Anime Review: Elfen Lied

[quote=B-Wong]One of the first anime that I have watched since the summer (I watched Kekkaishi then) and I watched it in 2 days shirking off all of my duties. I have to start off by saying that this anime is THAT good. It really had me on the brink of tears but when no one's around the house and you're still trying to be a manly man, it's hard to suppress. [center]Quick Summary[/center] The anime is about a new breed of humans that have extra "hands" that are not visible and these hands are capable of amuptating at breakneck speeds. These new species have been said to be created to kill humans (yes, this anime is not for the faint of heart). From the beginning of the anime, we see that a test subject with these arms is escaping captivity and killing everyone holding her captive on the way out (you will see breasts but that's the extent of the nudity. It's not a fanservice anime if you're one that actually wants to pay attention to the story rather than go like "BOOOBS"). She eventually makes it out but is shot with a .50cal sniper rifle (according to the story, I guess), but due to the arms she was able to survive. She suffered some sort of memory loss and she winds up naked on a beach where she meets another character: Kouta. A little before this, Kouta was reunited with his cousin, Yuka who he hasn't seen for 8 years (or something like that) and them, seeing this stranger on the beach naked, decided to take her in to a new home that used to be an inn (large, 10 room old-style japanese house. Seems comfy). Now since the test subject had the memory loss, it really is more like a sort of personality split, whenever she feels the need to protect or gets unbelievably angry, she turns back into the "Lucy" (test subject) that killed so many. But for now, she doesn't even remember her language (something captured very well. I hate it when cartoons/anime are like "I can't remember anything.." after amnesia BUT THEY ARE SPEAKING THEIR LANGUAGE) and all she knows how to say is "nyu" so Kouta and Yuka call her "Nyu-chan" (if you don't know your japanese prefixes please stop reading this now). Since Nyu's escape, the people behind the company have sent many squads of people to try to search and destroy her because out of the many Diclonius (hopefully you put together that species and diclonius = the same shit), Nyu is one that can reproduce. The captors believe that if she does reproduce, the world will come to an end because of the Diclonius ability to destroy and kill so fast but little do they realize, the only reason why most of the Diclonius are killing is because emotions cause them to. [center][img]http://img469.imageshack.us/img469/3640/elfenlied6rm4.jpg[/img] [i]The arms[/i][/center] [center][img]http://api.ning.com/files/B19jcb6MhqhzhhEuKegoBSE2qwZIy5i*ScPUzP9w3gvCZ51GO3obG9g6jZ1doac9ypabs*9ovIa8uYjoRH8dOCuU-KB-jfNy/Nyuelfenlied1246615_640_480.jpg[/img] [i]Nyu![/i][/center] [center][img]http://irreprehensible.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/lucy101.jpg[/img] [i]Lucy[/i][/center] [center]What I felt throughout the anime[/center] The anime was heartbreaking! To see so many past memories be revived and also learning how terrible some things can be (yes, there are many real life comparisons to be made), it really had me sad and anxious throughout but then, happy in the end. I really enjoyed the anime the entire way through even though it was only 13 episodes long (14 if you count the OVA). It was a great ride from beginning to end, in my opinion. [center]Verdict[/center] I'll be honest, this anime isn't for some people. For you macho manly men that don't have any emotions, skip over this and go drive a truck. For those that faint at the sight of blood, go watch the Power Puff Girls. But I personally loved the anime. [center][i][b][u]10/10![/i][/u][/b] Remember: This is from a casual anime watchers' viewpoint. If you watch anime all day and want to critique it on how horrible it was, fine. I'll still hold my opinion true. Don't expect many more of these. Now I'm off to learn Lilium for the piano.[/quote]

[quote=Shrillex]Great show! Used to watch all the episodes on youtube. Any suggestions on another show like this?[/quote]

[quote=B-Wong]I'm not sure, haha. I'm not avid with my anime so maybe I'll look into some anime some other time. For now I'll still be reeling from this one ^^;[/quote]

[quote=Matt]I've actually seen this one :) I did enjoy it but, it was way too bloody. Goddamn it's unnecessarily violent, and graphically so. I was on edge the whole time waiting for her to freak out and gratuitously tear someone's limbs off again. Edit: BTW, it's perfectly valid for someone to have amnesia, not know who anyone is or who they are, but still be able to speak :)[/quote]

[quote=B-Wong][quote=Matt] Edit: BTW, it's perfectly valid for someone to have amnesia, not know who anyone is or who they are, but still be able to speak :) [/quote] I know, it still bugs the hell out of me, though :([/quote]

[quote=hypershatter]i watched elfen lied and i always tell this to my anime buddies. Spoiler*** when someone decapitates several of your family members right infront of you and ask for your forgiveness, you dont fking forgive her and then proceed to make out like nothing happened. that sht doesnt make sense.[/quote]

[quote=Shrillex]I don;t recall but I myself would kill her.[/quote]

[quote=Matt]It's anime lol, what do you expect :D As soon as you start talking about normal human behavior, 90% of all anime is right out the door :D[/quote]

[quote=B-Wong]I'd kill Nana :( I like Lucy! I can relate to her..[/quote]

[quote=hypershatter]i think i was 15 or so when i watched it. i was horrified because i didnt know when the next guy's head is gona go off. cute anime girls are suppose to suck dick and make sandwich on command with a smile on her face, not snapping people's heads off for the lolz. of course, the next few years i didnt like my physics course very much. nor did i enjoy calculus.[/quote]