?/10
While watching Elfen Lied, as I would try to levy judgment upon this bizarre construction, a single thought echoed throughout my mind : "I don't know what to think."
Nevertheless, I've noticed that many so-called critics are painfully lazy and simplistic in their conclusions.
(I recommend watching the OVA in between episodes 10 & 11, and reading the eponymous (German) poem.)
(**Spoilers below**)
This review is, in essence, reactive. While I am prioritizing aspects I found fascinating, I am also addressing banal criticism and steering clear of obvious merits which have already been expounded upon at length (e.g. Kurama's development). Needless to say, I am not attempting to give a holistic review. Now, let's begin:
It's difficult to interpret the characterization and thematic elements as I'm often unable to tell what's intended or not.
Is Yuka's love supposed to be viewed as obsessive? Why isn't this explored? Is it better left ambiguous?
She spent merely a few days hanging out with Kouta as a child, yet over the course of eight years he has remained her primary romantic interest. To the show's credit, Kouta is never depicted as the instigator in their "romantic" moments, and he never displays any passionate interest in Yuka. Towards the end of the show, Yuka herself ponders whether her expectations are abnormal, unrealistic, and unfair to Kouta.
In a medium rife with inauspicious violations of show-don't-tell, I was pleasantly surprised by this romantic subplot. In a generous interpretation, the audience is purposefully misled into expecting and accepting at face value such an utterly ridiculous relationship, amplified by the repeatedly drawn parallels to Yuka and Kouta as the mother and father of Maple House, only to have these fault-finding expectations subverted by Kaede and Kouta's sudden fervent expression of mutual desire.
I can't tell if the nudity is fanservice, because in almost every case in which it occurs, it is profoundly unerotic.
Is the contrast between the facade of fanservice and all the violence and gore supposed to be a commentary on fanservice in anime in general, in how it defuses tension, breaks immersion, and provokes a sense of disgust? Is the nudity, resigned to such a sterile presentation, a reflection of the scientists' animalistic treatment of the definitively human diclonius?
I find it hard to believe the creators would intend a bloody and delimbed plain-looking yet horned and pink-haired 16-17 year old having her clothes torn off accidentally in a semi-telekinetic catfight to be sexually appealing; although perhaps I'm underestimating the depravity of the early aughts anime community. That being said, I still consider the inclusion of such excessive nudity to be undesirable.
And then there's Mayu. A common criticism I see levied at Elfen Lied is that her molestation is played for shock value, as the effects of such psychological trauma are not explored and her past is never revisited. This isn't completely true though, as Mayu does chime in at one point when the gang is discussing Nana (iirc), suggesting that she may not have any place to call home, a callback to Mayu's own homelessness after fleeing her abuser.
Also, addressing this sort of trauma in itself becomes a cliche; it's expected that any character shown to have such a background will undergo some sort of related on-screen development, but to have Mayu achieve a happy and (relatively) stable family structure not only confronts this topic, but does so in a much more original and clever fashion.
Elfen Lied is commonly referred to as a harem, and, indeed, the primary cast consists of a bland but beloved boy surrounded by girls; however, only two of the female characters are ever infatuated with Kouta, and (arguably) both of these hypothetical pairings are portrayed as deviant. Kaede savagely dismembered and decapitated Kouta's sister and father in front of him as deliberate retribution out of jealousy for his relationship with Yuka, who herself has remained enamoured with the 10 year old boy she met one time eight years ago.
We are told that the Diclonius, as a rite of passage, a ritual usage of their alien powers, savagely murder their own parents, yet none of the Diclonius with whom the audience is introduced actually do so; in fact, they treat their parental figures with inexplicable reverence, despite Kurama, the father figure to both Mariko and Nana, being complicit in (and actively contributing to) their unfathomably cruel upbringing.
Elfen Lied is a veritable sea of contradictions. Whether this is indicative of designed ambiguity or indolent writing I cannot say.
There are some unobjectionable negatives I can derive from Elfen Lied:
The animation has aged poorly. The pacing sucks. The OST leaves much to be desired.
Furthermore, the behavior of children in this show is entirely unrealistic.
The idea that several ~10 year olds would excitedly engage in the murder of a puppy using repeated blunt force trauma to make a girl with horns sad is ridiculous. I doubt the typical Japanese orphanage consists of posse(s) of vindictive young Jeffrey Dahmers.
Perhaps Japanese culture is distinct in this regard, but Kaede's backstory relies on the assumption that two ~10 year old children of different gender hanging out together is romantic (and Kouta reaffirms the supposed universality of Kaede's assumption by assuming she is making such an assumption).
To properly grasp this work, we must contextualize it — within its time, its inspirations, its intentions. It is necessary to start with the bare minimum, to establish a certain foundation of knowledge, to uncover the *cogito ergo sum* of this critically lambasted creation.
* The source material is genuinely terrible. If the anime is muddled and disjointed, the manga is transparently incoherent.
* The manga is an ecchi, through and through.
* The director held certain elements of the manga with disdain. He aspired to make the show somewhat critically worthwhile, to take the story in a more serious direction.
* The anime ending differs significantly from the manga ending.
* The anime was forced into a much shorter runtime; as such, it was unable to conclude several plotlines, several more were rushed, and several plausible character arcs were never touched upon.
* The director disliked Yuka's role (of prominence, I assume) in the manga
I'm not here to convince you of some particular numerical value with which you ought to associate Elfen Lied. I'm just presenting interpretations and information for your own application.
All in all, this show was exceptionally flawed yet profoundly original. I would much rather engage with a work that strives to sail into the great unknown, to perhaps flail and falter on its journey over the horizon, than travel the same well-worn path, peddling acceptable mediocrity to uncaring consumers.
