Product description

Elfen Lied - The Complete Collection

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Average customer rating: 4.5

Binding : DVD
EAN : 0702727160721
Label : Adv Films
Manufacturer : Adv Films
Publisher : Adv Films
Release date : 2007-08-06
Title : Elfen Lied - The Complete Collection
Audience rating : Suitable for 15 years and over
Format : PAL
Languages : Array
Number of items : 4
Region code : 2
Running time : 325
Studio : Adv Films

Customer reviews

review by: smootoo date: 2008-11-18 rating:

Strong but Thoughful
This is my first posting on this site so forgive any newness!!

I have returned to Anime after a gap, in which a lot has changed in my life. I have to say that I was wonderfully suprised by the sensitivity of the depiction of emotion and the slow developement of the main characters and the intertwining of their lives through previously repressed memories. That it took almost up to the climactic confrontation to reveal the full details is greatly to the credit of this series.

Yes there is a full range of decapitation and gore but many questions remain even up to and including the beautifully judged closing frames.

steve

review by: date: 2008-11-14 rating:

Anime at its best (and darkest)
I won't make any bones about it - Elfen Lied is not perfect by any standards. But that doesn't matter. It's not the best animated and the storyline has more holes than a colander, but it's undoubtedly one of the most compelling Anime's out there.

The story revoleves around a group of girl who are all Diclonius - an alien species, usually born to human parents - and their struggle to find acceptance in a world which views them as monsters while at the same time battling the madness which comes with their dual natures. The image of a teenage girl standing naked and streaked with blood, surrounded by the bodies of the soldiers charged with keeping her imprisoned, is one of the most enduring and iconic in anime.

The story leaps from tradgedy to tradgedy - from a the horrors of school yard bullying to the little girl who sacrifices herself to save the father who abandoned her. In any other anime this constant gloom would get boring quickly, but the compelling and tragic characters Lynn Okomoto created draw you into their world and make a place for themselves in your heart. And it is not without it's uplifting moments - the scenes of ordinary life amongst the strange little family the characters form are truely touching.

So please don't be put off by the low budget or the jumpy plot. The theme song says it all here - bizarre, incongruous but hauntingly and achingly beautiful. A real gem.

review by: A Wilkinson date: 2008-10-29 rating:

An anime full of tired cliches and character stereotypes.
On reading other reviews I thought this anime could be half decent but how wrong I could have been.

The story centres around young girls who are cursed with genetic mutations which render them weapons against mankind. Chaos insues...

Right from the outset the viewer is bombarded with relentless and cheap sexual references. Whilst this is endearingly comedic in a series like Tenchi, it only serves to detract from any emotional connection you could potentially feel for the characters of this series.

The characters conform to all the typical stereotypes 'cute and innocent young girl who's only word is her own name' and 'adolescent boy, innocent and caring who can't help but be a clutz and find himself in inevitable sexual predicaments.'

All this, with some excessive violence, bland and unimaginative dialogue thrown in for good measure make for a pretty tiresome watch.
It is a shame as Elfen Lied has an interesting premise and maybe in the right hands it could have been a better anime, but in a world filled with groundbreaking new productions Elfen Lied can't help but be mundane.

review by: Hecate date: 2008-10-26 rating:

Fine Anime
Although attracted by the few screenshots I had seen from this series, I was put off buying it for a long time by reports of extreme violence and sexuality. However it does seem, probably for marketing reasons, to have been misrepresented to a certain degree. Having now seen the series I can assure those of you with a low tolerance for graphic violence like myself, that although present (and bloody), it is not gratuitous, and serves to heighten the pathos and sensitivity that pervades the story. The alleged sexuality is scarcely present at all. There is considerable nudity, but it is not venal and is usually used as a dramatic device. It is frequently symbolic, sometimes aesthetic, and is occasionally used to reinforce elements of humour. It can also be, at times, quite innocent in nature. In fact the direction and screenplay manages to juxtapose elements of humour, horror and pathos with considerable skill, despite having a tendency to over-indulge in maudlin melodrama. The artwork is very fine, aided by deft direction (or should I say storyboarding) and a good sense of colour, and the title scenes are wonderful - heavily influenced by Klimt - `The Kiss' and `Danae' in particular being directly referenced. The musical score is also good. Of course, if I was being cynical I could make a few comments regarding media exploitation, or the creative stultification which results from a formulaic approach to episode content, but such criticisms can equally well be applied to much mainstream television, some of which can also be of high quality. Such transgressions are, I'm afraid, part of the television syndrome. Nevertheless, on the whole Elfen Lied attempts to be, and often succeeds in being, a mature and affecting series, revolving fundamentally around the concepts of alienation and the abuse of power, and is not the adolescent titillation I had feared. I can recommend it to any serious anime fan.

review by: date: 2008-10-19 rating:

Comes highly recommended
I've been an anime fan for most of my life. I think this is one of the best series I've seen. I've converted a load of people who don't usually watch anime to adore this series. It's just as good 2nd and 3rd time round and I speak as one who mostly won't watch a film more than once, let alone a whole series.

I thought the opening was gratuitous with nudity (although most this is not of a sexual nature) and gore. It had me wondering if I'd like the series at all. The first disc pushes the cute factor a little more than necessary, but this mostly only on the first disc. That said, by the end of the first disc I immediately wanted to watch the rest of the series!

I found the plot engaging and it was paced perfectly through the series. Repeat viewing definitely led to a greater understanding of the story because of it's many subtleties and complicated themes, which come across surprisingly well in the English language version. While it starts with guns blazing, gore and nudity (have your anime checklist at the ready!), it ends being a rather moving love story that has a unique take on relationships and human nature.

The settings and artwork are often very beautiful and tranquil, and the character design is top quality.

If you enjoyed 3x3 Eyes, you'll definitely enjoy this.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good anime. In fact, if I had one anime to recommend to someone it would be this one.

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