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Are those her limbs? Let's Read Elfen Lied

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Eegah Since: Jan, 2010
#51: Jan 30th 2010 at 7:09:48 PM

Chapter 38: Flashback

We don't waste any time with this one, as Lucy rips Kanae in half in the very first panel. She dies telling Kouta she doesn't want him to hate her, a Tearjerker immediately replaced by Nightmare Fuel as Lucy tells Kouta he's the stupid one with complete Dissonant Serenity. Their father runs in and has his head ripped off and bounced in front of Kouta in the same panel as before, except now we realize Kanae wasn't alive to see it. Very nice touch there. Kouta understandably goes ballistic on Lucy and shouts that they were friends, while Lucy honestly doesn't understand what he's upset about and points out that she didn't kill him. Kouta cries over his last words to Kanae being so cruel, but Lucy snaps him out of it by telling him Yuka will be next. Kouta gets what IIRC is his first Crowning Moment Of Awesome in either time period, leaping at Lucy at full speed and screaming at her to stop, which is the precise flashaback that earlier caused Lucy to stop attacking him. Lucy wonders again why he's acting this way as she just wanted to hug him, pretty much the biggest Tearjerker of all showing just how much her mind is warped by her screwed-up childhood compounded by her quasi-schizophrenia. She launches herself out of the roof, leaving Kouta alone with the bodies. Kind of a plot hole how he explained that, isn't it?

Very nice transition from crying past Lucy to stern present Lucy, still watching Kouta and Yuka looking for her. Some way, somehow, Kouta regains his memories, and turns around to see Lucy in a quite justified two page spread. She just asks if he's been all right.

Guys, I think things are starting to fall apart again. As well-written as most of the Start of Darkness arc was, it just doesn't quite fit with the things that have been hinted at before, and leaves its own plot hole in what Kouta did after being discovered alone in a train compartment with body parts all around him and a hole in the roof. Plus, his suddenly regaining his memory at the same time we learn the truth is incredibly clumsy; my best fanwank is that Lucy poked his brain a bit to release it, but there's no real indication that's what happened. Though I do love Lucy's complete amorality except where one person is concerned; it pretty much makes her Johan Liebert with superpowers, more or less the most frightening thing imaginable.

edited 30th Jan '10 7:11:59 PM by Eegah

Eegah Since: Jan, 2010
#52: Jan 30th 2010 at 8:25:46 PM

Chapter 39: Disposal Order

Having regained his memories, Kouta promptly loses them again as he runs up to Lucy and tells her how worried he's been. And for the very first time in a liveblog, I have to say: Wallbanger. It's been so good until now that this really kills me, but we got a completely inexplicable memory return, only to undo it for a Pseudo-Crisis? What the hell was Okamoto thinking? But at least we're in a quite interesting situation now, as Lucy doesn't remember any of her time as Nyu and doesn't know why Kouta's acting this way. Yuka speaks up that she must have her memory back, and Lucy smacks her into a tree. Seeing Kouta run over to her, Lucy actually seems to enter I Want My Beloved to Be Happy and smiles before she bids them goodbye. Kouta insists on knowing where she's going, so she just says she'll make a home for herself. Kouta still wants her to come back to the inn with them, but the voice returns to remind Lucy of what happened eight years ago, and she tearfully says she can't be with him anymore. She brings up the train, which triggers another memory. But before that can develop further, Lucy goes back to being Nyu and asks him for a hug. Yuka says she'll allow it for today, so Kouta goes ahead and declares he'll always be with her, as Nyu seems to remember them playing in the river. One more Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming for them, followed by a perfect comedy bit as Yuka has to tell them they've gone on long enough.

Kurama approaches Nana and only says "It's time" as we get a quite gratuitous full frontal shot of her. I'd kind of hoped we were past that. And once again, no way I'm buying that she'll die here. And speaking of that full frontal shot, those prosthetic limbs sure do look normal, don't they? Continuity error, or sci-fi natural-looking fake limbs? The world may never know.

Despite the horrific start, the series goes back on the right track here with great character bits that build on what came before, and the expert juggling of different moods that first got me impressed with the series. Lucy's first real interaction with Kouta in the present day is a moment that's been coming for a while, and the backstory that's just been revealed gives it even more emotional weight. Though his trick memory is starting to get a bit irritating; now that we know the truth I hope it gets resolved sooner rather than later.

Eegah Since: Jan, 2010
#53: Jan 30th 2010 at 9:43:51 PM

Chapter 40: Parting

Despite the order to kill Nana, Kurama was talking about a physical exam at the end of last chapter. There's a kind of funny moment when she tries to demonstate how fit she is only for her arm to go flying off, quickly put into the proper context with a sizable flashback to Kurama being told to kill her. And her limbs still look the same, so I guess they really are just that natural-looking.

And then things get worse, as it turns out the exam is a pretext for giving Nana a lethal injection. After a huge Tearjerker where Kurama reflects on how attached he's grown to her, he kicks a trash can so Nana gets to laugh one more time, as the assistant announces she's done the injection. Damn, I guess I was wrong. The Tearjerker continues and they share a last few words and hold hands, then Nana starts crying right before she goes. This makes Kurama wonder if she knew the whole time, and his attempt to make her last moments happy failed. The man strangled his own daughter, I should not be feeling this bad for him! He then appears to say he'll kill himself when this is over and find her again just to put a topper on it.

Bandou walks along the beach, outraged at the litter he finds. This guy's suddenly sprouting a new positive quality every time we see him. He finds a huge container a bit further on, which opens to reveal...Nana. She reads a letter from Kurama about how he was ordered to kill her, but instead arranged for her to be sedated and sent away. He's left her some money in the container to start building a new life for herself away from everything that's happened, and he'll find her someday, which is what the last bit of his monologue was really about. Apparently all his torturing himself over the injection was just about his lying to her about their seperation, which I don't quite buy, but I don't really care as this action definitely hits the trifecta for Kurama: Crowning Moment Of Awesome, Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming, and Tearjerker, the latter supplied when Nana wipes away her tears with "Papa, you're silly." But before we can feel too good about this, we're reminded that Bandou is right there, and of course he's noticed Nana's horns. She's already set to continue being The Woobie.

I believe I'm ready to declare Kurama the single greatest creation of this series. It's truly amazing that despite his wanting to basically commit genocide and having killed his newborn daughter and driven his wife to suicide, I still have a ton of sympathy for him. Granted, a lot of that's due to Nana acting as his Morality Pet, but given his actions he should be a lot less likable than he is, and it takes a truly skilled writer to make him what we have here.

edited 30th Jan '10 9:44:23 PM by Eegah

ShayGuy Since: Jan, 2001
#54: Jan 30th 2010 at 11:30:10 PM

I've only seen the anime, but I don't think Kouta actually did regain his memories there at all.

Eegah Since: Jan, 2010
#55: Jan 31st 2010 at 8:34:03 AM

Chapter 41: Attack Pretext

Nana just tells Bandou he won't beat her with a hundred men, and is lucky she's been told not to hurt people. Bandou fires and hits her shoulder, and he explains he's got new heavier bullets that won't be swatted away by vectors. The downside is his robot arm can't handle many shots at once, but he only needs one more for now. Always nice when the villains learn from their experience.

Yuka tries to wake Kouta up, and finally does it by kissing him. But then it seems a nude Nyu was sleeping right next to him, which he had no idea about. Even knowing the backstory leading to this, it's still funny. And then it moves to Crowning Moment Of Funny as Nyu kisses Yuka and grabs her breasts, while Kouta just enjoys the show. Except then there's a particularly well-done Mood Whiplash as Nyu doesn't stop, and we realize Yuka's basically being raped. Mayu enters the scene and Nyu moves on to her, and by this point I've completely lost track of the emotion I'm supposed to be feeling at this. And for once, I think that's intentional. For some reason she stops as soon as Mayu asks and just looks sad, while the thoroughly humiliated Yuka tells Kouta to clean up as she has a friend coming over today.

Bandou asks Nana again where Lucy is, but she remembers the letter telling her never to talk about anything in her past life. She goes very Tearjerker as she tries to reconcile what's happening with Kurama asking her not to fight people, while Bandou tells her she's an enemy of mankind just by existing. This sends her into a full-blown existential crisis, which awakens a murderous voice of her own. Wow, major Unfortunate Implications there that all mutants have murderous instincts. But it solves her dilemna, as she figures it's okay to kill someone like Bandou.

That scene with Nyu the sex fiend may be the greatest example so far of this series' skill at switching between different moods, as the exact same actions go from funny to disturbing, especially when you factor in Mayu's backstory. But of course the real star here is Nana, who develops in a way I may not have wanted, but still makes perfect sense despite the racist implications. Though it would be a real shame to lose Bandou after he showed so many signs of his own development, and I'm honestly not sure if he's going to die here.

Eegah Since: Jan, 2010
#56: Jan 31st 2010 at 10:54:57 AM

Chapter 42: On the Run with Common Front

Anyone else have the feeling that title doesn't quite translate properly to English? Anyway, Bandou shoots Nana again and takes a huge chunk out of her arm, but this time she really doesn't feel any pain. He shouts at her that she'll be inside his certain kill range if she comes any closer, and thanks to his cleaning up the beach's garbage there's nothing for her to throw at him. He may have been a nasty guy to start out with, but I've got to admire how he's able to level the playing field this much. Unfortunately for him, he hadn't counted on Nana having four prosthetic limbs, and Nana easily gets a new defining Crowning Moment Of Awesome by shooting her arm at him Mega Man style. It clocks Bandou in the face and he loses his gun, so Nana steps on his wrist and gives his insults an Ironic Echo. But Bandou counters with a Crowning Moment Of Awesome of his own, pulling out a second gun and shooting before her vectors can reach it. But it doesn't do much good, as his mechanical arm reaches its limit and the bullet goes wide, only grazing Nana's face. But getting shot in a real body part still takes her out as she suddenly has a very low pain threshold. Bandou's confused and starts talking about Lucy, so Nana reveals she wants revenge on Lucy too. So this whole thing has retroactively become Let's You and Him Fight, though it's definitely better justified than usual. Bandou refuses to team up with her and become indebted to another little girl, but still wants her to call him if she ever finds Lucy. To her credit, Nana doesn't accept that and fakes helping him up only to detach her other arm. She Took a Level in Badass, all right, and I'm loving it.

Even with all the great material about these people's personal stories, Okamoto hasn't forgotten how to write a damn good fight scene. Nana's newfound use for her limbs is one of the coolest Disability Superpowers I've ever seen, and I dearly hope we get to see a lot more of it. And Bandou's no slouch either, making this clash of titans quite an engaging battle that promises more greatness to come when they do run into Lucy again.

edited 31st Jan '10 10:56:30 AM by Eegah

Eegah Since: Jan, 2010
#57: Jan 31st 2010 at 11:46:20 AM

Chapter 43: What Shan't Be Seen

Kakuzawa Jr.'s assistant arrives at the lab by helicopter, having been forcefully brought there after she told Kakuzawa about his death. She's also brought something else he wanted in a pet carrying case. After a pretty funny bit in an elevator where she ponders how long it's been since she's taken a bath while her escort sweats miserably, she demands some information about the place and only gets that it's called Lebensborn, the origin of a new humanity just like Kakuzawa Jr. was talking about. A bunch of...something rushes from behind a door, and whatever it is, it gives the assistant a nosebleed.

Kouta and Yuka banter a bit, back to just having fun again after the unfortunate Nyu incident, and Yuka says the friend she mentioned is just someone she met in school, and they'll be studying together so she doesn't want Kouta acting weird about it. I may know where this is going.

Kouta returns from a shopping trip to find a girl standing on the stairs, as a map she's holding instructs her to. He wonders if it's Yuka's friend, then the wind blows her skirt up and reveals she's wearing a diaper, and she runs off. Uh...so that happened.

But no time to ponder what the hell that was about, as we're back with Kakuzawa Jr.'s assistant (seriously, name, now!) who views a gorgeous two page spread of an underground landscape, with a lake and an island. Kakuzawa's inside and she gives him the carrier, which contains his son's head. Upon learning she saw the horns, he blows her head off. Uh, never mind on the name thing.

So the assistant didn't quite turn out as major a character as I was expecting, but at least if that wasn't the plan, we got this closure on her. As for that other scene, I've frankly got nothing. I'll just have to trust that there's some kind of reason for it, and move on.

edited 31st Jan '10 11:46:40 AM by Eegah

Morven Nemesis from Seattle, WA, USA Since: Jan, 2001
Nemesis
#58: Jan 31st 2010 at 1:34:43 PM

I don't have much to say about this, but I'm enjoying reading it.

A brighter future for a darker age.
Eegah Since: Jan, 2010
#59: Jan 31st 2010 at 2:02:55 PM

Chapter 44: Peeing

Kouta returns home, and finds Yuka's friend is the same girl he saw. Okay, I was wrong about her bringing a boy over to make him jealous. She's crying about how her "secret panties" were seen, and Yuka comforts her that she'll never see the person again anyway. Kouta chooses that moment to announce himself, and Yuka introduces them; the girl's named Nozomi, and she promptly runs out of the room.

With a whole inn to search, Kouta and Yuka have to split up to find Nozomi. She's out in the garden, and picks up her skirt after hearing a noise. O-kay. Thankfully, the next page shows she was taking the diaper off, but I don't know why she decided to do it right now. Especially since this is when Kouta finds her, leading to a Crowning Moment Of Funny as she drops it (with a lovely wet sound effect) and picks it up again, screaming both times as she realizes she's just making it worse. Nozomi quickly tones down the comedy as she's quietly mortified and mumbles about how much of a coward she is, and when the other girls show up she freaks out again over more people finding out. So Kouta quite sweetly shoves her in the garden pond. There's something I never thought I'd say. He tells her she doesn't have to be afraid here, so in return Nozomi steps in and takes the punch Yuka was about to give Kouta. I think I may be shipping these two all of a sudden. Kouta further says that he doesn't think Nozomi's a coward, and they should go back to the house now.

Back at the table Yuka gives us some information on Nozomi, which for once makes sense as Kouta and Mayu would have to hear it too. She's an only child from an unspecified famous family, and wants to go to music school but her parents disapprove. Yuka's offered to let her use the inn to practice singing, and Kouta wants to hear some right now. Nozomi gets embarrassed again, but under their prodding she goes ahead. It's another Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming as her talent is beautifully conveyed by a string of unspecified notes, and Kouta and Yuka are both blown away. I'm curious to how the anime handles this.

Nozomi has been introduced well, and her relationship with Kouta is especially sweet. However, I can't help but question the reason for her coming out of nowhere near the middle of the story like this. Though the series has mostly been so good so far that I'm willing to trust she gets more involved in the story soon enough, and until then her personal backstory is plenty to keep me invested in her, just like Mayu.

edited 31st Jan '10 2:04:23 PM by Eegah

ShayGuy Since: Jan, 2001
#60: Jan 31st 2010 at 2:19:21 PM

Nozomi got cut out of the anime, so I know next to nothing about her, though the anime's actual endpoint isn't for a little while yet.

Eegah Since: Jan, 2010
#61: Jan 31st 2010 at 3:15:16 PM

Chapter 45: Hide and Seek

Yuka's confident that Nozomi can get into a music school on her own, while Kouta worries she'll wet herself during the exam. Yuka asks what her big secret is, but he refuses to tell her. Yeah, definitely shipping them. Kouta's so protective of her, unlike most of his other interactions with girls.

Nana walks through the street, wondering where she should go next. She's also hungry, and it seems Kurama didn't put quite enough thought into his plan as she has no idea what money is and says he should have given her food instead. She tries to buy a crepe but says she doesn't have the 500 yen; this is really hard to watch.

Mayu walks around with Wanta, but he suddenly runs off. Nana has returned to the spot where she was dismembered, when Wanta shows up too. Mayu soon arrives and recognizes her, but Sunnydale Syndrome is still in place and she just regards this as proof that she didn't see someone's leg fly off. So of course one of Nana's legs picks this moment to fall off, and Mayu faints.

Mayu wakes up in the same gazebo as Kouta and Yuka's little body warmth session, with Nana still watching over her. She catches Mayu staring at her horns, but Mayu says she thinks they're cute and Nana gets adorably excited over it. Nana explains a bit about her situation, and Mayu recognizes how similar it is to hers and offers to be her friend. We get to end on a fun note for once as Mayu freaks out when she sees Nana's been burning her money.

Despite her very involving backstory, Mayu's seemed a bit superfluous ever since she saved Bandou, so it's nice to see her get more involved in the larger story again. She and Nana already interact well, and from her inner monologues she's started to accept that what she saw was real and wants to find out what actually happened that day. One thing I haven't quite given enough credit to so far is that the characters are rarely content to let things go, and keep asking questions about them. Smart characters like that are harder to write, but much more satisfying to read.

Eegah Since: Jan, 2010
#62: Jan 31st 2010 at 4:13:13 PM

Chapter 46: The Project

Mayu realizes Nana doesn't know about money, but she insists she does. Mayu retaliates by saying carrying that much at once will make it kill her, but she must know the spell to stop that. Nana cries and admits she was lying, so Mayu comes clean too. That's really cute. Mayu says she envies Nana for having a father who cares about her enough to give her so much money, which gets Nana thinking again that Kurama really does love her. They head out to get some food, when Mayu tells her about Nyu. This sends Nana into a combination of Oh, Crap! and Tranquil Fury, a look I've only ever seen before on Light Yagami. It's still scary.

Backtrack a bit to Kakuzawa shooting his son's assistant. That wide shot last time wasn't just artistic as he hit her shoulder; thanks to Kouta's bloody footprints in the room he wants to know who else saw his son's horns. She denies knowing any details, then faints from blood loss. She flashes back through her childhood ambitions to become a scientist, and we get Arakawa as her name. She agonizes over never having made a name for herself, quite a Tearjerker that I can relate to, having that kind of ambition as a writer. Then she remembers Kouta was looking for a girl and tells Kakuzawa, who realizes he's seen Lucy too. He tells Arakawa to take over his son's research, which will make her name be remembered. So I was right in the first place, but in a way I never predicted. I love when that happens.

Arakawa has suddenly sprung up as yet another fascinating villain character, with very understandable motives. Mayu and Nana also continue to develop their relationship nicely, and it'll be quite interesting to see where it might go from here.

Eegah Since: Jan, 2010
#63: Jan 31st 2010 at 5:44:50 PM

Chapter 47: Contact

Yuka starts to get worried about where Mayu is, while Nyu's trying to sing like Nozomi, completely in "nyu"s of course. It's really cute. Yuka asks Nozomi to teach her how to sing, so she uses the song she's practicing right now: Elfen Lied. We have a title at last! You have to wonder if they were ever planning to reveal what the title meant, or just caved under pressure from the readers.

Nana wonders if Mayu's really telling the truth, as she can't sense Lucy's presence. But she still demands to meet Nyu despite remembering Kurama's letter.

The singing finishes, and Nozomi's left sweaty from it. Oh boy. Yeah, Nyu does her sex fiend act again, and Nozomi thinks about how this is her first kiss. Then she goes her furthest yet and starts giving Nozomi a hand job, until Kouta comes to the rescue and hauls her off. Yeah, I don't think they're ever going to see Nozomi again. Kouta yells at Nyu over her breast grabbing habit, while we get a great little look at how Nyu sees the world, through simplistic kiddie manga type drawings. This gives her some kind of idea and she goes into another room.

Mayu returns with Nana, and Kouta goes nuts over her horns but calms down when Mayu explains why she's here. Nyu doesn't respond to his calls, and Nana considers how she doesn't even know what she was planning to do when she found Lucy. Nana starts to leave, but then Nyu jumps out of the room as she had planned before. This gets Nana's Berserk Button as she flashes back to her dismemberment, and she leaps at Nyu with a very scary look of pure rage.

I still assume Nozomi's going to have some importance, but the series will have to go pretty far to explain her wanting to have anything to do with our heroes after this. As well, we finally get an explanation for the title but still don't know how it applies to the story, and I get the feeling that the title Elfen Lied might just be a complete non-sequitor. But despite all that, Nana's definitely the biggest interest here, promising to finally bring Kouta and Yuka fully into the main story.

edited 31st Jan '10 5:46:43 PM by Eegah

Eegah Since: Jan, 2010
#64: Jan 31st 2010 at 7:18:01 PM

Chapter 48: Panic in Maple Inn

Nozomi is starting to worry about her parents wondering where she is, when Nana and Nyu come crashing through the wall. Nyu hits her head on the landing, which seems to bring Lucy back. Nana hits her again and sends her into the garden, where she stands up importantly. Except that was all a fakeout and she's still Nyu, and Nana demands why she's not fighting back. Kouta comes up and slaps her, and Yuka runs to Nyu while Mayu just apologizes. Nana insists Lucy's the evil one, crying as she says she's not evil yet, another Tearjerker as she clearly knows the road she's on. Kouta tells her to leave and she runs out, but Nyu's unconcious. That probably won't lead to anything good.

Nana goes back to the gazebo, still crying that she's not evil, when Mayu comes in to return her things. They have a very awkward conversation where Nana again says Lucy's evil but won't say why thanks to the letter. That leads her to remember she couldn't sense Lucy, and wonders if she's good when she's Nyu. For someone who already has a scattered sense of morality, this is a bit too much to take.

Back at the inn, Nozomi has gone home but says she'll be back tomorrow. Really not buying that; even for Japan I'd say Nyu's raping her was a dealbreaker. Yuka suggests they take Nyu to a hospital, but Kouta remembers what Arakawa said about horned people and knows they're on their own. She wakes up, but going by Nana's reaction back in the gazebo, Lucy's in control again. Nice that they're not making us wait too long for the big promised rematch.

Nana's ever more complicated existential crisis is really deep stuff for this kind of story, and it all makes her into even more of The Woobie even as she's beating up what amounts to an innocent person. And with Lucy, Kouta, and Yuka finally all in the same place, we'll probably get some major plot developments with them at last.

edited 31st Jan '10 7:20:10 PM by Eegah

Eegah Since: Jan, 2010
#65: Jan 31st 2010 at 8:02:39 PM

Chapter 49: Unforseen

Nana runs back to the inn, while Lucy heads outside to meet her. But because of the beating she just took, Kouta's easily able to force her back into bed to get some rest, followed by a pretty amusing moment when Yuka tells her to lay off on the sex fiend stuff, much to her confusion.

Lucy flashes back to her childhood, when she got sick and overheard the institution nurses talking about how weird she was. This caused her to sneak out and meet that stray dog for the first time. Then things get a bit weird, as she seems to drift back and forth between Lucy and Nyu as Kouta tends to her. She finally cries a bit as she realizes she can only be happy as Nyu now.

Nana arrives back at the inn, where she's confused by her wavering sense of Lucy's presence. Inside, Nyu's back and hugs Kouta, then keeps repeating the word "ike." Finally this resolves to her telling Kouta she loves him, once again just as Yuka enters the room.

This chapter's a bit confusing, but if I'm reading it right then Lucy and Nyu's personalities are starting to coalesce again, though that still wouldn't help her be happy as she'd remember what she did to Kouta. But however it turns out, it's good to see these characters are still developing even this far into the story.

edited 31st Jan '10 8:03:43 PM by Eegah

Eegah Since: Jan, 2010
#66: Jan 31st 2010 at 8:41:40 PM

Chapter 50: Copying Kanae

Yuka runs off before Kouta really sees her, and Nyu starts crying. He tells her not to, as it reminds him of Kanae. He now thinks she died in an accident, so it seems his memory's just going in circles at this point. He goes on about how Kanae can never forgive him for the last thing he said to her, when Nyu yells at him not to cry, impressing him with how many words she's suddenly retained. With that Nyu passes out again, and Kouta finds the medicine Yuka went for by the door, realizing she saw them. He goes to prepare food she can take it with, but a bit later she wakes up and prepares to jab some scissors into her throat. I guess the two personalities really are merging.

Kouta returns and drops the tray in shock, but it's only because Nyu's cut her hair and put on a similar outfit to the one Kanae's wearing in the photo she saw. Okay, that was a pretty clever fakeout as it still has meaning in itself. She shouts that Kanae forgives Kouta, and apologizes for breaking his shell. Kouta just hugs her for another Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming, but also feels like he's starting to regain his memories. Meanwhile, Yuka's run down to the beach to cry by herself.

The series is starting to focus more on dramatic material regarding Kouta and Yuka, and this is probably the right time to do it. We're nearing the series' halfway mark, which if written properly should be around the point that the story crystalises with all setup material finished and the focus moved to resolving everything. They all continue to be quite moving together when the scene calls for it, so I'm happy.

ShayGuy Since: Jan, 2001
#67: Jan 31st 2010 at 9:16:54 PM

Again, I'm not convinced that he ever did remember. Maybe if you gave me a page.

Eegah Since: Jan, 2010
#68: Jan 31st 2010 at 9:37:16 PM

This is the one that I figured was him regaining his memory, though looking at it now that might not be the case:

http://www.onemanga.com/Elfen_Lied/38/17/

Though in that last chapter I was just referring to how he earlier thought Kanae died from an illness, so apparently that flash left him with different false memories.

Sabbo from Australia Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
#69: Jan 31st 2010 at 9:52:05 PM

For the record - and as you may have realized by now - Kouta didn't remember any details back in chapter 38 or 39; he just got flashbacks of single moments. The actual recollection of the event comes later.

Oh yeah, and the bit generally considered to be the halfway point is around chapter 70. I know it's actually closer to 2/3, but... well, I guess you'll know when you get to it.

Eegah Since: Jan, 2010
#70: Feb 1st 2010 at 8:20:13 AM

Chapter 51: Tears

Yuka's still on the beach, flashing back on her relationship with Kouta thus far. You know, maybe Kouta did lead her on a bit in that gazebo, but this girl really needs to take stock of her problems compared to some of the other characters here, even inside her own house. This is just Wangst to the extent that I'm imagining Simple Plan's Untitled playing over it.

Nyu's fever is gone, but it's after 1 AM so Kouta's wondering where Yuka is. She's not at her parents' house, but that's the end of the scene so apparently he leaves it there.

Yuka's returned by morning, where she wakes Kouta up with a kiss. Because it worked out so well last time. Or no, because this is actually a whole fantasy of Yuka's about them being an adult couple, including her showing up Kouta at figurine carving. I know, teenage girl and all, but Yuka's well on her way to actually becoming The Scrappy here, a real shame since her Yandere-ness has been noticably toned down lately. She finally decides to leave the inn, but that's when Kouta shows up. Yuka still insists she's leaving, but Kouta slaps her and tells her how Wangsty she's being, and hell, I'll call that another Crowning Moment Of Awesome.

Oh Yuka, what did they do to you? This is honestly the kind of thing I'd expect to see from a Dragonball Evolution type film with no real understanding of the characters. Though it's also apparently wrapped up by the end, so thankfully there's just this one Wallbanger chapter to show for the regrettable decision.

Eegah Since: Jan, 2010
#71: Feb 1st 2010 at 9:14:19 AM

Chapter 52: Kurama's Daughter

Mayu finds Nana guarding the inn in case Lucy comes out, and right after explaining why she uses the name Lucy, Nana realizes she's said too much once again. She's starting to give Hagrid a run for his money. She also refuses to apologize, but when Nyu takes a peek outside she restrains herself. She apologizes to Nyu and gets a hug, but silently reminds herself that won't apply when Lucy returns. Nice to see she has a better hold on her sense of morality now. Kouta and Yuka have returned behind them and heard it, and Mayu obliquely accuses Kouta of making Nyu resemble Kanae. I was wondering if they'd just dropped her distrust of him; good to see it's still there. Nana also pulls out some of her money to pay for the damage, with a pretty funny reaction shot. Mayu gets Kouta to agree to let Nana stay, though she still insists she won't depend on anyone. Mayu uses some nice reverse psychology to get her to stay, another good step in their relationship.

Kakuzawa learns that Kurama let Nana escape, but smiles that this was his plan all along. He's suddenly well on his way to Magnificent Bastardhood. Now he gives the order to use another mutant, number 35. Apparently she's the real daughter of Kurama, though I have no freaking clue how that works. 35 is described as even more of a Complete Monster than Lucy, with the lab's security just barely able to keep her in check. And as two scientists go to release her, we see dozens of vectors clawing just out of range of them through a huge door. I can already tell this character is going to be High Octane Nightmare Fuel incarnate.

So for the second half of the series we get a new villain, more powerful than any we've seen before. I'm already eagerly anticipating how these fights will go down. Though even in the face of that, the more personal scenes retain their interest as we see Nana become a bit more comfortable with her sense of morality, something that's been a long time coming and is quite gratifying.

Eegah Since: Jan, 2010
#72: Feb 1st 2010 at 10:33:39 AM

Chapter 53: Ways, Choices

We get more handy exposition about 35: not only does she have that multitude of vectors seen last time, but their range is eleven meters. And she's only five years old; incoming Badass Adorable! The two people releasing her wonder what Kakuzawa is thinking, as they seriously doubt they'll be able to control her if she's let out. Though Kurama's assistant (who the other guy's thoughts tell us has some kind of special relationship with Kakuzawa) lets us in that 35's body is full of explosives they can detonate if she goes offscript, and she also hasn't moved for her entire life so her muscles are atrophied. As well, one of the other female scientists has been talking to her remotely her whole life, so they may have an attachment. I'm betting she's the first person that 35 (now renamed Mariko) kills. The chamber is finally opened and she's revealed to be a tiny, gaunt girl who immediately topples over. The mother scientist runs over, and we get a long-range Gory Discretion Shot. I Knew It!, and for this series that must mean something very gross indeed just happened. Half the scientist's body is then thrown into the control room before the explosives can be detonated, but her "mother" still manages to blow up one of her arms before expiring. I'll definitely give that a Crowning Moment Of Awesome. Just like Nana, Mariko becomes helpless when she's in pain, and she's restrained and told to follow orders from now on. Yeah, that's gonna happen.

Mariko definitely makes a strong first impression, and I'm now reminded that she got a spot in That Dude in the Suede's 11 Creepiest Anime Villains. Specifically, "She will kill you in ways so unimaginably gruesome that I can only show this: (shot of blood flying past the camera)." So that's something to look forward to.

edited 1st Feb '10 10:39:19 AM by Eegah

Eegah Since: Jan, 2010
#73: Feb 1st 2010 at 11:54:56 AM

Chapter 54: Sand Castles

We start right off with a Crowning Moment Of Funny as Nana has a nightmare about her money crucifying her, and blames Mayu for it when she wakes up. Everyone has breakfast together, quite sweetly just chatting like a normal family. Nozomi's also there and offers to fix Nana's dress from where the sleeve was torn in her fight, so she and Mayu head off to take a bath. Kouta's still pretty mean to Nana, clearly still angry over her attacking Nyu. And for once it's pretty understandable, even knowing more about the situation than he does.

After a brief Fanservice page of Nana taking the first bath of her life along with Mayu, Nana has her first taste of ice cream and pretty much reacts just like Aximili. Following that is a combination Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming and Tearjerker, as she realizes her life could have been happier this whole time, and yet she doesn't have a place here either thanks to her fight with Nyu. Kouta appears to tell her to get out, but then the scene goes completely CMOH as he instead tells her she'll have to help him clean if she wants to stay longer. Yuka pats her head, leading to her completely pouring her heart out over how happy she is. Damn it, the series did it to me again and I'll have to pause a bit until I can see the screen again.

At the beach, Bandou is now hanging out at Mayu's old firewood shelter (um, irony?) and his arm is now working again. Nana comes to him, but says she hasn't found Lucy, not wanting to lose her newfound happiness. Too bad a helicopter has appeared on the horizon, and on board Mariko asks if she can kill Nana.

This chapter marks the series' exact midpoint, and quite fittingly shows us the culmination of one character's development with Nana. Now that she really has something to lose, the upcoming fight with Mariko has all the more emotional investment to it beyond the usual visceral pleasures. Just one more excellent blending of different tones to create a more satisfying whole.

Eegah Since: Jan, 2010
#74: Feb 1st 2010 at 1:08:45 PM

Chapter 55: Mariko

Nana senses Mariko on the helicopter, as someone worse than Lucy. She thinks she might be the target given the kill order, and begs Bandou to help her fight. He refuses, which seems to be a step backwards with her trust issues as she just runs away crying. Bandou thinks to himself that he has to be careful with his remaining bullets now that SAT is gone. What? When? I think that may have just been a bad translation that he can't go back to them.

Nana decides her only option is to stand and fight, and when the others find her, she refuses to come back with them. Kouta says he'll leave supper out for her, with her reaction giving another Tearjerker.

Mariko comes out of the helicopter on a wheelchair, flashing back to her instructions to bring Lucy in alive, and not kill anyone unrelated to the mission. They've also gone completely Snake Plissken on her, as the man with the remote to the bombs inside her needs to put in a password every half hour. Yeah, this really is one of those times when Crazy-Prepared and just reasonable precautions are the exact same thing. She was also told to kill Nana if the opportunity came, and right now Nana's run all the way to the landing site. Nana prepares to shoot an arm at her, but gets caught off guard by Mariko's range. Soon her clothes and all her limbs are ripped off, while Mariko just laughs about how fun it is. Yep, there's our High Octane Nightmare Fuel character.

Sure enough, the extra emotional context of this fight really makes Mariko's opening shot very painful to watch, and I'm sure it'll only get worse from here. Though I'm still not ruling out Bandou pulling a Big Damn Villains, as that last glimpse of him trying to justify his actions to himself does suggest he's leaning toward a more honorable outlook.

edited 1st Feb '10 1:08:58 PM by Eegah

Eegah Since: Jan, 2010
#75: Feb 1st 2010 at 4:24:52 PM

Chapter 56: Girls' Fun

Kakuzawa tells Kurama he knows about his disobeying the order to kill Nana, so he's sent out Mariko. Apparently Kurama knows Mariko's his daughter (still not getting that) so Kakuzawa Mind Rapes him a bit by bringing up how his two daughters will now be trying to kill each other. After Mariko brings Lucy back Kakuzawa will decide on his punishment, which will be worse than usual as Kakuzawa did him some kind of favor some time earlier; I'm very interested in those specifics already.

Nana manages to put one each of her arms and legs back on, but then Mariko lifts her high into the air. And what really kills me is all Nana can talk about is how embarassing it is to be naked out in the open, which even has some Fridge Brilliance as she certainly didn't have much modesty before so this is her newfound love of life immediately being used against her. You could even read some Garden of Eden subtext into it, but I'll spare you all. Mariko slams her hard into the ground, Nana unable to use her limbs at all since they'd just snap off, and then does it again. Seeing that Nana's still concious, Mariko declares she won't hold back this time, and we again get a Gory Discretion Shot. Once again, I don't even want to consider what could be too unsettling for this series. One of the henchmen is shocked and figures out Mariko is an example of Freud's statement about the cruelty of children. She notices Nana's calling out to her father, and brings up how her own father tried to kill her, before saying 'Bored now.' Nana gets Tearjerkery again by flashing back to all the happy things she's discovered and wishes she could do again, then wishing she'll be reincarnated as Kurama's real daughter as Mariko picks her up again and gives the final blow.

Kouta, Yuka, and Nyu notice how Nana hasn't come yet. Yeah, go ahead and make it worse, why don't you?

I really do think Nana may be dead this time. Earlier she clearly hadn't done enough to justify the work put into her backstory, but now she's had a sizable role in the story, and her death could definitely serve to push the other heroes into taking more direct action. But I still definitely hope she does survive somehow, and she and Lucy team up to wreak righteous vengeance on this bitch.

edited 1st Feb '10 4:27:13 PM by Eegah


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