Elfen Lied starts in a military facility where this girl called Lucy is escaping the base by brutally murdering the guards with her weapons called vectors. Vectors are basically invisible hands that can rip apart people like a piece of paper and belong to this race called the Diclonius. The main protagonist Kouta is just returning after being in a mental care to recover from trauma of a horrific event that happened in his childhood. The day he returned he meets Lucy, but she loses her memories and completely has a different personality which is pretty toddler like. Kouta and his cousin Yuka decide to name her Nyu since that was the only word she knew how to say. Another diclonius Nana is sent to kill Lucy, but can't because Lucy wasn't showing any signs of violence. Throughout the show Nyu switches personalities and only those who know her past can tell who is Nyu and who is Lucy.
The opening theme of Elfen Lied is so beautiful. It is calming and serene. The rest of this show gives it sense of irony, but still a pretty awesome song.
The episode that stood out in my mind was episode 8. That shit was just way too fucked up for me. I'm not going to spoil it but lets just say it made me cringe.
The characters are memorable. Lucy and Kouta both have really great messed up backstories. However, my favorite was Kurama's. His backstory is something that really gets to you and you feel so bad for this character even though he did all these other terrible acts.
Elfen Lied was entertaining. Diving in to the psychological aspects of the characters and providing a feeling of shock. The only thing that's bad is it's ending. But I can see why people like this anime. It has action, mystery, horror, and a touch of romance thrown in. Overall I give this show an 8/10.
