Again Elfen Lied denies it’s pretty style and delivers a trio of episodes that are anything but. Subverting the look of its cute characters, it clearly delights in extreme mental and physical abuse — the disgusting bludgeoning of a helpless young puppy aptly symbolises how innocence and weakness is exploited in Elfen Lied, and that’s just the humans. Sometimes it’s hard to watch, but when young orphan Lucy is slowly corrupted by the hate and taunts that surround her, a sense of empathy forms between her and the viewer, or at least we understand that if a young kid is bullied into a corner and has no one to turn to, the inevitable result is tragedy. Lucy just happens to be a Diclonius.

The general story is fairly conventional — Lucy is a monster cursed with a withered human heart and having violently escaped from a tortuous research facility, the scientists want her back and so send an increasing number of murderous characters after her — from a chauvinist, aggressive soldier to the young Nana; a fellow Diclonius, but where Lucy has hate, Nana has love. This volume ends on a chilling cliff hanger — just before a 24 vectored, beastly Diclonius with an intense blood lust is unleashed to hunt Lucy.

What makes Elfen Lied stand out is the way it delves into characters, explores their relationships and personalities. I’ve already talked about Lucy but I’ll say again that through this flashback to her lonely past, we suddenly start feeling something for this so called monster. She is still dangerous, her power still utterly brutal, but behind the gore now lays sympathy. Lucy is a product of her upbringing — in other words, she is a product of human society, granted she had a particularly tough time at school (tougher than the average kid) but shunned and taunted for her looks, betrayed by her friends, it’s no wonder she grew up with such a hatred of mankind.

The other characters — like Kouta, also benefit from the same detailed look into their relationships, but this is basically Lucy’s volume and she steals it with bloody aplomb.

Before ending the review — there is something else worth noting about Elfen Lied. The artistic opening animation and accompanying prayer-like melody is darkly outstanding, it perfectly sets the sorrow-filled, forsaken mood and looks wonderful. The art is so layered, classical looking but expressive and full of meaning that it’s worth watching time and time again.

In Summary

Elfen Lied #3 is basically an outstanding trio of episodes let down only by the meagre running time — I started out fairly sceptical of this series, it has a very dodgy sexual undertone that occasionally unsettles, but buried deep beneath the cute aesthetics and gallons of blood is a touching and sympathetic character study, exploiting the darker sides of human nature and explaining what it takes to transform a young innocent kid into a snarling, unforgiving monster.