I had heard many good things about E.L. and was curious to see what it was, some people swear that it is an all time great. That was what I went in with, and seems to be what most of MAL thinks of the show. I like gratuitous violence and despair in Anime when done tastefully (see Berserk, Re:Zero, etc) and I like science fiction or fantasy stories, but neither was done with any care. The shock value, and the idea of shocking brutality as art, to make people think, is valid, and what I imagine the shows producers were aiming for. But they missed by a good margin, instead drowning us in needless gore, depthless characters, and a dull story.
Perhaps my viewing this show in 2016 and not 2004 is the real problem. E.L. may have been groundbreaking in its use of gratuitous violence and nudity back then, but it is pretty tame by my standards as a horror/scifi fan these days. The gore never makes you flinch (or even put you at unease, creating tension) and the psychological aspects never kept me thinking at night. If released today, one would wonder if it would have achieved such notoriety.
Finally, that one of the main characters, "Nyu" is essentially a cat with a woman's body half the time, and usually sexualised for effect, really takes out any possible argument that the show was too inspired, genius or thought provoking for me and I simply missed it. It is one thing to have a damaged character and empower them, but we never see that, we see her just being stripped down and treated like the cat she is when she is "Nyu". She simply acts like a cat and goes alone saying her cat sound of a name "Nyu".
>>>>Also the show failed the Bechdel test and it is hard to say any story these days is a work of art or even "above average" when they cannot be bothered to provide us with one reasonable female character. But if you like cartoon boobs, mildly embarrassing nude scenes, and women who never say anything relevant, then these women might have been written for you.
I imagine if you liked fast and furious #2-6, and other bad action dramas or if you liked highschool DxD but wanted it dumbed down a little, Elfen Lied should be on your watch list. If you like to watch anime that has despair and agony in it you can do better, as Elfen Lied really only reaches for the lowest fruits.
This was my first review, I was just so upset by how hyped this show is, and how miserably executed it was, I was obliged to sound off. I hope you may have found this helpful, and move on to a better series.
