Review of Elfen Lied

Elfen Lied (2004)
3/10
Why did I watch this?
28 June 2011
Because of the awesome first episode and the opening song, of course.

Unfortunately, this isn't one of those series that only gets better and better. Instead, it got worse and worse. I'm not easily offended by blood, gore & nudity. I don't disagree with romance, nor with visuals that don't match the story. But I am quite disappointed by expecting to get a brilliant anime (judging from all the ecstatic reviews all over the web) and receiving something awfully shallow.

Seriously people, WHY does everyone like this series so much?

The point is, in my opinion, that this anime tries to be everything at once, and fails to be anything at all. It contains a horroresque mix of blood, gore and suspense, it contains action-packed, graphic violence, realistic nudity (i.e. nudity where people are supposed to be nude and it's just silly to put clothes on them), ecchi nudity aka nudity for no other reason than to turn on pervs, super-cotton-candy-sweet-naive romance and even some science and sci-fi related things, never mind the "fantasy" part. Only, none of these parts really excite. There is no depth of story. At the end, you're left with so many questions you wonder whether you actually watched the thing or not. There is no depth of character. One of the main character is mostly absent from the story and replaced by some brainless creature that goes "nyu". And no amount of well executed fights or ecchi (depending on where your favor goes to) will compensate for that.

And then, the visuals. It took me nearly two episodes to figure out that the two kids living together were supposed to be around 20. I mean, what? While the animation is quite good, the naive way the main characters are portrayed grows annoying very fast.

Conclusion? It's not gritty, nor mature. It's childish and perverse. For everyone who seeks a deep, romantic story with gritty action/horror elements, it isn't this!

And last but not least, it reminds me somewhat of Chobits. Though Chobits had a bit more of a entertainment value. So for all you people who DIDN'T like Chobits, stay clear of this as well.
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