Elfen Lied

Lucy is a special breed of human referred to as Diclonius, born with a short pair of horns and invisible telekinetic hands that lands her as a victim of inhumane scientific experimentation by the government. However, once circumstances present her an opportunity to escape, Lucy, corrupted by the confinement and torture, unleashes a torrent of bloodshed as she escapes her captors.

During her breakout, she receives a crippling head injury that leaves her with a split personality: someone with the mentality of a harmless child possessing limited speech capacity. In this state of instability, she stumbles upon two college students, Kouta and his cousin Yuka, who unknowingly take an injured fugitive into their care, unaware of her murderous tendencies. This act of kindness will change their lives, as they soon find themselves dragged into the shadowy world of government secrecy and conspiracy.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Lucy Main

Kobayashi, Sanae Japanese

Nana Main

Matsuoka, Yuki Japanese

Kouta Main

Suzuki, Chihiro Japanese

Mayu Main

Hagiwara, Emiko Japanese

Yuka Main

Noto, Mamiko Japanese

Kurama, Mariko Supporting

Kawakami, Tomoko Japanese

Bandou Supporting

Nakata, Jouji Japanese

Kurama Supporting

Hosoi, Osamu Japanese

Number 3 Supporting

Takahashi, Mikako Japanese

Kanae Supporting

Yamamoto, Maria Japanese

Tamura, Manabu Producer

Koshinaka, Osamu Producer

Morijiri, Kazuaki Producer

Suzuki, Seiji Assistant Producer

Reviews

Jan 23, 2026

kyv3rx

Recommended

Elfen Lied slams one savage philosophical question in your face from the very first minute:

What the hell actually makes someone (HUMAN) when the difference between monster and victim vanishes completely and you genuinely can’t tell who you’re supposed to be afraid of anymore?

The good, this is why it’s still burned into people’s brains:
It doesn’t just mention heavy shit, it chokes you with it: fear & hatred of anyone (different), revenge cycles that never end, loneliness rotting into murderous rage, the desperate search for someone who won’t abandon you in a world that wants to erase you, society treating the (other), like a plague that needs ... to be exterminated.
You swing wildly between pity, disgust, heartbreak, tiny hope sometimes all in the same damn scene. The mystery and oppressive atmosphere glue your eyes to the screen.
Soundtrack is straight up legendary. (Lilium) still hits like a emotional freight train years later: the whole OST builds dread and sorrow perfectly. Violent scenes are animated with real care creative, brutal, stylized gore that actually serves the tone.

The bad, and these parts make me want to punch the screen:
The fanservice nudity is a fucking disaster. A small part is used for vulnerability and trauma and actually works. Most of it? Gratuitous, brain dead padding. Feels like the writer screamed “the story isn’t strong enough quick, throw in more tits every five minutes!” It’s cheap, insulting, and actively hurts the serious themes.
Those goddamn eyes. Huge, shiny, sparkly moe bullshit eyes that belong in some trashy shoujo romance not in a series full of child murder, rape, and flying heads. They turn dramatic moments into accidental comedy and completely break immersion. The rest of the art is solid to good for 2004, but those cartoon eyes are an unforgivable crime.
The ending rushes like it’s late for a train and leaves major threads dangling in the most frustrating way possible (classic incomplete adaptation syndrome).

Story: Killer atmosphere + raw emotion + philosophy that actually lands. Keeps you hooked despite the flaws.

Characters: Lucy or Nyu carries insane emotional range terrifying to heartbreakingly childlike to broken. Supporting cast feels real and damaged, not just props.

Music: One of the strongest aspects. Full stop.

Visuals and Animation: Excellent in violence and mood. The eye design is the one colossal, facepalm worthy fuck up.

Final verdict:
Elfen Lied is messy, flawed, over the top, and unforgettable. It earned its permanent spot in people’s hearts because it was many viewers’ brutal gateway into (serious) anime, and the raw feeling and atmosphere still crush you. The studio took a chaotic, badly paced manga and somehow made a more focused, emotionally devastating version actual alchemy.
(I DO NOT RECOMMEND THE MANGA AT ALL). The anime is clearly superior better emotional impact, stronger atmosphere, perfect level of mystery. Stick with this version.

8/10
Minus two full points for the pointless boob spam that feels like a desperate grab for attention, and for those ridiculous shiny cartoon eyes that have no goddamn business in a bloodbath like this. Still a dark classic that deserves respect.

Answer to the opening question?
Humanity isn’t skin, innocence, or even species, it’s choice.
Do you answer pain with empathy, or do you keep feeding the hate machine until everyone turns into a monster?
Elfen Lied doesn’t give you comfort or easy answers, it just forces you to look straight at the question while it tears your chest open. Brutal. Beautiful. Impossible to forget.

Thank you for reading, I hope you have a good day full of happiness.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Sep 5, 2025

theo1763

Mixed Feelings

Elfen Lied is a show that I wasn't quite sure how to react to at the end. It's got a great concept on the surface: Lucy, a Diclonius who possesses lethal abilities, breaks free from a lab and winds up living with Kōta and a few other individuals in a small town. She forms this childlike alter ego, Nyu, after suffering a head injury, and that divided personality sets the majority of the plot in motion. The anime jumps back and forth between these calm, almost-slice-of-life moments and insane levels of violence, part of the reason that it's so memorable, but also infuriating. The pacing ... was very fast, and while the actual narrative wasn't awful, it wasn't particularly special either. I do know that the anime wrapped up before the manga did, so the ending isn't manga canon, but honestly, I didn't really care how they wrapped it up. My strongest gripes were indeed the overabundance of gore and sexual abuse; those got enormously, way too far along at times, and it just seemed really exploitative.

The cast is fairly a mixed bag. Kōta is an understandable character, especially with his sad past, but he's fairly bland and passive throughout most of the show. Lucy/Nyu is the real treasure, her split personality causing her to be unstable and fascinating, and her storyline is actually fairly riveting. Yuka was kind of a nuisance; her jealousy was always present and gave me the creeps, considering she's supposed to be Kōta's cousin. I, on the other hand, just loved Nana, Mayu, and Mariko; they are all tragic in their own right, and I felt so bad for what occurred to them. Kurama is a complex character; he's not always morally correct, and he can be rather cold, but he adds some substance to the narrative. Bandou is basically a cartoon sociopath, attempting to murder the girls constantly, but never actually felt like a real threat, which was too much at times. Overall, the characters were interesting in spots, but several of the human characters didn't receive as much development as they could have.

On the production front, the animation is good, nice and sharp, and colorful at times, but occasionally that doesn't quite work with the violent material. The music is great, especially the introductory theme, which is creepy from the first note. Japanese voice acting is solid; Sanae Kobayashi does a good job of voicing Lucy/Nyu and gets across the personality shifts well. The English dub is stilted; however, I'd absolutely use the sub. Overall, I scored it a 6/10. I enjoyed some of it, and some of the characters and scenes stuck with me, but the gratuitous gore and exploitative qualities really prevented it from being something that I could wholeheartedly recommend. If you like dark psychological horror with a touch of tragic characters and have no problem with the extreme content, you might find it interesting, but it definitely isn't for everybody.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jan 16, 2026

ebol4

Not Recommended

Awful shock schlock. Gratuitous, completely unnecessary nudity and exploitative suffering -- basically all by women or children. Deeper themes are left entirely up to the viewer's own projections. The only idea explored here is, "is it ethical for this... company? government? ...to experiment on these psychic beings?" But that isn't a compelling question; you already know the answer and the show doesn't even try to subvert what you'd immediately assume that answer to be.

There are characters and situations presented that give rise to the possibility that Elfen Lied will explore themes like parenthood, abandonment, trust and manipulation, the cycle of abuse, but it never actually ... does. It depicts some of these things, but it has absolutely nothing to say about any of it. Characters betray each other, but it serves purely as an excuse to make one of the women/girls suffer.

The relationships between the male protagonist and all the other characters make no sense, in large part because this is a harem. The protagonist is a blank slate who responds to nearly every situation he finds himself in nonsensically. The women and girls throw themselves at him for literally no reason.

At the end of what is arguably the most emotional scene in the entire season, the studio could not pass up an opportunity for an unnecessary upskirt, completely voiding the scene's impact and leaving me dumbfounded at the show's trashiness.

The studio said they had to cut plot lines that are present in the manga due to only having 13 episodes to work with, and yet nothing happens for at least half the episodes in the season. I'd argue that one could watch only the first and last episodes and they wouldn't be missing anything. Despite that, and in spite of the show's lasting notoriety, the season ends unsatisfyingly with many loose ends and a second season was never produced.

The music doesn't stand out at all as something worth returning to outside of the show and may as well not have been present at all. The sound effects are repetitive and distractingly cartoonish.

The art is pretty average for the time. The animation quickly nosedives after the first episode, especially outside of action sequences.

This show is a waste of time. You aren't missing anything. You can easily predict exactly where the show will go after the first episode, because it makes no attempt to subvert your expectations; it simply goes there and then ends.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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