Nowadays, the anime community seems to lean towards the latter camp, with it being something of a proverbial punching bag for internet anime critics. But what do I think of the show? Does it deserve the vitriol it has been receiving as of late? Is it an unsung masterpiece? Well, that’s the purpose of this review, so let’s dig in.
Our story revolves around a girl named Lucy, a deadly humanoid creature known as a Diclonius, who has been subject to government experimentation. The plot commences when she escapes a government testing facility, leaving many dismembered corpses in her wake. She subsequently loses her memory and her mental state is reduced to that of a Pokemon (she can only say one word, “Nyuu!”). She is discovered by two cousins named Kohta and Yuka, who take her in. What follows is a series of attempts by the government to retrieve Lucy, harem tropes and tragic revelations.
Elfen Lied’s biggest fault, in my opinion, lies in its wasted potential. It brings a slew of interesting concepts and themes to the table, but doesn’t sufficiently explore them. The Diclonius species is intriguing, as is the secret government project dedicated to experimenting on them and its predominant theme of whether evil is inherent or not (nature versus nurture) is an interesting one that could lend itself to interesting and thought provoking material. But as I said, these ideas are simply brought up but not expanded upon. The series instead opts to spend time that could’ve been spent on the aforementioned lore and themes on annoyingly gratuitous harem/ecchi tropes as our braindead MC Kohta ends up living with an increasing number of girls, some of whom are underage (*shudders*). It resorts to the archetypal boob grab gags and other such shenanigans. This is very disheartening as it indicates that the show could’ve been very good, and maybe even great.
The wasted potential sure as hell ain’t the only flaw in this series, so I think I’m gonna beat a dead horse right now and talk about some of its others.
There are numerous instances of noticeable plot convenience in the show, most notably the use of selective amnesia. Both Lucy and Kohta are unfortunately subject to this as Lucy flips between psychotic killing machine and dumb, cutesy weeaboo wank fantasy whenever it is most convenient while Kohta only starts to remember traumatizing, life changing events near the show’s climax. This is highly problematic as it breaks the viewer’s immersion.
Perhaps the most maligned aspect of Elfen Lied is its melodrama. Pretty much all of the lead characters are given over the top, fucked up backstories that make the cast of NGE look like The Brady Bunch or some shit. However, tragic backstories do not a deep, multidimensional cast make and the viewer gets the impression that the writers were trying too hard.
Now that we’ve got the plot out of the way, let’s talk about the show’s cast. They’re fucking dreadful. ‘Nuff said. I’m done.
Nah, I’ll elaborate. The protagonist Kohta is perhaps one of the most idiotic MCs in the anime medium. He does all manner of irrational, dumb things for the sake of plot progression and his selective amnesia makes him all the more frustrating to watch.
The other characters, for the most part, are either really stupid, really exaggerated, unbelievably unlikeable or a combination thereof. We have Bandou, a sadistic soldier who takes joy in killing people and seemingly has no qualms with offing a young girl, Yuka, Kohta’s vacuous, clingy cousin, an abusive pedophilic stepdad, school bullies who bludgeon puppies to death, among others.
There are some standouts though, like Kurama, a government scientist whose moral dilemma is pertinent to the aforementioned theme of nature versus nurture and who has one of the more emotionally engaging backstories in the show. There is also Nana, a good natured and naïve Diclonius who also contributes to said theme. That being said she does suffer from having an overblown backstory.
Lucy herself is perhaps the best character in the show (when she’s not a Pokemon). Her presence is absolutely chilling and the way she acts and thinks is understandable when you take her backstory into account, even if that backstory is ridiculously extreme.
Let’s delve into the art and animation shall we?
The animation isn’t spectacular but it definitely isn’t bad. It has its clunky moments (the show was made twelve years ago after all) but its passable overall.
The character designs are something of an acquired taste. The show opts for a moe aesthetic, which some may find jarring due to it being a psychological horror series. I was personally pretty indifferent to them, but there were times when it enhanced my enjoyment as the juxtaposition between the cute, innocent designs and the buckets of blood was highly effective.
The background art is exceptional, and some of the best in the anime medium as far as I’m concerned. It is highly detailed and the use of tranquil locations makes for another effective juxtaposition.
Most will agree that the show’s OST is the best part about it, and I definitely agree. The soothing and breathtaking opening track, Lilium is utilized in different renditions throughout the series and it successfully creates an eerie atmosphere in certain scenes. The show’s ending track on the other hand is a generic pop punk track that is fairly bland and forgettable.
The show’s Japanese voice track is pretty passable and doesn’t have any truly standout performances; it’s just there. The same cannot be said about the English dub, which is hilariously atrocious. It hearkens back to the OVAs of the late 1980s and early 1990s with superfluous cussing and delivery so bad that to call it wooden would be an insult to forests everywhere.
In conclusion, Elfen Lied falls flat in a number of areas, but is still an interesting and memorable watch. I for one would recommend it in spite of its faults and while it was a mixed bag for me, I still had fun with it.
