The Best Manga You've Never Read: Elfen Lied

Much like we do with anime, sometimes we like to shine a spotlight on underrated manga, moving away from the big hitters like One Piece and Chainsaw Man to take a look at something a little bit more obscure. Elfen Lied might be familiar to hardcore anime fans who were in high school in the mid-2000's, but since then it's fallen into obscurity.

That's why my colleague George is taking a look back on it today – or at least her memories of it – to try and figure out if it's solely a manga about gore and abuse, or if there's a deeper message buried somewhere down there. As a quick warning, it's worth noting that Elfen Lied, whether you watch it or read it, is very much not appropriate for minors. Just keep that in mind before you rush out to read or watch it.

There is something incredibly charming about Elfen Lied, which is surprising for a manga known for its graphic depictions of violence and child torture. Drawn, written and created by one person, you can see the improvement in their skills, both artistic and written, over the 12 volumes of the series’ run. Depending on which version you read, it's possible to find little author's notes about how embarrassed they are by the quality of their art. It’s sweet, and endearing, and makes the passion they clearly held for the series show more strongly.

Elfen Lied is the story of Lucy, a girl who truly is ‘not like the other girls’. She is murderous, and in fact does a lot of blood shedding over the course of the series. The whole series opens with a massacre, as Lucy escapes the lab where she has been contained. Lucy is a diclonius, a mutation of humans that have telekinetic powers. And as such she is treated cruelly. The gore might lead you to think Elfen Lied is edgy and full of teenage angst but it is more than this.

She is not the only diclonius, but her cruel mistreatment by humans has led her to hate them. She wishes to see an end to humanity which abused her, save the only human that ever treated her with kindness, Kouta. In escaping the lab Lucy is struck in the head leaving her with brain damage, as she reverts to an innocent child-like state. However, her memories are still there able to resurface at any moment.

But beyond the massacres, the gory violence, and child abuse there is a much subtler story that’s being told. The relationship between Kouta and Lucy is deep and thoughtful, as it is with the other diclonius that Lucy meets. Lucy, the real Lucy, is cunning, manipulative, psychopathic, yet people are desperate to see the good in her. We see a species that is subjected to cruelty for how they look, and who have banded together in the darkness.

Elfen Lied is aggressively a product of the early 2000s, and not having read it since then, I can’t say for certain that it stands up today. However, what I can say is that of the many anime and manga that I consumed around that time period, Elfen Lied is the one that stayed with me the longest. I had the strongest emotional response to it, and I think about it often.

Recently in streaming we have seen the rise of the mini-series. These are for when a film is too short, but you have a complete story to tell that benefits from not being dragged out. Mini-series have thrived in the era of streaming, allowing creators to tell longer stories, while not letting a show overstay its welcome. While fans may disagree, it’s always good to leave your audience wanting more. And that’s precisely what happened with Elfen Lied.

Elfen Lied consists of just 13 episodes but each one leaves you with an emotional gut punch as soon as the credits roll. Condensing the 107 chapters down into a perfect series, it stays pretty close to the original story, save for the omission of one subplot. It’s a good subplot, and it gives you more context on the characters, but when you are trying to keep things succinct things always need to be cut.

For the comprehensive story, read the manga, but if that seems like too much effort the anime is a decent substitution. Whichever way you enjoy Elfen Lied, please do try it out. It’s one of those stories that will change you.

Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.