Elfen Lied
Elfen Lied hits pretty much every button it can. With story, brutality, romance, and a sophisticated world. I wouldn't tell anyone who didn't have a strong stomach to watch this but, if you can take it you NEED to watch Elfen Lied.
With brutality in mind, this is one of the most brutal anime's you will ever watch along side Hellsing Ultimate. If you have a weak stomach then you probably shouldn't watch this but, if you can survive the occasional dismemberment then Elfen Lied should be able to keep you grounded. This story revolves around Lucy a special kind of demi-human that has powers that make her unbelievably powerful though, she is not unkillable. She is imprisoned at the beginning of the show only to bust out of her confinement to meet up with a young man named Kouta. When she meets him her memories are pretty wiped and she does not even remember how to speak correctly so, everything has to be retaught and she acts more like a really big dog than a human.
If you listened to the anime's creator he would tell you that this is a love story. Honestly, I'm not sure I see it that way but, if that what he wants to tell himself to sleep at night more power to him. Granted, there is a love story in this anime between our super-powered maniac mistress and Kouta but, for the most part it is not so simple. Under constant attack and attempted capture it is up to Kouta and some times Lucy herself to keep her out of harms way. After all she is a government test subject or prisoner whichever you want to call it. Fortunately there is more to this story than just bloodshed though, there is a lot of that. In a way it is like Dusk Maiden of Amnesia where there is two parts of Lucy the one that doesn't remember anything and the one that is a murderous bitch the only thing they have in common? Well, they both seem to like Kouta okay so I think he is safe from having his organs ripped out or, being used as a body shield or, anything else she may normally do to someone she doesn't seem to care for or gets in her way.
The strength of the anime is its' story telling. It does a very good job of setting its' plots up for the duration of it. The only downside I would really say this anime has is that sometimes the brutality goes a little overboard thus, scaring away some of the fans that may want to watch the love part. However, if you are into the brutality and action this anime has plenty of it and a genuine love story so you get your bang for your buck. This probably isn't an anime I would recommend to a first timer basically because they may not be prepared for the transition from Cartoons to Anime. But, at the same time if you want to prove your friends wrong show them about the first five minutes of this and I guarantee they'll change their minds.
In conclusion about the only reason this didn't get a ten out of ten was because of the fact it may scare away some of its' audience. With that in mind it is not a good starter anime I would wait until you have moved up in the gore department a little bit. Go watch some Hellsing then Hellsing Ultimate then you can watch Elfen Lied.
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