If there's one thing about this series I can say, it's that the vectors are terrifying, not in how they look or what they do, but the what could happen to someone with them. I think a lot of people, myself included, would be scared out of their minds of the idea of facing someone with an invisible force that could dismember or kill you in an instant, and there'd be nothing you could do about it because you can't see it, and thus can't avoid it. This was later surpassed by the series Inuyashiki, in which the villain, Shishigami, has the power to kill people with mind bullets that can shoot someone anywhere as long as he knows where they are
Just right now, kids are 2deep4u so they need to show the world they don't think gore is mature, because they like psychological series with symbolism full of deeper meanings.
This was me when I found this anime yet I won’t lie this anime cemented my love of anime. In my list of anime that made me the fan I am at different stages in my life as an anime fan this is the third in a series of 4 or 5 : dragonball into inuyasha into elfen lied into darker than black into allison and lillia into hyouka.
So Woolie actually smashed that pool cue over your shoulder. Bennet, I don't think that was an accident. Did you diss Reboot at some point in your life?
1:50 Woolie doesn't need no weapon. He killed a guy once while playing football. Then he went to the guys funeral and told his mom: "This is what you get for letting your boy play with killers."
Mark did the voice for necalli for Street Fight 5 which in turn the Super Best Friends huge fighting game fans, had mark on there podcast.. but i don't get the woolies beef with bennett on violence jack, maybe its an in-joke.
I think one of the problems with Elfen Lied is that there was a chance for some amazing morally gray areas. The manga is mostly to blame here. It would have been great if it focused more on that not all diclonius are evil and not all humans are good. Another thing that bugged me was Lucy's back story and personalities. Lucy just kills Kouta's family out of jealousy and that was it. If done differently, Lucy would have gone to kill Kouta's family, with prompting from the diclonius voice, but stop herself from actually doing it. She would have seen the loving family Kouta has and realize that killing them would only bring her temporary happiness. Then the diclonius research institute, having been monitoring her, shows up and uses this as an opportunity to show some faceless government that the diclonius are a threat to humanity. They brutally murder Kouta's family and make it look like a diclonius attack. Lucy witnesses this and has a mental breakdown. Now regarding her personalities, both the manga and anime have just the 'lucy' 'nyuu' and 'diclonius voice'. The manga does have a Kaede personality, but it's negligible. What should have been done was have Kaede as the original personality, Lucy being born from the extreme emotional trauma, and Nyuu from the blow to the head. The voice would just be a separate entity attached more to instinct since it's not a fracture of the original personality. The Lucy personality would exist to protect Kaede from emotional pain, and the Nyuu personality would be there to protect her from physical pain.
Coming from a die hard fan of the series, very good, respectable and professional review. I really appreciate you being able to respect the series and it's fan base despite your dislike for the show, something I think we need more of in critics nowadays.
I don't have a problem with the quantity of children killed in the show, and don't think that on its own should be anymore if a problem than adults, or anything else being killed. The problem was with how forced it was. Most of the violence just being there for shock factor is the problem.
Yes. Most, If not all of the violence portrayed in Elfen Lied is meant to hone in on the "humans can be so cruel" idea that the show so likes to inform its audience. It comes off as so incredibly forced and unnecessary most of the time that I can't describe it as anything other than shock factor. Or just violence for the sake of violence. I'm not condoning the use of violence in fiction. But it just goes to show that Okamoto (the author) doesn't know how to write a meaningful story.
+Marcus Falco Whether you have witnessed cruel people or not isn't really relevant to the point made. I stated that the portrayal of violence in this show doesn't amount to much other than to push forward the idea of humanity's indescribable capacity for cruelty. The idea of nurture vs. nature as Sage mentioned. There are other ways to portray that than with simply showing gore, death, and rape on screen. The show's display of its violence at most points is unnecessary.
Derp For some reason, I can't see the person's comment you're responding to. Anyway, I agree with what you said. I was just sort if rebutting Sage's complaint about the quantity of children being killed, being an issue in and of itself. I agree with him that there's too many naked children, and most of the rest of what he said.
I know it's complicated to prove, but if there's a case, what if you're intending to do shock value. Should you proclaim it to the heavens like Fist of the North Star or should you put it front and center like Violent Jack? I do get when you feel something is pretentious or insincere it's a hard thing to brush away. Even in media that's well made.
agreed, i long since stopped weighing child death in fiction as worse than adult death, because bad writers seem to like using it as a crutch. coughmasseffect3openingcough
I always found Elfen Lied pretty schizophrenic, as schizophrenic as its lead characters. It's like two different stories/anime slapped together. One is trying to be a schlocky harem anime, the other, a dark, bloody sci-fi tale of horror and gore. And the two do not really mesh together.
The sequence between Bando and Mayu has by far the best moment in the whole story (including the manga), when she hands Bando the note he gave her with his phone number saying she's being attacked and she needs him to keep his promise of helping her for saving his life. He gets really pissed but keeps his promise after she throws it to his face saying he's all talk and has no honor. Still makes me laugh to this day.
Remember that time Woolie killed that guy? Yeah. Now he joined the Ustabaiaz in order to kick Bennet unconcious as he tires to become one step closer to Shin Woolie. ... Man, I hope there are enough Zaibatsu fans here to get that.
That puppy scene was what disturbed me the most about this anime. And yet, a small group of people online will defend that scene and say "those kids don't deserve to die despite what they did to Lucy's puppy". IMO, those bullies deserved it. I know they're just around 10 or 11, but Lucy had every right to kill them for what they did, or at least she had every right to lash out on them. Well, what do you think will happen if you kill someone's dog or even go as far as sexually assault someone's kids? Heck, what would John Wick do if he was put in the same scenario as Lucy?
I watched this anime years ago...then repressed trying to remember it. Then I watched this review and the memories started following back to me. Thanks for the review Sage. XD
I discovered Elfen Lied after the Death Battle between Lucy and Carnage and recently finished watching the series. Like you said, this isn't a mainstream anime, so I did go in expecting it to be more extreme than the usual anime I watch. I liked it overall; really emotional and tragic. The problems I do have are mostly the plot threads that went nowhere, like the Director being a Diclonius or his son's assistant being brought in to help the facility. And I agree that Baldo felt wasted after his first fight with Lucy; we didn't even get to see their rematch. The weirdest thing for me though was Yuka and Kota's relationship; I kept yelling at the screen "You're cousins!"
Never watched the show, read the Manga through a dare and I have to say the Manga is no style and substance and I hated it til today. that's 10 hours of my life I never got back.
Great review Bennett! You took a rather balanced and fair position despite most critics either gushing or just shitting on it. Elfen Lied is an oddball anime with some bizarre choices, a very limited budget, and plenty of aspects that could be considered flaws including its contrived coincidences and melodrama. It also just so happens to be my favorite anime of all time.
I always liked the Elfen Lied manga mostly because it felt like it felt like it was trying to subvert the harem trope, and considering it was published right as the harem trope was getting reaaaaallllly popular is was really ahead of it's time. But now that every other horror manga does the thing where it shows horrible people doing horrible things to show how horrible they are, it does seem pretty ridiculous. I hate anime that is produced during the same time the manga is, I know they do it because they want the anime to promote the manga. But stuff like this happens, where the story is cut short or changed so much that manga and anime are two totally different stories. Or you get an Attack on Titan situation, where it takes years for season two to be produced.
indeed, they need to stop doing it, though i look at the Attack on Titan situation as a compromise, cause that means at least it doesn't end in dumb ways. it's better than what happened with say the first Hellsing Anime (whose series was lucky enough to get a redo.). about the only series to get away with it mostly unscathed is Fullmetal Alchemist.
Maybe Elfen Lied is just one of "let's look into how much dark a dark side of humanity can get" things. Most of us are normal and live in relative peace and don't know incredibly dark parts of humanity firsthand but we know how some people are fu#$@% up and this anime explores it in its own way... and the point about it not answering it's question... maybe that's it? We don't really know why faced with certain situation one person will turn bad and another will be enforced in believe that being kind to others is the key.
Question: What is the helmet Lucy is wearing for? It doesn't contain her vectors, nor does it cause any sensory deprivation, the only thing it did was stop the bullet she got shot with so instead of dying she got a split personality due the concussion; so I ask again, what is the helmet for?
i was kinda wondering that to subconciously, but your right, all it did was prevent her from dying.............which was not a function of the helmet from what we saw here. What the hell does it do?
It prevents her from seeing. She can feel around with her invisible arms, but those are actually only about 5-6 feet. Unlike a blindfold, she couldn't simply take it off or slice through it since vectors can't cut through metal as we saw with the doors. Of course they COULD have just permanently blinded her.
Putting the helmet on Lucy to keep her from seeing and hearing makes the most sense, but since she seems to easily be able to walk around the base killing people left and right makes me doubt it.
Claudia Lomelí She can still hear because she turns her head towards sound. She seems to be feeling around using her "vectors" like a blind man with a walking stick.
I'm still not sure the helmet was intended for sensory deprivation, I mean, again, it would make sense if it was, but she really doesn't have a lot of trouble moving around, even without her vectors. Something tells me she only has it because the artist thought it would look cool.
Oh god... listen, JJBA has a lot of strong points, but the animal death ratio is way too high. (RIP Danny, Iggy, and every other poor animal that's met its end on the anime and in the manga.)
My husband and I tried to watch this series when we were still dating, because our friends wouldn't shut up about how great it was. It was so draining that we couldn't finish. This anime just sapped us both, and gave us nothing in return.
Congrats on this being the 150th episode! I have seen this show once back in 2013 when it was on Netflix. And when i finished it after three nights, I had thought that the show was very depressing but remembered really liking it.
I don't know why but there's something about Elfen Lied that I still like. I think the animation and colors for the anime adaption served it well, because when you look at the manga art style it reminds me a bit of Love Hina or late 90s art styles. I have also read the manga and the story just goes so much deeper than I ever would have guessed from the anime. I'm unsure if I would ever want the rest to be animated but for what it is...it's not so bad. To this day it's still in my top 10 favorite anime opening videos. Just absolutely gorgeous theme song and Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss" adapted to fit Nyu/Lucy and there are some really hard dark subjects being brought up which I actually felt in my chest once I got swept up in the story and took the fan service for what it was; I accepted those bits and even found them entertaining because I'll be honest with you, they weren't drawn badly, and I didn't feel titillated when Nyu/Lucy was naked because when Nyu was nude I only saw someone with the mind of a child and with Lucy it was more like...it was just natural, not sexual. She was never sexual when she was naked, at least not on purpose. Also, Bando is redeemable a tiny bit, at least in the manga. Yeah to me Elfen Lied is simultaneously very exploitative, shallow, plot-thin and ecchi while also being dark, a tiny bit thrilling, psychological, and pretty unique. I'm of two minds of it, and I think the anime helped confuse me more how I feel about it .
I have to simply say wow and thank you. I have been watch anime abound for few years now and have found it helpful and uplifting by some finding a way to put some joy in me , no matter how bad my week has been. so I find it big surprise and joy to see you review these anime for 150ep and to yourself, Gabe and Mark.
ELFEN LIED- one of the most disturbing and extreme cartoons ever made! It makes SOUTH PARK look like a kids show and WALTZ WITH BASHIR look respectable and that’s why I appreciate the work so much and holds a special but sinister place in my life and younger years.
Honestly I wish the Manga had been adapted into an anime in modern times. Like for example, with Made in Abyss, the anime censors some of the grossest parts of the Manga while still getting the story across wonderfully. I feel like the anime of Elfen Lied in modern times would have been able to remove Kouta and his cousin being incestuous and focused in on the story of Lucy being the Queen of the Diclonius and how she had that inner voice compelling her to remake humanity. That story was so interesting. **Spoilers for those who haven't read the Manga** Lucy is definitely a combination of Nurture and Nature and the Manga does a great job of showing how her three personalities are evidence that both things are important to how a person acts. Her "Instinct", the inner voice compelling her to kill everyone, is her base nature. "Lucy" is the personality that was nurtured along with her inner nature due to how she was raised, which resulted in her being violent and apathetic and lonely. However, Lucy learns that she does not want to kill everyone, thanks to her third personality, Nyuu. "Nyuu" is the personality that was nurtured to be kind and sweet and innocent, who isn't influenced by her base nature. I really wish all of that had been further explored in the anime.
My first episode from this channel was the Grave of the Fireflies Review. I've watched most of this man's reviews and consider myself a fan. Thank you Sage for the countless hours of dedication and hard work you've put into your channel. Here's to another 150 episodes.
Bennett was far more balanced than the average 4chan or myanimelist reviewer. The fact he doesn't just shit on popular punching bags and doesn't just circle jerk popular anime like Eva is one of the reasons I love his reviews.
i agreed sage review here was sound. He pointed it out its flaw while making people aware of why some of us enjoy it. ( i enjoy it during the initial viewing when i was younger but after further consideration the flaw really hurts it. I really didn't get the main mastermind motivation either. I mean that race was reproducing steadily with the females impregnating males who intern preg normal women. Its not the best way of reproduction but it is a way to reproduce. ) curious what a pure breed would be l ike
That's because Sage is a TRUE reviewer. He weighs out strengths and weaknesses meanwhile peppering in his own opinion on the thing. He can see positive aspects in things he doesn't like, sometimes even hates. That is an admirable quality he has that holds him over other reviewers who go for the pure indignant rage and bile.
Lucy's "evil" side is actually her natural impulses as a Diclonius Queen. She's genetically programmed to eliminate humans and propagate her species. The problem of the show not addressing the questions it raises comes from the manga being as shallow as his author. The whole purpose of the story is for Kouta to gather his harem. One indication of that is how absurdly evil everyone but Kouta and his harem are. The children at Lucy's orphanage are the best example of that. I can accept without any problem that the kids hated Lucy (it's stated later in the story that said hate is a genetic reaction of humans against the Diclonius species), but only complete cartoon psychopaths would murder a puppy the way they do and manically laugh as they do it. Cruelty to animals is considered an early warning sign of psychopathy, but those kids go so far as to be literal inhuman monsters that would make Hannibal embarrassed. In fact, he would probably have them for dinner.
Sage's critique of Bando at 18:30 is pretty much the entire problem with Elfen Lied. The story (especially after The Unnamed Man appears in the manga) goes so extreme with the violence, torture, gore, sexual innuendo, etc. that the questions the story raises about how people develop morality get drowned out and whatever personal drama it attempts is rendered ironically hilarious.
The fact that out of the people from the beginning only Sage has remained relevant (AND likeable) and Linkara has become the lightbringer, speaks a lot about how creators must change with time.
I only recognized Linkara and Woolie. I found Takahata, Antfish and Zitoisneato from searching names from the end credits. I got too many hits on "Erin Frost" and "Pete Metzger" to ID (Though I feel I should know the latter)
I remember thinking the anime was cool and Lucy lovable as a teen, but when I look back to it, not so much. It felt like a cheap exploitation of what teens want, with the philosophical bullshit to pretend to be deeper then it really was.
After a few rewatchings, that's one of your best reviews, to me. Adressing the intrinsic flaws without putting the qualities aside, and the humility to consider your opinion on the series as subjective and aknowledging the validity of other points of view. Kudos !
Wait, wait wait.... Sanguine Games, makers of Ironclaw, my favorite Tabletop RPG system are the viceroy of Bennettopia? When and how?! Also congrats on 150 episodes Bennett, well done.
"A show that misses more than it hits can be forgiven if those hits go for a long way. Even the greatest batters in history fail 70% of the time, so it basically comes down to this; are you the kind of person who remembers the home runs or the strike-outs?" That's the kind of logic I go by when I appreciate titles such as Sonic, Naruto, Sword Art Online, Korra and RWBY, which have just as many, if not more faults than hits. I choose to let myself appreciate the hits rather than let the misses or those who only focus on said misses ruin the experience for me. While I can respect putting that logic toward Elfen Lied, I think this show may be a bit too messed up for me after only 30 minutes discussing it for better or worse.
From the description on your previous episode, I was expecting a Gurren Lagann review. Elfen Lied is a hell of an anime to review as well and congratulation on your 150 episodes Sage!
Congrats, Sage! :D I'm looking forward to more! And those outtakes...I still can't believe that you actually took a cue stick to the back! And on accident even! That took balls!
This is why Dark Fantasy (Berserk, Game of thrones, Claymore, the Witcher,...) and Dark Sci-fi(Alien, most of GRRM Sci-fi novels) are hard to write and most creator of this genres failed. Just because you but Rape, child murderers, Necrophilia,... into it, doesn't made it mature and do the genre justice. They need to made good characters that reflects the worlds that they are building but still have something that contrast it and made people cares about them. Sure you can write a bunch of asshole as the main characters (like Guts in Berserk, or Littlefinger,..) but they have to be like-able while fitting into the established world. Which Elfen Lied failed.
I dont care if it failed trying to be a dark fantasy or if this anime is wrong on so many levels, it makes up for it with its solid antiheroic lead and themes of social alienation, prejudice, and the meanings of humanity, which is why it has a cult following and has been influenced in other tv shows.
Elfen Lied was one of those shows I watched back when I was 13-14 and going through my extreme depressive and misanthropic stages. it served as a sort of outlet and made me feel justified for hating the world. However, as I got better and made more friends, the cracks in the plot and characters showed, and I just wrote it off as edgy trash with some good music... now I sort of an more just "meh" about it, I suppose.
I have to say a very solid review. Years back one of my friends of a friend showed us the first episode of Elfen Lied since he was into it and yeah..... the weird mix of extremes did throw me off. And hoenstly all I've seen of it (another one of those reviews most of the anime reviewers on the site have talked about from former JO to still around Animerica) kind of shows it's a series not really made for me. But I do appreciate you digging up why this works as a cult series and why it's a series that is made for a very specific crowd even if you don't happen to be a part of it. Not a lot of jokes but pointing out how much of a tool Bonto is and the weird cousin incest is good stuff. My only real complaint about this is the fact that you don't bring up your very old Elfen Lied Abridged series. Cause honestly I think that work even predated your video game reviews or at the very least how I first found about your work and I'm sure a bunch of other people. I know you mentioned it on Anime Abandon before but that would of been the perfect thing to bring up here for the anniversary to point out how far you've come. Since yeah in your Elfen Lied Abriged days you did have a lot more bad taste and shocking sort of jokes and it'd be interesting comparing how you were back then to how you were now. Granted a lot of that series isn't available now but again it'd be something worth bringing up for how far you've come on this anniversary of the show. But with 150 done and more to see how you keep this show going cause it's your destiny... did I just reference the Pokerap of all things? Weird.
Elfen Lied was a soul-crushing manga to read, but I had to finish it just to get it over with. I couldn't watch the anime. The writing is abysmal, the characters are awful, and as you point out Sage it never answers the questions it poses.
Elfen Lied was my first anime outside of the typical Pokemon / Yu-Gi-Oh sort of deals. I was 11 at the time (9 years ago) and I only watched it purely for the gore and didn't really pay attention to anything because edgy 11 year old. I might go back to the series to look at it from a very different perspective but I'm not sure. Good review!
I discovered Elfen Lied at that awkward time when the hormones were raging and I couldn't really watch porn. So, Elfen Lied filled that role. I also loved the extreme violence. These days, I still enjoy it, but for the life of me, I couldn't really say why. The nudity is novel at best (thanks, porn!) and while I love hyper-violences now and then, I'm not really a fan of anything else in the anime. The art style is boringly simplistic, the story isn't engaging, the characters are annoying at best and forgettable at worst. And yet, I still love watching it, and I know not why.
Hey, um, I-I'd just like to take a moment of my time to thank the wonderful content creator that we all know and love that constantly puts his body on the line for our entertainment and joy, so, from all the thanks of the Anime Abandon fans... Thank you Takahata, we hope your nose gets better soon!
Great episode! I laughed well at the beat-down scene and the rest of the review was great! That pool stick mishap though.. yikes! That's actually a well known problem in Hollywood movies really, even with preparation , props designed to break in certain places are kind of a pain to make happen precisely.
The only good thing about Elfen Lied is that it gave us the webcomic "Nana-chan's daily life". I'm wondering if it was really supposed to be "Lied" (song) and not "Leid" (suffering). And speaking of moe and brutality, wouldn't Hirugashi be perfect for Anime Abandon? Because man, it's horrible to watch.
Totally forgot you were involved with channel awesome/that guy with the glasses. Thank fuck that you got out of there. Still love all the old and new stuff. Keep it up man!
Great review Bennett - I get why you aint a fan, but I LOVE this anime. It was one of my gateways into anime fandom - and have probably seen the whole series about 10 times !
You were surprisingly kind to this. I must admit I wouldve guessed you wouldve taken this chance to tear it a new one. Cheers Sage, and congratulations on 150 :) Maybe someday you'll take a look at my favorite anime. It's kinda like this one, with a bit of Groundhog Day. Hope you're not too mean to it ;)
I actually like Elfen Lied, I think the music is an awesome melody and I often listen to it. And I relate to Mayu, I was abused by my stepfather growing up. And bullied often as a kid. True I didn't have pink hair and horns or supernatural powers, but I felt like an outsider a lot. So seeing an anime that showed these issues made a connection with me, and it will always have a place in my heart.
Yeah, and plus kids ARE that cruel. Although I could watch the dub because.....well, listening to Chris Patton bludgeoning a puppy was not very pleasant. And the dub sucked.
Corrine Bourgette im glad I'm not the only one who feels this way about the anime.Ive gone through the same situations as you did and Elfen Lied was what helped me in some ways deal with issues.I felt like I was able to relate with Lucy and Mayu (was not sexually abused but was verbally,physically and emotionally abused) in some ways.I look past all the gore and nudity that everyone brings up when it comes to this anime, the hell?It's anime, you will see some titties. I just see a charecter who in some ways had gone through a hard life like mine.
I will give you credit as a guy who doesn't care much for Elfen Lied. You gave a fair and reasonable review. I'm in the camp of thinking it's one of the finest pieces of art in any medium. I actually gave you a like, because you were fair.
This was perhaps the most detailed review you ever made, Bennett. I don't think I ever heard you speak so much and the video is not even that long. More than a review, it felt like an explanation of the anime. I'm not saying I didn't like it, just that it was different. To 100 more!
I think, quite possibly, the fact that Benett had a pool cue break over his back *instead of snapping on the weak point* was quite possibly the best part of this episode. Not that this episode was bad, because it was great, but because thats fucking amazing.
I love Elfen Lied, but I can see why other people wouldn't like it. And I personally can't stand the manga. People always say how much better it is than the anime, but they're wrong. It's just... Just ew. One thing that always bothered me about the anime that Sage didn't mention is that Yuka and Kouta find a naked, mentally incapacitated girl on the beach, and they never ONCE call the police. Yeah, that would have been the wrong thing to do since it would've gotten Nyu hauled back to that facility again, but they didn't know that! It never even occurred to them! WHY DON'T PEOPLE IN ANIME EVER CALL THE POLICE???
dragonkeeper19600 I agree with this guy it has a lot of flaws but i can see how it's still appealing. I also laughed my ass off at the forest Gump and leather face comparison.
holy fuck elfen lied! this anime was one of the shows that helped me get into anime!! irritating fuck stick #1 is one of the funniest and most entertaining bad guys ever. great beginning, great gore, great vibe, fucking amazing music, and some pretty unintentionally funny moments. god i love this anime congrats on 150 episodes man!
I don't mind Bando hitting a woman so much as I mind that he claimed it was because she snuck up on him. While walking on a linoleum floor. In heels. Seriously, for a soldier who's supposed to be as badass & highly trained as he is, she was practically doing a tap routine behind him. If his situational awareness skills are so subpar that an intern can get the drop on him, he has no business being in the field.
There is no amount of snark in this comment, but I love the fact that you're ok with him hitting a woman just not his reason for doing it. Like "Fine hit the broad but don't blame it on you inability to hear her." I just, that comment made me laugh. Pure logic, character driven, and just hilarious.
We live in a world where Woolie actually hit Bennett with a stick. That is awesome.
Waitwaitwait... WOOLIE's in this episode?!
We also live in the world where Super Best Friends Zaibatsu broke up.
Gotta take the good with the bad I guess.
crazyinsane500 but let’s not forget: They gave us Metal Wolf internationally.
@@Comkill117 Their sacrifice shall not be forgotten.
so that's who that was. but who was everyone else? i recognize Linkara
If there's one thing about this series I can say, it's that the vectors are terrifying, not in how they look or what they do, but the what could happen to someone with them. I think a lot of people, myself included, would be scared out of their minds of the idea of facing someone with an invisible force that could dismember or kill you in an instant, and there'd be nothing you could do about it because you can't see it, and thus can't avoid it.
This was later surpassed by the series Inuyashiki, in which the villain, Shishigami, has the power to kill people with mind bullets that can shoot someone anywhere as long as he knows where they are
Woolie the Liar killed my Anime reviewer
GET THAT PIE STEALER!!
Wow, Woolie almost killed another man.
He's too dangerous!
+RippahRooJizah Well, he is black.
/s
WordoftheElderGods
So am I.
I'm coming for you.
what do you mean? I left mine on the window to cool of....
its gone!!!!!
Elfen Lied is the perfect anime/manga to find in middle school. It's got everything a 2deep4u 14 year old could want for a 'mature' anime.
Just right now, kids are 2deep4u so they need to show the world they don't think gore is mature, because they like psychological series with symbolism full of deeper meanings.
+@@guillermodebaskerville7117 And Elfen Lied is terrible potrayal of that.
Yeah, started like that....
This was me when I found this anime yet I won’t lie this anime cemented my love of anime. In my list of anime that made me the fan I am at different stages in my life as an anime fan this is the third in a series of 4 or 5 : dragonball into inuyasha into elfen lied into darker than black into allison and lillia into hyouka.
Just like Evangelion.
So Woolie actually smashed that pool cue over your shoulder.
Bennet, I don't think that was an accident. Did you diss Reboot at some point in your life?
On the opposite spectrum, did you praise the Reboot game during the last year or so?
aHAAHHA tHIS IS WHAT i WANTED TO SEE
+Mellow★Zeroh & Bennet took it like a boss
There were no pies left after that party was over.
nah, he just invited Woolie for Breakfast
1:50 Woolie doesn't need no weapon.
He killed a guy once while playing football. Then he went to the guys funeral and told his mom:
"This is what you get for letting your boy play with killers."
You don't fuck with Woolie!
Zaibatsu Represent
NOBODY FUCKS WITH US
He abuses animals and steals pies for a living
+ImmaLittlePip That's a myth, created by the Ustabiaz
Woolie has since said that that breaking of the pool cue was totally legit. Bennett took a bump.
WAIT FUCKING WHAT?!?! WOOLIE WOOLZ??!
ikr!!!
it's mahvel baby
Woolie!!
Mark did the voice for necalli for Street Fight 5 which in turn the Super Best Friends huge fighting game fans, had mark on there podcast.. but i don't get the woolies beef with bennett on violence jack, maybe its an in-joke.
Stealing pies and assault
Woolie's rap sheet grows
I think one of the problems with Elfen Lied is that there was a chance for some amazing morally gray areas. The manga is mostly to blame here. It would have been great if it focused more on that not all diclonius are evil and not all humans are good. Another thing that bugged me was Lucy's back story and personalities. Lucy just kills Kouta's family out of jealousy and that was it. If done differently, Lucy would have gone to kill Kouta's family, with prompting from the diclonius voice, but stop herself from actually doing it. She would have seen the loving family Kouta has and realize that killing them would only bring her temporary happiness. Then the diclonius research institute, having been monitoring her, shows up and uses this as an opportunity to show some faceless government that the diclonius are a threat to humanity. They brutally murder Kouta's family and make it look like a diclonius attack. Lucy witnesses this and has a mental breakdown. Now regarding her personalities, both the manga and anime have just the 'lucy' 'nyuu' and 'diclonius voice'. The manga does have a Kaede personality, but it's negligible. What should have been done was have Kaede as the original personality, Lucy being born from the extreme emotional trauma, and Nyuu from the blow to the head. The voice would just be a separate entity attached more to instinct since it's not a fracture of the original personality. The Lucy personality would exist to protect Kaede from emotional pain, and the Nyuu personality would be there to protect her from physical pain.
That sounds a lot better... and now I want to see that rewrite...
Coming from a die hard fan of the series, very good, respectable and professional review. I really appreciate you being able to respect the series and it's fan base despite your dislike for the show, something I think we need more of in critics nowadays.
I don't have a problem with the quantity of children killed in the show, and don't think that on its own should be anymore if a problem than adults, or anything else being killed. The problem was with how forced it was. Most of the violence just being there for shock factor is the problem.
Yes. Most, If not all of the violence portrayed in Elfen Lied is meant to hone in on the "humans can be so cruel" idea that the show so likes to inform its audience. It comes off as so incredibly forced and unnecessary most of the time that I can't describe it as anything other than shock factor. Or just violence for the sake of violence. I'm not condoning the use of violence in fiction. But it just goes to show that Okamoto (the author) doesn't know how to write a meaningful story.
+Marcus Falco Whether you have witnessed cruel people or not isn't really relevant to the point made. I stated that the portrayal of violence in this show doesn't amount to much other than to push forward the idea of humanity's indescribable capacity for cruelty. The idea of nurture vs. nature as Sage mentioned. There are other ways to portray that than with simply showing gore, death, and rape on screen. The show's display of its violence at most points is unnecessary.
Derp For some reason, I can't see the person's comment you're responding to. Anyway, I agree with what you said. I was just sort if rebutting Sage's complaint about the quantity of children being killed, being an issue in and of itself. I agree with him that there's too many naked children, and most of the rest of what he said.
I know it's complicated to prove, but if there's a case, what if you're intending to do shock value. Should you proclaim it to the heavens like Fist of the North Star or should you put it front and center like Violent Jack?
I do get when you feel something is pretentious or insincere it's a hard thing to brush away. Even in media that's well made.
agreed, i long since stopped weighing child death in fiction as worse than adult death, because bad writers seem to like using it as a crutch.
coughmasseffect3openingcough
I always found Elfen Lied pretty schizophrenic, as schizophrenic as its lead characters. It's like two different stories/anime slapped together. One is trying to be a schlocky harem anime, the other, a dark, bloody sci-fi tale of horror and gore. And the two do not really mesh together.
That's my exact problem with Highschool of the Dead.
@@nightmarefanatic1819 don’t get me started on how many times reis explained the whole chess thing over and over and over
I love how Woolie continues to have the most lore out of all the Best Friends.
The sequence between Bando and Mayu has by far the best moment in the whole story (including the manga), when she hands Bando the note he gave her with his phone number saying she's being attacked and she needs him to keep his promise of helping her for saving his life. He gets really pissed but keeps his promise after she throws it to his face saying he's all talk and has no honor. Still makes me laugh to this day.
Lucy still scares the shit out of me to this day, it's like a stand if it had like infinite amount of arms that can cut you to pieces
Remember that time Woolie killed that guy? Yeah. Now he joined the Ustabaiaz in order to kick Bennet unconcious as he tires to become one step closer to Shin Woolie.
...
Man, I hope there are enough Zaibatsu fans here to get that.
We all know pie stealing is a far worse crime.
Yessssss
Wait, so Linkara is part of the Ustabiaz?
DeadBoneJones
Takahata summons new allies.
*****
"But you know what? Biker Mice from Mars was a great show."
Geez Woolie you went Def Jam on Bennet's ass XD
+Mellow★Zeroh It was Rage's cousin, Anger of Montreal.
He's channeling his stand
That pool cue was probably pre-cut
at least I'd hope so
It's Woolie we're talking about here. If it was pre-cut he'd switch it out for a real one
Watch until the end, it was precut but it did not break at the planned spot :P
That puppy scene was what disturbed me the most about this anime.
And yet, a small group of people online will defend that scene and say "those kids don't deserve to die despite what they did to Lucy's puppy". IMO, those bullies deserved it. I know they're just around 10 or 11, but Lucy had every right to kill them for what they did, or at least she had every right to lash out on them.
Well, what do you think will happen if you kill someone's dog or even go as far as sexually assault someone's kids? Heck, what would John Wick do if he was put in the same scenario as Lucy?
Woolie breaking a pool cue over Sage's back brought me back 'ere
I watched this anime years ago...then repressed trying to remember it.
Then I watched this review and the memories started following back to me. Thanks for the review Sage. XD
This anime is only important to me because of the opening title sequence and theme song bc it's truly gorgeous ngl
I discovered Elfen Lied after the Death Battle between Lucy and Carnage and recently finished watching the series. Like you said, this isn't a mainstream anime, so I did go in expecting it to be more extreme than the usual anime I watch. I liked it overall; really emotional and tragic. The problems I do have are mostly the plot threads that went nowhere, like the Director being a Diclonius or his son's assistant being brought in to help the facility. And I agree that Baldo felt wasted after his first fight with Lucy; we didn't even get to see their rematch. The weirdest thing for me though was Yuka and Kota's relationship; I kept yelling at the screen "You're cousins!"
Same here buddy
(hums "Duelling Banjos")
"If Forest Gump yo-yoed between himself and Leatherface," I would definitely pay to see that.
Elfen Lied: Style over Substance.
Come at me.
Style only in the opening
The test is garbage
Meh, that's your opinion. As long as it's yours: own it. You're entitled to have one.
read the manga, saw episode 1 of anime....
pretty much accurate.
that is not a bad thing if done right, this is done right
Never watched the show, read the Manga through a dare and I have to say the Manga is no style and substance and I hated it til today. that's 10 hours of my life I never got back.
I feel cheated! On the base of the thumbnail, I was expecting a review of Gustav Klimt's famous painting The Kiss!
Great review Bennett! You took a rather balanced and fair position despite most critics either gushing or just shitting on it. Elfen Lied is an oddball anime with some bizarre choices, a very limited budget, and plenty of aspects that could be considered flaws including its contrived coincidences and melodrama. It also just so happens to be my favorite anime of all time.
I always liked the Elfen Lied manga mostly because it felt like it felt like it was trying to subvert the harem trope, and considering it was published right as the harem trope was getting reaaaaallllly popular is was really ahead of it's time. But now that every other horror manga does the thing where it shows horrible people doing horrible things to show how horrible they are, it does seem pretty ridiculous.
I hate anime that is produced during the same time the manga is, I know they do it because they want the anime to promote the manga. But stuff like this happens, where the story is cut short or changed so much that manga and anime are two totally different stories. Or you get an Attack on Titan situation, where it takes years for season two to be produced.
indeed, they need to stop doing it, though i look at the Attack on Titan situation as a compromise, cause that means at least it doesn't end in dumb ways.
it's better than what happened with say the first Hellsing Anime (whose series was lucky enough to get a redo.).
about the only series to get away with it mostly unscathed is Fullmetal Alchemist.
Oni Queen or the series gets multiple anime projects that try to make up for one bad season (kuroshitsuji)
The Feels: The Anime? More like LAWL OMG SO EDGY: The Anime.
Nah, That would be Darker Than Black.
Maybe Elfen Lied is just one of "let's look into how much dark a dark side of humanity can get" things.
Most of us are normal and live in relative peace and don't know incredibly dark parts of humanity firsthand but we know how some people are fu#$@% up and this anime explores it in its own way...
and the point about it not answering it's question... maybe that's it?
We don't really know why faced with certain situation one person will turn bad and another will be enforced in believe that being kind to others is the key.
Question: What is the helmet Lucy is wearing for? It doesn't contain her vectors, nor does it cause any sensory deprivation, the only thing it did was stop the bullet she got shot with so instead of dying she got a split personality due the concussion; so I ask again, what is the helmet for?
i was kinda wondering that to subconciously, but your right, all it did was prevent her from dying.............which was not a function of the helmet from what we saw here.
What the hell does it do?
It prevents her from seeing. She can feel around with her invisible arms, but those are actually only about 5-6 feet. Unlike a blindfold, she couldn't simply take it off or slice through it since vectors can't cut through metal as we saw with the doors. Of course they COULD have just permanently blinded her.
Putting the helmet on Lucy to keep her from seeing and hearing makes the most sense, but since she seems to easily be able to walk around the base killing people left and right makes me doubt it.
Claudia Lomelí She can still hear because she turns her head towards sound. She seems to be feeling around using her "vectors" like a blind man with a walking stick.
I'm still not sure the helmet was intended for sensory deprivation, I mean, again, it would make sense if it was, but she really doesn't have a lot of trouble moving around, even without her vectors. Something tells me she only has it because the artist thought it would look cool.
17:36
Dio: I've taught you well kids
Kids: Thanks Dio-sama
OMG IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE!!!
+TheUndefeatedMagician damn those flesh buds
+The Archivist that would actually explain a lot
+fingrid the fuck is that supposed to mean
Oh god... listen, JJBA has a lot of strong points, but the animal death ratio is way too high. (RIP Danny, Iggy, and every other poor animal that's met its end on the anime and in the manga.)
My husband and I tried to watch this series when we were still dating, because our friends wouldn't shut up about how great it was. It was so draining that we couldn't finish. This anime just sapped us both, and gave us nothing in return.
Did you like Hetalia? The first season it's my ultimate guilty pleasure.
Congrats on this being the 150th episode!
I have seen this show once back in 2013 when it was on Netflix. And when i finished it after three nights, I had thought that the show was very depressing but remembered really liking it.
I don't know why but there's something about Elfen Lied that I still like. I think the animation and colors for the anime adaption served it well, because when you look at the manga art style it reminds me a bit of Love Hina or late 90s art styles. I have also read the manga and the story just goes so much deeper than I ever would have guessed from the anime. I'm unsure if I would ever want the rest to be animated but for what it is...it's not so bad.
To this day it's still in my top 10 favorite anime opening videos. Just absolutely gorgeous theme song and Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss" adapted to fit Nyu/Lucy and there are some really hard dark subjects being brought up which I actually felt in my chest once I got swept up in the story and took the fan service for what it was; I accepted those bits and even found them entertaining because I'll be honest with you, they weren't drawn badly, and I didn't feel titillated when Nyu/Lucy was naked because when Nyu was nude I only saw someone with the mind of a child and with Lucy it was more like...it was just natural, not sexual. She was never sexual when she was naked, at least not on purpose.
Also, Bando is redeemable a tiny bit, at least in the manga.
Yeah to me Elfen Lied is simultaneously very exploitative, shallow, plot-thin and ecchi while also being dark, a tiny bit thrilling, psychological, and pretty unique. I'm of two minds of it, and I think the anime helped confuse me more how I feel about it .
I have to simply say wow and thank you. I have been watch anime abound for few years now and have found it helpful and uplifting by some finding a way to put some joy in me , no matter how bad my week has been. so I find it big surprise and joy to see you review these anime for 150ep and to yourself, Gabe and Mark.
ELFEN LIED- one of the most disturbing and extreme cartoons ever made!
It makes SOUTH PARK look like a kids show and WALTZ WITH BASHIR look respectable and that’s why I appreciate the work so much and holds a special but sinister place in my life and younger years.
Honestly I wish the Manga had been adapted into an anime in modern times. Like for example, with Made in Abyss, the anime censors some of the grossest parts of the Manga while still getting the story across wonderfully. I feel like the anime of Elfen Lied in modern times would have been able to remove Kouta and his cousin being incestuous and focused in on the story of Lucy being the Queen of the Diclonius and how she had that inner voice compelling her to remake humanity. That story was so interesting.
**Spoilers for those who haven't read the Manga**
Lucy is definitely a combination of Nurture and Nature and the Manga does a great job of showing how her three personalities are evidence that both things are important to how a person acts. Her "Instinct", the inner voice compelling her to kill everyone, is her base nature. "Lucy" is the personality that was nurtured along with her inner nature due to how she was raised, which resulted in her being violent and apathetic and lonely. However, Lucy learns that she does not want to kill everyone, thanks to her third personality, Nyuu. "Nyuu" is the personality that was nurtured to be kind and sweet and innocent, who isn't influenced by her base nature. I really wish all of that had been further explored in the anime.
My first episode from this channel was the Grave of the Fireflies Review. I've watched most of this man's reviews and consider myself a fan. Thank you Sage for the countless hours of dedication and hard work you've put into your channel. Here's to another 150 episodes.
I personally like Elfen Lied but I still really liked Sage's review.
Bennett was far more balanced than the average 4chan or myanimelist reviewer. The fact he doesn't just shit on popular punching bags and doesn't just circle jerk popular anime like Eva is one of the reasons I love his reviews.
i think his review was more complete that average MAL wannabe critics, and i was hoping he would trash the show like he did with Evangelion.
i agreed sage review here was sound. He pointed it out its flaw while making people aware of why some of us enjoy it. ( i enjoy it during the initial viewing when i was younger but after further consideration the flaw really hurts it. I really didn't get the main mastermind motivation either. I mean that race was reproducing steadily with the females impregnating males who intern preg normal women. Its not the best way of reproduction but it is a way to reproduce. ) curious what a pure breed would be l ike
That's because Sage is a TRUE reviewer. He weighs out strengths and weaknesses meanwhile peppering in his own opinion on the thing. He can see positive aspects in things he doesn't like, sometimes even hates. That is an admirable quality he has that holds him over other reviewers who go for the pure indignant rage and bile.
That's ok why do we live in a world now that you have to agree with every point in order to like someone's critique or that person.
Lucy's "evil" side is actually her natural impulses as a Diclonius Queen. She's genetically programmed to eliminate humans and propagate her species.
The problem of the show not addressing the questions it raises comes from the manga being as shallow as his author. The whole purpose of the story is for Kouta to gather his harem. One indication of that is how absurdly evil everyone but Kouta and his harem are. The children at Lucy's orphanage are the best example of that. I can accept without any problem that the kids hated Lucy (it's stated later in the story that said hate is a genetic reaction of humans against the Diclonius species), but only complete cartoon psychopaths would murder a puppy the way they do and manically laugh as they do it. Cruelty to animals is considered an early warning sign of psychopathy, but those kids go so far as to be literal inhuman monsters that would make Hannibal embarrassed. In fact, he would probably have them for dinner.
"to many kids getting butchered"
NOT ENOUGH.
Happy 150th episode Bennett! Keep up the great work :D
Thanks for doing the show all these years! Looking forward to the 250th episode!
Sage's critique of Bando at 18:30 is pretty much the entire problem with Elfen Lied. The story (especially after The Unnamed Man appears in the manga) goes so extreme with the violence, torture, gore, sexual innuendo, etc. that the questions the story raises about how people develop morality get drowned out and whatever personal drama it attempts is rendered ironically hilarious.
Here's Elfen Lied in a nutshell: Look at me, I'm so edgy, but I'm also artistic! Cry! Dammit! Cry!
Also Elfen Lied: The light scene from Devil May Cry 1.
@@solidoptimus0129 Only difference is Devil May Cry can make me care about what happens.
This is pretty much "I didnt get Elfen Lied" in a nutshell.
Congrats on 150 man! Can't wait for more
The fact that out of the people from the beginning only Sage has remained relevant (AND likeable) and Linkara has become the lightbringer, speaks a lot about how creators must change with time.
LOL, I recognize Linkara, Woolie, and Takahata
I only recognized Linkara and Woolie. I found Takahata, Antfish and Zitoisneato from searching names from the end credits. I got too many hits on "Erin Frost" and "Pete Metzger" to ID (Though I feel I should know the latter)
And had I not routinely skipped the end credits, I would've known Erin is Sage's title artist. I would assume Pete is similarly connected.
I remember thinking the anime was cool and Lucy lovable as a teen, but when I look back to it, not so much.
It felt like a cheap exploitation of what teens want, with the philosophical bullshit to pretend to be deeper then it really was.
Life is worth living for videos like this. Thanks Sage
After a few rewatchings, that's one of your best reviews, to me. Adressing the intrinsic flaws without putting the qualities aside, and the humility to consider your opinion on the series as subjective and aknowledging the validity of other points of view. Kudos !
Wait, wait wait.... Sanguine Games, makers of Ironclaw, my favorite Tabletop RPG system are the viceroy of Bennettopia? When and how?! Also congrats on 150 episodes Bennett, well done.
"A show that misses more than it hits can be forgiven if those hits go for a long way. Even the greatest batters in history fail 70% of the time, so it basically comes down to this; are you the kind of person who remembers the home runs or the strike-outs?"
That's the kind of logic I go by when I appreciate titles such as Sonic, Naruto, Sword Art Online, Korra and RWBY, which have just as many, if not more faults than hits. I choose to let myself appreciate the hits rather than let the misses or those who only focus on said misses ruin the experience for me.
While I can respect putting that logic toward Elfen Lied, I think this show may be a bit too messed up for me after only 30 minutes discussing it for better or worse.
Been with you since your first video game review, will stick with you till the end.
Man bennett, your reviews are allways so great, keep up the good work man!
(Slow clap.) Thank you, Sage--you summed up my problems with this anime better than I ever could have.
2:40 for those coming from the most recent Woolie VS Silent Hill
From the description on your previous episode, I was expecting a Gurren Lagann review. Elfen Lied is a hell of an anime to review as well and congratulation on your 150 episodes Sage!
Congrats, Sage! :D I'm looking forward to more!
And those outtakes...I still can't believe that you actually took a cue stick to the back! And on accident even! That took balls!
This is why Dark Fantasy (Berserk, Game of thrones, Claymore, the Witcher,...) and Dark Sci-fi(Alien, most of GRRM Sci-fi novels) are hard to write and most creator of this genres failed. Just because you but Rape, child murderers, Necrophilia,... into it, doesn't made it mature and do the genre justice. They need to made good characters that reflects the worlds that they are building but still have something that contrast it and made people cares about them. Sure you can write a bunch of asshole as the main characters (like Guts in Berserk, or Littlefinger,..) but they have to be like-able while fitting into the established world. Which Elfen Lied failed.
Shut up, it's elfen lied
@@cameliongrim183 So, it's true.
I dont care if it failed trying to be a dark fantasy or if this anime is wrong on so many levels, it makes up for it with its solid antiheroic lead and themes of social alienation, prejudice, and the meanings of humanity, which is why it has a cult following and has been influenced in other tv shows.
@@cameliongrim183 That's fine and all but that won't stop me and others from pointing the issues the anime has.
@@Appleeatpie97 but still, i only like this because it has a cult following
Elfen Lied was one of those shows I watched back when I was 13-14 and going through my extreme depressive and misanthropic stages. it served as a sort of outlet and made me feel justified for hating the world.
However, as I got better and made more friends, the cracks in the plot and characters showed, and I just wrote it off as edgy trash with some good music...
now I sort of an more just "meh" about it, I suppose.
I have to say a very solid review. Years back one of my friends of a friend showed us the first episode of Elfen Lied since he was into it and yeah..... the weird mix of extremes did throw me off. And hoenstly all I've seen of it (another one of those reviews most of the anime reviewers on the site have talked about from former JO to still around Animerica) kind of shows it's a series not really made for me. But I do appreciate you digging up why this works as a cult series and why it's a series that is made for a very specific crowd even if you don't happen to be a part of it. Not a lot of jokes but pointing out how much of a tool Bonto is and the weird cousin incest is good stuff.
My only real complaint about this is the fact that you don't bring up your very old Elfen Lied Abridged series. Cause honestly I think that work even predated your video game reviews or at the very least how I first found about your work and I'm sure a bunch of other people. I know you mentioned it on Anime Abandon before but that would of been the perfect thing to bring up here for the anniversary to point out how far you've come. Since yeah in your Elfen Lied Abriged days you did have a lot more bad taste and shocking sort of jokes and it'd be interesting comparing how you were back then to how you were now. Granted a lot of that series isn't available now but again it'd be something worth bringing up for how far you've come on this anniversary of the show. But with 150 done and more to see how you keep this show going cause it's your destiny... did I just reference the Pokerap of all things? Weird.
Love your reviews sage!
Elfen Lied was a soul-crushing manga to read, but I had to finish it just to get it over with. I couldn't watch the anime.
The writing is abysmal, the characters are awful, and as you point out Sage it never answers the questions it poses.
Elfen Lied was my first anime outside of the typical Pokemon / Yu-Gi-Oh sort of deals. I was 11 at the time (9 years ago) and I only watched it purely for the gore and didn't really pay attention to anything because edgy 11 year old. I might go back to the series to look at it from a very different perspective but I'm not sure.
Good review!
Sometimes rewatch a series can help you, specially if you had it in a high-esteem. Also, you watched when you were 11 years old? That's though, man.
Kudos for making what probably is the most fair and kind review Elfen Lied could ever get.
Thank You for 150 episodes Sage, i look forward to what you have for us in the future.
Will there ever be a Jin-Roh review? That would be pretty interesting.
Already did it. benthesage.com/anime-abandon-jin-roh-the-wolf-brigade/
Can't seem to find it on your youtube channel though
I believe it had to be removed to accommodate TH-cam Content Standards. It's still viewable on his personal site, as he linked above.
+Altamyr it even deleted the berserk review
think you would ever review Guy?
Was not expecting Woolie to appear.
Me neither, wtf was he doing there?
matt stands right next to him.
I don't think so because there is no Punisher hat on him.
They talked about on last week's podcast. They were at a con together.
I also didn't expect Woolie to bring the hurt on Bennett... *OUCH!*
I find it awsome you were willing to take a poll cue for your craft. Respect.
Fantastic video! Love the fact that both Linkara and Woolie from Super Best Friends is in this. :D
I discovered Elfen Lied at that awkward time when the hormones were raging and I couldn't really watch porn. So, Elfen Lied filled that role. I also loved the extreme violence. These days, I still enjoy it, but for the life of me, I couldn't really say why. The nudity is novel at best (thanks, porn!) and while I love hyper-violences now and then, I'm not really a fan of anything else in the anime. The art style is boringly simplistic, the story isn't engaging, the characters are annoying at best and forgettable at worst. And yet, I still love watching it, and I know not why.
Maybe because it's better you think it is, and those are just excuses you tell yourself because the trend on the internet now is hate it?
Love Sex Drugs no it's not. It sucks and is depressing and gory for the sake of being depressing and gory... and incesty.
Um... isn't this the recipe for a future serial killer?
its 2004 of course the art style is simplistic :)
its the music .. it fucks with your brain
Am I the only one who found Elfen Lied hilarious?
I think it's funny too! it's so full of itself, especially on the ultra gory scenes that try to be super serious.
The puppy bludgeoning remains one of the most hilarious scenes in anime. It's so stupid, I love it.
Bennet did considering he made a parody series out of it.
I just find it boring
no. its the best comedy in anime history
Hey, um, I-I'd just like to take a moment of my time to thank the wonderful content creator that we all know and love that constantly puts his body on the line for our entertainment and joy, so, from all the thanks of the Anime Abandon fans...
Thank you Takahata, we hope your nose gets better soon!
Great episode! I laughed well at the beat-down scene and the rest of the review was great!
That pool stick mishap though.. yikes! That's actually a well known problem in Hollywood movies really, even with preparation , props designed to break in certain places are kind of a pain to make happen precisely.
You mentioned Serial Experiments Lain
I now love you forever
The only good thing about Elfen Lied is that it gave us the webcomic "Nana-chan's daily life". I'm wondering if it was really supposed to be "Lied" (song) and not "Leid" (suffering). And speaking of moe and brutality, wouldn't Hirugashi be perfect for Anime Abandon? Because man, it's horrible to watch.
You mean the one that takes place in 1983, yet none of the characters look it?
Higurashi*? When Cicada Cries?
Totally forgot you were involved with channel awesome/that guy with the glasses. Thank fuck that you got out of there. Still love all the old and new stuff. Keep it up man!
Great review Bennett - I get why you aint a fan, but I LOVE this anime. It was one of my gateways into anime fandom - and have probably seen the whole series about 10 times !
Figures Woolie's cameo would involve him bringing grievous bodily harm to someone else. Like that guy he killed in the football field.
One of my favorite all time shows as a 150th special? 30 MINUTES? WOOT.
Unfortunately he played the dub.
Sheridan Mann who cares? Both versions suck ass anyway?
No, the sub was awesome
Sheridan Mann it... it really wasn't lmao.
Keep doing your thing man! Love the way you think.
You were surprisingly kind to this. I must admit I wouldve guessed you wouldve taken this chance to tear it a new one.
Cheers Sage, and congratulations on 150 :)
Maybe someday you'll take a look at my favorite anime. It's kinda like this one, with a bit of Groundhog Day. Hope you're not too mean to it ;)
I actually like Elfen Lied, I think the music is an awesome melody and I often listen to it. And I relate to Mayu, I was abused by my stepfather growing up. And bullied often as a kid. True I didn't have pink hair and horns or supernatural powers, but I felt like an outsider a lot. So seeing an anime that showed these issues made a connection with me, and it will always have a place in my heart.
Yeah, and plus kids ARE that cruel. Although I could watch the dub because.....well, listening to Chris Patton bludgeoning a puppy was not very pleasant. And the dub sucked.
Corrine Bourgette I hope you have a good life now despite your strife with your stepdad. Don't let the past judge who you are now.
Corrine Bourgette im glad I'm not the only one who feels this way about the anime.Ive gone through the same situations as you did and Elfen Lied was what helped me in some ways deal with issues.I felt like I was able to relate with Lucy and Mayu (was not sexually abused but was verbally,physically and emotionally abused) in some ways.I look past all the gore and nudity that everyone brings up when it comes to this anime, the hell?It's anime, you will see some titties. I just see a charecter who in some ways had gone through a hard life like mine.
I will give you credit as a guy who doesn't care much for Elfen Lied. You gave a fair and reasonable review. I'm in the camp of thinking it's one of the finest pieces of art in any medium. I actually gave you a like, because you were fair.
awesome video as always, really surprised you never mention that you once did an abridged series of elfen lied. then again that was a long time ago.
This was perhaps the most detailed review you ever made, Bennett. I don't think I ever heard you speak so much and the video is not even that long. More than a review, it felt like an explanation of the anime. I'm not saying I didn't like it, just that it was different. To 100 more!
Hey, it's Woolie! The presence of the zaibatsu grows! you cannot ignore it's girth!
So Lucy is an edgier, gorier Mewtwo?
I think, quite possibly, the fact that Benett had a pool cue break over his back *instead of snapping on the weak point* was quite possibly the best part of this episode.
Not that this episode was bad, because it was great, but because thats fucking amazing.
Well done sage! Love the end credits!
Yeah.....
I have not watched this show since middle school.
And now I am kinda disturbed that middle school me watched this.
I love Elfen Lied, but I can see why other people wouldn't like it. And I personally can't stand the manga. People always say how much better it is than the anime, but they're wrong. It's just... Just ew.
One thing that always bothered me about the anime that Sage didn't mention is that Yuka and Kouta find a naked, mentally incapacitated girl on the beach, and they never ONCE call the police. Yeah, that would have been the wrong thing to do since it would've gotten Nyu hauled back to that facility again, but they didn't know that! It never even occurred to them! WHY DON'T PEOPLE IN ANIME EVER CALL THE POLICE???
dragonkeeper19600 mange was better, it's fix the problem it poetry Lucy as villain protagonist instead tragic hero .
dragonkeeper19600 I agree with this guy it has a lot of flaws but i can see how it's still appealing. I also laughed my ass off at the forest Gump and leather face comparison.
Congrats on 150, man!
holy fuck elfen lied! this anime was one of the shows that helped me get into anime!! irritating fuck stick #1 is one of the funniest and most entertaining bad guys ever. great beginning, great gore, great vibe, fucking amazing music, and some pretty unintentionally funny moments. god i love this anime
congrats on 150 episodes man!
I don't mind Bando hitting a woman so much as I mind that he claimed it was because she snuck up on him. While walking on a linoleum floor. In heels.
Seriously, for a soldier who's supposed to be as badass & highly trained as he is, she was practically doing a tap routine behind him. If his situational awareness skills are so subpar that an intern can get the drop on him, he has no business being in the field.
Did you know he shares Alucard's japanese voice actor?
There is no amount of snark in this comment, but I love the fact that you're ok with him hitting a woman just not his reason for doing it. Like "Fine hit the broad but don't blame it on you inability to hear her." I just, that comment made me laugh. Pure logic, character driven, and just hilarious.
Please. Review Jojo's Bizarre Adventure OVA 1993.
He could do the 2000s and '93 ones, together they tell at least a more complete story.
i'll never underSTANNNNNDU why they realase it in such a bizarre way
He's twitter that he would if he could get the last 3 dvds.
Za Warudo has changed since this OVAs.
if he doesnt review it, then it must be the work of an enemy stand !!! or he trouble finding a copy
YES. THE EPISODE I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR ALL ALONG.
sage...... we love you!!!!! thanks for all the reviews .