2006.12.18
ELFEN LIED SUCKS
(This was originally a journal entry)
I finished up Elfen Lied a couple days ago. Sort of. I didn't watch that OVA yet and I didn't watch episode 08 because there's puppy beating in it. Yeah, seeing people ripped apart in every way possible in Berserk doesn't bother me but puppy violence does. Ah, I really couldn't stomach that scene in Ayashi no Ceres (they didn't include it in the anime) where that one chick beats up her dog and then the dog sacrifices himself for her. But yes, as for my thoughts of Elfen Lied.
IS IT ASKING TOO FUCKING MUCH TO DRAW GIRLS THAT LOOK LIKE THEY'RE 16 OR OVER THE AGE OF 16!!!?!?!?!?! Cheers to Nyu/Lucy for actually looking around 16 but goddammit did I really need to see realistic 5 year old boy tits on the naked 7 year old (shit they're probably even younger than that) girls? If you're a pedophile you'll fucking love this anime regardless if you like the content in it or not.
Well to get to the point about what I thought of Elfen Lied...It is true, the first two episodes really do suck. I was getting kind of into it around episodes 3-9 but after that it lost it's touch. The story never got to me however, I just started to find Nyu cute because she looks a lot like Rika (Phantasy Star 4) and acts a lot like Casca (Berserk - post eclipse Casca I mean.) Though unlike Casca, Nyu actually does learn how to speak on her own. Nyu has a split personality after getting hit in the head by some bullet and her real self is Lucy. Unlike Nyu, Lucy is some kind of killing machine. The ending didn't really tell you anything. Now surely the manga probably fills in shit (since I've read they had two completely different endings) but I'm not interested enough to give a damn.
I don't see how Elfen Lied got such a reputation for being epic. Out of all the so-called epic animes out there this has got to be one of the weakest. The violence looks childish and I don't see how anyone could be deeply affected by it and the story. I'm assuming Elfen Lied just got a big fanbase from newer anime fans that haven't watched that many titles yet. And like, I watched the whole series on youtube and I can't believe some kid tried to make their self sound old by saying "Oh I remember Elfen Lied, I watched it when I was 15." Elfen Lied came out 2004. And the kid is now 17 years old. I don't even consider Gungrave old and that came out a year before Elfen Lied. Yeesh. Some people will do anything to make their selves sound oldschool. Idiotic elitists. That sure as hell tops the "Fruits Basket is old school" comment.
So what kind of anime is Elfen Lied? Go look at the Wikipedia page and look under the genre category. (UPDATE: It seems they slimmed down the genre description tremendously on the wikipedia page. Back then it was listed under about twenty different things. O_O) Yeah, Elfen Lied totally has an identity crisis. It tries to be everything at once and fails being everything at once. The only thing that it could've been good as is a harem anime. (if it stayed that way it'd probably be one of my guilty pleasures >_>;;) But it tries to mix in everything into 13 episodes and well, you can't really tell a ground breaking story within that amount of time. The thing that I found really bad about this series is how they try to make you feel sorry for Lucy. C'mon, the fucking bitch killed like thousands of humans and even killed the fucking main character's dad and sister. Mind you I'm not one of those people who gets deeply engrossed in stories and hates the characters. Griffith of Berserk has got to be one of the biggest asses out there but he was one damn well written antagonist. All his actions make sense. I only hate characters if they're poorly written (*COUGH*YURI-SEPHIROTH*COUGH*) like Lucy.
If I want a harem anime I'll watch Ranma 1/2.If I want a story with hardcore violence and people with psychological issues I'll read Berserk.
If I want a story with nekkid ladiez and hardcore seXXORz I'll read volumes 17-21 of Berserk.
If I want a love story with tons of irony and ends with a cliffhanger I'll watch Basara.
If I want a sci-fi story with a cute horned girl I'll play Phantasy Star 2 or 4.
If I want to watch a story with people fucked in the head I'll watch Perfect Blue.
I'd probably say "If I wanted to watch an anime with a loli I'd watch Speed Grapher" but I'm guessing 15 is "too fucking old." Oh yeah there was incest in Elfen Lied. ZOMG COUSINS. UGH. Elfen Lied is as bad as Rumiko Takahashi mixing in all her good stories together and creating (DUN DUN DUN) INU YASHA!!!111 ﾂNow sure I'm probably going to get some responses about how I can't handle the topics that went on in Elfen Lied - but let's just put me in the place of someone who doesn't watch anime. Say if I were someone who has never seen an anime title in my life and decided to just one day sit down and watch Elfen Lied. I'd be on the ground laughing at the kiddy violence. Oh and of course there just has to be references to the bible and Christianity. The typical formula one goes through when trying to make their stories "more deep."
Instead it's just a piece of flying shit.