It's so weird and fascinating!

I remember seeing a GIF on a different forum years ago now, where some girl got sliced up by giant invisible tentacles or something.
Looked pretty cool, but I've never been into anime.

Elfen Lied is one of those animes that even if they have a decent story to them, the shock value makes it what it is, cruel and dark. The first 3 or 4 episodes are amazing in terms of gore, violence and pure shock value, but after that, it sort of goes downhill from there, story wise.

I would put Elfen Lied in similar terms with anime like Ninja Scroll, Hellsing, or Violence Jack in the sense that what they lack in storyline, {which is debatable}, they sure do make it up in terms of violence and blood.

At 3/8/11 11:01 AM, orangebomb wrote: Elfen Lied is one of those animes that even if they have a decent story to them, the shock value makes it what it is, cruel and dark. The first 3 or 4 episodes are amazing in terms of gore, violence and pure shock value, but after that, it sort of goes downhill from there, story wise.

When it comes to the manga, I believe it would have been better if Bando stays dead. I mean it pretty much cheapens the sacrifice he made to save Mayu which got him cut in half at the waist.

Everyone knows that the manga is 27 times better than the anime, even if the anime rapes.

At 3/8/11 01:27 PM, Rahmemhotep wrote: Everyone knows that the manga is 27 times better than the anime, even if the anime rapes.

I agree with you, the manga is a lot more detailled on diclonius subject and the ending is better. But 27 times ? I would say something like 10 times better...

I keep recommend to see the anime first

Elfen Lied is a terrible anime pandering to people with the minds of children who think having tits and blood everywhere makes a good show.

At 3/8/11 01:46 AM, Davidxtrem wrote:

At 3/8/11 01:44 AM, EverReady2Kill wrote: It was very psychologically disturbing though.

Agree on it

that is one bloody violent anime

First proper anime I watched. It's really good yeah, but there is better anime out there.

Elfen Lied is one bizarre show. Because it represents everything wrong with anime, yet people just eat it the fuck up.

But I guess according to your average anime fan; violence, nudity/sexual assault, petty shock value and a laughably bi-polar tone and setting makes a good series.

If that's your thing, more power to you.

The fuck?

it's true that this anime is one of the most gore mixing nudity and psychologic problems of all time but I really like the love story between Koota and Lucy, it's a kind of story that I never saw before in an anime.

At 3/8/11 04:50 PM, Mendou wrote: Elfen Lied is one bizarre show. Because it represents everything wrong with anime, yet people just eat it the fuck up.

In other words, a story needs to have a plot that only Stephen Hawking can fucking understand for you to enjoy, right?

But I guess according to your average anime fan; violence, nudity/sexual assault, petty shock value and a laughably bi-polar tone and setting makes a good series.

I will agree with the crazy bi-polar tone of the series, but other than that, I sense a case of elitism here.

If that's your thing, more power to you.

Well, at least you understand the rest of us.

I never watched this one yet, but the blood draws me to watch it otherwise.

At 3/8/11 11:34 PM, Fifty-50 wrote: I never watched this one yet, but the blood draws me to watch it otherwise.

I'm pretty sure you'll like the storyline more than blood in it

The series is pretty good. Not for the obsessive violence and nudity, but for the sub-themes it conveys. I thought it gave across some good points in the underlying themes of human nature and other similar things. If you judge the plot of this show by simply what is happening on the screen on a one-dimensional level, then you have misunderstood what this is about.

At 3/10/11 01:09 PM, KermitTheMuppet wrote:

He sure does understand, that someone like you is a moron.

You're definitely helping your case when it comes to trying to debate someone. Especially when it comes to opinions in which people would agreed to disagree on certain subjects.

Anyway what do you have against orangebomb? There's seemed to be bit of a resentment going on somehow.

I'll always remember Elfen Lied as the show that made me give up on anime. The first episode was actually pretty interesting. The problem is that it presents what I thought would be a creepy sci-fi horror romp, but it was actually just an excuse for naked children to get brutally murdered. If you can sit through Elfen Lied and actually go on to recommend it to people as something that should be watched you need to be locked the fuck up.

At 3/10/11 01:36 PM, LaForge wrote:

Don't even bother on Kermit, he's a certified troll. Just ask anyone in the anime club about him. Wait, you're a member, aren't you?

Not really, I happen to drop by once in a while if there's something that I find interesting to discuss. I did thought about joining now and then.

At 3/8/11 04:54 PM, Slint wrote: The fuck?

Hey... Those views are OVER NINETHOUSANNNNNND!

At 3/10/11 01:25 PM, KermitTheMuppet wrote: Only problem is, it's really not conveying anything that hasn't been done before.

Nor is it executed in a fashion that is fresh or unique.

Those are both irrelevant as to whether they are done well or not.

Just because something isn't completely new does not make it bad.

Aside from that, it may not execute it in a fashion that is unique, but I think that how it dealt with that fashion was. It has some depth to it, if you try looking past the frankly obvious theme of human cruelty, there are other, related themes in there, such as, oddly enough, human kindness. I have yet to see another show that has, within the first minute made me see a character as such a horrifying and dangerous person, and by the end has made me think of them as a heroine I want to succeed.

This is an anime you can't judge by watching the first few episodes. The true value of it lies spread over the episodes, so a sample of that can't convey it properly.

Having said that, I by no means think this is the best show in existence. I like it. I think it's a great show, and it has a place on my shelves, but there are far better shows out there.

At 3/10/11 04:18 PM, KermitTheMuppet wrote: A load of comments that I can't be bothered to respond to individually.

I get it, you don't like the show, and that's fine. I personally enjoyed it, and found some meaning to it.

The first point you made I said was irrelevant because you merely stated that it had been done before. Okay, so now anything that has been done before is immediately bad? I said it was irrelevant as to whether or not the show was actually any good. While creativity and innovativeness contribute, they are not by any means the sole factor that defines how good something is.

I think the second point you made is merely a matter of opinion. I found that it accomplished it's goals quite well. You seemed to imply here that I just ogled over the violence and thought that made it good. Here you are gravely mistaken. Generally, I am adverse to excess violence in anything, simply because I find it usually does the opposite of what you are suggesting: detracts from the experience. A lot of the time, people spend more time on violence than they do actually developing character or plot. This had more of the former, since it is what I would call a "character-driven" show. I do think that some of the violence in Elfen Lied was completely unnecessary, but other parts weren't, and were required to get across the idea of the homicidal psychopath within the space of a few seconds (I'm thinking the opening here). In these cases, this implies less padding in the show, since it uses these images to convey a concept quickly, thus leaving more time for the rest of it.

What I believe you misunderstand about this is the focus of the show. There are two types of show that, in my opinion, are worth watching: plot-driven and character-driven. Plot-driven shows have a definite story going on. The focus of the series is to get from a start to a finish, for an adventure to occur. Character-driven shows are not like that. Their main focus is to develop the characters and their relationships with each other, and play on the empathy of the viewer. That isn't to say plot-driven shows have no character development, but it is secondary to the events, while the opposite is true of character-driven shows.

Elfen Lied is without a doubt a character-driven show. It doesn't bother too much with the plot, the whys and wherefores, the tiny details, etc. It focusses more on Lucy and her relationship with Kouta, leading the varying, and even sometimes contradicting themes under this, branching through the obvious one of human cruelty, into human kindness and compassion.

You are extremely subjective in your views that your opinion must, without a doubt, be the correct one, and yet do not counted my arguments with much more than telling me I am wrong.

One cannot fully comprehend the real depth of this series without the comparison of the beginning and end, which is why I stated that only watching the first few episodes is not enough.

In the end, however, we all have opinions. My opinion is that Elfen Lied was worth watching, it was a decent show despite (yes DESPITE) the gratuitous violence and nudity, that held some interesting themes for me, personally. I can understand that you didn't enjoy this, and that's fine, but please don't try to quantify your opinion as fact. This entire post has been me stating my opinion on the show; how well I thought it worked.

You seem to assume that I thought this was the best thing ever, despite me saying, quite blatantly, in my previous post that I believe it is far from it. I agree, it does have some glaring flaws (one of which being an overuse of nudity and violence, though I believe some scenes required it to show Lucy's transformation into a maniac correctly. Another is the rather noticeable lack of ability to entice the viewer within the first few episodes). Still, I enjoyed the show, and as such I have a copy of the DVD. I have many other shows I prefer hugely to this. If you want me to list a few, I'll go ahead. Just 4 of each.

In character-driven, we have:
Clannad
Kanon
Angel Beats
Azumanga Daioh

In plot-driven, there are:
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Rozen Maiden
FLCL

Please don't try to impress your opinion on me as fact. I am free to like what I will. I am merely suggesting that you shouldn't judge this show from the clearly little you know of it.

At 3/8/11 08:56 AM, Idiot-Finder wrote:

:It couldn't be helped

It can never be helped

By the way, I'm not going to argue any more. I've made all my points, there no more reason to. I'm out of this thread.

At 3/10/11 05:09 PM, Hoeloe wrote: By the way, I'm not going to argue any more. I've made all my points, there no more reason to. I'm out of this thread.

Anyone with superior taste like mine disregarded your post and went straight down to your examples of good anime.

Kanon has 1 dimensional characters and a very boring setting. I really don't see how anyone actually enjoyed it.
If you're using TTGL as an example of a plot-driven anime you should really understand why I didn't read your post.

At 3/10/11 05:14 PM, Wesleyiam wrote: Kanon has 1 dimensional characters and a very boring setting. I really don't see how anyone actually enjoyed it.
If you're using TTGL as an example of a plot-driven anime you should really understand why I didn't read your post.

TTGL is under plot driven despite the fact it had a totally ridiculous plot. The fact is that it didn't matter, because it was so awesome. The reason it's there is because the EVENTS were the focus, not the characters themselves, though they were also important.

As for Kanon, I have to disagree. I did enjoy Kanon, and found, while not being really unique, had some excellent characters. This does of course depend on which version of Kanon was being watched. I have only ever seen the 2006 version, and have no knowledge of how the 2002 version may differ. Well, if you didn't like it, it's not my place to judge.

ITT : Weeaboos.

Oh, and the mere concept of "superior taste" is completely self-gratifying nonsense. Why should anyone's opinions be valued over and above anyone else's? An expert in a certain field may be trusted more over technical issues, but, as an example, if one person likes the colour blue, and one the colour red, does that make on colour better than the other?

Opinions are opinions, don't think so highly of yourself that yours are the right ones.

I have to agree with Kermit, if you really think Elfen Lied is a model for psychologically disturbing and stimulating seinen then you clearly don't have much experience with the genre of seinen as a whole.

Nothing really all that special about Elfen Lied when you put it against the many, many other seinen series that do similar things.

At 3/10/11 05:29 PM, KermitTheMuppet wrote: I wouldn't dare try to impress someone like you. I'd have to smash my head with a hammer to lose as many braincells as you would have. And you might be free to think what you want, but you're not any more wise for your opinions or conclusions.

I didn't want to bring this out here, but since you've gone and insulted my intelligence, I'm going to have to:

You realise I have a place at Cambridge University, right? You know, one of the top 3 universities in the WORLD. And you're saying I have no intelligence? Do your homework.

Also, I get your points, but there's no need to insult me so blatantly simply because I enjoy different things to you. You need a certain type of taste to fully appreciate these shows, and not everyone has it. Clearly you don't, and that's fine, you can go and watch whatever you like, I won't judge. What I do not like is the fact that you can so offensively insult me simply because I found some sort of meaning in a show where you found none. Okay, so the show didn't appeal to your taste. Fine. I'm okay with that. I'm not okay with you deciding that I am some sort of worm beneath your feet because I had a different perspective on it. I'm not exactly as unexposed to how these things are made, either. My brother is a director, and my best friend is a novelist, so I do have some sort of inkling as to how stories and stylistic decisions are made.

I never said I was more wise. And neither are you. Neither of us is more wise than the other for our opinions.

Can we settle this with a simple conclusion?

I'm not going to convince you of anything, and you aren't going to convince me of anything. May we go our separate ways and agree to disagree?