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Elfen Lied Vol. 4
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It's all come down to this; the final volume of Elfen Lied.
Through three volumes, the series has been filled with twists and
turns, eviscerations and dismemberments as well as torrents of blood
and gore in what may be one of the most graphic and brutal anime
series created to date. I haven't necessarily wanted this series to
end, but sadly enough, the fourth volume brings everything to a
head. Many questions are answered, some remain, but the bloodshed is
about to begin anew.
At the close of volume three, another Diclonius was revealed, the
enigmatic #35 who is said to be the most deadly of all. This deadly
girl though is the youngest of the three, but indeed, she is the
most powerful with a vector reach of 35 meters making her infinitely
more deadly than her "sisters." Shirakawa has been put in charge of
#35 and the Diclonius has a little something special to keep her in
line; there's a bomb in her body, so should she disobey or get out
of control, it will be detonated.
Nana however knows that something is coming, and she sets out alone
to face the unknown. Kohta however is determined to stop her, and
Nyu follows right along with him, but the carnage then ensues
finally brings Kohta's memories back. From the past volume, we know
that he had met Lucy before and had gotten along quite well with
her, at least until she saw him at the festival with his cousin and
this pushed her back into her violent ways. There's a little more to
the story though, and she did follow Kohta to the train station to
see him off, but not before killing his father and sister right in
front of him. Kohta spent time in a hospital after this incident and
has apparently tucked these memories deep inside his mind.
The big secret of the three Diclonius is that one of them happens to
be Kurama's real daughter. He simply couldn't kill her like he had
some many other babies, but in this instance, I'm not going to
reveal the secret; you'll need to finish the series to find out who
it is. These episodes do have a good deal of violence, twisted and
broken bodies, and gore, but there are also a number of very
touching moments as well. Once again Elfen Lied presents fans
with a number of shocking scenes, but there are also a number of
times as the loose ends are tied up that the series becomes very
moving and emotional. You will particularly find this as Lucy
confronts Kohta about what has happen between them eight years ago,
and no matter what she has done, he is willing to forgive.
The final moments of the series though really leave things open, so
there does seem to be an extreme possibility that we could see some
kind of sequel in the future. This is another aspect of the series
however that I really don't want to give away too much information
on as it would certainly spoil the surprise. Elfen Lied does
end in such a way that it really could continue on a positive note
or a gruesome one, but there are still some aspects of the series
that led to the possibility of something more. There is a little
more to the Diclonius that is revealed right towards the end and
there is a connection to Kohta that is unresolved.
The added features on this final volume really are like what has
been found on the others, though there are some minor changes. There
clean versions of the opening and closing animations are once again
here as are collections of character and production artwork. The
original Japanese covers of the DVD releases have been included as
well, and for any anime fans that want to complain about there being
too many volumes released for certain series (I've heard this
before) in Japan, Elfen Lied was actually six volumes, and
their retails prices are quite a bit higher than those in the
States. There is also a reversible cover, though I'm a bit more
pleased with the original one.
I've seen a number of different anime that end in a very
disappointing fashion, but Elfen Lied is not one of those,
but I do think that it demands a future sequel of some sort, though
I film would be even better. It isn't often that an anime series of
this caliber comes along, nor one that is so relentlessly brutal and
grisly. Animated gore doesn't bother me . . . . actually, gore of
any sort doesn't bother me, but for the faint of heart, this
probably isn't going to sit too well. This is a series that's more
than just graphic scenes however, and you'll find that from start to
finish, Elfen Lied has fantastic storytelling combined with
some deplorable actions and even a bit of romance. I know that some
anime fans wait until the final volume opinions are released before
investing in a series, and this one is going to be money well spent.
Episode 11 - Complication
#35 has been released to kill Nana and hunt down Lucy, but the
institute also has ways to keep this powerful Diclonius in line.
Nana senses her presence and goes off alone to face her while Kohta
and Nyu try desperately to find locate her before it's too late.
Episode 12 - Quagmire
Nana has come face to face with #35, but their battle is brief.
Kohta comes to the scene and the decision is to kill him as well,
but when Nyu arrives, the other side of her awakens and Kohta begins
to remember the tragedy from eight years ago.
Episode 13 - No Return
The final battle between the three remaining Diclonius is about to
being. #35 is more than ready to take on Lucy, Kurama prepares to
make the ultimate sacrifice and now Lucy must make a choice on what
she wants to do with her life.
-mike-
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Genre:
Drama / pyschological
Series Director:
Mamoru Kanbe
Directed by:
Episode 11 - Keizo Kusakawa
Episode 12 - Sumio Watanabe
Episode 13 - Mamoru Kanbe
Written by:
Takawo Yoshioka
Based
Upon the Manga by:
Lynn Okamoto
Voice
Cast:
Sanae Kobayashi (Nyu/Lucy)
Chihiro Suzuki (Kohta)
Mamiko Noto (Yuka)
Emiko Hagiwara (Mayu)
Osamu Hosei (Kurama)
Hitommi Nabatame (Shirakawa)
Yuki Matsuoka (Nana)
Johji Nakata (Bandoh)
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DVD
Features:
Dual Language
Japanese/English
English Subtitles
Clean Opening Animation
Clean Closing Animation
Character Sketches
Production Sketches
Original Japanese Cover
Art
Contains Episodes 11 - 13
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