is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by

Lynn Okamoto is a Japanese manga artist and a former employee of Bandai and Arc System Works. His most famous work is the series ''Elfen Lied'' which was adapted in a 13-episode anime series by the studio Arms. He lives in Tokyo, Japan. Works * (2002–20 ...

. It was originally serialized in

Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...

's ''

Weekly Young Jump is a Japanese ''seinen'' manga magazine published by Shueisha. Launched in 1979, it is published under Shueisha's ''Jump'' line of magazines. The chapters of series that run in ''Weekly Young Jump'' are collected and published in ''tankōbon'' v ...

'' from June 2002 to August 2005, with the 107 chapters collected into twelve ''

tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...

'' volumes. ''Elfen Lied'' revolves around the interactions, views, emotions, and differences between human beings and the Diclonii, a

mutant In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It ...

species similar to humans in build but distinguishable by two horns on their heads and "vectors", transparent telekinetically controlled arms that have the power to manipulate and cut objects within their reach. The series is centered on the teenage Diclonius girl "Lucy" who was rejected by human beings and subsequently wants revenge. The series' title is German for "Elves' Song" or more formally "song of the elves'" and takes its name from the song "

Elfenlied ''Elfenlied'' (German "fairy song") is the conventional title of a 1780 poem by Goethe, and of a later (c. 1830) poem by Eduard Mörike (and of their various respective adaptations to music). Goethe's poem was written in 1780, in a letter sent ...

", which is featured in the story. ''Elfen Lied'' involves themes of discrimination, social alienation,

identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), ...

prejudice Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that person's per ...

, revenge, abuse,

jealousy Jealousy generally refers to the thoughts or feelings of insecurity, fear, and concern over a relative lack of possessions or safety. Jealousy can consist of one or more emotions such as anger, resentment, inadequacy, helplessness or disgus ...

regret Regret is the emotion of wishing one had made a different decision in the past, because the consequences of the decision were unfavorable. Regret is related to perceived opportunity. Its intensity varies over time after the decision, in regard ...

, and the value of humanity. It is also noted for the

graphic violence Graphic violence refers to the depiction of especially vivid, brutal and realistic acts of violence in visual media such as film, television, and video games. It may be real, simulated live action, or animated. Intended limitedly for mature ...

, emotional themes of how the characters change through, and the overall transgressive subject matter of the whole story. A 13-episode

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

television series adaptation was produced by the studio

Arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

and broadcast on AT-X from July to October 2004. The anime finished airing before the manga was complete; as a result, the plot differed between the two, especially the ending. The manga is licensed in North America by

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops know ...

. The anime series has been licensed in North America by ADV Films and in Australia by

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatr ...

Plot and characters

''Elfen Lied'' takes place in Kamakura and

Kanagawa is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kanagaw ...

, and focuses on the "Diclonius", a newly mutated species. Their appearance is similar to humans, but with several differences, namely horn-like protrusions on the forehead and the presence of telekinetic invisible arms called "Vectors". One such Diclonius,

Lucy Lucy is an English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings are Luci, Luce, Lu ...

, is the main character of the series: Initially held in a facility built for experimentation, located off the coast of Kamakura, she manages to escape and wreak havoc, but is injured in the process, an event which causes her to develop a secondary, childlike personality known as Nyu. Lucy is found by two locals, Kouta, who studies at the local university, and his cousin Yuka. They take her in, and become involved with the numerous, often brutal, attempts to recapture her by a

Special Assault Team The is a police tactical unit in major Japanese prefectural police departments, supervised by the National Police Agency. The SAT is a national-level counter-terrorism unit that cooperates with territorial-level Anti-Firearms Squads and Cou ...

and a number of other Diclonius, who shift frequently from oblivious to murderous.

Diclonius

Much of the plot of ''Elfen Lied'' revolves around the Diclonii species, which strongly resemble humans; the only obvious difference is the two horn-like protrusions extending from the

temporal bone The temporal bones are situated at the sides and base of the skull, and lateral to the temporal lobes of the cerebral cortex. The temporal bones are overlaid by the sides of the head known as the temples, and house the structures of the ears. ...

and

parietal bone The parietal bones () are two bones in the skull which, when joined at a fibrous joint, form the sides and roof of the cranium. In humans, each bone is roughly quadrilateral in form, and has two surfaces, four borders, and four angles. It is nam ...

regions of the skull. Diclonii powers involve the use of invisible arms, known as "vectors", that can grasp and impact things as if they are solid, but also become insubstantial and pass through objects. They can slice objects as well, which is how Diclonii usually kill their victims. Vectors usually have a limited range of a few meters, but the length varies among each Diclonius. Diclonii also demonstrate the ability to sense one another. A key point of debate 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. It is disputed and contradicted during the series as to how Diclonii develop their violent behavior, whether it is part of their genetic code or whether it stems from abuse by humans. If a Diclonius vector penetrates or even so much as touches a human male body, the "vector virus" is transferred to the human, causing their children to be born as Diclonii (when born from humans, they are called "Silpelits"). An incident involving the escape of a child Diclonius during Kurama's early years, where the Diclonius' vectors penetrated him without causing him pain, resulted in Mariko being born a Diclonius and Kurama taking precautions against a recurrence by urging Bando to be sterilized. All Diclonii (Silpelits) born from human parents are sterile and female. There is only one Diclonius that is actually capable of reproducing: Lucy, the "queen".

Production

Anime

When ''Elfen Lied'' was being adapted into an anime series, director Mamoru Kanbe was recommended to work on the series by the series composer,

Takao Yoshioka is a Japanese anime screenwriter. After leaving Shin-Ei Animation, he debuted as a screenwriter with '' Happy Lesson''. Since ''Happy Lesson'', he has been in charge of screenwriting for many series, some of which are '' Elfen Lied'', '' Your Lie ...

. Yoshioka believed that Kanbe's general 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. While the manga was still ongoing at the time, 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 left out.Exclusive Mamoru Kanbe interview, DVD Extra – Elfen Lied DVD 1 (Vector One). Released by

and ADV Films. According to Kanbe, he considered ''Elfen Lied'' as a "love story," and he wanted to "bring viewers to tears." 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. 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.

Style and themes

In comments made by director Mamoru Kanbe on the ''Elfen Lied'' website, he stated that he intended for the anime to question and discuss values relating to 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. Themes such as genocide and the attempts to "purify" the earth from each other also appear in the anime. Both Diclonius and the human species feel the need to populate the earth with their own and wipe the other out. Kanbe quoted this in relation to the desire of humans to cast each other out and segregate one another. Throughout the series, there is a great deal of blood and gore,

as well as psychological

violence Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened ...

. 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." Throughout the series there are various incidences of casual beatings, cruel experimentation, and outright killing. Also,

animal cruelty Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse, animal neglect or animal cruelty, is the infliction by omission (neglect) or by commission by humans of suffering or harm upon non-human animals. More narrowly, it can be the causing of harm or su ...

is present when three young boys mercilessly beat Lucy's puppy until it dies; though the act is off-screen, a copious amount of blood is shown; which drives Lucy to murder the bullies out of revenge and insanity. Most of the episodes contain graphic violence, including instances of torture and at one point the series addresses consequences of the rape of a child. The series also includes scenes that present female nudity and strong language (specifically in the English dub). The series juxtaposes many different tones and genres and was described by Bamboo Dong of Anime News Network as "mixing insane amounts of violence with a heavy dose of ultracuteness." 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 is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by the Japanese manga collective Clamp. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Young Magazine'' from September 2000 to October 2002, with its chapters collected ...

'', '' 3x3 Eyes'' and ''

Gunslinger Girl ''Gunslinger Girl'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series by Yu Aida. It began serialization on May 21, 2002 in ''Dengeki Daioh'' and ended on September 27, 2012. The chapters were also published in 15 ''tankōbon'' volumes by A ...

''.

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. In promotional art as well as in the series itself, characters make use of a famous El Greco hand symbol of outstretched fingers with the middle and ring fingers connected. The

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...

'' ("Elf Song") appears in the manga and is credited to the composer Hugo Wolf. A poem by

Eduard Mörike Eduard Friedrich Mörike (8 September 18044 June 1875) was a German Lutheran pastor who was also a Romantic poet and writer of novellas and novels. Many of his poems were set to music and became established folk songs, while others were used by ...

is the basis for Wolf's version. It is taught to Nyu by the manga-only protagonist Nozomi.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by

, ''Elfen Lied'' was serialized in

's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''

'' from June 6, 2002, to August 25, 2005. Shueisha collected its 107 chapters in twelve ''

'' volumes released from October 18, 2002, to November 18, 2005. The manga has been licensed by

in North America, who published the series in a four-volume omnibus edition from May 22, 2019, to September 9, 2020.

Anime

A 13-episode

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

was directed by

Mamoru Kanbe is a Japanese storyboard artist and director. He is best known for directing the anime series ''Elfen Lied'', ''Sound of the Sky'', and '' Kimi to Boku''. Filmography * '' Ninja Ryukenden'' (1991) Director * ''Nana Toshi Monogatari'' (1994) Di ...

, animated by Arms and produced by

Genco is a Japanese anime production enterprise, founded on March 3, 1997. Presided over by Tarō Maki, its headquarters is located in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo. It has produced numerous anime series such as ''Honey and Clover'', '' Nodame Cantabile'', ...

and VAP. The series' author,

, has a brief

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

as a guest in episode 12. ''Elfen Lied'' first aired on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certifie ...

's AT-X satellite channel from July 25 to October 17, 2004, and was broadcast again in 2005. A single twenty-four-minute original video animation (OVA) episode was released by VAP on April 21, 2005. It takes place somewhere within the timespan of episode eleven of the original TV series. The anime's opening theme song is "Lilium" performed by opera singer Kumiko Noma and is sung in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, with lyrics extracted from biblical passages and Christian sources, including the Book of Psalms, the

Epistle of James The Epistle of James). is a general epistle and one of the 21 epistles ( didactic letters) in the New Testament. James 1:1 identifies the author as "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" who is writing to "the twelve tribes ...

, the

Kyrie Kyrie, a transliteration of Greek , vocative case of (''Kyrios''), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the Kyrie eleison ( ; ). In the Bible The prayer, "Kyrie, eleison," "Lord, have mercy" derives f ...

prayer, and the hymn "Ave mundi spes Maria". The ending theme song is "Be Your Girl" by

Chieko Kawabe , born February 24, 1987 in Tokyo, is a Japanese singer, model and actress. She played Sailor Mercury in the Sailor Moon musicals and was Naru Osaka in the live action adaptation of Sailor Moon. Several of her songs have been used in anime seri ...

. The series was released on Blu-ray in Japan on December 19, 2012. The anime was licensed by ADV Films in the US in 2004 and was released on DVD in 2005. ADV Films said the series was one of their bestselling and "most notorious" releases of 2005. During the ''Anime Boston 2006'' (May 26–28) convention, ADV Films also announced 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 or in the "Complete Collection" DVDs released in June 2009 and December 2011. When ADV Films divided their assets, ''Elfen Lied'' was remained with them and in-print. A Blu-ray Disc box set (as well as a new DVD set) was released on September 3, 2013, by ADV and

Section23 Films SXION 23 LLC, doing business as Section23 Films is an American multimedia distributor based in Houston, Texas specializing in releasing anime and Japanese films. Established in 2009, Section23 is one of five successors to ADV Films; alongside Se ...

, making it the only Blu-ray release under the ADV brand, and contains the never-before released OVA. In Australia, the series was licensed by

. The series was aired in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Propeller TV Propeller TV is an Anglo/Chinese television production company. Until the beginning of April 2019 it provided a TV service broadcast from the SES Astra 2G satellite and was also carried on the SKY EPG at Channel 185. It was also available for s ...

(

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

) as part of

Anime Network Anime Network is an American video on demand (VOD) network dedicated to anime owned by AMC Networks. History The network was launched in North America in late 2002 and is marketed to multi system operators (MSOs) as both a free and subscripti ...

's short-lived launch in the United Kingdom. The series was aired uncut despite stricter censorship standard imposed by OFCOM on UK cable TV. The

is streaming the series

On Demand On-demand or on demand may refer to: Manufacturing * Build-on-demand * Just-in-time manufacturing, a methodology for production * Print on demand, printing technology and business process in which new copies of a document are not printed until an ...

in English, German, and French. The DVD box set released by ADV Films confirms that the series has a rating of

TV-MA The TV Parental Guidelines are a television content rating system in the United States that was first proposed on December 19, 1996, by the United States Congress, the television industry and the Federal Communications Commission, federal commun ...

SV; the Canadian rating is 14A. In a post to the now defunct official

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

message board in April 2006, Adult Swim programming director Kim Manning revealed that despite the series' high level of controversial content, the network actually inquired into the possibility of airing the series, as Manning was an avid fan herself and watched the entire series in one sitting. However, the channel's

Broadcast Standards and Practices In the United States, Standards and Practices (also referred to as Broadcast Standards and Practices or BS&P for short) is the name traditionally given to the department at a television network which is responsible for the moral, ethical, and leg ...

department would have required the series to be so extensively edited ("it would have been cut to shreds", she described in the post) in order to air that it would have been "unintelligible". Ultimately, Adult Swim decided not to air it to preserve and respect the original quality of the series.

Reception and legacy

Reviewing the first English omnibus volume of ''Elfen Lied'', Anime UK News gave it an 8 out of 10 rating and noted that it is much more detailed than the anime adaptation by explaining what Diclonius are and showing more of the characters' inner thoughts. Although, they stated that the beginning of the anime had "more punch." Anime UK News criticized Okamoto's art as poor throughout the book, but enjoyed the extra unrelated stories included at the end. Comic Buzz called it a "great read from start to finish" and gave it a 9/10 rating. They felt the art style changed with the characters' emotions and said it reminded them variously of '' Neon Genesis Evangelion'' and the work of

Junji Ito is a Japanese horror manga artist. Some of his most notable works include ''Tomie'', a series chronicling an immortal girl who drives her stricken admirers to madness; '' Uzumaki'', a three-volume series about a town obsessed with spirals; and ...

. Rai of TheOASG gave the omnibus a 3 out of 5 star rating, criticizing the art and fan service, and overall preferred the anime which she acknowledged having bias for. Reception for the ''Elfen Lied'' anime was generally mixed to positive. Reviewers such as Tasha Robinson of ''Sci Fi Weekly'' and Theron Martin of '' Anime News Network'' praised ''Elfen Lied'' for its story and technical excellence in production quality, animation and color. Due to the many scenes of nudity and gore, Dominic Laeno of ''

THEM Anime Reviews THEM Anime Reviews, otherwise known as THEM or T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews, is an anime review website that writes about current and past anime in any form, including OVAs and ONAs. The website offers reviews, editorial content and hosts forums. ...

'' criticized the series as being "overly blatant." Martin criticized the anime for having "sub-par voice acting" in both the original Japanese audio track and the English dub of the series, although he gave it an "A−" rating for both language dubs. Martin also said that the series "ends abruptly with some loose ends to the story that could leave viewers unsatisfied," but also called it "a horror series of exceptional merit." Laeno called the series "a genuinely good watch." Stig Høgset, also of ''THEM Anime Reviews'', called ''Elfen Lied'' "a very special show, good and bad parts taken into consideration."

The Duffer Brothers Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer (born February 15, 1984), often credited as the Duffer Brothers, are American film and television writers, directors, and producers. They are best known as the creators, directors and executive producers of the hit Ne ...

have cited ''Elfen Lied'' as an influence on their 2016

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

show '' Stranger Things''. They said that ''Elfen Lied'' was like an "ultraviolent ''

E.T. ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (or simply ''E.T.'') is a 1982 American science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison. It tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, dub ...

''" and noted that the character Eleven was inspired by the anime. The Duffer Brothers also cited the influence of '' Akira'', which they felt had in turn influenced ''Elfen Lied''. On June 12, 2015, the

Chinese Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture (MOC) was a ministry of the government of the People's Republic of China which was dissolved on 19 March 2018. The responsibilities of the MOC, which were assumed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, encompassed cultur ...

listed ''Elfen Lied'' among 38 anime and manga titles banned in China.

Notes

References

External links

Official VAP anime website

*
''Elfen Lied''
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{Takao Yoshioka

Elfen Lied is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Lynn Okamoto. It was originally serialized in Shueisha's '' Weekly Young Jump'' from June 2002 to August 2005, with the 107 chapters collected into twelve ''tankōbon'' volumes. ''Elfen ...

2002 manga 2004 anime television series debuts 2005 anime OVAs ADV Films AT-X (TV network) original programming Arms Corporation Biopunk anime and manga Bioterrorism in fiction Bullying in fiction Censored television series Dark Horse Comics titles Dark fantasy anime and manga Discrimination in fiction Domestic violence in fiction Fiction about familicide Murder in television Television shows about telekinesis Madman Entertainment anime Mass murder in fiction Anime and manga about revenge Seinen manga Sentai Filmworks Shueisha franchises Shueisha manga Splatterpunk Television censorship in China Television shows set in Kamakura Works about murder Works about rape Works about sexual abuse Works about sexual harassment Works about torture Works banned in China Works banned in Russia Fiction about animal cruelty Works about abuse