Good music, extremely good animation, good action scenes and very emotionally involving .
Disadvantages:
Might be too extreme for some . Expect ultra - violence, nudity and a hint at incest . Possibly expensive .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
This is the first volume of the series Elfen Lied. The series is based on the manga, and consists of 13 episodes. The full episode list is:
01 A Chance Encounter 02 Annihilation 03 Deep Feelings 04 Attack 05 Receipt 06 Innermost 07 Confrontation 08 The Beginning 09 Reminiscence 10 Infant 11 Complication 12 Quagmire 13 No Return
This volume contains episodes 1-4 in both dubbed and subtitled versions. Each episode is about 20 minutes in length, as standard with most animes. The 13 episodes are spread across 4 dvds, so it can cost quite a bit to acquire the whole series.
The story is set in a fictional version of our own world where some humans have a special mutation which gives them a kind of psychic powers, and a human with this mutation is called a Diclonius. The series revolves around one of these Diclonius named Lucy, who escapes from a military installation conduction research on them. The Diclonius are viewed as a threat to the whole human race, as some of them have showed extreme psychotic tendances. Throughout the series we get to see how Lucy after her escape suffers from a personality split from being shot during her escape, and partial amnesia (only her new personality is affected by amnesia), and how she meets people who for once treats her kindly.
A heavy theme in the series is how humans treat people who do not "fit in", and how difference is sometimes viewed as something negative. It makes us question if the Diclonius really are as dangerous as they are made to seem, and if there really isn't some other underlying cause of the main character Lucy's aggression. The other main characters in the series are also interesting, but some people may be revolted by the hint at incest the relation between the two people Lucy meet, Kouta and Yuka, and gets to live with as they are cousins. Kouta hasn't met Yuka for years when they are first introduced to us in the first episode, but fate has it that they soon live together in the same house and Yuka's old crush on Kouta starts to reappear.
One of the strongest points of this series is the sheer quality of the animation and the soundtrack. The characters are beautifully drawn in what I call "modern anime style", such as the series Naruto with more vivid colours than older titles. The music is good, and the intro song "Lilium" is excellent. It is a kind of Gregorian chant kind of song, sung in Latin, and altered version of it appears several times in the series as well.
The first 4 episodes mainly introduces us to the characters and handle the storyline of how Lucy escapes, where she finds shelter, and how the researchers try to catch her again (They lose track of her later, so it is only in the early and late episodes where there is much action). The first half of the first episode is not for the faint hearted, as it depicts Lucy nude, making her way out of the research facilities, slaying lots and lots of security guards in the process. This is a great scene for people who like action, and in my eyes it is quite beautiful, with a more chant-like version of the "Lilium" song playing in the background.
This is a strong series in many ways - graphically and emotionally. If you are a too big a fan of action films and series I cannot recommend this to you, as there are only action scenes in a few episodes, and at times it progresses quite slowly. If you cannot stand gore and violence, then again, this is a series you should avoid. But for people who enjoy good action when it comes up, but also can appreciate an emotionally touching series (it is hard to classify in standard terms such as "drama", "thriller" etc) I just couldn't recommend this more. A wonderful series!
More details
Soundtrack
Outstanding
How does it compare to others by the same director?
Good
Value for Money
Good
What format are you reviewing?
DVD
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