Just finished watching it today. I really enjoyed. Good characters, nice story, adult themes, lots of gore but the cutesy art style nearly killed all that for me. It's hard to watch and take seriously a little girl (Mariko) ripping people apart when she has big shiny eyes. But it's still a great series and a must watch for most anime fans. Also, the opening song is absolutely amazing

This anime is funny haehaeh.

I really like the series, its one of my fav of all time. im kinda dissapointed that it ended all to quickly, but as they all say, many good animes end short. well i guess i can read the manga. do ay of you guys know if the manga has more detail and stuff?

and short animes dont have many filler eps. i hate them (stupid naruto...)

The manga is much more detailed. The story is more satisfying than the anime.Although, the manga is 10x more hardcore.

10x more harcore? So the anime wasn't hardcore enough.

Seriously, the anime itself shows some of the most violent scenes I had seen at the time of watching and it might turn off some people from the anime.

But there is a great story in there about people and their difficulties and suffering in life, especially how they make others suffer. So it was a great series to watch and I enjoyed the ending as well as the funny OVA that was released.

You thought the OVA was funny? It made me cry(on the inside).

There were a couple funny scenes in the OVA, weren't there? Like Nana doing housework... unless that's another episode I'm thinking of.

I just finished this one, and I'm still deciding how I feel about it. As far as the negative aspects of the show...

SPOILER (click to view)

Common themes in the show included the darkness of the human heart, and/or man's inhumanity to man, which is great. I love dark themes. But what was the show trying to say about this? That we're all only as 'good' as our environment allows us to be? (Ex- Lucy was born different, and was mistreated by her schoolmates and ignored by her family. Given her treatment, she may have become a murderer even without being a diclonius.) That's only a guess on my part...anyway, I'm unclear about what message, if any, Elfen Lied was trying to convey to its audience.

Many of the characters didn't have much of a basis for their actions, either...Yuka, for example, dotes on Koata for no real reason. (Sure he's a nice guy, but that's no excuse for being an idiot and leading girls on like that..) And why the personality change in Nana? She goes from demon-murderer-child in the flashback to emotionally-unbalanced-yet-mostly-docile-child in the present. I suppose we're supposed to think that this change occurred because the sadistic professor took it upon himself to remove what was probably Nana's entire left parietal lobe with a giant gun. (Incidentally, that part of the brain doesn't determine personality.)

The child nudity in this show seemed ... unnecessary, if borderline pedophile-y. Nana's clothes get torn off by Kurama's daughter (forgot her name,) for no reason. Lucy, having killed her parents, has the whole house to herself. And she does what anyone would do in that situation; take a shower, drink stuff right out of the fridge, and walk around naked. Only no one would animate the rest of us doing that. The nudity may be intended to represent the emotional vulnerability of the characters, but I found it discomforting, regardless.

In spite of all...of the above, I thought Elfen Lied was very good. And everyone has already mentioned this, but the ending was inconclusive. This did not surprise me; most animes I've watched have not had completely satisfying endings.

Loved this anime! Even though there was so much killing, gore and pain and sorrow. But nonetheless it was an amazing anime. Too bad at the end it hints at Lucy being killed T_T but then she "isn't" killed >~> it's rather confusing :( why can't lucy be happy with everyone?

Though it has a very good story (and a german title!^^) it's a bit too bloody for me... But, well, just my opinion.

It is my favourite anime that I've watched so far, great animation, a thrilling and interesting story, lots of gore to keep it colourful and a perfect length in my opinion, it was plot driven throughout rather than having to use filler episodes. I really need to read the manga of this but often feel a bit weird about it due to the rather large use of nudity, but I'm sure I'll get over my timidity and buy or borrow it one of these days.

Yes i agree^^
A German titel.. does somebody know why elfen lied is called elfen lied?
Elfen lied is one of my favorite animes but the last episode is very strange und maybe cut?
But the last episode let me hope for an continue.
sry for bad english

If you want to know why "Elfen Lied" is called "Elfen Lied", might I suggest you take a look at the manga?

As mentioned, it can be viewed as more "hardcore", but the story is much more complete (continuing way past the events that take place in the anime) and the ending is much more deep and meaningful.

Poor Nana.

It was a good show. The blood and violence were part of the reason I watched it. It's definitely NOT for the squeamish. Despite all that, the storyline is quite good. The opening music is perfect for the show. A little haunting and sad. The animation is also top notch.

The manga is pretty good too, just as violent though. Check it out if you want, I believe the anime follows pretty closely to the manga. Oh yeah, and there's an OVA that's pretty good too. =D

Elfen Lied = Elves Song

Well... that I'm sure explains exactly why they titled it as such. You're welcome.



I'm reading the manga currently, it's pretty good despite creepy child molestation undertones... and as previously said the anime is seemingly very close to it.