Elfen Lied

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Elfen Lied
First volume of the Elfen Lied manga series, released in Japan in October 2002
エルフェンリート (Erufen Rīto)
Genre	Drama, Horror, Psychological
Manga
Author	Lynn Okamoto
Publisher	Shueisha
Other publishers: Tokyopop Mundo Vid Ever Glory Publishing
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Weekly Young Jump
Original run	June 2002 – November 2005
Volumes	12
TV anime
Director	Mamoru Kanbe
Studio	ARMS
Licensor	Madman Entertainment ADV Films
Network	AT-X
English network	Anime Network Propeller TV
Other networks: Virgin 17 2x2 TET
Original run	July 25, 2004 – October 17, 2004
Episodes	13
OVA: Episode 10.5
Director	Mamoru Kanbe
Studio	ARMS
Licensor	ADV Films
Episodes	1
Released	April 21, 2005
Runtime	25 minutes
Anime and Manga Portal

Elfen Lied (エルフェンリート ,Erufen Rīto^?) is a Japanese manga series created by manga author Lynn Okamoto. A thirteen-episode anime television series adaptation based on the manga was produced by the studio ARMS and broadcast on TV Tokyo from July to October 2004; the anime was later licensed in North America on DVD by ADV Films. The anime started before the manga was complete; as a result, the plot differed between the two, especially towards the ending of the story. In 2005, a special original video animation, written to occur between the tenth and eleventh episodes of the series, was released. The title is literally German for "Elves Suffering" and takes its name from the poem Elfenlied and the German word lied, a classical-romantic poem or musical work.

Elfen Lied revolves around the interactions, views, emotions, and discrimination between humans and the Diclonius, a mutant species similar to humans in build but distinguishable by two horns on their head and "vectors", transparent telekinetically controlled arms that have the power to manipulate and cut objects within their reach. The series is centered around the teenage Diclonius girl "Lucy" who was rejected by humans and subsequently wreaks a murderous vengeance upon them.

Elfen Lied involves themes of social alienation, identity, revenge, child abuse, jealousy and the value of humanity.^[1] The series employs graphic violence and nudity, especially the graphic opening sequence of the first episode. So far, only the thirteen-episode anime series has been licensed in the United States, by ADV Films and in Australia, by Madman Entertainment. ADV Films said the series was one of their bestselling and "most notorious" releases of 2005.^[2][3]

[edit] Plot

The Diclonius are a species of evolved humans with two horns and vectors, transparent arms that have the power to manipulate and cut objects within their reach. The arms vibrate with such a high frequency, that they can cut through almost anything, and they are strong enough to lift heavy stones or lesser boats; depending on the strength of the individual Diclonius. Diclonius are being held in a special experimental facility off the coast of Kamakura in Kanagawa, south of the city of Yokohama, by the chief executive of the experimental facility. A teenage girl named by the staff as "Lucy," escapes, using her vectors to deflect gunfire and effortlessly kill security guards. As she makes her way out of the facility, a sniper shoots her, breaking her metal helmet and causing her to fall into the sea. The next morning, Kohta is moving to Kamakura to study in a university where he is reunited with his cousin Yuka. He encounters Lucy on a beach in the area, naked with her head bleeding from the bullet wound and only capable of saying the word "Nyu." Kohta and Yuka decide to take her with them, naming her "Nyu" as a result.

Lucy and Nyu have opposite personalities, and switch between them very abruptly, the first instance of which Bando becomes a victim.

A Diclonius named Nana and a Special Assault Team task force, led by the violent soldier Bando, are sent to hunt down Lucy. However, Lucy and her cold characteristics have not yet faded away; whenever she hits her head or is confronted with violence, she reverts to her sadistic side and makes transitions between her two personalities throughout the series, the first of which is seen against Bando, who has his eyes poked out, and Nana, who has all her limbs ripped off by Lucy's vectors. Eventually, Kurama decides to repair the bodies of Bando and Nana and send Nana back to Kamakura, contrary to his orders to put her down. Nana and Mayu, a 14-year-old runaway youth who witnessed the confrontation between Nana and Lucy, as well as the result of Bando's encounter with Lucy, both end up living in Kohta's household.

Several developments in the story are made and explained in the latter end of the series regarding the pasts of the characters and the links between them. Mayu is revealed to have been molested by her stepfather, and Kurama is also revealed to be a carrier of Diclonius DNA. Professor Kakuzawa, Kurama's colleague and the son of his boss, is revealed to be a Diclonius just seconds before his head gets torn off by Lucy. Kurama's wife died as a result of complications after giving birth, and Kurama was almost forced to kill his newborn Diclonius daughter; however Kakuzawa's father, the head of the facility, agreed to let her live on the condition that explosives be planted inside her to be detonated if she escaped the facility and caused destruction in the human world. Lucy's past, why she turned sadistic, and her connections with Kohta are also revealed.

Toward the end of the series, Kurama is forced to unleash Mariko, his Diclonius daughter and disputedly the most powerful Diclonius, to kill Lucy and return the species into hiding forever. Lucy, Nana and Kohta encounter Mariko, accompanied by the staff at the facility, on a bridge, where Mariko almost kills them. As Lucy kills the search team accompanying Mariko in retrieving her, including the majority of the remaining staff at the facility, Kurama is cornered with the last three Diclonius left. He chooses instead to spend a final father-daughter moment and die with Mariko as the explosives in her detonate. Nana returns to the household with Kohta, Yuka and Mayu, and Lucy sees Kohta on the same set of steps as where they had their final conversation eight years earlier, telling him her true feelings, her remorse, and how she is in love with Kohta. Lucy leaves to face the remaining assault team deployed by the facility; her ultimate fate is unknown.

[edit] Characters

• Lucy (ルーシー ,Rūshī^?) is a teenage Diclonius girl around eighteen years old. Lucy has developed strong emotions of hatred and vengeance towards regular humans mainly because of how she was treated by the majority of them as a child, making fun of her horns and giving her insulting nicknames such as freak. She seems to lack empathy, kills without much concern, and acts somewhat sadistically; however, towards the end of the series, she begins to show remorse for her actions, especially towards Kohta. Voiced by: Sanae Kobayashi (Japanese), Kira Vincent-Davis (English)

• Nyu (にゅう ,Nyū^?) is a split personality of Lucy that developed after a .50 BMG round ricocheted off a metallic helmet encasing her head.^[4] Nyu has a childlike personality and infantile knowledge of the world, forgetting even that she is a Diclonius and how to use or manifest her vectors, leaving her as a human with horns. She initially lacks spoken language skills; however, she eventually learns a handful of words and phrases until (in the manga) she can finally speak properly despite the fact she still uses the nonsensical phrase nyu as her catchphrase. Nyu is innocent and incapable of violent acts, a foil to the normally cold and sadistic Lucy; she is the manifestation of her "good side". Whenever Nyu hits her head or when she is confronted with violence, she reverts to her sadistic side, Lucy. Voiced by: Sanae Kobayashi (Japanese), Kira Vincent-Davis (English)

• Kohta (コウタ ,Kōta^?) is around nineteen years old and enters the story when his cousin's family allows him to move in to their closed-down inn in exchange for maintenance while he goes to a local university. Kohta has repressed traumatic memories of his father's and sister's deaths during his childhood at Lucy's hands. Because of him repressing his memories, Kohta does not remember Lucy from when he met her earlier as a child. Due in part to his loss, he has a soft spot for girls in trouble and is extremely generous and protective to the girls around him. He is more forgiving in the anime, but in the manga when he gets his memories back he truly is unforgiving about Lucy killing his father and sister. Even so, he also remembers the happy memories, and even though she killed his father and sister, he still loves her.Voiced by: Chihiro Suzuki (Japanese), Adam Conlon (English)

• Yuka (ユカ ^?) is Kohta's cousin. She is about the same age and attends the same university as Kohta (she attends the same class with him, so she should be around nineteen years old as well). She last saw Kohta when they were ten, parting ways with him on the same night in which Lucy killed Kohta's family, completely oblivious to the events following their last meeting. She moves in with him at the inn after having not seen him in many years. She has had a crush on Kohta since childhood, and is uncomfortable with Nyu's attachment to him. Voiced by: Mamiko Noto (Japanese), Nancy Novotny (English)

[edit] Diclonius

Diclonius, according to the Elfen Lied manga, are an evolutionary branch off of humans. Their bodies are very similar to humans, the only difference being the two horn-like temporal protrusions, which are said to relate to their telekinetic powers (hinted at when Lucy only released two vectors towards several soldiers when one of her two horns was chipped off). In the manga, it is mentioned that Diclonius would fall into a coma if they lose one of their horns, and would never return from their lethargic state if they lose both horns^{[citation needed]}. Lucy's horns grow back though and manage to recover from this twice. Their powers involve the usage of invisible arms, known as "vectors". They usually have a limited range of a few meters; Lucy's are able to extend to two meters in the manga^{[citation needed]}). They also have the ability to detect the location of each other, such as when Kurama releases Nana from the offshore laboratory to search for and retrieve Lucy.

A key dispute throughout the series is the Diclonius propensity towards violence. Many have a vendetta against humans, and have ambitions to wipe out the human race and populate the world with their own species. Diclonius DNA is transferred to normal humans if the vectors of the Diclonius penetrate them. An incident involving the escape of a child Diclonius during Kurama's early years where the Diclonius' vectors penetrated him resulted in Mariko being born a Diclonius, and Kurama takes precautions against a recurrence by attempting to sterilize Bando.^[5]

It is disputed and contradicted during the series as to how Diclonius develop this behavior, whether it is part of their personality or whether it stems from abuse by humans, and both conclusions are supported by significant evidence. Kurama explains to Bando that Diclonius are born with the intention of populating the world, and Lucy has implied to be directed by Diclonii instincts when she kills humans. In the anime's final episode Lucy tells Kohta that "I was born to destroy humans." However, it is also shown that the Diclonius have usually been subjected to some type of severe psychological trauma; for example, Lucy was tormented by her human peers and witnessed the killing of her pet as a child, while Mariko was raised in neglect since her birth. They could therefore have developed their homicidal tendencies from abuse.

The researchers at the experimental facility believe the Diclonius to be nothing less than an existential threat. The Diclonius there are kept in isolation; where they are heavily restrained and fed through a tube. Lucy mentions the danger to the human race to Kohta in the final episode: "Given just five years, I can ensure that there are more babies of our kind born in the world than there are normal humans."

[edit] Production

When work began on adapting the Elfen Lied manga into an anime series, director Mamoru Kanbe was recommended to work on the series by the series composer, Takao Yoshioka. Yoshioka believed that Kanbe's general moe drawing style and composition would be ideal to adapt the manga, still in publication at the time, into an anime series. Kanbe himself, originally reluctant about joining the production, gained interest in it upon reading the manga.

Despite the manga having 107 chapters, Kanbe and the production team were forced to condense the plot of the series into thirteen episodes, even though they felt it was necessary to make more as several significant plot details in the manga which Kanbe felt he could have used to make the series more emotive were missed out.^[6]

Kanbe originally thought that "this was a love story, and I could make it so that it would bring viewers to tears."^[7] Thus, he made attempts throughout the series to provide a contrast of emotions, commenting that he could make the violence exemplify this throughout the series. The production team were originally surprised by Okamoto's choice of Kamakura as a setting for the series; however, after several visits to the area, Kanbe commented that the setting in Kamakura was, according to the production team, ideal for the poignant and reflective drama in the series to unfold, as its general tranquility and geography made for a reflective and yet eerie, deep-meaning backdrop to the series. ^[8] This can be seen in several examples, such as on top of a set of steps overlooking the coastline, where many of the interactions between characters take place. This is used as an important device in conveying the ideas of memory and emotional association, such as the contrast between Kohta and Lucy's conversation when they were ten years old in comparison with their conversation in the final episode.

[edit] Style and themes

The first seven minutes of the first episode are known to be some of the most provocative of anime,^[who?] containing nudity and strong graphic violence.

In the comments made by director Mamoru Kanbe on the Elfen Lied website, he intended for the anime to question and discuss values based on the way in which humans divide each other by difference, as well as the belief that atrocities such as those committed by Lucy in the series are strongly influenced by the way in which people are treated by their fellow beings. The series frequently discusses the events and treatment which define the human character in such a way, and the problems which arise from discrimination, as well as the wild contrasts between compassion and vengeance between fellow humans, through the strong vengeance of Lucy compared with her past memory of Kohta. Many of the themes are mentioned at the teasers at the ends of episodes in the series.

Themes such as genocide and the attempts to "purify" the earth from each other also appear in the anime between Diclonius and humans. Both species feel the need to populate the earth with their own species and wipe each other out. Kanbe quoted this in relation to the desire of humans to cast each other out and segregate each other.^[1]

Throughout the series, there is a great deal of nudity, blood and gore, extreme graphic violence as well as psychological violence. One of the most prevalent motifs of the series is the humanity of the Diclonius, especially contrasted against the inhumanity of ordinary people. One reviewer described the series as "devoted to quite a few of the darker, more callous factors of human nature".^[9] Throughout the series there are various incidences of human sadism, casual beatings, child sexual abuse, animal cruelty, cruel experimentation, and outright killing.

The intro scenes of Elfen Lied are an homage to Gustav Klimt's artwork such as The Kiss.

Unlike other anime which distinctively fall into a specific subcategory, Elfen Lied does not fall under any specific genre, containing elements of ecchi, horror, comedy, drama, romance, action, science-fiction, and suspense. A majority of the episodes contain graphic amounts of violence and gruesome deaths. There is also a lot of female nudity and serious thematic material such as child rape and torture. The series also sometimes has strong language; the word "fuck" is used several times throughout in the English localization. Compared to the other anime of its time, the series is very radical, bold and daring in terms of its plot and content. The series juxtaposes many different tones and genres and was described by a reviewer as "mixing insane amounts of violence with a heavy dose of 'ultra-cuteness.'"^[10] The series balances its darker themes with romantic sub-plots as well as many comic moments. Elfen Lied has been described as similar to, or borrowing elements from Chobits, 3x3 Eyes^[11] and Gunslinger Girl.^[10]

[edit] Media

[edit] Manga

Written by Lynn Okamoto, Elfen Lied premiered in Japan in Weekly Young Jump magazine in June 2002. New chapters continued to appear in the magazine until August 2005, when the final chapter was published.^[12] The series' 107 chapters were also published in twelve collected volumes by Shueisha from October 2002 through November 2005.

[edit] Anime

The television series, directed by Mamoru Kanbe, animated by ARMS and produced by GENCO and VAP, ran for 13 episodes and adapted approximately the first 60 out of 107 chapters of the manga. Episodes one to eleven of the anime are in canon with the continuity of the storyline for volumes one to six of the manga, faithfully adapting most of the events happening in the latter. The last two TV episodes strayed from the manga's continuity and gave an original conclusion to the anime. The series' author, Lynn Okamoto, has a brief cameo appearance as a special guest in episode twelve.

Elfen Lied first aired on TV Tokyo's AT-X satellite channel from July 25, 2004 to October 17, 2004 and was broadcast again in 2005. The anime was licensed by ADV Films in the United States in 2004 and was released on DVD in 2005. A single twenty-four-minute original video animation episode was also released by VAP on April 21, 2005. It takes place between episodes ten and eleven of the original TV series, and for that reason, some refer to it as "episode 10.5", "OVA special", or even as "episode fourteen". The special itself takes on a lighter tone and answers some questions of the early episodes rather than advancing the plot. During the Anime Boston 2006^[13] (May 26—28) convention, ADV Films acquired the distribution rights of the OVA for release in the United States. However, the OVA was never released on television and was not included with the box set released by ADV Films in November 2006.

The series was aired in the United Kingdom on Propeller TV (Sky Digital) as part of Anime Network's short-lived launch in the United Kingdom. The series was aired uncut. While it has yet to appear on television in the United States, other than on Anime Network's "On Demand" channel, the DVD box set released by ADV Films confirms that the series has a rating of TV-MAVSL; the Canadian rating is 18A.

In a posting on the official Adult Swim message board in April 2006, Adult Swim programming director Kim Manning revealed that despite the series' high level of controversial content, Adult Swim actually inquired into possibly airing the series, as Manning was an avid fan herself and watched the entire series in one sitting. However, the censorship board revealed that the series would have to be so heavily edited ("it would have been cut to shreds") in order to air that it would have been "unintelligible", and it does not appear that it will air on the channel at any time in the foreseeable future.^[14]

[edit] Differences between media

Due to the fact that the manga had not been finished by the time the TV series started airing, the manga and anime show several significant plot differences. While the manga covers 107 chapters, the anime was condensed into thirteen episodes, and director Mamoru Kanbe mentioned that he wanted to feature much more of the original story. The anime series only covers events roughly up to about halfway through the manga storyline, though the anime has its own original ending. As a result, much of the characters' pasts and many details of their pasts and of the Diclonius that were in the manga do not appear in the anime.

Several of the characters in the manga also do not appear in the anime, such as Aiko, who Lucy encounters prior to her capture (however, she briefly appears in the OVA) and the characters of Silpelit Number 28, the Mariko clones, Lucy's younger half-brother, and Anna Kakuzawa. There is also a difference in the characters' personalities in the manga; Kohta is much less forgiving upon finding out that Lucy was the one who killed his family.

Several of the properties of the Diclonius change between the anime and the manga; Lucy has many more vectors in the manga, and there is greater variation in hair and eye color. In the anime the female Diclonius have a uniform red or pink hair and eye color; however in the manga their hair color can be as diverse as a normal human's (e.g. in the manga, Nana and Mariko have purple and blond hair, respectively). Diclonii genetics are also explained in greater detail in the manga (such as Kurama explaining the purpose of the Silpelits and that the Diclonius virus can only be passed into the human male to produce Diclonius offspring). Small differences in the details of the plot and characters also exist; Kurama does not die at the end of the manga whereas he does in the end of the anime. At the end of the anime there is a silhouette of a person resembling a female character standing at the door of the Maple Inn right before it ends.

[edit] Reception

The Elfen Lied anime series has received praise for its story and technical excellence in production quality, animation and color.^{[11][15][16][17]} Due to the many scenes of nudity and gore in the series, it has drawn criticism as being "overly blatant"^[18] or "sad and forced".^[19] The overtness of the first seven minutes of the first episode has deterred some viewers and caused controversy as to its release.

The series drew criticism for having sub-par voice acting, in both the original Japanese audio track and the English dub of the series.^[15] Another criticism is that the series ends abruptly with some loose ends to the story that could leave viewers unsatisfied.^[20] Despite these criticisms, Western reviewers also describe the series as "really a genuinely good watch",^[18] "a horror series of exceptional merit",^[20] "certainly memorable"^[11] and "a very special show, good and bad parts taken into consideration".^[9]

[edit] Cultural references

The opening and ending sequences feature artistic drawings of the principal characters. These characters are drawn in a style based on Gustav Klimt's paintings, including The Kiss, Adele Bloch-Bauer I, and others with similar imitating poses, colors, and patterns.^[11] The German song Elfenlied ("Elf Song"), from which the title takes its name, appears in the manga^[21] and is credited to the composer Hugo Wolf. A poem by Eduard Mörike is the basis for Wolf's version. The song does not appear in the anime as it is taught to Nyu by the manga-only character Nozomi. All episode titles have dual-titles in German.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Elfen Lied

• Elfen Lied (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Official VAP anime website (Japanese)
• Official ADV Films anime website
• Official Madman Entertainment anime website
• Elfen Lied (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia