Moe anime gone brutal

Looking for a new anime to check out? Are you the person who is into the dark, twisted anime like I am? Then this anime is something to check out. Some what of a different series to start out the new year, ladies and gents, I present to you, Elfen Lied.  Warning! Possible Spoilers Ahead! If you dont want anything spoiled, dont read. Or go ahead and read it, im an editor not a cop.

Hey guys its LostMarioBro coming at you with an anime review! Bear with me on this.

I recently finished the anime Elfen Lied and I have to say, but I found it quite enjoyable. This anime is somewhat unique. The genre or genres is: Psychological Horror, Romance, and Science Fantasy. Warning: Contains Blood, Dismemberment, and Nudity. The series itself is only 13 episodes long, and has an OVA (Original Video Animation) I havent watched the OVA as of yet. Elfen Lied takes place in Kakmakura Japan, focusing on a new strain of the human race, Diclonius, similar to human beings with invisible arms called vectors but different at the genetic level and notable due to physical abnormalities, particularly a pair of short horn-like protrusions sprouting from their heads. This art style that is in this series closely resembles other series art style like Clannad, so it looks "Moe".  Lets take a more detailed look shall we? Warning nudity and blood ahead.

The first thing that happens is the opening first. It has somewhat of a saddening feel to it, as well as a dark feeling to add on. After the first episode I just skipped past the intro and went right in. It starts out on a research island where the facility seems to be under attack by something, more like someone. Introducing a diclonius that they call "Lucy" Now at first, she doesnt seem very dangerous, Like how could she? She has like a lead helmet that looks like she can't see- 

Oh. Well that could have been anythin- 

This anime just loves to prove me wrong. 

So you can't really see it till about episode two or three, but you can tell its something to be cautious of since everyone keeps shouting "GET TWO METERS AWAY!" So Lucy keeps walking about till she goes outside, when suddenly, headshot. The Helmet breaks and Lucy plummets to the sea below. 

Fast forward to a little bit later, Lucy is found by two cousins named Kohta and Yuka after washing up to shore. After getting shot, Lucy suffers brain damage that gives her a split personality. One being dark and violent, and the other half being an innocent, sweet side, somewhat infantile, who also only says "Nyu". Confused as to who is this girl, Kohta and Yuka decide to take her in. Upon taking her in, Nyu (Lucy) has suddenly grew attached to Kohta always clutching him. Having a somewhat "baby" nature, she also suddenly pisses herself. (In my opinion, one of the many WTF moments in the series.) Yes that happens. Meanwhile at the lab, Scientist Kurama sends out a special forces team to try and kill Lucy. On the special forces team is one guy named Bando, this guy is seriously a cold hearted assassin and very foul mouthed. 

During an altercation at Kohta's house, Nyu runs away since Kohta yelled at her for breaking a sea shell that his dead younger sister gave him back when he was younger. Back to where she was washed on shore, Nyu encounters Bando and his partner. Overwhelmed and bashed on the head, Nyu is about to be finished, till Lucy (her dark violent side) awakens. Killing Bando's partner and dismembering and blinding Bando she is about to finish him off, till she suddenly reverts back to Nyu. It is here that its shown that the personality that Nyu/Lucy depends on the events surrounding them. During this, Kohta is injured by special forces and is released from the hospital since he was looking for Nyu.  Later on, Nyu finds Kohta and apologizes. 

At the end of episode 3, Nana, codenamed "No. 7", another diclonius, is released from her confinement in order to track down Lucy and bring her back to the facility. 

I dont really want to get into much information since if you're interested in watching this anime id say go watch it to get a better visual idea of what its like. I enjoyed this anime, it has its dark moments and has its various WTF moments as well tons of blood and twisted, as time goes on you begin to attach to the characters, you start to understand their pains and suffering. There arent that many characters in this series, so you wont lose track as badly as other anime. Since its a lot on character development, there is a flashback as to why Lucy is violent. It wont make much sense in the beginning till later on in the show where everything makes sense such as why Diclonius exist, and why Kohta has no parents, stuff like that. One thing that was disappointing about this anime, was that its pretty short. Maybe if it was at least 26 episodes or so it could be better, according to my college buddy, "it didnt give you enough time to attach to the characters." In the Manga, it continues past the anime, and has 107 chapters. In the end I give this anime a 9.5 out of 10. one of the recent anime I thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end.

There you have it, my first anime review, never done one before, but I will try and be more detailed about other reviews if I do any more down the road. This is LostMarioBro and I will catch you guys later.

Twitter: @LostMarioBro (On Hiatus) 

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