Elfen Lied

Episode Count	13
Season	Summer 2004
Genres	Action, Drama, Horror, Psychological, Seinen, Thriller
Source Material	Manga
Rating	NSFW
Streaming	TBD

You just know something's hardcore when I gotta put up the NSFW alert. Don't worry, no screenshots.

Elfen Lied is about Lucy. No, she's not a catgirl, she's a Diclonius, a new breed of human that gives her invisible telekinetic hands. The government has been performing inhumane experiments on the Diclonius, so one day Lucy breaks out. However, she suffers a head injury, so when two college students find her, she's got the communication skills of a puppy. Thus begins the surreal tale of Elfen Lied.

If you're squeamish about anything, don't even think about it, avoid this show. Violence is usually dictated by how much blood is on-screen. Elfen Lied has lots of blood, don't get me wrong, but most importantly it is violent. Not in what they show, but how they show it. And this is both graphic and disturbing. There's a scene that made me look away and shut my eyes. Everyone who's seen the series knows the scene I'm talking about. The series is also known for it's abundance of nudity, but none of it is sexual for better or worse.

But if you can handle it, I think Elfen Lied is worth watching once. It's flawed (I'd be more charitable if not for the final few episodes), but it's one of the most uniquely directed anime I've seen. Any scene without extreme violence or nudity feels like a fever dream. They feel surreal. Plus it has the most quintessentially 2000s anime character designs.

- 0215MADman