The idea, is fantastic, can't argue with that. Visually, the Diclonius (Diclonii?) are a great race, as the quality of the anime is quite good, although by far not the best.The gore is moderate and not off putting in the least.
What I found lacking, was character. The people involved came off as blunt and not responsive enough, especially the main character. In a lot of situations they just stood and stared. And that's not the only thing. Their feeling of love, fear, joy, everything is very VERY weakly expressed. There could have been better voice actors, even if the story didn't change (because I do understand that it's based off the manga)
Another thing, is the people themselves, they way they have developed due to their pasts. The author seems to have given them a specific trait, and they'd stick to it. Lucy's vengeance-seeking evil one, her cute 'Nyu' self, or even Nana's love for her father. It's very repetitive. Not much insight is given on the character's reasons for acting the way they do, or what they are feeling deep inside. There are no feelings of doubt, regret etc expressed.
Yes they have difficult pasts, but that's what develops a person. I don't want to watch an anime where there is no development. Elfen Lied needs more emotion. Because of the storyline, you can tell it's not all about gore, if it's focused on emotion, and the people making the anime should have done a better job setting up the choking mood that the story's meant to have.
I'm not saying that it was a bad anime, I'm saying it could have been a LOT better.
I probably should have written a review on the manga,
but I couldn't force myself to read it, sorry.
