaggerate about graphics in ‘Elfen Lied’. It looks ok, it’s nothing to be excited about. It’s not as outstanding as many claim it to be.
When it comes to sound design I’m a little more definite. Soundtrack leaves a bigger mark on me than looks. Maybe because music may stimulate certain emotional states a bit easier than graphics alone. That’s just my humble opinion, besides, it’s not so clear in some cases. But, reaching my conclusion, I can appreciate music a little bit more that visual design most of the times. And music in ‘Elfen Lied’ is a bit generic. I don’t mean it in bad way.. but in ‘rather uninspired’ kinda way. Some may like it more than others, but still.. it’s pretty plain.
As I’m on the subject.. I have to address some misconception (at least in my opinion). I often heard that ‘great soundtrack may save an anime for me’ and some had ‘Elfen Lied’ In their minds when they mention that. Umm.. ok.. So this means that if some highly offensive, brutal and obscene scenes were involved (let’s say.. extremely brutal rape scene shown with too much attention on the fact of rape rather than just notiyfing viewers that such a thing took place) but the soundtrack was pleasant would it make an allright concept? It’s like having Air on G String played during some fucked up orgy make the scene pretty soulful. Let’s not make that mistake folks, it’s still wrong.
- Cardboard characters,
- Gore and brutality that serves no purpose other than being a distraction tool that tries to cover up for a lack of substance,
- It makes me feel really bad,
- I have no fucking clue what you lot see in this mess of a series,
- Kouta is still a dumbass (Shirakawa guessed in less than a minute that Lucy is a fucking lunatic),
- The reason why Lucy decapitated Kanae is simply fabulous! That sums up this anime sufficiently,
- Harrased scientist is the best ‘Elfen Lied’ can offer in terms of character presentation. It’s this anime’s pinnacle – most established figure. Confused, haunted by his past dealings, irredeemable daddy. This the absolute best they could pull off. For this anime standards it’s the indisputable top,
- Pointless breast scenes,
- Early ‘dressing-Lucy-up’ scene.. dear god,
- How come Lucy is immune to gunfire? Or any diclonius, when you give it a second thought?
- Why Mariko couldn’t pull her vectors out, and then all of a sudden it worked just fine? Was it for the sole purpose of escaping?
- Does the fact that General Director of this fucked up institute is a diclonius himself, alter or anyhow contributes to this series.. worth?
- Humiliation in this anime is not even funny anymore (finale on the bridge),
- Why Kouta grew some balls all of a sudden? Is this the missing ‘character development’? It seems like someone at some point recalled that it would be nice to establish him a little more. Pretty random if you ask me,
- Why are there so much unnecessary shots of young girls naked bodies? Does this actually contributes to something?
- Overall rather blank series, relying too much on shock aspect that fails each time. It’s also pretty plastic, extremely insensitive, insolent and often degrading and shameful. It impoverishes your spirit. This anime serves you some messed up ideas that pretty much may be categorized as intellectual regression. Shallow outlook on life and human existance.. I hope I’ll never again have the displeasure to watch something similar.


A modest clarification may be of some use now so that I can get my point across.. It may seem as if from my point of view this is the absolute worst anime that has ever been released. That would be an obvious overstatement. I’m sure that somewhere out there one may stumble across some even worse series, much more obscure and absurd.

But.. the foremost reason why I decided to write this text is the fact that I’ve never seen something like that before. I honestly want to warn some of you. I bet no one’s going to even read this, but I’d feel even worse if I were to let it be, and not speak my thoughts on this disastrous series. I feel like there’re too few voices of disapproval regarding ‘Elfen Lied’. It should have never been made. It’s a giant taint on whole anime industry. We should be ashamed that such a thing is regared as ‘anime’. What’s worse is the fact that many seem to really enjoy this series. And that is what frightens me the most – the perspective of similar series being created following the success of ‘Elfen Lied’. Popularity of this anime, and the series alone, are in my estimation a dreadful sign of condition of people who are associated with anime industry, let it be developers or the vieweres. It seems the general audience is slowly loosing the sense of distinction between what’s really worthwhile and what is not. I’m not starting discussion on tastes or likings, do not misunderstand. It’s necessary that if we see something deserving disapproval, we say it clear and loud. It’s in interest of all. If we, the audience applaud such mess of a queer, childish-like, pretentious drama that relies on cheapest and most disgusting tricks to draw attention imaginable, it’s what we might get. If we won’t object to such despicable trend, anime may degenerate as a medium. Anime’s such as ‘Ghost in the Shell’, ‘Toki wo kakeru Shoujo’ or ‘Kino no Tabi’ will withdraw under the pressure of series such as the one at issue. And that is what I definitely do NOT want to happen.

Let it be known – ‘Elfen Lied’ is simply horrible.

And sometimes saying ‘horrible’ is not enough.