Review - Elfen Lied
Chika
I've not been well over the last few days, so I decided to pick up on a
title that I got hold of a while ago but never managed to watch. It's an
odd title because, on face value, it's a splatter movie, yet the story
goes a lot deeper than that.
A boy turns up at a remote seaside town to attend the local university.
There he meets up with his cousin who he hasn't seen in some time and the
pair retire to his digs, which turn out to be a disused restaurant. He
gets it rent free as long as he keeps it clean. Meanwhile, some distance
away, an experiment has gotten loose. It's a girl with horns and six
two-metre long invisible hands that can dismember a person in the most
gory way possible. However, before she can get away, a last stray shot
hits her in the head and causes a brain trauma. She now has two
personalities; one is the scary one, the other is... well, think of Chii
from Chobits, only she says "Nyuu" a lot.
The former restaurant becomes the focal meeting place for a number of
people, as the student finds the experiment in her
cute-as-a-basket-of-bunnies persona and takes her in along with said
cousin who decides that he can't be trusted on his own with little Miss
Nyuu alone for company. Along the way they also take in a young runaway
girl and another experiment girl who has longer invisible arms (or
"vectors") but has lost both arms and legs during a notable fight early in
the series. If anyone has ever read Nana's Everyday Life, well this is
where it came from.
Yes, there are a lot of bloody murders during the course of this series,
thirteen episodes in all. Yes, there are a lot of twisted people in there
too, but the story of Lucy and Kohta, Yuka, Nana and the rest is a lot
more than just a bunch of killings. Make no mistake, this is not a story
for our younger audience as it also has some mild nudity along with a lot
of dismemberments and buckets of blood. However, the end of the story was
enough to grab a tear or two from this cynical old writer. Actually, it's
a story that will probably intrigue a good many people that haven't
already seen it as it has a little bit of everything. It certainly has
similarities with Chobits but is somewhat darker, probably more towards
the sort of tone that Serial Experiments Lain got to in places.
--
//\ // Chika <miyuki><at><crashnet><org><uk>
// \// Hazukashii serifu kinshii!!
... Ghosts are merely unsubstantiated roomers.
Giovanni Wassen
> Yes, there are a lot of bloody murders during the course of this
> series, thirteen episodes in all. Yes, there are a lot of twisted
> people in there too, but the story of Lucy and Kohta, Yuka, Nana and
> the rest is a lot more than just a bunch of killings. Make no mistake,
> this is not a story for our younger audience as it also has some mild
> nudity along with a lot of dismemberments and buckets of blood.
> However, the end of the story was enough to grab a tear or two from
> this cynical old writer. Actually, it's a story that will probably
> intrigue a good many people that haven't already seen it as it has a
> little bit of everything. It certainly has similarities with Chobits
> but is somewhat darker, probably more towards the sort of tone that
> Serial Experiments Lain got to in places.
Elfen Lied was great, the real monsters weren't the girls chopping people
up but the humans themselves.
--
Gio
http://www.watkijkikoptv.info
http://watkijkikoptv.info/animeblog
Justin
> Chika wrote:
>
>> Yes, there are a lot of bloody murders during the course of this
>> series, thirteen episodes in all. Yes, there are a lot of twisted
>> people in there too, but the story of Lucy and Kohta, Yuka, Nana and
>> the rest is a lot more than just a bunch of killings.
(snip)
>
> Elfen Lied was great, the real monsters weren't the girls chopping people
> up but the humans themselves.
>
And then Rod Sterling appeared. ^_^
--
*"I expected more from an adult like you!*jus...@briareos.demon.co.uk*
*"Sorry, kid. I'm not an adult... * *
* ...I'm a Man!" * *
* - Alto and Ozma, Macross Frontier. * Pineapple salad? *
John M Ward
Justin <Jus...@briareos.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> Giovanni Wassen wrote:
> > Chika wrote:
> >
> >> Yes, there are a lot of bloody murders during the course of this
> >> series, thirteen episodes in all. Yes, there are a lot of twisted
> >> people in there too, but the story of Lucy and Kohta, Yuka, Nana and
> >> the rest is a lot more than just a bunch of killings.
> (snip)
> > Elfen Lied was great, the real monsters weren't the girls chopping
> > people up but the humans themselves.
> And then Rod Sterling appeared. ^_^
Ah, yes - him. I have his "Triple W" collection right here: "Witches,
Warlocks and Werewolves", (c) 1963 by Bantam Books...
--
John "Minmei" Ward :
Web pages on my favourite TV animated (and other) shows
including Nadesico, Pokemon and WITCH:
www.john-ward.org.uk/personal/john/television/
Arnold Kim
"Chika" <miy...@spam-no-way.invalid> wrote in message
news:50c973cc...@no.spam.here...
>
> Yes, there are a lot of bloody murders during the course of this series,
> thirteen episodes in all. Yes, there are a lot of twisted people in there
> too, but the story of Lucy and Kohta, Yuka, Nana and the rest is a lot
> more than just a bunch of killings. Make no mistake, this is not a story
> for our younger audience as it also has some mild nudity along with a lot
> of dismemberments and buckets of blood. However, the end of the story was
> enough to grab a tear or two from this cynical old writer. Actually, it's
> a story that will probably intrigue a good many people that haven't
> already seen it as it has a little bit of everything. It certainly has
> similarities with Chobits but is somewhat darker, probably more towards
> the sort of tone that Serial Experiments Lain got to in places.
It's like if Chobits was written while CLAMP was suicidal. :)
This is a really great show, IMO one of the best of the decade. The
contrasting elements of the gory and the cutesy work really well, because
you feel sort of off balance the whole time and it creates a general sense
of unease. But beyond just the shock value of that dichotomy, it just goes
to show that you really can't rely on preconceived notions- just like you
can't say "this character is safe because she's too cute" or "I could relax
now because this is a comedy scene" you can't say, "Lucy seems villainous
therefore she's totally heartless". You have to toss out preconceived
notions and look at things a bit more deeply.
It's remarkable in the way it twists your perceptions of Lucy, and humanity
in general, as the series goes on. One of the best series from the last
several years, I think. Easily the best anime series that I won't want to
watch again for some time. Well made, challenges the viewer, but a lot to
take emotionally.
Arnold Kim
GregoryD
The first 10 minutes or so of the first episode of Elfen Lied were
absolutely epic.
GregoryD
Arnold Kim
"GregoryD" <deergr...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:_IydndUxJbq_jrrW...@giganews.com...
When that girl's head was popped off, that freaked me out BIG time.
Arnold Kim
Giovanni Wassen
> The first 10 minutes or so of the first episode of Elfen Lied were
> absolutely epic.
And actually didn't resemble anything about the rest of the series :)
Dave Bieksza
<arno...@optonline.net> wrote:
> Easily the best anime series that I won't want to
> watch again for some time. Well made, challenges the viewer, but a lot to
> take emotionally.
Seconded. I was glad I rented the series, but I never added it to my
collection because I doubted I would ever have the fortitude to watch
it a second time.
------------------------
David S. Bieksza
bie...@noUCEerols.com.invalid
Replies to the group are preferable to an e-mail
message -- my spam filter list is so long I may
not see a direct reply.
Chika
Arnold Kim <arno...@optonline.net> wrote:
> > The first 10 minutes or so of the first episode of Elfen Lied were
> > absolutely epic.
> When that girl's head was popped off, that freaked me out BIG time.
Now how many ditzy heroines from recent anime titles have you wished that
could happen to?
--
//\ // Chika <miyuki><at><crashnet><org><uk>
// \// Hazukashii serifu kinshii!!
... Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.