Elfen Lied

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Elven Song, Elfenlied, MOL, Digitopolis, memoria

Japanese: エルフェンリート

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Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 12

Chapters: 113

Status: Finished

Published: Jun 6, 2002 to Aug 25, 2005

Genres: Action, Drama, Horror, Romance, Supernatural

Themes: Gore, Psychological

Demographic: Seinen

Serialization: Young Jump

Authors: Okamoto, Lynn (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 7.77¹ (scored by 51,796 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #1496²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #152

Members: 103,156

Favorites: 5,587

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Wikipedia

7.77

Ranked #1496Popularity #152Members 103,156

MangaYoung JumpOkamoto, Lynn (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /12

Chapters: /113

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Synopsis

Lucy is a special breed of human referred to as Diclonius, born with a short pair of horns and invisible telekinetic hands that lands her as a victim of inhumane scientific experimentation by the government. However, once circumstances present her an opportunity to escape, Lucy, corrupted by the confinement and torture, unleashes a torrent of bloodshed as she escapes her captors.

During her breakout, she receives a crippling head injury that leaves her with a split personality: someone with the mentality of a harmless child possessing limited speech capacity. In this state of instability, she stumbles upon two college students, Kouta and his cousin Yuka, who unknowingly take an injured fugitive into their care, unaware of her murderous tendencies. This act of kindness will change their lives, as they soon find themselves dragged into the shadowy world of government secrecy and conspiracy.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Included one-shots:
Volume 1: MOL
Volume 2: Digitopolis
Volume 3: Memoria
Volume 5: Elfen Lied

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Background

Elfen Lied was published in English by Dark Horse Comics as 3-in-1 omnibus volumes from May 22, 2019, to September 9, 2020. It was also released in German by Tokyopop as 2-in-1 omnibus volumes from March 4, 2009, to January 18, 2010; in Italian by Panini Comics from October 20, 2012, to August 30, 2014; in Brazilian Portuguese by Panini Comics from May 2010 to May 2011.

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Characters

Lucy

Main

Nana

Main

Kouta

Main

Mayu

Main

Yuka

Main

Nozomi

Main

Kurama, Mariko

Supporting

Bandou

Supporting

Kurama

Supporting

Number 3

Supporting

Reviews

Nov 4, 2024

Eze-Z

Recommended

Elfen Lied must be one of the most controversial manga/anime, however it is one of my favorite stories.

What I like most about Elfen Lied are the stories of the characters and how they show those emotions through those stories. Many characters show a duality in their feelings, actions and purposes. The biggest example would be Lucy (who is an amazing character and her story is very tragic but beautiful at the same time) but other characters also have this kind of development which really makes this story overall amazing, interesting and very emotional.

For me the strongest point of Elfen Lied is the drama but if ...

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Nov 17, 2019

mouthpiece

Mixed Feelings

(just for the record, this is a slight alteration of my anime review)

This used to be the series most recommended to newcomers as means to show them a amanga which was not some silly cartoony characters with spiky hair. There were already many violent manga around but this seemed to be the most broadly advertised and most didn’t know the rest so it’s like it was the only one. It also mixed lots of favorable elements such as nude and gore, along with interesting story ideas.

It also starts with a bang since in the first chapter we see a massacre of the highest possible gore ... and splatter you could ever dream of witnessing back then, backed up by a scary naked woman wearing a demonic metal mask and horns. You even see a person who acts all silly assuming to be the main comic relief character throughout the series to be eventually brutally murdered in seconds. WOW, HOLLY SMOKES, WHAT IS THIS??? Instant hook! And here starts the rave of the series. Sex and violence always sell and EL happened to have an extremely amount of both.

That was so political incorrect that drew people in by the thousands; especially after the anime version came along. Because after all, the more political incorrect something is, the more attractive it appears to young people. Everyone was either crazy or evil; there were no clear good guys and bad guys. No sir, here the humans are sadistic little bastards who like tormenting little girls and are being slaughtered like pigs as revenge. Even children and women were not spared! When was the last time they showed even women and children being killed? Heck, even kicking puppies was quite cruel and rare back then.

Now let me make it clear that in the following years all the elements of EL were copied in following series. Mainstream manga nowadays are far more sexual and violent, something that EL helped visualizing thanks to its gargantuan fandom. People wanted sex and violence and that is what they got. Open any recent manga and there is little to no chance to not see nude, splatter, lolis and all the sick stuff successful series like EL helped to establish.

So far so good, sounds like the best manga in existence, right? … Not by a longshot really. It does feel shocking and different and special if you are a newbie in the field without any previous exposure to this sort of manga but otherwise it feels quite ridiculous by itself if you are already a veteran reader. I was already exposed to far more sinister stuff way before EL and guess what, it didn’t seem worth not even half of what everyone was raving about. Because the shock value was low. And here is where this series most aims at in order to impress. Shock value. The more it shocks you, the better it appears to be. Because without it, it feels as silly as watching Goku eating a mountain of food without gaining a single pound.

Let’s get now to more conventional analysis, starting with the artwork. It starts off with very crude visuals, stiff motions, simplistic caricatures, and silly splatter. Along the way it improves a lot and after midway it looks like a well drawn harem show of multicolored hair bimbos doing silly stuff all over the place. The characters remain cute, with huge eyes and silly clothes, which I guess contributes to the shock of seeing them taking part in gore. It helps to hook you by the extreme amounts of fan service it has. There are panty shots and boobs almost every 5 minutes, while underage girls are most of the time shown being tortured. Yeah, great eye catcher stuff for sadists.

The story is essentially about humans being sick bastards who like tormenting little girls in an attempt to not be exterminated by a new race of horny (literally) red haired lolis which are genetically created and programmed to kill everything that moves. So, the story gets more complicated when the female ringleader of those lolis has convenient memory loses and turns from a heartless killer to a playful pussycat every time the scriptwriter wants to prevent the story from ending. Also, the characters keep behaving in the most ludicrous way possible as means to not end the whole mess in 10 seconds by implementing common sense. And if you don’t believe me, think of this:

“Hey, mister police officer, I found a naked girl on the beach. Better take care of her because I am a male teenager living alone and can’t just take her home where anything can happen.”

There, see, he just took her home and didn’t do anything to her, despite being defenseless and amnesiac, all excused by the fact that he was very pure in heart … and missing a dick. Then follows a long line of enemy waves who want to capture Lucy, the ringleader. But are all so damn stupid, they can’t even breathe without chocking to death. Imagine sending in a sadistic military dude to capture Lucy. He will be talking for half an hour about what a bastard he is instead of just capturing her, until Lucy conveniently gains back her memory, cuts him to pieces and then conveniently forgets everything again. Then imagine a girl who was being molested by her father and another horny girl who was almost killed by Lucy, to be accepted in Kouta, the dickless boy, in his house. Supposed, they are safer in the house where Lucy kills someone every now and then than just going to the police. Or the police themselves being so autistic they never do anything about the dozens of people who are being found in pieces right outside of that house. Wait, that could be because they are in league with the villains, right? … Sure, and that is the only reason the dickless boy and his harem of lolis don’t leave that house despite being targeted by manslaghtering sadists every two days.

Add to this the way they throw in incest and even more amnesia for other characters just as extra shock value that has nothing to do with the story, how everyone meets (or meats lol) someone, remembers and forgets, finds and loses, in the most far-fetched ways possible and always in the most convenient times and… well… the story is written with the mentality of a 5 year old. But as I said it is all about shock value rather that realism. The plot is quite fast for its duration and shocking every 5 minutes, while there are many social messages to leave you something to think about. Still, as I said, it only works if you are a newbie in the field who never thought of such things up to that moment. The logic of the drama is paper thin to fall apart while the ending is basically not any different that a silly date sim, proving that it was essentially made to please otakus and not other people. Yes, it was a series by otakus, for otakus after all.

In all, if it got to shock you the first time, it is bound to become your fav for many years and even open a portal to you, leading to the darker regions of the otaku realm. It has done so a million times already. All I can say is that it is much harder for someone to be impressed today by it because most modern manga are far more violent and sexual. Heck, even cartoons are. In fact I know many who admit that they have no idea why they liked that series so much. Simple, the shock value faded away and left behind only ashes and bones. So while I give it a high Value for its very important contribution in mainstreaming anime (for good or bad; I kinda hate the way most modern anime are all full of fan service) I must still give it a very low mark in Enjoyment because it doesn’t work if you are not a newbie and in no chance in hell it feels good if you are a veteran reader. I got the same messages the series has in Akira, the same type of gore in Choujin Locke and those felt far more realistic and credible, without fan service and ridiculous behaviors fooling you to consider “idiotic” as “brilliant”.

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Oct 8, 2025

Marcelo_Flores

Not Recommended

Yeah, this is a bit too much...Not recommended for those seeking a clear narrative or quality art. It's more suitable for teens looking for blood, nudity, and shock value over substance.
A sloppy attempt at tackling deep themes, similar to a teenager's first attempt after reading Nietzsche: full of gore, uncomfortable nude scenes, and pointless violence.
It has an interesting premise (mutant Diclonius, secret labs, nature vs. nurture), but poorly executed (with so many deus ex machina). The quick jumps from violence to awkward romance to faux-serious drama result in whiplash. It vacillates between being scary, sexy, or funny, failing at all.
Okamoto's simple moe style features adorable, ...

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Poll: Elfen Lied Chapter 78 Discussion XorMal - Nov 12, 2008	16 replies	by Damnits »» Yesterday, 1:55 AM
Poll: Elfen Lied Chapter 26 Discussion ricardocsc - Jul 29, 2012	4 replies	by Nisien »» Oct 18, 11:42 AM
Poll: Elfen Lied Chapter 107 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) sLy777 - Sep 6, 2008	161 replies	by rodmanii »» Oct 15, 8:01 PM
Poll: Elfen Lied Chapter 63 Discussion ricardocsc - Aug 1, 2012	8 replies	by KingSlowDown »» Sep 28, 1:34 PM
Poll: Elfen Lied Chapter 44 Discussion ricardocsc - Jul 30, 2012	5 replies	by KingSlowDown »» Sep 27, 3:41 PM

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