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Before reading any of my reviews, please keep in mind that I am a VERY harsh critic. I do not hand out 10's easily and anything I rate 7 or higher I consider recommendation worthy.

And boy am I ever going to be harsh with this one. . .

Story: 1/10
There really wasn't much of a story. . . In a few words the plot (and boy am I ever being generous calling it a plot) can be summed up as aimless and directionless. The only thing that really happens over the course of the manga is animal eared girls (I cannot even call them animal girls ... because they could not even be bothered to give them tails) getting naked and all falling in love with a girly boy. That is it. That IS the story. All this series is is eye candy to titillate teenage boys with an animal ear fetish. The one plot device that they had, Kaguya's knife/sword/whatever, was almost never used and has 0 impact on the story which makes me question why they even included it in the first place. Whether you liked this series or not, be honest with yourself, you are not here for the engaging plot, you're here for the naked animal eared school girls and nothing more.

Art: 5/10
The art was average. It was neither good, nor bad. The characters were relatively cute, granted, but that is harem manga 101. If you cannot draw attractive girls for a harem manga then you really need a new line of work. Thankfully the girls were drawn well. The background art was nonexistent at times, which is where most of my marks for art goes away. You can read pages and pages and see nothing but characters, often taking up most of the page, with no background whatsoever. That is incredibly lazy. The other thing that kind of peeves me with the art is that panties are almost ALWAYS visible. Panty shots are to be expected in this kind of manga, but they are kind of shoved in your face here. No "naughty gusts of wind" needed, just have them, panties for everyone. It's almost like the mangaka was trying to cover up lack of writing ability by overloading the series with fan service. It has a rating over 7 (at the time of me writing) on MAL so I guess the distraction worked.

Character: 7/10
This was the ONLY good thing about this series and, really, the only reason I even finished it. To be honest, I did it for Tomoe. It's not often I find a series where I don't end up hating at least one character, but the girls are all great and the male lead was great as well. So hats off to that. However a wise man once said "even if you're on the right track you'll get run over if you just sit there" and this series just sat on it's characters for most of the series and did not really do much with them so they kind of got ran over. The only character with any backstory whatsoever was Kaguya (his childhood friend) and the only characters that showed any real growth were Sasa, Tomoe and Nene and Nene's was only near the end (though considering she was a tsundere her overnight growth felt like a breath of fresh air and was appreciated). These girls deserved better. I would have loved to see what a writer with actual talent could have done with them.

Enjoyment: 2/10
Good characters drawn cutely. Tomoe really grew on me quickly. Aside from that there is really nothing here that I found enjoyable whatsoever. The story was as completely forgettable to me as Kaguya's secret weapon was to the mangaka. The only way I could have got any satisfaction here was if I just wanted to see animal eared girls getting naked but, sadly?, I kind of want more from my manga than breasts and panties. If that is what you are into, knock your rocks off (not a typo), but I need actual substance in order to be entertained and this had 0 substance.

Overall: 2.5/10
MAL needs a decimal system. I keep bouncing this back and forth between 2 and 3 but it feels like a 2.5 and I always round down, so it's a 2. This was pretty much garbage right from the start. I had some hopes it would get better when Tomoe entered but the story went nowhere and no matter how good the characters are if the story sucks then the whole series sucks. There was no real story here. At all. They pretended to have a story a handful of times but most of the time it did not even survive until the end of the chapter. Unless you just want to see naked girls with animal ears then avoid this title. There are better animal girl manga out there and there are better harem manga out there. It really does not surprise me that this mangaka has not done anything since 2011.

Before reading any of my reviews, please keep in mind that I am a VERY harsh critic. I do not hand out 10's easily and anything I rate 7 or higher I consider recommendation worthy.

Story: 9/10
Humor level is VERY high for anyone who (like me) is familiar with the visual novel genre. I've often joked around saying stuff like "Real girls are overrated, the only girl I'd ever want is an animé/manga/visual novel girl!" because I get attached to them rather easily (<3 Akane from ONE ~to the radiant season~, Mahoro from Mahoromatic and Hisui from Tsukihime). So after reading a couple chapters the only ... thing I was thinking was; "Why has nobody thought of doing this before?" and "Wow. This guy is me, only TO THE EXTREME!" I never thought that a series parodying the entire visual novel genre could rip off just about EVERYTHING I've ever watched and read and still prove to be a very unique and refreshing reading experience. I really like how Keima takes a complete visual novel approach to winning the girls (and everything really). When he continuously throws in visual novel terms like "route", "event", "encounter", etc. it really makes me chuckle. And his "I can already see the ending!" is classic. The fact that the girls all forget afterwards is a little convenient, but it's not really any different from starting a new route in a visual novel now is it? So it's acceptable simply because it hammers home the visual novel feel it's trying to give off. Just like how calling the chapters "flags" also helps. The only real problem I have with the story is that in trying to compress an entire visual novel route in 1-3 chapters a lot of stuff naturally has to be left out relation development wise. We get to see all of the event encounters, but are missing most of the backstory and character development scenes. Leaving the reader to fill in the blanks by themselves which may be a little difficult for those not familiar with the visual novel clichés and stereotypes. Overall though I have to give the story a 9/10 for originality and potential. I'm hoping it only gets better from here.

Art: 7/10
Okay. I admit it. Erushi is cute. DAMN cute. But other than that the art is pretty good but really isn't anything to special. The switching between simplicity and complexity stands out at times, but for the most part is rather pleasing to the eye (especially Erushi!) and doesn't take away from the story. The character design is rather cute, which is a really good thing (for me anyway) and their expressions are pretty good (especially Erushi!). Passing grade, 7/10.

Character: 8/10
8/10 is as high as I can possibly go on this. . . Erushi and Keima are a 10/10 and 11/10 respectively, but everyone else so far are waaaaaay too flat. Like I said, compressing a visual novel route into 1-3 chapters removes most of the character development. Also, I find Kanon to be rather annoying. Love the stun guns (yes gunS, plural), but she's easily the worst character I've seen so far. 12 chapters in and I'm hoping they soon add another recurring character. This story is great, but they're going to need more than Erushi and Keima if they want to keep this story going for any length of time.

Enjoyment: 9/10
Enjoyment level is high simply because Erushi is extremely cute, Keima is absolutely hilarious and the story is unique, funny and has a lot of potential. I am a huge fan of romance series and the visual novel genre and I can kind of relate to Keima (which is kind of scary o.o;) and that really helps me to enjoy this series. Certain things (characters like Kanon. . . and the holes in character development) take away from the enjoyment of the series and prevents full marks. But overall this series is worth reading and I am anxiously awaiting the next translation release. 9/10 and hoping they keep up the good work!

Overall: 8/10
As much as I'd LIKE to give this a 9, the nearly non-existent support cast, combined with the holes in character development is forcing me to rate it an 8/10 overall. I wish there were decimals here, because I feel it's an 8.5 honestly. I highly recommend this series to anyone who is familiar with the visual novel genre. Anyone can read this series and enjoy it, but to those who are familiar with the genre it would probably be all the more enjoyable. I know this series has a long way to go. I'm only 12 "flags" in and it's still possible that the series may end badly. But I'll keep reading every "flag" hoping that Keima keeps building up Erushi's "event flags" and unlocks her "good end". Sans the H-scene of course. :)

Before reading any of my reviews, please keep in mind that I am a VERY harsh critic. I do not hand out 10's easily and anything I rate 7 or higher I consider recommendation worthy.

In my opinion it is necessary to watch BOTH Kanons in order to get a full appreciation of the series. So I will give my review for BOTH at the same time, comparing and contrasting what I believe to be the key advantages and disadvantages of each. I will be rating them separate however. Please keep in mind that one series is primarily drama while the other is primarily comedy. Because ... of this it is very difficult to accurately compare the two. Chances are that if you see people saying they liked one much more than the other, then they probably like that GENRE much more than the other.

Story 5/10
Despite popular opinion, it is actually the original story that has the better storyline. The stories of Nayuki (8/10 & 4/10) and Shiori (9/10 & 2/10) were not done very well at all in the remake. Neither was Makoto's (10/10 & 8/10) as they attempted to make her story ending seem light, happy and even cute which significantly lowered the impact of it. Ayu's story (8/10 & 9/10) was probably done a little bit better in the remake, though I liked the way they handled the story about the hair band in the original more. Mai's story (4/10 & 10/10) was obviously done better in the remake, and is the remakes biggest attraction. The main thing that the original story lacks is humor, which Kyoto Animation makes up for with interest in the remake, giving depth to an otherwise flat main male lead. The original series started slowly due to the lack of humor, unlike the remake. However, the ending was done better in the original because they did a better job with Nayuki as well as added more importance to the accidents, which the remake glossed over a bit. A nice touch in the remake is the incorporation of Pachelbel's Canon in D as a minor theme for the series.

As for the story in general, it wasn't really that original of an idea. Main male character returns to a town he lived in as a child, but he can't remember anything about his time there because of what appears to be a tramatic experience he had 7 years ago. He ends up spending part of the series trying to regain his lost memories of the time he spent there, and who he spent that time with. It's pretty much all been done before, but I strongly believe that something doesn't necessarily have to be completely original to be good. And Kanon was good, though you need to see both in order to better understand exactly what happened 7 years ago, and to understand why certain characters are the way they are. In other words Mai in 2006 and Nayuki and Shiori in the original, both Ayu and Makoto lack certain bits of important information in each series. Like it's predecessor, AIR, Kanon is at times very emotional. They don't call them "cry games" for nothing. There will be times when you will laugh (especially in 2006), there will also be times when you will cry (especially in 2002), and if you appreciate a good drama then you should find the series to be enjoyable from beginning to end. If I had to rate the overall story, then I'd probably have to rate it 8/10 for the original and 5/10 for the remake. Unfortunately the butchering of Nayuki and Shiori severely hurts my rating for 2006, otherwise it would have been 8/10. The original would have been 9/10 had Mai's story been done better. Also, Kanon had a more obvious haremish feel to it than AIR did, and had less flow between character arcs, though it didn't really affect my rating it may have if the review system worked with decimals.

Art 10/10
I don't think there can really be any debate here. The art for 2006 was much, much better than the original. The original had a very obvious h-game art style. The characters had very rough designs, though the detail was good. The backgrounds were dull and flat. Overall it seemed very early-90ish, which is a bit hard to handle considering it came out in 2002. Overall I'm being generous when I give it a 4/10. You would expect them to do a better job than they did. However, Kanon 2006 was extremely visually pleasing. The art is very reminiscent of AIR TV which is a very good thing. I love the way the background art was done. The scenery was spectacular, the skies were amazing. The attention to detail was stunning with an excellent choice of colors, color techniques and appropirately placed CG enhancement. As with AIR, the thing I liked most was the eyes. The way they combine CG effects with contemporary art to make the eyes shine like that is beautiful. Kyoto Animation gets full marks from me for art, 10/10.

Sound 10/10
The sound is pretty good for both shows, but 2006 definitely has the edge. The BGM were good for both, though I give 2006 the advantage in the theme song department. I loved Ayana's songs. Last regrets was powerful and beautiful and Kaze no Tadori Tsuku Basho was extremely catchy and uplifting. Flower and Floresence just didn't stir the same kind of emotions in me. The voice acting was good in both, the edge again going to 2006 mainly because of the one change they made from 2002 to 2006. The decision to change Yuuichi's seiyuu to Tomokazu Sugita was pure genius. His highly sarcastic tone was a perfect fit for a Key leading role. His interaction with Ayu's and Makoto's characters was pure magic. However, Makoto in episode 9 of the original was much better done than in the remake version. Overall I give the original a 8/10 and 2006 10/10 once again.

Character 8/10
The characters follow some of the typical Key stereotypes. Plenty of moé provided by Ayu (very similar character to Nagamori in ONE, only difference is Ayu's moéness) and Makoto (sort of a cross between Nanase from ONE and Michiru from AIR, similar hairstyles too, again with added moéness), the quiet and seemingly unpersonable Mai (nearly identical to Akane from ONE in personality and looks almost identical to Nanase from ONE also), the childhood friend (in this case a cousin) Nayuki (sort of like Misaki from ONE personality wise) and the seemingly cheerful girl with a dark secret Shiori (similar to Kano from AIR) and of course the highly sarcastic (in 2006 anyway) main male lead Yuuichi which seems to be a Key trademark. I made no comparisons with CLANNAD, because unlike ONE and AIR it came after Kanon and thus had no influence on the series whatsoever (even though Jun wears a CLANNAD t-shirt in episode 13 of the original series, other things to watch for are ONE's Nanase making several cameos in episode 17 and 18 of 2006 and a Moon poster seen in the theater in 2006). Stereotypes aside though, they were great. Some were done better in the original (Nayuki 9/10 & 2/10 and Shiori 7/10 & 3/10), other were better in 2006 (Mai 7/10 & 10/10, Makoto 8/10 & 9/10, Ayu 8/10 & 9/10, Yuuichi 2/10 & 10/10). Overall I rate both an 8/10. This is due to the fact that the highly humorous nature of Yuuichi, Ayu and Makoto (as well as Akiko at times) in 2006 made it easier to watch. However, the characters in the original (despite having the same seiyuu) seemed more dramtic to me and better portrayed the more serious elements of the series.

Entertainment 8/10
The entertainment value for both series are high. The original's main source of entertainment is the more dramatic elements of the story, while 2006's main source of entertainment is the more humorous elements of the story. Depending on which you prefer it will drastically affect your opinion on which series is better. Also, a lot of people tend to like 2006 more because of Mai. As I said earlier, 2006's main shortcomings arc-wise were Nayuki and Shiori, who aren't nearly as popular as Mai. It is these 2 factors, combined with the difference in art, more than anything else that I attribute to 2006's much higher rating than the original. Maybe it was because I saw the original first, but I found that the story in the original was much more engrossing than 2006. Possibly the light atmosphere in 2006 made it easier for me to take breaks while watching, but when I watched the original I couldn't put it down. For that reason, combined with the effectiveness of the drama in the original I have to rate it a 9/10 for entertainment. It would have been 10/10 had Mai's story been done better. If you like sappy, slow paced drama, then you will love this series thoroughly. Even though I really enjoyed 2006, I have to rate it a little lower at 8/10 due to the fact that certain elements that I felt were key were missing. They did a marvelous job with Mai, but Shiori's story was confusing and Nayuki was completely glossed over. So i'm docking 2 marks for ruining 2 stories.

Overall 8/10
Though I rate them 7/10 for the original & 8/10 for the 2006 version, it would actually be closer if I could use decimals. The original was more like a 7.5/10 for me. The remake was slightly better overall even though I split the category ratings 2 for each with one tied. The bottom line is; if you like drama more, then you'll probably like the original more, but if you like comedy more then you'll probably like the remake more. I tend to appreciate both roughly the same so I ended up liking both versions for completely different reasons and disliking elements of both versions for completely different reasons. In order to get a more complete story it is recommended that you watch both as the original did a poor job with Mai and the remake butchered Nayuki and Shiori. The main reason why most people like the remake more is because Mai is an extremely popular character, the art was much better and there was a lot more humor.

Before reading any of my reviews, please keep in mind that I am a VERY harsh critic. I do not hand out 10's easily and anything I rate 7 or higher I consider recommendation worthy.

In my opinion it is necessary to watch BOTH Kanons in order to get a full appreciation of the series. So I will give my review for BOTH at the same time, comparing and contrasting what I believe to be the key advantages and disadvantages of each. I will be rating them separate however. Please keep in mind that one series is primarily drama while the other is primarily comedy. Because ... of this it is very difficult to accurately compare the two. Chances are that if you see people saying they liked one much more than the other, then they probably like that GENRE much more than the other.

Story 8/10
Despite popular opinion, it is actually the original story that has the better storyline. The stories of Nayuki (8/10 & 4/10) and Shiori (9/10 & 2/10) were not done very well at all in the remake. Neither was Makoto's (10/10 & 8/10) as they attempted to make her story ending seem light, happy and even cute which significantly lowered the impact of it. Ayu's story (8/10 & 9/10) was probably done a little bit better in the remake, though I liked the way they handled the story about the hair band in the original more. Mai's story (4/10 & 10/10) was obviously done better in the remake, and is the remakes biggest attraction. The main thing that the original story lacks is humor, which Kyoto Animation makes up for with interest in the remake, giving depth to an otherwise flat main male lead. The original series started slowly due to the lack of humor, unlike the remake. However, the ending was done better in the original because they did a better job with Nayuki as well as added more importance to the accidents, which the remake glossed over a bit. A nice touch in the remake is the incorporation of Pachelbel's Canon in D as a minor theme for the series.

As for the story in general, it wasn't really that original of an idea. Main male character returns to a town he lived in as a child, but he can't remember anything about his time there because of what appears to be a tramatic experience he had 7 years ago. He ends up spending part of the series trying to regain his lost memories of the time he spent there, and who he spent that time with. It's pretty much all been done before, but I strongly believe that something doesn't necessarily have to be completely original to be good. And Kanon was good, though you need to see both in order to better understand exactly what happened 7 years ago, and to understand why certain characters are the way they are. In other words Mai in 2006 and Nayuki and Shiori in the original, both Ayu and Makoto lack certain bits of important information in each series. Like it's predecessor, AIR, Kanon is at times very emotional. They don't call them "cry games" for nothing. There will be times when you will laugh (especially in 2006), there will also be times when you will cry (especially in 2002), and if you appreciate a good drama then you should find the series to be enjoyable from beginning to end. If I had to rate the overall story, then I'd probably have to rate it 8/10 for the original and 5/10 for the remake. Unfortunately the butchering of Nayuki and Shiori severely hurts my rating for 2006, otherwise it would have been 8/10. The original would have been 9/10 had Mai's story been done better. Also, Kanon had a more obvious haremish feel to it than AIR did, and had less flow between character arcs, though it didn't really affect my rating it may have if the review system worked with decimals.

Art 4/10
I don't think there can really be any debate here. The art for 2006 was much, much better than the original. The original had a very obvious h-game art style. The characters had very rough designs, though the detail was good. The backgrounds were dull and flat. Overall it seemed very early-90ish, which is a bit hard to handle considering it came out in 2002. Overall I'm being generous when I give it a 4/10. You would expect them to do a better job than they did. However, Kanon 2006 was extremely visually pleasing. The art is very reminiscent of AIR TV which is a very good thing. I love the way the background art was done. The scenery was spectacular, the skies were amazing. The attention to detail was stunning with an excellent choice of colors, color techniques and appropirately placed CG enhancement. As with AIR, the thing I liked most was the eyes. The way they combine CG effects with contemporary art to make the eyes shine like that is beautiful. Kyoto Animation gets full marks from me for art, 10/10.

Sound 8/10
The sound is pretty good for both shows, but 2006 definitely has the edge. The BGM were good for both, though I give 2006 the advantage in the theme song department. I loved Ayana's songs. Last regrets was powerful and beautiful and Kaze no Tadori Tsuku Basho was extremely catchy and uplifting. Flower and Floresence just didn't stir the same kind of emotions in me. The voice acting was good in both, the edge again going to 2006 mainly because of the one change they made from 2002 to 2006. The decision to change Yuuichi's seiyuu to Tomokazu Sugita was pure genius. His highly sarcastic tone was a perfect fit for a Key leading role. His interaction with Ayu's and Makoto's characters was pure magic. However, Makoto in episode 9 of the original was much better done than in the remake version. Overall I give the original a 8/10 and 2006 10/10 once again.

Character 8/10
The characters follow some of the typical Key stereotypes. Plenty of moé provided by Ayu (very similar character to Nagamori in ONE, only difference is Ayu's moéness) and Makoto (sort of a cross between Nanase from ONE and Michiru from AIR, similar hairstyles too, again with added moéness), the quiet and seemingly unpersonable Mai (nearly identical to Akane from ONE in personality and looks almost identical to Nanase from ONE also), the childhood friend (in this case a cousin) Nayuki (sort of like Misaki from ONE personality wise) and the seemingly cheerful girl with a dark secret Shiori (similar to Kano from AIR) and of course the highly sarcastic (in 2006 anyway) main male lead Yuuichi which seems to be a Key trademark. I made no comparisons with CLANNAD, because unlike ONE and AIR it came after Kanon and thus had no influence on the series whatsoever (even though Jun wears a CLANNAD t-shirt in episode 13 of the original series, other things to watch for are ONE's Nanase making several cameos in episode 17 and 18 of 2006 and a Moon poster seen in the theater in 2006). Stereotypes aside though, they were great. Some were done better in the original (Nayuki 9/10 & 2/10 and Shiori 7/10 & 3/10), other were better in 2006 (Mai 7/10 & 10/10, Makoto 8/10 & 9/10, Ayu 8/10 & 9/10, Yuuichi 2/10 & 10/10). Overall I rate both an 8/10. This is due to the fact that the highly humorous nature of Yuuichi, Ayu and Makoto (as well as Akiko at times) in 2006 made it easier to watch. However, the characters in the original (despite having the same seiyuu) seemed more dramtic to me and better portrayed the more serious elements of the series.

Entertainment 9/10
The entertainment value for both series are high. The original's main source of entertainment is the more dramatic elements of the story, while 2006's main source of entertainment is the more humorous elements of the story. Depending on which you prefer it will drastically affect your opinion on which series is better. Also, a lot of people tend to like 2006 more because of Mai. As I said earlier, 2006's main shortcomings arc-wise were Nayuki and Shiori, who aren't nearly as popular as Mai. It is these 2 factors, combined with the difference in art, more than anything else that I attribute to 2006's much higher rating than the original. Maybe it was because I saw the original first, but I found that the story in the original was much more engrossing than 2006. Possibly the light atmosphere in 2006 made it easier for me to take breaks while watching, but when I watched the original I couldn't put it down. For that reason, combined with the effectiveness of the drama in the original I have to rate it a 9/10 for entertainment. It would have been 10/10 had Mai's story been done better. If you like sappy, slow paced drama, then you will love this series thoroughly. Even though I really enjoyed 2006, I have to rate it a little lower at 8/10 due to the fact that certain elements that I felt were key were missing. They did a marvelous job with Mai, but Shiori's story was confusing and Nayuki was completely glossed over. So i'm docking 2 marks for ruining 2 stories.

Overall 7/10
Though I rate them 7/10 for the original & 8/10 for the 2006 version, it would actually be closer if I could use decimals. The original was more like a 7.5/10 for me. The remake was slightly better overall even though I split the category ratings 2 for each with one tied. The bottom line is; if you like drama more, then you'll probably like the original more, but if you like comedy more then you'll probably like the remake more. I tend to appreciate both roughly the same so I ended up liking both versions for completely different reasons and disliking elements of both versions for completely different reasons. In order to get a more complete story it is recommended that you watch both as the original did a poor job with Mai and the remake butchered Nayuki and Shiori. The main reason why most people like the remake more is because Mai is an extremely popular character, the art was much better and there was a lot more humor.

Before reading any of my reviews, please keep in mind that I am a VERY harsh critic. I do not hand out 10's easily and anything I rate 7 or higher I consider recommendation worthy.

Before I even start defending my opinion I just have to say that anyone who thinks this was amazing because of the amount of "gore" probably hasn't read 3x3 Eyes (also, Elfen Lied appears to be influenced by 3x3 Eyes, I'm not the only one to come to this conclusion). In short, this series is severely over-hyped and over-rated. If you want the long then keep reading. . .

Story: 5/10
The story ... itself was okay, but not really anything special. For the most part it was somewhat compromised to favor action scenes. The only part of the story that really interested me was Lucy's past which did not disappoint (9/10), other than that the story wasn't that great. Before I started watching Elfen Lied I was informed by many that the series was "amazing" and "groundbreaking" because of all the blood and gore. Well they got the blood part right, but gore was not evident. Let me clarify, gore is not getting decapitated or losing limbs, gore is being cut in half and having your innards strewn across a lengthy flight of stairs exposing your ribs and spinal cord for all to see(3x3 Eyes manga 5, it was actually one of the most ROMANTIC moments of the series, they did something very similar again in volume 29). I was thoroughly amused in episode 1, though. I don't want to ruin it for those who haven't seen, because it was as unexpected as it was amusing. Anyone who has seen will know what I'm talking about. The ending was butchered, for lack of a better word. They could easily make a 2nd season as the plot was very much left unresolved. That was probably the biggest drawback of the series. So if you're expecting something epic, then forget about it, it ain't a happenin'! You'll get a lot of blood and 0 conclusion, leaving you wanting to read the manga to find out what REALLY happened. The whole idea that Lucy is this psycho mass murderer and everyone wants her for their own means (either to kill her to enhance their reputation or capture her to make her the leader of a new race) is not really that original. It's been done before. The resulting bloodbaths that follow are completely expected and unentertaining. Nyu was entertaining at times, annoying at other times. The story about the shell was very nice, changing her clothes was priceless. The endless molestation was very unnecessary. . . To sum up, it was average. Nothing to really hate about it, just didn't live up to the hype. The idea was great, the follow through was terrible.

Art: 8/10
The art was pretty good. The CG was done moderately well and the backgrounds were all nice and all, especially the beach, but I'm a sucker for beautiful beaches. Lol. The cels were all crisp and clear, which was good. The character designs were good as well. I particularly liked the eyes and hair of the characters. The blood and "gore" scenes didn't look very realistic though. It's blood. Blood is red. Very artistic. Must have been fun to animate though, so I have to give credit for good cinematography.

Sound: 7/10
I wasn't too fond of the opening song, but I loved the ending song. The BGM fit fairly well, none really stood out as being particularly bad. The voice acting was okay. I liked how Lucy's voice was done. Nana and Nyu were annoying at times, everything else was good. Nothing special, but it was done well. I had no real complaints about the sound in Elfen Lied.

Character: 6/10
Lucy was good, Kurama was good. Yuka, Nyu, Nana and Mayu I didn't really like that much. They annoyed me at times, especially Nyu, her act got old in a hurry. Everyone else was okay. The biggest issue I had with the characters was Lucy/Nyu. . . Where have I seen something like that before? Ah, yes. 3x3 Eyes. The airheaded yet sweet Pai and the dangerous and powerful Sanjiyan. It's kind of hard to dispute where Okamoto-sensei got her inspiration from. I saw Kurama as an interesting tragic character, but he wasn't really built up quite as much as I'd have liked. All the characters seemed rather stereotypical to me. Nothing to write home about.

Enjoyment: 4/10
Aside from Lucy's story and a few select scenes early on I didn't really get much enjoyment out of this series. The ending annoyed me and left me saying; "That's it? Where's the rest of it?" Because of that I ended up starting to read the manga, which to my dismay wasn't any better. Not only did it stray from the original plot after the incident which concluded the animé, it also seemed to concentrate on molestation, rape and sex more than I would have liked. I ended up dropping the manga in disgust in volume 8. The animé actually is better, despite the open ending. So aside from the first few ep's and the story of Lucy's past I really didn't enjoy this series very much.

Overall: 5
I meant what I said, it's over-hyped, over-rated and most definitely NOT a classic. While it wasn't exactly bad, it wasn't the amazing show that people had me believing it was. Anyone who wants to see something "gory" should look elsewhere. Might I suggest the 3x3 Eyes manga?

Before reading any of my reviews, please keep in mind that I am a VERY harsh critic. I do not hand out 10's easily and anything I rate 7 or higher I consider recommendation worthy.

Story: 7/10
The main story in itself would get a 9/10 from me, but I found that the cryptic, apocalyptic side story wasn't really necessary and took away from the overall story which is a shame because the main story is absolutely amazing. There were a number of sensual/sexual scenes in the story, but when you are reading you need to keep in mind that they are living in an age where ... (for the most part) the activity of sex doesn't seem to exist anymore. So for most of the manga we see the two main characters trying to discover themselves and each other which I found to be a rather interesting topic and moderately well done. From the start of the series I had a preconceived notion of how the series was going to end. Well it didn't quite end that way. I was very impressed how the manga-ka ended the series in a way that was actually quite unexpected for me. I sort of knew WHAT was going to happen, but as for HOW I was completely off the mark. The ending for me gets full marks, 10/10, due to its sheer impact. The human themes were a nice touch as well. The whole questioning of what makes us "human" was a nice touch. Especially considering the story takes place in a world where no one can be considered truly "human" by current standards. The fact that the most human character isn't human at all really drives that home.

Art: 10/10
A rare 10. I can't help it, the character designs were simple and very cute and attractive. The innocence of the two main characters was really emphasized through the character design. It really helped in enhancing the story. They were very well done and very appropriate for the story. The background art was also good. The house, the city, the lab, the tomato plant, everything. It was simple, yet detailed at the same time. A rather refreshing look at a largely unrefreshing world. This series is proof that manga art doesn't have to be complex to be good and effective.

Character: 8/10
Ai and Ikuru I would rate 9.5/10. Very well developed, very well portrayed with few flaws. Both were very likable characters and I'm almost tempted to give them 10's. Their interactions with each other were perfect. They really did suit each other very well. Nagi-sensei would be a 7/10. I found that she wasn't really developed properly. There were a lot of holes, especially with regards to her past, which probably should have been elaborated on. I really did like her character though, it's a shame she wasn't as prominent as she probably could have been in the story. Other characters would range from 1/10 to 3/10. Personally I believe that if you plan on adding a side story with side characters then said characters should be properly developed, which they weren't.

Enjoyment: 8/10
"Enjoyment" may not really be the proper word for this kind of series. The series as a whole was rather dark and depressing. Throughout the whole series there was a large, dark, ominous cloud hanging over the main characters heads. Which doesn't exactly fit my description of "Enjoyment". So perhaps a better word would be "Appreciation". The messages that this manga sent to me were priceless. Messages about humanity and love, about life and death and about reaching your dreams. You really do finish this series with a greater appreciation for what you have. I would give this a full 10/10 if (once again) it wasn't for the side story which served more as a distraction for me as I was reading.

Overall: 8/10
I currently have this rated as a 8/10, it's more like 8.5/10 and I am tempted to rate it a 9/10. This is a very touching story about love, life and humanity. The side story is a bit of a distraction, it wasn't really done well, was very cryptic and wasn't really necessary to the main story, but it wasn't that bad. If I had to rate the side story I'd give it a 5 (average, nothing special but not bad). What makes this series so special is the characters of Ai and Ikuru and their interactions with each other and other characters.

To anyone who likes to read romance and tragedy I strongly recommend this hidden gem. The story, the characters will remain with you, possibly forever. You will not be disappointed in reading this manga.