Elfen Lied. Good God. I first heard about this anime from the internet and I heard both good and bad things about it. So I was hesitant to watch it. But when I finally pushed myself to start this extremely gory, cruel, just downright freaking depressing anime, it was only because I was on a LONG car ride to Georgia. I didn't know how extremely gory and mature this series was so it took me (a 12 year old at the time) off guard. Nudity, violence, cruelty, and a tad bit of pervy moments.
Story:
The story is pretty unique, could have gone so many places and made so many arcs but it did not. You get a glimpse at the military/research facility trying to figure out how to stop the Diclonius, and how Kouta deals with all of the strange women flying his way. That's pretty much it. 5/10
Sound:
*rage mode start* LET ME JUST SAY that I can't stand the English dub, so I will re-watch in Japanese. Like I REALLY hate the English dub. Every single voice, except, maybe, Lucy, is terrible annoying and either so underacted or so overacted I just had a hard time getting into the moment, whether it was supposed to be sad, serious, dramatic or funny. *rage mode end* However, the music was fabulous and made up a small bit for the god awful dub. The opening is so beautiful, I find myself humming it on a daily basis. The ending is decent, but the BG music fits every scene perfectly. So its a 4/10.
Characters:
The development isn't super prominent, Lucy is really the only one that shows and kind of development. I hate Yuka SO MUCH. She annoyed me to no extent. I adored Lucy. As for the other characters.... Meh. I felt sorry for Chief Kurama, the poor bloke. So 5/10
Enjoyment:
I personally am a very twisted person. I love gore. So I didn't mind it at all. I did mind the intense cruelty this anime had. Really makes you feel like you have a freaking awesome life. The "sweet" moments that are scattered throughout the show do serve as a small relief, but there aren't many of those. But near the end I got kind of excited to see how it would end, if it would go down in flames or not. I was disappointed at how much of a cliff hanger you got, so the end didn't settle too well with me. I give a 6/10
Overall:
This series isn't for the fainthearted. Lots of blood. Lots of female nudity. Lots of torture and cruelty. Terrible dub. Wonderful soundtrack. 7/10
