Biggest fluke in anime history?

Jul 9, 2022 5:07 PM

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Jul 2019

15806

I read one of the top reviews for this anime, and apparently, Elfen Lied had no real huge background or promotion. It kinda just rose to fame. I'd imagine it is because of its content.

That's kinda crazy if you ask me. Far surpassing the likes of Ousama Ranking and Odd Taxi, because unlike those two, idk if there are a lot of good things to say with this anime, but it has left its eternal mark on anime.

Crazy to think about, but what do you think. Is this fluke wild in your opinion? Maybe you even like it and you are happy you've seen Elfen Lied. You tell me.

Jul 9, 2022 5:09 PM

PwnZ

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Jul 2022

109

The opening...... That's the best thing about it.....

(Don't judge me by my bad memory)

"**** Yourself" - Frieren

Jul 9, 2022 5:49 PM

melamuna

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Jan 2022

126

NextUniverse said:
I read one of the top reviews for this anime, and apparently, Elfen Lied had no real huge background or promotion. It kinda just rose to fame. I'd imagine it is because of its content.

That's kinda crazy if you ask me. Far surpassing the likes of Ousama Ranking and Odd Taxi, because unlike those two, idk if there are a lot of good things to say with this anime, but it has left its eternal mark on anime.

Crazy to think about, but what do you think. Is this fluke wild in your opinion? Maybe you even like it and you are happy you've seen Elfen Lied. You tell me.

i think this is one of those animes that's only really good for it's time, like Lucky Star. the OP is really good tho

Jul 9, 2022 5:54 PM

gaburiii

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Dec 2021

189

The anime was amazing, people who shit on it are just pretentious weebs who didn't get it.

Jul 9, 2022 6:14 PM

TRUE_STRIKER9001

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Nov 2019

SMALL SPOILER(S)

I've rewatched it numerous times. I've listened to Lilium (the op) hundreds if not thousands of times as well. Besides a part of an episode where a good doggo gets brutally beaten to death, I love the anime so much. Its no surprise that it's in my 10 favorites on my profile, as well as in my custom profile awards for being the darkest anime I've watched to date.

Jul 9, 2022 7:05 PM

Pillsbury_Uchiha

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Dec 2020

1457

melamuna said:

i think this is one of those animes that's only really good for it's time, like Lucky Star. the OP is really good tho

one piece doesnt exist ig

Jul 9, 2022 8:02 PM

Raikou239

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Sep 2020

131

Masterpiece level work.

Jul 9, 2022 8:07 PM

Skulljujos

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Apr 2022

its one of the most impactful pieces of media that I've seen. I remember all of it. it's not perfect but the subyacent themes of human nature and psychological issues are very well done. don't know how some watch it several times, it depresses me severelly haha

Jul 9, 2022 8:22 PM

PikaboyTK

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Feb 2021

573

It was pretty good. Lucy was definitely the best character. The OP was the best part of the show though.

Jul 9, 2022 8:36 PM

#10

Anayan_Kashyap

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Oct 2020

1748

Great psychological anime, the anime is kinda rushed but that's alright, just the pacing is my problem and the MC doesn't do much,, I hate when only a few characters do all the work in a psychological show, the Male MC should contribute himself.....he did but i mean he wasn't an impactful character, other than that it's great.... overall 9/10.

WISHED I COULD ALSO GET TRANSPORTED TO A WORLD FULL OF MAGIC And DUNGEONS, please take me there too if you could (⁠ ⁠◜⁠‿⁠◝⁠ ⁠)⁠♡

Jul 9, 2022 10:03 PM

#11

zero_uchiha

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Mar 2022

341

it's a 9/10 anime.period.

Jul 9, 2022 10:21 PM

#12

R3SISTORZ

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Dec 2021

It just kinda had a perfect storm. Kinda came in at a edgier time and was probably most peoples first “gory” anime so it spread a good bit by word of mouth. Banger ost and the girl was pretty recognizable.

Jul 10, 2022 1:36 AM

#13

XxphoenixX17

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Feb 2016

PwnZ said:
The opening...... That's the best thing about it.....

(Don't judge me by my bad memory)

agreed. I literally have Lilium by heart.

Jul 10, 2022 1:47 AM

#14

thankYou-Goodbye

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Aug 2021

WaifuPop said:
The anime was amazing, people who shit on it are just pretentious weebs who didn't get it.

Lol it sounds to me like you’re the one being the pretentious weeb. This show is definitely not for everyone.

Jul 10, 2022 2:10 AM

#15

gaburiii

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Dec 2021

189

thankYou-Goodbye said:

WaifuPop said:
The anime was amazing, people who shit on it are just pretentious weebs who didn't get it.

Lol it sounds to me like you’re the one being the pretentious weeb. This show is definitely not for everyone.

This show has an incredible plot with a lot of gore, that's it, and it got a lot of hate from stupid sensible weebs just for that.I got what I expected and I was satisfied.

Jul 10, 2022 2:23 AM

#16

Inexplicable

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Jul 2020

1644

This is one of my favorite anime and the OP is one of my favorite songs. As for background and promotion I don't know, I was 10 when it aired and I didn't care about stuff like that. But I do remember it became popular among the teens in my country pretty quickly, around the year of 2005-2006 maybe.

Jul 10, 2022 3:33 AM

#17

NikaNikaNii

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Oct 2019

i hated it. at first it was quite interesting and stuff, but later... i don't even know. it was all just deattached limbs, lot of blood, nude girls, pretty much a harem at the very end, badly written characters (most of them at least... especially the cousin, if i remember correctly)... if that doesn't sound bad, i don't know what does.

at least the opening was a banger. all of us can agree on that.

Jul 10, 2022 5:35 AM

#18

lusyh

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May 2021

111

Guess it got its fame from being one of the first to have horned girls

Jul 10, 2022 6:17 AM

#19

Elfen Lied is a cancer that kills other cancers.

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Jul 10, 2022 7:30 AM

#20

zxsco22

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Mar 2022

even tho it is far from perfect I really really like it. It has something about it that gives kind of an unique feeling...

Jul 10, 2022 7:45 AM

#21

KasutoroSama

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Nov 2021

1673

I remember hearing about this show and seeing clips of it as a kid and saw how gory it was. I picked it up like two years ago and it was legit one of the worst anime I've ever seen. Still is till this day. It just aged poorly. Back then that was the first real big anime that people saw that had that much gore in it. Most anime with gore people didn't see like angel cop bc you had to find those through tape trading so very few people saw those. But this was actually on tv and people were shocked and loved it for the gore. But even today most people who loved it back then will tell you this show has aged very poorly.

Jul 10, 2022 11:59 AM

#22

Pshyne

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Sep 2014

unpopular opinion: I thought the anime was better than the manga. the manga ending was shit imo

Jul 10, 2022 12:04 PM

#23

FacelessVixen

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Aug 2009

11169

If anything, it's a mix of fans giving it more credit than it deserves, and hoes being mad that it still has a strong cult following.

Jul 10, 2022 12:21 PM

#24

FZREMAKE

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Jan 2021

5466

Yeah there was even one article maybe here on MAL where they said that this anime literally increase the popularity of anime in 2004. At that time, most anime, apart from the big three and some other like dbz and pokemon, were not doing so well. At that time, this not only restored anime's popularity but increased it by a lot. I dont know how much of this is true but it definitely was crazy popular.

There could be many reasons for this too. The OP was great. It was a dark anime aimed for a mature audience and it delivered. It felt depressing and worked well at the time of its release. Some scenes like the dog scene and that train scene are some of the most brutually memorable scenes in anime history. The story was dark and complex but it was immersive and gripping.

If you enjoyed the time you wasted, then its not a waste of time.

Jul 10, 2022 3:10 PM

#25

itz_lelouch

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May 2020

275

I think it was just early for what it did. It’s a old anime and I’m guessing it was something new for people so what it brought to the table was enjoyable for people back then.

Jul 10, 2022 4:09 PM

#26

PapaValentine

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Apr 2022

Ngl this gotta be the worst anime ive ever seen 🗿

Jul 10, 2022 4:31 PM

#27

Ashikhi

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May 2021

307

It's kinda obvious... right?

AshikhiJul 10, 2022 4:48 PM

Jul 10, 2022 6:33 PM

#28

Animorphimagi

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Apr 2015

193

back when it came out, only the craziest anime became well known. there was no legal way to watch it for teens. I'd say it's still more memorable in good and bad ways compared to even well made shows like Ranking of Kings because of how impactful the violence and situations that occurred in the show. Nothing compared to that train scene in all of anime, you can complain all you want about the series and show dozens of better shows, but that scene is gut wrenching in all the biggest ways

Jul 10, 2022 10:42 PM

#29

PapaValentine said:
Ngl this gotta be the worst anime ive ever seen 🗿

You haven't seen much anime then if this is the worst you've seen.

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Jul 10, 2022 10:45 PM

#30

PapaValentine

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Apr 2022

ErogakiPatches said:

PapaValentine said:
Ngl this gotta be the worst anime ive ever seen 🗿

You haven't seen much anime then if this is the worst you've seen.

ErogakiPatches said:

PapaValentine said:
Ngl this gotta be the worst anime ive ever seen 🗿

You haven't seen much anime then if this is the worst you've seen.

Ive seen around 70 this shit is ass 🗿🗿

Jul 11, 2022 3:39 AM

#31

removed-user

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Jul 2018

564106

WaifuPop said:
The anime was amazing, people who shit on it are just pretentious weebs who didn't get it.

I second this. I love gore in this anime.

Jul 11, 2022 2:48 PM

#32

removed-user

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Jul 2018

564106

This rose to fame of how fucking edgy this was thanks to 4chan

It had potential to be a good anime but it was wasted

I liked the manga more

Jul 12, 2022 11:44 AM

#33

devil_lady

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Feb 2022

Amazing psychological plot, good gore and an absolute serve of an opening

Jul 12, 2022 10:10 PM

#34

StoneFreee

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Dec 2020

577

This shows staff did a horrible job with the storytelling. It blows. There are good scenes, but put together they lack any substance.

It’s boring. It’s world makes little sense. It looks unattractive to the eyes. It’s story does nothing innovative.

And most of all, it’s characters reek of laziness. It’s edge for the sale of edge at its best.

said the lolicon bastard

Jul 12, 2022 10:44 PM

#35

aLotQuestion_

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Dec 2014

2606

The nude and pink nipple that make the show popular.

Signature removed. Check your inbox

Jul 16, 2022 9:42 AM

#36

ShadowXBlaster

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May 2017

No, this Anime was legit good. I have a vague memory of it since it's been a long time when I watched this Anime. It's kind of Dark and actually had a decent back story for the characters. The point is, I really liked this Anime back when I watched it. To me, that matters...

IT IS GOOD!!

Jul 18, 2022 6:59 AM

#37

Grahbird

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Mar 2021

Anime fans must be braindead for enjoying this shite.

Jul 25, 2022 5:10 PM

#38

removed-user

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Jul 2018

564106

Besides the weird scenes of nudity and 'nyu' sounds. This anime is still a masterpiece. This is based on dark fantasy, so if you love dark fantasy, you'll for sure love this. I think to be honest many people who didn't like this are perhaps people who couldn't relate/feel a connection to any of the characters because they personally haven't experienced a hard life - Just a guess.

On a sidenote, finishing the ending and then listening to the Lilium lullaby would make anyone depressed :')

removed-userJul 25, 2022 5:33 PM

Jul 28, 2022 12:12 PM

#39

literaturenerd

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Jul 2014

475

Elfen Lied is a flawed and polarizing show that managed to strike a chord with audiences and develop a cult following entirely through word of mouth. As absolutely horrible as the manga is, the anime has a lot of heart put into it. It also has some talent onboard with Mamoru Kanbe as director and Yasuomi Umetsu as key animator. Of course, each person who loves the show has their own background experiences and may enjoy the show for different reasons. I could say why it's my own favorite anime of all time, but that would only explain why one single person likes it.

The following are some bad arguments I've seen in the past that don't explain its popularity.

1. "It was popular because America didn't have access to any good anime back in 2004. All the good shit like Galactic Heroes never got brought over!" This is incorrect. At the time Elfen Lied was released, America had dubs of Berserk, Lain, Utena, Haibane Renmei, Texhnolyze, Cowboy Bebop, and tons of other classic anime. It was only a few series like Ashita no Joe, Anne of Green Gables, and Galactic Heroes that never came to America in any form before fansubs around 2010.

2. Anime fans were just dumber back then! Now that we Indian teens have taken over MAL, the quality of taste has obviously increased due to our superior intellect!" Do I even need to explain why this one is silly? Anime fans are not smarter or more cultured now than they were in 2005. That's absolute horse shit.

3. "It was the first super gory and edgy anime that the West got its hands on!" Nope. It was released by ADV in America on the same day as Gantz. America had also received anime like Genocyber, Violence Jack, Angel Cop, MD Geist, and MANY others of that ilk.

4. "It was the first anime with lots of tits!" NOPE

5. "2005 was an edgier time" This one is probably the closest to being true although it doesn't fully explain Elfen Lied's success. Elfen Lied was released in America the same year as Shadow the Hedgehog. Of course, even Elfen Lied can't achieve anywhere near the finger slicing glory of "OW the EDGE!

See All Discussions

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Biggest fluke in anime history?

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