Elfen Lied
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| Elfen Lied | |
 First volume of the Elfen Lied manga series, released in Japan in October 2002 | |
| Genre | Drama, Horror, Psychological |
|---|---|
| Manga | |
| Written by | Lynn Okamoto |
| Published by |  Shueisha |
| Demographic | Seinen |
| Anime | |
| Directed by | Mamoru Kanbe |
| Studio | Genco, VAP |
| Anime | |
| Episode 10.5 | |
| Directed by | Mamoru Kanbe |
| Studio | ARMS |
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' Song", or more properly translated "Song of the Elves", 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 cat-ear-like horns and "vectors", transparent arms which can pass through air and objects at high speed. The series is centered around the teenage Diclonius girl "Lucy", said to be the first Diclonius, becoming sadistic as a result of her vengeance and delivering it on the humans who rejected her.
Elfen Lied involves themes of social alienation, identity, animal cruelty, 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]
Plot
The story is based around the Diclonius, a species of evolved humans with two cat-ear like horns and vectors, telekinetically controlled arms which resonate at a frequency to the point in which they become transparent, and have the power to manipulate objects within their range. Most Diclonius seem to be girls; male Diclonius are rare throughout the whole series (first one being the Professor at Kohta's school as seen in the manga). In the anime the female Diclonius have uncommon hair and eye colors such as red and pink unlike regular humans who have brown, black, blond, and red hair. In the manga, their hair coloring can be as diverse as a normal human's (ex. Nana and Mariko have purple and blond hair, respectively, in the manga).
At the beginning of the series, Diclonius are being held for storage in a facility off the coast of Kamakura in Kanagawa, south of the city of Yokohama, held by the scientist Kurama. The first of the Diclonius race, a teenage girl named by the staff as "Lucy," escapes the factory stark naked (except for a metal helmet encasing her head) and, using her vectors to deflect gunfire, effortlessly kills the security guards and Kurama's clumsy secretary in her path. However, as she makes her way out of the facility, she is shot in the side of the head by an unnamed sniper armed with a .50 caliber rifle, breaking her metal helmet and causing her to fall into the sea.
The next morning, Kohta, a university-age school student, is moving to Kamakura to study in a university where he is reunited with his cousin Yuka. While reminiscing about his younger sister on a beach, who is later explained to have died "of an illness," he encounters the Diclonius, still naked and brain damaged from the bullet wound, only capable of saying the word "Nyu." Kohta and Yuka decide to take her with them, naming her "Nyu" as a result.
The homeless girl Mayu and her dog encounter Nyu, where she and Kohta come across a Special Assault Team task force sent by Kurama to find Nyu, led by Bando, a ruthless, cold-hearted soldier, and Nana, another Diclonius, to hunt her down. However, Lucy and her cold characteristics have not yet faded away; whenever she hits her head or when she 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 take Bando and Nana back to Kamakura, Bando to find Lucy, and Nana to be released into the world contrary to the instructions given to Kurama to put her down. Mayu and Nana both end up living in Kohta's household, where significant parts of their past come together.
Several developments in the story are made and explained in the latter end of the series. All the characters have mysterious and tragic pasts which somehow intertwine with each other, and, as their individual stories are retold, they all come together. 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 escapes the facility and causes 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 risk the fate of both diclonius and humanity by unleashing Mariko, his Diclonius daughter and disputedly the most powerful Diclonius, to kill Lucy and return the species into hiding forever. Mariko, Nana, Lucy and Kurama all cross paths near a bridge by the seaside, where Mariko and Nana discover that they both believe themselves to be Kurama's daughter, and Lucy is almost killed by Mariko. However, 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.
Diclonius
Diclonius, in Elfen Lied, are an evolution branch off of humans (according to the manga). Their bodies are very similar to humans, the only difference being they possess two horns on the sides of their head, 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). Their powers involve the usage of invisible arms, known as "vectors." Diclonius 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. All diclonii in the anime are girls and have red hair, however some variations exist in the manga.
In general, diclonius are a violent species, known to have a vendetta against humans, and have ambitions to wipe out the human race and popluate the world with their own species. Diclonius DNA are 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. It is disputed and contradicted during the series as to how diclonii develop this behaviour, as to whether it is part of their personality or whether it stems from abuse by humans, and evidence suggests both. In episode three, Kurama explains to Bando that diclonii are born with the intention of populating the world, and in the final episode Lucy tells Kohta that "I was born to destroy humans". However, Nana's character suggests that it is possible for diclonii to have emphathy and their characters develop as a result of their interactions with the world.
Regardless, the human researchers at the facility believe the diclonii to be a serious problem to the fate of the human race. All diclonii are kept in tight storage where they are tube-fed and almost never see the outside world. 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." The plot of Elfen Lied starts when a Diclonius, a member of a species of evolved humans, breaks out of a storage in a facility off the coast of Kamakura in Kanagawa, south of the city of Yokohama. The teenage girl named by the staff as "Lucy," escapes the factory stark naked (except for a metal helmet encasing her head) and, using her vectors to deflect gunfire; effortlessly killing the security guards and Kurama's clumsy secretary who stand in her path. However, as she makes her way out of the facility, she is shot in the side of the head by an unnamed sniper armed with a .50 caliber rifle, breaking her metal helmet and causing her to fall into the sea.
The next morning, Kohta, a university-age school student, who is moving to Kamakura to study in a university where he is reunited with his cousin Yuka. While reminiscing about his younger sister on a beach, who is later explained to have died "of an illness," he encounters the Diclonius, still naked and badly wounded in the head from the bullet round. As a result of brain damage sustained from the bullet wound, is reduced to the knowledge and capability of an infant, only capable of saying the word "Nyu." Kohta and Yuka decide to take her to live with them, naming her "Nyu" as a result.
Kohta moves into a building that was formerly a traditional Japanese restaurant in Kamakura. Nyu, still helplessly dumbfounded, has no idea of who or where she is, however Kohta and Yuka believe that they can find out where Nyu belongs, and in the meantime, keep her safe. However, after Kohta gets angry at Nyu, she runs off back to the beach where she was found.
The homeless girl Mayu and her dog encounter Nyu, and Kohta traces Nyu back to the beach, discovering that the facility has organized a Special Assault Team task force, led by Bando, a ruthless, cold-hearted mercenary, and Nana, another Diclonius, to hunt her down. However, Lucy and her cold characteristics have not yet faded away; whenever she hits her head or when she 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 take Bando and Nana back to Kamakura, Bando to find Lucy, and Nana to be released into the world contrary to the instructions given to Kurama to put her down. Mayu and Nana both end up living in Kohta's household, where significant parts of their past come together.
Differences between media
The anime adaptation of Elfen lied takes a different approach to its depiction of the diclonius, and provdes less details about the diclonius virus. The diclonius characters are shown to have distinct limits on their vectors' quantity and range, which are non-existent in the manga. The anime also eliminates some characters introduced in the manga.
Characters
- Lucy (ルーシー, Rūshī) is a teenage diclonius girl around eighteen years old. Within her two-meter range, she can be swift and lethal, and will use any nearby objects as high velocity projectiles to kill at greater distances. She is also capable of stopping or deflecting most standard ammunition as she concentrates on the action. 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. Consequently, she discounts regular humans, claiming they are not real people. 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. 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 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 non-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. Voiced by: Chihiro Suzuki (Japanese); Adam Conlon (English)
- Yuka (ユカ) is Kohta's cousin.[4] She is also around nineteen years old and planning to attend the same university as Kohta. 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. Having had a crush on Kohta since childhood, she is in love with him,[5] and is therefore jealous of Kohta's attention to Nyu (and the other female characters who move in with them), to the point of being very irrational. Voiced by: Mamiko Noto (Japanese); Nancy Novotny (English)
Style and themes
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 Kouta. 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.[6]
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".[7] Throughout the series there are various incidences of human sadism, casual beatings, cruel experimentation, and outright killing.
Unlike other anime which distinctively fall into a specific subcategory, Elfen Lied does not fall under any specific genre, containing elements of 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.'"[8] 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[9] and Gunslinger Girl.[8]
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, imitating poses, colors, and patterns.[9] The German song Elfenlied ("Elf Song"), from which the title takes its name, appears in the manga[10] 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.
Production
When work began on adapting the Elfen Lied manga into an anime series, director Mamoru Kanbe was recommended to work on 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 was originally reluctant about joining the product, however gained interest upon reading the manga.
Kanbe originally thought that "this was a love story, and I could make it so that it would bring viewers to tears."[11] 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 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.[12]
Media
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.[13] The series' 107 chapters were also published in twelve collected volumes by Shueisha from October 2002 through November 2005.
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[14] (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 in the box set released by ADV Films.
The series is currently airing in the United Kingdom on Propeller TV (Sky Digital) as part of Anime Network's launch in the UK. So far the series has aired uncut with the exception of one of Mayu's flashbacks in episode five as a result of it being related to child rape at the hands of a stepfather. While it has yet to appear on US television other than on Anime Network's "On Demand" Channel, the DVD box set confirms that the series has a rating of TV-MAVSL; the Canadian rating is 18A. The OVA episode was not released with the box set that became available in November 2006.
In a posting on the official Adult Swim message board, Adult Swim programming director Kim Manning revealed that Adult Swim inquired into possibly airing the series, as she 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.[15]
Reception
The series has received praise for its story and technical excellence in production quality, animation and color.[9][16][17][18]Due to the many scenes of nudity and gore in the series, it has drawn criticism as being "overly blatant".[19] or "sad and forced"[20] The boldness of the first seven minutes of the first episode have deterred some viewers and caused controversy as to its release. The first four episodes are liberally scattered with horror and fanservice, often taking the form of bloody violence and random nudity and sexual innuendo.
Despite employing experienced voice actors for both the English and Japanese voice casts, such as Mamiko Noto and Kira Vincent-Davis, the series drew criticism for having sub-par voice acting across the series in the English dub, as well as in the first few episodes on the Japanese voice-overs.[16] Another criticism is that the series ends abruptly with some loose ends to the story that could leave viewers unsatisfied.[21]
Despite these criticisms, Western reviewers also describe the series as "really a genuinely good watch",[19] "a horror series of exceptional merit",[21] "certainly memorable"[9] and "a very special show, good and bad parts taken into consideration".[7] Anime News Network's members rated gave the series an average of 8.43 out of 10 ("Excellent") from 3983 votes, making it the fifty-seventh best anime listed in its database and the ninth most popular as of February 2008.[22] In the 2004 AnimeReactor Community Awards, fans voted the Elfen Lied anime as the Best Opening/Ending Combination, Best Drama, Best Thriller (Mystery/Horror), Best Fanservice and also voted Lucy/Nyu as Best Female Character.[23] Also at the first annual American Anime Awards 2007 at New York Comic-Con, Elfen Lied was nominated for "Best Short Series".
References
- ^ "Backstage - Official Elfen Lied website" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2007-12-01.
- ^ Solomon, Charles (July 17 2005). "Mean Girls". New York Times.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Great Reason To Give Thanks With Nine New Releases November 15th" (Press release). ADV Films. September 28 2005.
{{cite press release}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Elfen Lied Ep. 1: Yuka greets Kohta and then says "Yuka desu... Itoko no..."「ユカです…従姉妹の…」, which quite unambiguously translates as "I'm Yuka. Your cousin."
- ^ Yuka's relationship with Kohta may be considered taboo or illegally incestuous by U.S. viewers, but relationships between cousins is not considered scandalous in Japan and is a topic seen regularly in anime. See: Why is Romance Between Cousins Common in Anime?
- ^ "Backstage - Official Elfen Lied website" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2007-12-01.
- ^ a b Høgset, Stig. "Elfen Lied review". THEM Anime Reviews 4.0. Retrieved 2006-08-21.
- ^ a b Dong, Bamboo (June 29, 2005). "Shelf Life - Sound of Bounce on Free Throw". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b c d Robinson, Tasha (August 8, 2005). "Elfen Lied". Sci Fi Weekly. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Text "Anime Reviews" ignored (help) - ^ Okamoto, Lynn. Elfen Lied Volume 5 (in Japanese). Shueisha. p. 154. ISBN 4-08-876477-3.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Exclusive Mamoru Kanbe interview, DVD Extra - Elfen Lied DVD 1 (Vector One). Released by Madman Entertainment and ADV Films.
- ^ "Production Note, Official Elfen Lied website" (in Japanese). VAP. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
- ^ "Elfen Lied (manga)". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2008-05-28.
- ^ "Anime Boston 2006 - A.D. Vision". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2006-06-05.
- ^ "Re: What kind of anime do you complainers want?". Adult Swim. April 27 2006). Retrieved 2007-09-23.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b Martin, Theron (May 16, 2005). "Elfen Lied DVD 1 Review". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2006-04-19.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Martin, Theron (July 22, 2005). "Elfen Lied DVD 2 Review". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Pierce, Travis (May 27, 2005). "Elfen Lied Review". Gamerz-Edge. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b Laeno, Dominic. "Elfen Lied review - Second opinion". THEM Anime Reviews 4.0. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
- ^ "Negative First Impression Theater: Elfen Lied". Iron Circus. February 12, 2005. Retrieved 2007-01-22.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b Martin, Theron (November 28 2005). "Elfen Lied DVD 4 Review". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2006-04-19.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Elfen Lied (TV)". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2007-02-17.
- ^ "AnimeReactor Community Awards - 2004". Results. AnimeReactor.net. February 27, 2005. Retrieved 2007-01-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
External links
- Elfen Lied ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
- Official VAP anime website Template:Ja icon
- Official ADV Films anime website
- Official Madman Entertainment anime website
- Elfen Lied ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia