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I went into watching this movie with as little information as possible. I regret that now because had I known this was a recap movie, I would have skipped watching it. This isn't to say that I thought the movie was bad by any means but if you're someone who's already watched the original series and was expecting this movie to be a new experience, I think you'll find yourself disappointed.

Now is the movie bad? No. It's the Madoka Magica story. Of course it was great. The art and animation were stunning as well.

I will say that I did miss the pacing of the original ... series when watching this movie. Key, impactful moments from the original series were sped through in this movie whereas I feel the slower pace of the show really allowed the viewer to sit and take in those moments.

If you haven't watched the original series yet and you prefer a faster-paced story then I'd say this movie and part two would be a decent entry point for new viewers to experience the story for the first time.

Those who don't play Kingdom Hearts but have a vague knowledge of the games know that the lore for the games is infamously convoluted. This OVA is no different. At the very least, it's not outsider-friendly.

For those who don't know, this OVA was based on some key moments from the mobile game "Kingdom Hearts X Dark Roads". There's a lot of context that's missed in this OVA. This is because a lot of the context that comes from the phone game is stuff that happens from the perspective of the player character. Some of the moments in the OVA were flashbacks in the game ... while other parts in the game were happening "in real time".
The OVA also doesn't reflect the full story of KHxDR. Obviously, it can't because the phone game has hours of content. Because of that though, there's a handful of loose threads that don't have satisfying answers.
It's for these reasons I wouldn't recommend non-fans of Kingdom Hearts giving this a watch. I think the only positives an outsider would be able to appreciate would be the fight choreography and the character designs.

As a Kingdom Hearts fan though, I liked the OVA. And I definitely would recommend watching this to other KH fans. It was really cool to see some of my fav characters from the phone game reanimated with full 3D models and fully voiced.

I'm not sure how much I agree with the sentiment I've seen through discussions of this series that if you're watching this anime for the first time, it would be best to go into it blind. I don't think knowing the twist or not knowing the twist of the first episode made any difference in my overall experience with the show.
So thoughts on the show? I thought it was fine. It had the potential to be more but it was fine enough.

Some things didn't like:

I think far too much of the show's focus was put into Yuki's delusion. Don't get me wrong, I really do ... think it's interesting to explore the mind of someone who's gone through a psychotic break during an apocalypse but I don't think the show handled it the best. The events leading up to Yuki's psychotic break were shown through flashbacks. Now that in itself would be fine, but we don't get a real insight into Yuki's past until the final few episodes. I think if we were shown more flashbacks through the other girls' perspectives maybe shown in conjunction with the false memory Yuki could have come up with to cope, I think that would have been much more interesting. But what we got was very little by comparison.

This is a smaller criticism but Miki would have made more sense to be written as a girl who wasn't from the school the show takes place in. After a certain point, Miki starts questioning the true function of the school as it seems unreasonably high-tech and perfectly suited for this exact apocalypse. As I said, this is a smaller complaint, but why would Miki just then start questioning the true motives of a school she had presumably already been attending for some time? If she were a true outsider, it would make more sense for her to be suspicious of the school as she wouldn't have been from there.

Also, I think the censorship of the gore was to the show's detriment. I don't think I was genuinely worried or scared for the girls at any moment in the show. The zombies don't feel like an omnipresent threat to the girls. For most of the series, there are zombies right outside the school grounds but you never really feel like the girls are in any immediate danger. And then when the girls are near the zombies, they're able to navigate around them with ease. The only exceptions are when any of the girls find themselves surrounded by the zombies. And even then, you don't have any sense that the girls are in any sort of danger because the zombies aren't lunging at any of the girls. Furthermore, never seeing any of the zombie's full faces or bodies in detail also made it difficult to perceive them as a threat to the girls. Overall, it left me feeling like there was a lack of stacks for most of the show.

I could find more to pick apart from the show but like I said initially. I think it's fine for what it is. Would I watch it again? Probably not. This is a very safe anime, with very little challenge to walk away with.

This doesn't need to be something that's watched. I'd say the only positive to it is that it was quick to get through.

The story is very bare-bones, and even still, so much isn't elaborated on. I've seen from reading other reviews that some say that the manga is marginally better. I'd say maybe that is the better way to consume the story but I'm not about to go out of my way to find out.

The biggest thing I hated about the show was how the cannabilism scenes between Utsutsu and Yume were shown. The cannibalism was shown in a voyeuristic, almost erotic sort of light. ... The cannibalism in the story is already supposed to be disturbing, why did it also need to have "Sweet Home Alabama" elements added in as well?! What purpose did that serve??

Don't watch this.

I remember growing up in the early 2010s hearing that Elfen Lied was a very good series. My friends at the time totally hyped it up but I had never gotten around to watching it for one reason or another. This past month, I finally watched Elfen Lied for the first time. Honestly... I was really disappointed. I don't think the series holds up to whatever hype I remember it having.

Don't get me wrong, there were quite a few aspects of the show I did enjoy. Particularly, I was a fan of the action scenes. I think they still hold up. I also really ... enjoyed Mayu and Nana's friendship. Most importantly though, Bando, the mercenary, was probably my favorite aspect of the show. He was by far the funniest part of the series whenever he was on screen.

That is where my praise for the series would stop though. I think the story was hindered greatly by the harem elements present in its storytelling. I honestly think if the main protagonist, Kouta, was removed from the story entirely, the series would have been all the better for it. Instead of having the Diclonius learn to appreciate humanity through being a part of a weird harem/fake family dynamic, the story would have benefitted better by having the escaped Diclonius perhaps be taken in by actual caring adult figures. Because, at the core of this story, almost all of the main cast of kids have experienced some form of familial abuse. I feel if the thematic solution to that was focused on what a proper familial connection is, instead of a poorly written harem/"love story", I feel the show would genuinely be worth all that praise I remember it getting back in the day.

Overall, I cannot recommend Elfen Lied. It is a fun show to criticize for me but I can not genuinely say that this series is worth the watch.