Elfen Lied

Title: Elfen Lied
Rating: 4/5
Genre: Animation, Horror, Romantic, Drama, Action
Duration: 25mins (13 episodes)
Language: Japanese

If you ever needed further proof that anime wasn’t just for children, then this mini-series happily obliges. From that very first title sequence of religiously toned choral work behind artistic still frames, starkly contrasting with the first ten minutes of the show, consisting entirely of a naked woman ripping people’s torso’s in half with her mind, it leaves absolutely no illusion as to its intent and the rationale behind its hefty “15” rating in the UK. But this isn’t just violent for the sheer sake of it, more so than most anime, the lenient and forgiving format is exploited and abused in such a manner as to push certain boundaries on dark thematic subjects that would otherwise be rendered impossible with a live cast.

Across its five hour runtime the number of plot elements that weave together to form the story are too numerous to do justice in short space of time, with enough twists to warrant viewing. However, the heart of the story centres on the dysfunctional ‘family,’ initially consisting of Kota and Yuka, soon expanding when they discover a Nyuu at the beach (so called as that is the only word she could speak) and later Mayu and her pet dog Wanta who both too become part of their family. Unquestioning, they allow them to stay unaware of their dark past, and with Nyuu and her alter-ego ‘Lucy’ being hunted by a sinister government corporation, mixed up in shady dealings with unethical experiments on mutated children, its only a matter of time before the past is unearthed.

But this is really only the tip of the iceberg, the depth of the characters goes well beyond this to explore their past, and what makes them who they are; the ‘evil’ villain with a heart, often putting on a front so as to appear far more cold hearted than his actions would lead you to believe, and not in the least the character of Lucy herself. On one hand is Nyuu; the simplistic young adult with a child like mentality and a lovable innocence that only wishes to help those around her, twinned in the same body as Lucy; the broken tormented soul, transformed into homicidal monster that we still manage to empathise with. Each character has some form of background, and whilst some weren’t as fleshed as well as I would have liked, they all served a purpose in the story (except possibly Yuka, who particularly towards the beginning was fairly whiny and annoying).

The flow throughout the course of the saga is well paced, delivering a constant flow of information without overwhelming the viewer, and whilst it could have benefited from an increased run time to explore certain characters in more detail, or give reference to some of the multiple interweaving plot lines more consistently it succeeds in never becoming slow. The horrendously dark subject matter that encroaches on incest (though I later discovered that this is a cultural difference – love between cousins is not considered incestuous in Japan), paedophilia and mental abuse, and with the strong underlying theme of human suffering put forward in a rather blunt manner could easily become difficult to watch, either requiring constant ‘bettering’ of themselves to prevent desensitization (which I found occurred eventually anyway for much of the violence and nudity) is gloriously interspersed by a number of light-hearted and comical scenes, breaking up the tension and steadily becoming fewer in number as the gravity of their situation escalates. Often this comic relief can come from the simplistic actions of Nyuu, involving nudity and awkward situations, especially at the start of the saga, which whilst effective often felt excessive and shot in a more provocative manner than was required, and may distract from the story being told. In a similar manner, the violence often felt repetitive and poorly thought out, and many who watch this searching primarily for these two aspects may find themselves disappointed.

The soundtrack is minimalist and accents the emotions of the scene remarkably well to present a story that whilst sparked attention for its graphic depictions, should be remembered for its story. This isn’t a cliché horror or generic action saga; it’s a plot driven story with deep running heartfelt emotions, from the innocent to the fearful, and how key events in our lives shape our characters. And yet, by the films conclusion a final element emerges: love. And not some corny romantic idealistic love story here, but the love for the friends and family that surround you, for without it there is only suffering. This isn’t perfect – there are flaws and weaknesses – but it’s honest, engaging and unfortunately ends all too soon.