The Greatest Horror Anime Of All Time
By Isabella Wilson
Up until fairly recently, Elfen Lied was the best anime most people had never heard of. Based on Lynn Okamoto's manga of the same name, it follows a young girl named Lucy, member of a mutant race of humans born with invisible telekinetic hands. As these bizarre appendages are capable of amazing speed and strength they attract the attention of a shady government body, who perform experiments on Lucy until she uses her extraordinary gifts to escape. Sound at all familiar?
Stranger Things creators Ross and Matt Duffer revealed during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that an "obscure anime called Elfen Lied" was "in the DNA" of their hit Netflix show, adding that they had no choice but to tone down the gore. "It's very, very violent," Matt Duffer said, "so in that way it's very different, but [it's about] a girl who escapes from a laboratory. It reminded me when I watched it of a very violent, anime-ish E.T."
According to MyAnimeList, director Mamoru Kanbe hated the idea of having to condense the manga's story into 13 episodes, but the final result was still breathtaking. "It's somewhat rare that an anime goes so far over the top with its levels of violence, but can still make the legitimate claim that there is a good story underneath it all," ReelRundown said. "Elfen Lied does that, and the result is definitely worth watching. I consider it a modern classic."
