History YMMV / FromTheNewWorld

** Starting with episode 18, some fans have been complaining about the way the anime seems to be downplaying the Saki/Satoru relationship while placing more emphasis on Maria [[spoiler: posthumously, via Saki's memories/imagination/visions of her]].
*** [[spoiler: For example, the novel has Saki realize that Satoru is the most important person to her. She later reveals to Satoru that she would like to have a child with him, and build the future together.]] The anime completely cuts this out.

* CreatorsPet: Maria in the anime adaptation. It's obvious that she is Creator/A1Pictures' favorite character, as she gets loads of screen-time ([[spoiler:even after her death]]) and much more emphasis than in the original novel. Given that it comes at the cost of development toward Saki's and Satoru's relationship in the third story arc, [[BrokenBase quite a few fans are not impressed.]]
** Part of it also likely stems from the double standard surrounding the popularity of Saki and Maria's romance as opposed to Satoru and Shun's romance. Satoru and Shun are only together for a single episode in the anime (though to be fair the relationship gets brought up a few times after), and aren't even a couple in the manga, while Maria and Saki kiss on screen several times and have implied sex.

* EsotericHappyEnding: Yes, [[spoiler:Satoru and Saki may be HappilyMarried and expecting a child]], but [[spoiler:Maria, Mamoru, and Shun are dead, the war between the Monster Rats and humanity has killed many from both sides, Squealer was subjected to a FateWorseThanDeath so horrible that Saki {{Mercy Kill}}ed him out of pity, and Satoru could possibly have broken from learning the awful truth about the Monster Rats. Despite many residents of Kamisu 66 being killed, it's not clear that humanity will be moving toward the better, or even that they were humbled by Yakomaru's attacks]].
* FanPreferredCouple: Saki/Satoru has always been a popular pairing [[spoiler: and they actually become the OfficialCouple in the end.]]
* FridgeHorror:
** The children (most specifically, Satoru) and Rijin the monk all show a disturbing tendency to pick the violent solution whenever they come across a conflict, as long as they aren't fighting against actual humans. It pretty plainly shows that for all the conditioning they go through, the PK-users are still prone of highly destructive behaviour, only barely kept in check by the social and genetic conditioning.

** Maria and Mamoru were [[spoiler: murdered by Yakomaru nearly as soon as Maria gave birth to her child. Imagine the two being led into a false sense of security, before having their child ''and'' their lives brutally torn away from them the minute that little one finally enters the world. Then, if that [[FromBadToWorse wasn't already horrible enough]], what sort of child rearing did that kid have to endure that would turn him into an absolutely AxCrazy, homicidal [[{{Moe}} twelve year old]]?]]

%% ''Elfen Lied'' has no other examples of CompleteMonster, per the Special Efforts forum. Do not add any more.

* CompleteMonster: The boy referred to as "[[BewareTheSuperman K]]" [[note]]real name omitted from records[[/note]] is a [[PosthumousCharacter flashback character]], whose tale warns society to not allow a person's psychic abilities to go unchecked. Pleas by his teacher to address his [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] tendencies ignored, K impulsively decided to attack everyone in sight, slaughtering any he could find in his school and then the whole village, the death toll reaching one thousand. Different from others in that his psychic abilities would not kill him when he attacked other humans, K delighted in massacring helpless people.

* BestKnownForTheFanservice: Gets more attention for the same-sex romances rather than the dystopian psychological horror that is the focus of the plot.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The use and abuse of Dvoøák's Symphony No. 9, which coincidentally (or not) is also titled "From The New World".

* CompleteMonster: The boy referred to as "[[TheSociopath K]]" [[note]]real name omitted from records[[/note]] is a [[PosthumousCharacter flashback character]], whose tale warns society to not allow a person's psychic abilities to go unchecked. Pleas by his teacher to address his sociopathic tendencies ignored, K impulsively decided to attack everyone in sight, slaughtering any he could find in his school and then the whole village, the death toll reaching one thousand. Different from others in that his psychic abilities would not kill him when he attacked other humans, K delighted in massacring helpless people.

* CompleteMonster: [[EnfantTerrible K]] demonstrates why Kamisu 66's Ethics Committee is so desperate to prevent the creation of Akkis. Even before his PK powers came to fruition, K alarmed the village and his family with his [[TheSociopath sociopathic tendencies]]. According to Tomiko Asahina, his subconscious worldview was obsessed with destructive, murderous images and impulses. When the Ethics Committee fails to take action, however, he develops PK and uses these powers to brutally rip his teacher into a bloody stain on the classroom. K becomes euphoric in learning that his [[PowerLimiter Death Feedback]] does not work and he [[PersonOfMassDestruction proceeds to butcher every person in his path]] with a [[SlasherSmile horrifying smile]]. On the first day of his rampage alone, he kills 1,000 people, ([[WouldHurtAChild including everyone from his class]]). Then, after weeks of killing, he finally falls ill and visits the hospital Tomiko worked in. [[spoiler:Tomiko and Doctor Tsuchida eventually succeed in poisoning and killing K, but not before K [[YourHeadASplode the bastard blows Tsuchida's head off with his PK.]]]]

** To be fair, that's pretty much the point. The utopia of the series' beginning has been brutally deconstructed.

** To be fair, that's pretty much the point.

* HellIsThatNoise: [[spoiler:Yakomaru's Akki has a scream that mixes a boy's cry with a Bakenezumi screech.]] And its '''horrifying''' to listen to.

* TooCoolToLive: [[spoiler:Tomiko Asahina, Kaburagi Shisei and Kiromaru.]]

* FreudWasRight: In the novels it is explained that Mamoru's mother died of typhoid fever when he was young, and according to Saki he instantly became attached to [[TeamMom Maria]] when they entered Sage Academy. Mamoru's mother had red hair, just like [[LikeParentLikeSpouse Maria]].

* WinBackTheCrowd: A meta-example for Satoru's seiyuu YuukiKaji. While Kaji's career was never in danger, he DID attract [[XPacHeat a lot of criticism]] from anime viewers for his performances as the leads in ''Anime/GuiltyCrown'' and ''LightNovel/AccelWorld''. Kaji's tour de force portrayal of Satoru, however, recified his career for the fans (or at least, is well on his way to being redeemed).

*** [[spoiler: For example, the novel has Saki realize that Satoru is the most important person to her. She later reveals to Satoru that she would like to have a child with him, and build the future together. The anime completely cuts this out.

* InNameOnly: The manga is an independent adaptation of the novel, and it's less an adaptation than an "inspired by" with [[HotterAndSexier added gratuituous fanservice and sex scenes]], a completely different story (it mostly does its own thing and only touches on key plot points from the novel), entirely different characterization (most characters are unrecognizable), and even original characters. [[FanonDiscontinuity A lot of fans pretend it doesn't exist.]]

** And as of now, it worked...though only for the manga.

* IronWoobie: Saki.

** IronWoobie: Saki. To say she experienced hell is an understatement. The girl experienced some cutie breakage from learning the truth behind her [[FalseUtopia society]], gets put into unwanted danger in all of the arcs, loses many, many friends and loved ones over the course of the story [[spoiler: up to, and including four of her friends, two of whom were LoveInterests, with her feeling deep regret over said LoveInterests because she wasn't able to save either, loses both of her parents in the third arc,]] nearly gets killed loads of times (from ''many'' different sources mind you), witnesses a comrade get killed saving her before her very eyes, [[spoiler: is forced to indirectly kill the child of two of her close friends,]] and then learns the AwfulTruth about the Bakenezumi. She always ''this'' close to breaking down and cries many, many times in the story, but instead of wallowing in despair like most cases, her experiences instead make her grow stronger within each arc. Thank goodness she [[EarnYourHappyEnding earns her happy ending]].
** StoicWoobie: Satoru. He's also a bit of an IronWoobie like Saki above and shares her experiences of pain.

* TheWoobie: Mamoru. Definitely. Also, Izumi Kutegawa from the backstory.

** [[TheCaligula The Emperor of Delight]] is another example. Though only a flashback character like K, The Emperor of Delight, true to his name, takes delight in tormenting his subjects with his PK (PK users had no Death Feedback at the time). In his debut episode alone, the emperor had the people cheer and clap for him for ''three days and three nights'', and the first one hundred people who would stop would be [[KillItWithFire immolated alive]] as sacrifices for his coronation. What's worse is that he'd been ruling his kingdom in tyranny for what's implied to be a long time (based on his old appearance at the end) before the crazy bastard was eventually assassinated by [[HeroicSacrifice three rebels]]. At least K had a FreudianExcuse [[AbusiveParents that]] explained his behavior while the Emperor didn't.

* SelectiveSquick: A lot of straight male viewers reacted badly to the yaoi/yuri elements that appeared in episode 8, many to the point of dropping the show entirely despite the fact that those elements only form a small part of the story.

** [[TheCaligula The Emperor of Delight]] is another example. Though only a flashback character like K, The Emperor of Delight, true to his name, takes delight in tormenting his subjects with his PK (he had no Death Feedback either). In his debut episode alone, the emperor had the people cheer and clap for him for ''three days and three nights'', and the first one hundred people who would stop would be [[KillItWithFire immolated alive]] as sacrifices for his coronation. What's worse is that he'd been ruling his kingdom in tyranny for what's implied to be a long time (based on his old appearance at the end) before the crazy bastard was eventually assassinated by [[HeroicSacrifice three brave men]].

* TheWoobie: Mamoru. Definitely.

* WinBackTheCrowd: A meta-example for Satoru's seiyuu YuukiKaji. While Kaji's career was never in danger, he DID attract [[XPacHeat a lot of criticism]] from anime viewers for his performances as the leads in ''GuiltyCrown'' and ''LightNovel/AccelWorld''. Kaji's tour de force portrayal of Satoru, however, recified his career for the fans (or at least, is well on his way to being redeemed).