Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1437 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-08-06
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 325 minutes

Synopsis
Like the cherry blossoms and bloody decapitations that saturate its frames, director Mamoru Kanbe's grisly anime series, ELFEN LIED, contrasts the opposing forces of good and evil with equal parts beauty and violence. Sexy, pink-haired Lucy is part of a race of genetic mutants known as Diclonius, who sport horns in their heads and are able to savagely dismember their victims with the use of psychically-controlled invisible arms called vectors. After Lucy makes a violent escape from the military compound that imprisons her, she washes up naked and vulnerable on a beach shorefront and is taken in by two teenage cousins, Kohta and Yuka. But unbeknownst to her kindly benefactors, the now mute and amnesiac Lucy (redubbed Nyu for her inability to speak) still retains traces of her true killer nature, which amply reveal themselves when the government sends out a team of fellow mutant assassins to find and destroy her. Bloody and violent yet beautifully animated, this collection comprises every episode of the anime series.

Customer Reviews

Elfen Lied Best
Ok this was the first anime that i have seen and it was not a let down. (has spoilers and sorry for any spelling mistakes!!)

Its starts off by followin a girl called Lucy who has been put in a very secure faclitiy until she has been let out by an unknown person (find out late on in series) from what you get in the slow escapeing is that she is a very dangerous little girl and can rip peoples limbs off in a matter of seconds and yes you see it all happening! (Lucy has things that are called Vectors that you don't see in the first episode) So it goes though alot of "shoot her" and death at the start (all worth it) The man trying to stop her from escapeing is Kurama hes in charge of keeping all the subjects locked up as well as other things.

After Lucy gets out the facility she get shot off the cliff and ends up on a beach on the near by town where she is discovered by two young cousins Yuka and Kohta that are starting college soon. Surpriseing Lucy cannot say anything but Nyu (and has no clue about the vectors) when she is discovered but the two of them decide that its best to take the little horned girl (yes she has horn we don't see in the first scene) home to Kothas new place where we start to learn more about Kohta and Yuka and Yuka feelings for Kohta.

Back at the facility they're seeing all the damage that was cause in a matter of minutes and sorting out waysd that they can kill Lucy enter Bandoh a mad killing man who has yet to find an enemy to bring him down he is sent to kill Lucy with a small unit search team also ordered to kill her.

Kohta and Yuka are basicly teaching Lucy how to every thing like eating rice balls and takeing a bath (thats how much shes lost!). Kotha and Yuka end up calling Lucy Nyu because thats all she can say although you still kinda understand what she means to say at times! Yuka finds out the Kohta still has the shell that his little sister found years ago at the beach and new looks at it and then breaks it which makes kohta lets say very angery (his sister died) Nyu runs away crying, a few mintues later Yuka explains that she understands why Nyu broke it And the episode ends with Nyu out in the rain still crying looking for a new seashell.

So thats the first episode if you like the sound of it trust me its well worth watching the rest to see how all te characters know each other and come together and Kohta's secert! To me its by far the best thing i have ever seen in story an stucture!

Erufen Rito: Elfen Lied. A Diamond in the Rough
As many know anime is a genre that ranges from childish cartoons to more mature stories and drawings which are more complicated than the average Disney movie. Elfen Lied is shrouded in mystique and darkness, but as with many other anime movies and series it has that unique contrast between the more violent, dark, grotesque moments and the more light-hearted and humorous parts which complements each other extremely well. The psychological themes are also very engaging and for instance Nyu's (Lucy's more innocent self) regressive behavior due to isolation and amnesia is, among others, a really nice touch as well as a major point in the story. There are so many different moods in this series and the theme song Lilium also sets a more melancholic and sad mood for the entire series. People have complained or discussed about the fact that the more serious issues and taboo themes in Elfen Lied are portrayed through young characters, but this is also what makes Elfen Lied even more interesting due to the fact that children are widely acknowledged as being innocent beings (symbolic speaking.) But the contrast between this innocence and the violent behavior by the same characters hugely adds to the originality of the series and makes it that more interesting as it results in more underlying psychological themes. There is a term in room decoration and room setting called the eclectic style which means that as long as the different furniture is "fine art" it does not matter if it fits together at all. Elfen Lied is a bit like that just as an anime series. There are lot of different genres and styles in the series and even though they do not seem to fit together on the surface the creators of Elfen Lied has succeeded in making those different parts fit extremely well with each other and have created a very original, innocent, violent and interesting series that should not be missed. As mentioned by so many others this series is not for the faint of hard due to a lot of gore and violence, but at least try it out, because underneath that hard exterior lies one of the greater stories told through the medium of Anime.

Just buy it!
Elfen Lied is great! Beware, lots of violence, blood and nakedness....but one good story! Visually, it's pretty, though not fantastic, average, but nice 21st century animation.

A lot is unanswered...anime does that though...kind of annoying, but you do get used to it...

I have to admit to being slightly upset by the animal violence, which isn't shown directly, but the squeals and blood say enough... However, this was necessary to explain a characters development, why the character becomes the person they are. To me, it was a very emotional expression of pain and confusion, which makes you understand and bond with the character.

Hmm, the only problem I had was how complex biomechanical limbs are shown, which is fine...yet at the same time, 10 minutes later, you're shown very simple 'pop-on' limbs that do the same job! Didn't make sense to me, spoiled it a bit.

If you're new to Anime, you'll want to see Gantz and Serial Experiment Lain. Once again, don't expect a lot of answers.

You need this in your collection!