[Bramble]

I had to tell people in a place that it would be appreciated: I don't usually watch anime, but I love this now and I want to cry now. Wow, what an unexpected and delightful surprise. And, not realizing the series would be so short, the story left me with such a tugging-at-the-heart feeling that I had to tell somebody. I really love when media lets itself breath on its own. My belief in storytelling is back! Does anyone agree with me?

This post has been edited by Bramble: 29 May 2012 - 06:53 AM

[Dr Lancer-X]

i love elfen lied

[asgromo]

I thought it was creepy dismemberment porn, other than that it was good. Been a while.

[Dr Lancer-X]

what do you mean, other than that it was good?

"Steins;Gate? Yeah, apart from that time travel shit it was all right."

I mean sure Elfen Lied was mostly about the final few episodes, but the creepy dismemberment porn never really let up. I guess it was less gratuitous, which might be close enough.

[Pyro1588]

It was lovely. I still have most of the OST on my playlist and I listen to it quite often.
While it's not even close to the same genre, I also found Kanon 2006 also quite well-written and it did a great job with the heartstrings thing. Ya know, in case you want another show to watch =)

[Lachesis]

I haven't watched Elfen Lied for like 6 years, maybe I should do that again some time

I couldn't stand Kanon's awful art style but I might have tried to watch the wrong one

[Dr Lancer-X]

I didn't like either Kanon, although the latter one was better. I didn't think either gave the right amount of time or attention to the best route in the story- the latter one _tried_ but I remember watching it and thinking 'this is literally going to be impossible to follow if you don't already know what happens'- as in, it shows one particular scene for maybe a second and that has to compensate for a whole (pretty important) N minutes of exposition. They also dropped several notable events in her scenario altogether. I've quizzed people who watched the series on key details of Mai's story and they've universally not been able to answer. So that's that.

The art style is fine. Photoshopped screenshots don't count as anecdotes.

[Lachesis]

Lancer-X, on 29 May 2012 - 12:38 PM, said:

The art style is fine.

it really isn't. And yeah, I knew that was a photoshopped image, it was for comedic effect >:p

[Bramble]

So, I do have an interest in horror and the extreme emotions that Elfen Lied depicts (particularly in its literary attention to the family structure. I was so pleased when the initially homeless character asserts, "You're like a mom, and Coda is like a father." "Yes!" I declared, delighted.)

Thanks for the tip, Pyro. I was thinking of getting into another anime show. Does anyone have any more suggestions for me based on my interest in Elfen Lied?

[Lachesis]

When I was in my violent anime phase I sure enjoyed Berserk, however I don't know if that really counts as horror until towards the end

[asgromo]

Lancer-X, on 29 May 2012 - 06:11 AM, said:

what do you mean, other than that it was good?

"Steins;Gate? Yeah, apart from that time travel shit it was all right."

I mean sure Elfen Lied was mostly about the final few episodes, but the creepy dismemberment porn never really let up. I guess it was less gratuitous, which might be close enough.

I was young ok, i thought i was expected to read something between the lines

[Bramble]

Lachesis, on 29 May 2012 - 04:54 PM, said:

When I was in my violent anime phase I sure enjoyed Berserk, however I don't know if that really counts as horror until towards the end

Hmm, I will check this out. Thanks!

[CJA]

asgromo, on 29 May 2012 - 07:50 PM, said:

I was young ok, i thought i was expected to read something between the lines

i have to agree with you there:

the one nagging memory i still have concerning elfen leid is that there was some sort of symbolism to all the spraying blood and severed limbs and urine that i just "didn't get"

was there ever any ulterior message or symbolism in that spectacle? i was a pretty bright kid, i figured i'd pick up on it, if it were there

the reason i ask is because the sole reason i enjoyed it is "Hey I'm 15 years old watching anime with guy, Wow hey blood and boobs" and not because it Spoke to me... it didn't seem to do much more than what's seen at face value, which is why i still have an empty feeling

O maybe that was nearly a decade ago and i can't remember well enough

brought to you solely by cja's right index finger

[Dr Lancer-X]

If there was symbolism I didn't get it either.

It's not the thing I liked about Elfen Lied anyway. I liked the latter parts of the anime more, although I'm still a big fan of many early scenes. I should watch it again.

Pretty much certain there is nothing else like Elfen Lied. I've looked pretty hard!

[Bramble]

Lancer, I'm sorry to hear there's nothing more like it, or there's not a trend of anime that gravitates that standard of story telling... I wish I had a way to continue my high coming off of this series.

Yeah, it's really the skill by which the story was constructed that I'm so enamored with. Everything I wondered about throughout the series was explained to me beyond my expectations, and the characters were largely all interesting. Very well told. I watch lots of horror, though, so maybe the blood did not distract me much from the plot.

[Lachesis]

I rewatched Berserk. I was right, it doesn't really qualify as horror except in the first episode and last three or so episodes, and is otherwise mostly medieval warfare. I don't want to spoil anything but the anime covers what was essentially the "backstory arc" of the manga. They started a project recently with intentions to adapt the entire (still running after over 20 years) manga into a series of films, I hope that turns out well as I'd like to see what happens after the anime ends and I'm too lazy to read