Elfen Lied (エルフェンリート, Erufen Rīto) is the title of a fictional Japanese series originally created by Japanese author Lynn Okamoto centering around a mysterious and deadly breed of humans with two horns on top of their heads and the havoc they inflict upon humanity.
| Elfen Lied | |
| File:Elfen Lied 001.jpg Lucy/Nyū | |
| Genre | Action, Drama, Harem, Horror, Psychological Thriller, Romance, Sci-fi, Seinen, Splatter, Supernatural |
|---|---|
| Manga | |
| Written by | Lynn Okamoto |
| Published by |  Shueisha |
| Anime | |
| Directed by | Mamoru Kanbe |
| Studio | GENCO, VAP ADV Films  ADV Films (DT) |
| Anime | |
| Directed by | Mamoru Kanbe |
| Studio | VAP ADV Films |
Elfen Lied first began as a manga series first serialized in the manga magazine Weekly Young Jump and published in Japan by Shueisha, ending at the completion of the twelfth volume. Later, an anime was adapted from the then-unfinished manga (causing the anime plot to differ in several respects) that first aired in Japan on July 25 2004. A bonus OVA episode was released on April 21 2005 to give some more information on the back-story. So far, only the original anime series spanning 13 episodes and the OVA episode have been licensed in the United States by ADV Films.
The title Elfen Lied is German for "Elf Song" (see Lied), and pronounced approximately [ˈɛlfən liːt], although the correct German spelling would be "Elfenlied".
Plot
The story begins with a naked young girl named Lucy who escapes under odd circumstances from an island research-facility off the coast of Kamakura in the Kanagawa Prefecture of Japan. Lucy manages to nonchalantly dismember and slay 23 (14 in the manga) of the staff and guards with some form of seemingly supernatural power and gets outside. A sniper is ordered to kill her but only manages to ricochet the bullet off the metal helmet encasing her head. Lucy falls off a cliff into the sea and is not found again by the research staff.
Lucy is not a normal human but in fact a Diclonius which is a mutant strain of humans who have two small horns on their heads (hence the name diclonius) and possess telekinetic powers through use of their "Vectors", which are arms that project from the backs with varying numbers and length of reach depending on the diclonius.
The next day, a boy named Kouta arrives at Kamakura to meet his cousin Yuka. Kouta has come to study at a university there and has been given the use of an old family-owned inn, The "Maple (楓, kaede) Inn", provided he acts as the caretaker there. After meeting with Yuka, they go to visit the beach and find Lucy washed up there, still naked and bleeding from her head. However, the head-trauma that Lucy has experienced has caused her to develop a split personality, "Nyū". In stark contrast, Nyū is completely docile, harmless and is incapable at first of saying anything other than "Nyū". Not knowing what to do with her, Kouta and Yuka take her back to the inn to look after her.
While Kouta, Nyū and Yuka begin settling into a new life, the researchers begin hunting for Lucy and characters on both sides find themselves in a situation much more complex than they originally anticipated.
Characters
- Kouta (コウタ, Kouta, also romanized as Kohta)
- He is an 18-20 year-old and one of the main characters of the series. Kouta enters the story when Yuka's family allows him a to live in their closed down inn as long as he maintains it while going to university. Kouta has traumatic memories of the deaths of his father and sister, hinted at throughout the series to be by Lucy's hand, which he has repressed. Due in part to his loss, Kōta has a soft spot for girls in trouble and is extremely generous and protective to the girls around him.
Voiced by: Chihiro Suzuki (Japanese), Adam Conlon (English)
- Lucy (ルーシー, Rūshī) / Nyū (にゅう)
- She is a teenage diclonius girl of around 16-18 years old. She has four vectors with a limited range of two meters. However, she can be swift and lethal within that range, 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 when she concentrates on the task. Lucy hates humans mainly because of how she was treated by her human peers as a child. Consequently, she discounts non-diclonius as 'not real people'. On the surface, she lacks empathy, kills without much concern, and acts somewhat sadistic.
- Nyū is a split personality of Lucy, possibly created from brain damage caused by a .50 BMG round ricocheting off a metallic helmet encasing her head. Nyū has a child-like personality and infantile knowledge of the world, and lacks spoken language skills. Nyū is lovable, innocent and incapable of violent acts, a foil to the normal Lucy; she is the manifestation of her 'good side'. When Nyū is attacked violently (or hit on the head), she will regress into Lucy; likewise, when Lucy is treated with love and kindness, she will uncontrollably switch back into Nyū.
Voiced by: Sanae Kobayashi (Japanese), Kira Vincent-Davis (English)
Diclonius
A Diclonius (ディクロニウス, Dikuroniusu) is a separate evolution of human beings who grow two small horns on their heads while also being able to wield telekinetic powers through use of their "Vectors". Vectors, depicted as invisible "arms", can reach out in a limited range and easily slice through bodies, grab objects and propel them with superhuman strength at targets outside their reach, or even go through bodies without doing damage. Most Diclonius can only manifest four vectors; however, there are exceptional cases in which a few among these mutant individuals are able to summon a much greater number of vectors. The maximum range at which vectors extend varies among Diclonius. Finally, the vectors are controlled by the pineal gland of the Diclonius, which is the size of an egg.[1] This is in contrast to that of humans, which is the size of a pea, and mostly occupies the frontal lobe[2] of their brains. The Diclonius have great contempt and homicidal tendencies toward humans, often viewing them as "inferior", and do not hesitate to kill them. They do not even show mercy at killing fellow members of their species. Lucy later mentions that in about 5 years half of the children born in Kamakura will be Diclonius and able to infect enough people to make sure that humans would be all but extinct in 6 generations.
The Silpelit are one type of Diclonius. Silpelits are Diclonius offspring born from carriers, which are human parents who become infected with the Diclonius virus. In order to achieve this, the Diclonius only has to pass one of her "Vectors" through the pineal gland of the human. However, only men can be infected.[3] In addition, all Silpelits are born females possessing the same powers as that of a normal Diclonius, but unlike other Diclonius, naturally born from non-infected humans, like Lucy, the Silpelits lack reproductive organs and thus cannot procreate. Without reproducing capabilities, they are often viewed as "worker bees" having no other objective in mind but the drive to kill and infect ordinary humans. Likewise, both Diclonius and Silpelit are capable of sensing each other from a distance.
Moreover, all Diclonius born with vectors are seemingly females sharing the same physical traits- red or pink eyes and hair, though it is reasonable to assume that true, full-fledged male Diclonius can also be born naturally and will share the same characteristics as that of their female peers. Actually, the only males shown in the anime were bald and apparently had no telekinetic abilities due to interbreeding with humans continuously over generations. It's also important to note that redundancy of some traits on all Diclonius would suggest low diversity in their gene pool, meaning that the sterile Silpelits are merely expendable soldiers tasked with the complete annihilation of the Homo sapiens population so that the fertile Diclonius can breed progeny to populate the planet and, therefore, become the dominant species.
- See also: Elfen Lied body count
Cultural references
Art
The opening and ending sequences feature artistic drawings of the principal characters. These characters are drawn on a style based on Gustav Klimt's paintings. In the following comparison images, the left side of the image shows Klimt's work, and on the right side, Elfen Lied's counterpart:
Music and poetry
The German song Elfenlied ("Elf Song") appears in the manga (volume 5, p.154) and it is credited to the composer Hugo Wolf. The song does not appear in the anime. A poem by Eduard Mörike is the basis for Wolf’s Lied (see Elfenlied for lyrics and translation).
Sub-topics
Evolution
Elfen Lied deals with human evolution with both humans and Diclonius regarding each other as an expendable, dehumanized mistake. However, an important aspect of the series involves relationships between primary care-givers and human love in general - which were gradually revealed to exist between Diclonius and the humans towards the end of the series when both come to the difficult understanding that they are both indeed human, although there are distinct differences between them. The main drive of the Diclonius is the propagation of their superior traits through the destruction of the human race. This homicidal drive can arise as early as the 3rd year of a Diclonius's life. Many Diclonius do not consider normal Homo sapiens "human"; this apparently stems from their very distinctive characteristics that in turn caused them to be rejected by fellow humans.
Humanity
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"[4]. Throughout the series, incidences of human sadism are seen, from casual beatings to pedophilic rape to outright killing. Lucy, on the other hand, begins life as a perfectly psychologically normal child, with an obvious physical difference, tormented repeatedly by ordinary people. This mistreatment and torment by her human peers is portrayed as a classical example of ijime, which happens everyday in Japan and refers to people who stray from the norm or are mostly deemed different, becoming target for life-time physical or mental abuse by others.
Although she tries to make friends with children her own age, she is spurned, lied to, physically assaulted, and forced to witness brutality. She suffers a great deal because of her day-to-day life, and so her reactions vary between disgust at the casual cruelty, painful wonder about why she alone is so mistreated, wishing to retreat from her miserable life, and desire to wreak vengeance in the most painful way possible on her tormentors (the Homo sapiens race).
It is reasonable to argue that, in the face of such horrifying childhood experiences, ultimately the only difference between Lucy and her Homo sapiens peers is her ability to strike with overwhelming power. An ordinary child faced with such issues could not resort to such extreme violence such as Lucy can, but still might become a killer. Therefore, the violence of at least the major Diclonius in the story is not due to lack of humanity, but rather to the inhumane treatment she endured as a child along with psychological stress.
Trauma
The story also deals with the issues of psychological trauma and repressed memories. Lucy has dissociative identity disorder, one infantile personality (Nyū), and another adult one (Lucy), full of painful memories and a solemn, murderous hatred towards normal humans, especially ones who personally hurt her. Kouta suffers from dissociative amnesia after his sister Kanae and father are brutally murdered in front of him.
Media
Elfen Lied was first presented in manga form which was later adapted into an anime.
Manga
The complete manga series runs for 107 chapters spanning over 12 volumes and is complete.
In terms of the anime adaptation, the approach and depth of information involving the Diclonius differs greatly. The Diclonius virus is explained in greater detail with moments such as Professor Kakuzawa explaining the half-Diclonius status and ancestry of he and his father to Lucy before she kills him. After director Kakuzawa is killed late in the manga by Lucy's own hand, Lucy tells his corpse that Diclonius are not a different species, but humans like everyone else - just born with horns and a unique power. One might say the term "Diclonius" was invented by Kakuzawa in order to separate them from their fellow humans. The Diclonius are shown to be more diverse with Lucy/Nyū having pink hair, Mariko being blond, and Nana having dark purple hair. Diclonius are never stated to have a limited amount of vectors. However, it depicts Lucy having over twelve vectors, Nana possessing approximately six vectors, and Mariko controlling up to fifty vectors. They are rarely shown being physically attached to the body (the anime shows them extending from the back, while the manga has them simply appear levitating). Silpelit Diclonius are shown to age two to three times faster than normal humans and naturally born Diclonius, like Lucy. The timeline of events prior to Mariko's birth explained in volumes six and seven discloses Nana's age to be six-years-old, though she physically resembles a 13 or 14 year-old girl.
Some characters are seen in greater detail in the manga. Mariko, for instance, is shown in greater detail with her psychological issues and past trauma being more throroughly explained. She also develops a split personality called Myū. Myū acts as the antithesis to Mariko just like Nyū is in contrast to Lucy. Myū is nonviolent, docile, more childish than Mariko, and, like Nyū, she only speaks saying the word Myū. When Mariko becomes Myū her pressence as a Diclonius disappears and cannot be detected by other Diclonius, just like in Nyū's case. However, unlike Nyū, Myū can and will both consciously and willingly switch back to Mariko, if she feels any potential threat putting in danger the lives of her beloved ones or more specifically her father, Kurama.
Characters were introduced in the manga that were otherwise completely omitted from the anime series. An example of this early on in the manga is an acquaintance of Yuka's, referred to as "Nozomi-chan." These difference are subtle and don't alter the story of the anime too much from the manga.
Some of the other notable differences the manga has include:
- Chronologically, Lucy's flashback sequence happens much earlier.
- The music box that is featured in the anime does not appear.
- Young Kouta gives a stone, that resembles jade, as a present to child Lucy as a memento of their meeting. Later, Lucy places the stone, along with a written message for Kouta, inside a bottle, and buries it at her dog's grave.
- In the manga, Lucy actually laughs at first when her pet dog is beaten to death by Tomo before proceeding to tear apart everyone in the room.
- Professor Kakuzawa's co-worker is depicted as much more of a serious and deep character. She is named in the manga as Arakawa (her last name).
Volumes
The Elfen Lied manga is only available in Japanese tankōbon as it has not yet been licensed by any company for official translation into English.
- Elfen Lied Vol. 1 ISBN 4-08-876358-0 - October 2002 (Chapters 01-07)
- Elfen Lied Vol. 2 ISBN 4-08-876379-3 - December 2002 (Chapters 08-17)
- Elfen Lied Vol. 3 ISBN 4-08-876406-4 - February 2003 (Chapters 18-27)
- Elfen Lied Vol. 4 ISBN 4-08-876446-3 - May 2003 (Chapters 28-38)
- Elfen Lied Vol. 5 ISBN 4-08-876477-3 - August 2003 (Chapters 39-48)
- Elfen Lied Vol. 6 ISBN 4-08-876513-3 - November 2003 (Chapters 49-60)
- Elfen Lied Vol. 7 ISBN 4-08-876579-6 - March 2004 (Chapters 61-71)
- Elfen Lied Vol. 8 ISBN 4-08-876638-5 - July 2004 (Chapters 72-75)
- Elfen Lied Vol. 9 ISBN 4-08-876696-2 - October 2004 (Chapters 76-82)
- Elfen Lied Vol. 10 ISBN 4-08-876764-0 - March 2005 (Chapters 83-87)
- Elfen Lied Vol. 11 ISBN 4-08-876838-8 - August 2005 (Chapters 88-97)
- Elfen Lied Vol. 12 ISBN 4-08-876884-1 - November 2005 (Chapters 98-107)
Side stories
Template:Spoilers The manga also features several side stories from previous works done by Lynn Okamoto. These stories came included with the release of certain volumes of the manga and, therefore, can be considered bonus material (not related to Elfen Lied) for avid fans of the manga to collect.
- MOL - featured in volume 1
- Digitopolis - featured in volume 2
- Memoria - featured in volume 3
- Carrera - featured in volume 5
In addition, volume 8 includes two other stories that form part of the Elfen Lied universe.
- NOZOMI is the first side story featured, and basically explains to the readers about Nozomi's past and why she chooses to move into the Kaede inn. This tale is in canon with the continuity of the main storyline.
- The second side story that follows after NOZOMI involves the whole residents at the Kaede inn throwing out a party, but they indulge themselves in drinking excessively. Nana and Mayu fall asleep, allowing both Yuka and Nyū to literally let go off their inhibitions and deliver an intimate fan service to Kouta. Unfortunately, their fun is suddenly brought to an end when Nyū without warning switches back to Lucy who seems rather upset, finishing the story in a cliffhanger. This tale is not canon for Elfen Lied's overall plot.
Anime
The anime series of Elfen Lied has been praised for its technical excellence in animation and color.[5] Criticism has been levelled at the English dub for having sub-par voice acting in the earlier episodes.[5] Another criticism is that the series ends abruptly with many loose ends to the story that could leave viewers unsatisfied.[6] The anime covers the first 60 chapters of the manga (with some changes).
Episodes 1 to 11 of the anime are in canon with the continuity of the storyline for volumes 1 to 6 of the manga, faithfully adapting most of the events happening in the latter. The last two TV episodes, which were supposedly based from volume 7, drastically strayed from the manga's continuity and gave an original conclusion to the anime.
A single 24-minute OVA episode was also released. It takes place between episodes 10 and 11 of the original TV series, and for that reason, some refer to it as episode 10.5, OVA special, or even as episode 14. It should be noted that the special itself takes on a lighter tone and does little to advance the story (though it does answer some questions of the early episodes). During the Anime Boston 2006[7] (May 26 - 28) convention, ADV Films acquired the distribution rights of the OVA for release in the United States.
Throughout the series, there is a great deal of graphic nudity, blood and gore, as well as psychological violence and extreme graphic violence. The television series ran for 13 episodes and adapted approximately the first 60 out of 107 chapters of the manga. It first aired on Japanese television in 2004 and was re-broadcasted in 2005. The anime was licensed by ADV Films in the United States in 2004 and was released on VHS and DVD in 2005. ADV Films said the series was one of their best-selling [8] and "most notorious" [9] releases of 2005.
Episodes
Elfen Lied aired on TV Tokyo's AT-X satellite channel from July 25 2004 to October 17 2004, containing a total of 13 episodes. A bonus OVA episode was later released with the final DVD on April 21 2005.
Theme songs
- Opening theme
- Ending theme
Trivia
- An interesting aspect of the series is that the full names for all the main characters are never revealed or disclosed throughout the course of the anime. Some are addressed by their surnames while others are called by their family names. However, Professor Kakuzawa is the only character whose full name is given around the time that he's introduced in the story.
- The series' author Lynn Okamoto has a brief cameo appearance as a special guest in episode 12.
- Lucy/Nyū, Kouta, and Yuka are the only characters that appear in all the episodes of Elfen Lied.
- Elfen Lied and the character Nana were the inspiration for the popular Clone Manga fan-comic named "Nana's Everyday Life" which has been completed and fully translated from English into 6 other languages. [10]
References
- ^ Elfen Lied manga; Volume 01 - Chapter 01, pg. 28
- ^ Elfen Lied Ep. 5: Professor Yū Kakuzawa explains the functionality of the vectors to a captive Nyū.
- ^ Elfen Lied manga; Volume 07 - Chapter 62, pg. 34
- ^ Høgset, Stig. "Elfen Lied review". THEM Anime Reviews 4.0. Retrieved 2006-08-21.
- ^ a b Martin, Theron. "Elfen Lied DVD 1 Review". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2006-04-19.
- ^ Martin, Theron. "Elfen Lied DVD 4 Review". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2006-04-19.
- ^ "Anime Boston 2006 - A.D. Vision". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2006-06-05.
- ^ 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) - ^ "Nana's Everyday Life". Clone Manga. Retrieved 2006-08-21.
External links
Official
Unofficial
- Elfen Lied ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
- Elfen Lied at IMDb
- Template:Tvtome show
Fan sites
- Template:Ja icon elfiniantop Some Reviews on "Elfen Lied", Anime & Manga
- Template:Ja icon Autumn Leaf: Elfen Lied Journey
- Template:Es icon ¡¡Elfen Lied al Extremo!! Full section dedicated to Elfen Lied with episode summaries and screenshot galleries.
- ElfenLied (Elf Song) Eduard Mörike's poem Elfen Lied.
- elfenlied.net First English Elfen Lied fan site.
- Elfenfan.net An English Elfen Lied fan site containing episode summaries, screenshots, wallpapers, fanart etc.
- Smashed Ice // Elfen Lied Fansite with images and screen captures.
- Manga Wiki - Elfen Lied article