Now, where I stand, I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, because it does have its flaws, every show does. But I don't hate it, I feel quite the opposite. I loved it. The way the story was written in such a fashion, I have never found anything like it before. That is true, one reason being this is one of the most graphic animes I've seen.
Let me get this out of the way right now. The first ten or so minutes of this anime is the most bloodiest thing I've seen since a classic horror movie. You know, Friday the 13th and stuff in that nature. But if you can keep your food down during this period, I am pretty sure you can handle the rest since it dies down afterward, but it slowly builds up over time as you watch.
So, the basic story of this anime goes like this. We have our main hero - well, anti hero - Lucy. She is a Diclonius , a mutated humans with invisible arms called vectors. As she escapes the facility she is in, Lucy is sniped in the back of the head, but doesn't die. She is found later by two teenage cousins, Kouta and Yuka.
The level of gore and blood that was in the first ten minutes is stopped here and starts to build up from here. Along with depressing and cruel back stories to further the story as a whole. Now, Lucy appears before the two teens but as she awakens the personality that was shown early on is no longer there. Kouta and Yuka take Lucy in and starts calling her "Nyu". However, Lucy's psychotic personalty slowly comes back to her.
As for the characters, they're okay. They aren't the best, but they could definatley could have been better. Kouta, for example, I like him but he could have made him more relate able. For Yuka, I wish I could say the same thing. I hated her character. And her love for Kouta just seemed weird to me. Plus, she was just a huge bitch through out the whole thing. Maybe that's just me I don't know.
The art for this show was simply amazing, but it seems really average. The opening alone is what I loved the most. It's has beautiful paintings, but unfortunately it doesn't prepare you for what you are going to watch. I can't say the same for the animation. To me, it was animated like you where about to watch a random shoujo anime. If it was more detailed, it would have been a lot more jarring.
Music wise, the anime was okay. The opening theme for this anime is beautifully well done. I always stuck around to listen to it every episode. The ending I can't say the same. It seemed so out of balance with the opening that I come to dislike it. Some of the tracks on the OST is really good, but not a lot set the scene of the anime, but it was okay on terms of the sound.
Nonetheless, Elfen Lied is amazing. Despite what everyone says about it, I enjoyed this anime so much.
