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At first sight Elfen Lied is terrible. First of all, the artwork is mediocre at best. Second, It's seems like It isn't more than an ecchi/harem with some unnecessary gore, and I am not a particular fan of any of these. And if that is not enough some characters like Bandou are just badly constructed and many of the organization's security plan seems too stupid to be true.
However, you can't judge a book by It's cover. What looks like plain and shallow are, actually, just the first steps of an amazing story.

This manga has a really complex background, and talk about prejudice, instincts, human ... nature and more. What used to seem like just an excuse to show violence and female nudity, shows to be way more intellectually challenging than we thought. And It all is told to us in a clear, simple and direct (You won't find fillers) way.
There are many flashbacks and speeches, however none of them seems too expository or forced. They flow well, despite dealing with such heavy themes and situations.
Plus, there are surprises in every corner. During many moments you won't believe that actually happened. It is really difficult to say what will happen next and the results rarely disappoint.
Some characters evolves in a incredible way (while some of them are really just disposable and useless). Lucy, Nana and Kurama specially. Even the art turns into something more acceptable, even beautiful at time to time.
So, the deeper you go into Elfen Lied the deeper you will get hooked in, and you probably won't even noticed It. When It grabs you, It doesn't let you go until the very ending. And what a ending. Although there are some things in the last chapter that I didn't like, It was probably the best I remember. I am still amazed by It.

Too bad I can't give Elfen Lied a 10 cause It has some serious flaws. The author is so cruel since the beginning, that at some point It starts to be funny. It takes part of the feels away. But the major problem in Elfen Lied is that the author stop killing people and start to pretend that they are dead. Most of them just don't make any sense. They just survive miraculously and since It is all so violent, you can clearly know when somebody died for real or not. If you haven't seems their heads flying off, the odds are that they are still alive. And It is obviously not good for the reader.

In the bottom line, Elfen Lied is a piece of art. Cruel and beautiful at the same time. I can't promise that you will like It, but I can tell you this: You probably won't see anything alike so soon.