this is pretty much garbage. it's riddled with inconsistencies whether its pacing, plotlines, Diclonius mythos, Lucy's powers, or even just characters acting like decent human beings. a lot of people put focus on the gratuitous violence and bloodshed but once you get past the first scene, you adjust and move on.

if anything, it's the borderline pornographic material that's gratuitous. there is unwarranted nudity and sexual scenes within the Elfen Lied manga that do little to the plot except to maybe give the readers breather aka fap material? but it is UNCOMFORTABLE. it is uncomfortable to see Nyu who acts like a child groping and touching the majority of the female cast inappropriately while they're moaning and being assaulted (this is not an exaggeration). i'm not reading Elfen Lied for hentai with SOME splices of sci-fi and grotesque fight scenes; i'm reading it FOR the sci-fi and grotesque fight scenes and i am willing to put up with sexual antics if I can get substance. But alas, there is very little substance.

I won't list names but literally barely any "notable" characters die for real? There's a character that "dies" only to be revealed to be alive later, and then "dies" again only to be revealed that they are STILL alive, and this situation happens to a handful of other characters. I get why that adds ~drama~ to add death but once you bring the majority of the deceased characters back to life, I really just don't care! There are literally no stakes if you, the author, can prove that you can bend the rules of reality to bring your dismembered character back alive and well. It causes me to lose all suspense of disbelief and my ability to care about what is happening throughout the story and its characters.

Speaking of characters, most of them are offensively one-dimensional or irredeemably, nonsensically evil. They have generic, bland character designs to the point where I mix up minor characters with each other (the secretaries or whatever all look the same). You hate most of the characters and then learn later you're supposed to be rooting for them because...well, just because. I ask, "Why should i care?" and Elfen Lied gives me no answer. Not a single character is worth caring about, because they're just not likable at all. You can sympathize with their experiences with abuse (I could be talking about SEVERAL characters; people being beaten or abused is apparently VERY normal in this universe), but they're one-note or irritating so you don't care.

That's why the """love triangle""" fails.

(Small spoiler warning).

I don't like Yuka, or Kouta, or Lucy, really, so why should I be sad that Kouta doesn't get together with Lucy at the end when she's homicidal and killed his family? And he, rightfully so, hates her for it? Kouta only cares for Lucy in relation that she is also Nyu; when she is Lucy, he hates her! When she is Nyu, he finds her cute! Even though Nyu is just a hapless amnesiac who sexually assaults every girl she comes in contact with, which I guess Kouta finds... endearing? Which is gross and sad for Lucy, because she loves a man who loves someone she will never meet or exist, but shares the same body as her? The other part of the love triange isn't really any better. Why should I be cheering for Yuka or sympathizing with her when she is proven to be an unlikable, selfish, vindictive excuse of a human being who revolves her ENTIRE LIFE around Kouta in the relation of whether he wants to bump uglies with her (not about to dive down the 'they're confirmed cousins" rabbit hole)? The whole "triangle" is set up really sloppily and it makes it difficult to remotely care about who gets who because I'm just rolling my eyes (or covering them) wishing for it to stop.

On the topic of romance, why is pedophilia normalized in Elfen Lied? Nana (who is about 14 years old physically, 6 years old actually) wants to marry her Papa who is absolutely in his late twenties-early thirties. I thought it was weird, but I guess we're supposed to see their relationship as a good, romantic thing...for some reason. And then there's Mayu (13-14 years old) kissing Bandou (the assassin jackass bandit who kills people for a living) who also definitely in his late twenties or early thirties. Also seen as a good romantic relationship. Even thought its basically illegal. It's...disgusting, to say the least.

"But Miss Reviewer!" you cry out, "Why haven't you talked about the actual plot at all? Why not discuss the Diclonius? Or what happens else besides the romance and sexual content?"

"Well," I'll reply sourly, "because there is no actual plot".

And I'm right. It's barely there. Of course, someone is going to disagree with me and point aggressively at the pages dedicated to explaining the science mumbo jumbo and yeah, it's there, but it is smashed in between these pointless romance and running around in the rain being sad and graphically sexual scenes between minors, almost like afterthought. When removed from Elfen Lied and observed separately, it's cool. But within the story, it is shoved aside for cheap violence or sexual content and neglected. It barely stuck with me at all.

Even if we were to consider the science fiction parts of the story, they hold no ground. It is not believable or interesting, it is random and nonsensical, with Lucy's strength varying from Godlike to barely winning against someone with a machine gun to the whole transferring-cells-to-save-my-friend-who-is-dying concept that made not a lick of goddamn sense to the reveal of a RADIOACTIVE SWAMP underneath the Earth where an impossibly massive, omniscient Diclonius head lies soaking in its waters.

(End of spoiler warning)

anyways, all in all, I think Elfen Lied frickin' sucks and I fail to understand how it got adapted into an anime (which is much easier to sit through than the manga because so much of the sexual antics were cut out!). The writing is sloppy and it is basically just gratuitously edgy with lots of pointless nudity and blood alongside characters so shallow I couldn't even dip my toes in if I tried. It's a solid 3/10, absolutely deplorable. The only reason it isn't a 1 is that I appreciate the effort put into the Diclonius mythos even if it becomes a steaming load of BS by the end of the final chapter.

FINAL SCORE: 3/10. Do not bother if you expect something of quality. If you like something with tons of violence, I hesitate to suggest this as a read, but go for it. If you like hentai and can stomach violence, sure! This is your boat, go sail it.