Elfen Lied

Description

From Dark Horse:
Captured and isolated against their will, the Diclonius species are a threat waiting to break free. When a young Diclonius girl, Nyu, escapes from the research facility she was being held in, she manages to find solace in two allies until danger seeks her out, putting everyone at risk. However, her enemies soon realize they are in over their heads as an attempt to subdue Nyu results in unspeakable tragedy.

Type

Manga

Related Series

N/A

Associated Names

Erufen Riido

Эльфийская песнь

สาวกลายพันธุ์ (NED)

エルフェンリート

Groups Scanlating

Latest Release(s)

v.12 c.102-107 (end) by Oishii-Manga Scanlations & Illuminati-Manga 16 years ago

v.12 c.100-101 by Oishii-Manga Scanlations & Illuminati-Manga 16 years ago

v.12 c.98-99 by Oishii-Manga Scanlations & Illuminati-Manga 17 years ago

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Status in Country of Origin

12 Volumes (Complete)

Completely Scanlated?

Yes

Anime Start/End Chapter

Starts at Vol 1, Chap 1

Ends at Vol 7, Chap 62 (Diverges in EP 12) Abridged

User Reviews

Elfen Lied by Dr EviL

Forum

7 topics, 80 posts

Click here to view the forum

User Rating

Average: 7.9 / 10.0 (1632 votes)

Bayesian Average: 7.87 / 10.0

21%

25%

15%

Last Updated

June 27th, 2025 10:01am PDT - 3 days ago

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Genre

Action Adult Horror Mature Psychological Romance Sci-fi Seinen Supernatural Tragedy
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Categories

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Recommendations

Author(s)

Artist(s)

Year

Original Publisher

Shueisha

Serialized In (magazine)

Shuukan Young Jump (Shueisha)

Licensed (in English)

Yes

English Publisher

Dark Horse (4 Omnibuses - Complete)

Activity Stats (vs. other series)

Weekly Pos #659

(-47)

Monthly Pos #1304

(-161)

3 Month Pos #1721

(-452)

6 Month Pos #2336

(-367)

Year Pos #2627

(-228)

List Stats

On 1345 reading lists

On 1179 wish lists

On 3940 completed lists

On 203 unfinished lists

On 481 custom lists

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Forum Posts Click to view the forum

Elfen Lied Blu-ray Box to Add Exclusive Manga

13 years ago

Similarly Violent Anime/Manga/Mangaka

13 years ago

the ending [spoiler]

14 years ago

Elfen Lied: Anime or Manga?

15 years ago

Is it worth it?

17 years ago

User Comments [ Order by usefulness ]

Very good but also heavily ruined due to plot "twists"

by just.dont
10 months ago

Rating: 7.0 / 10.0

It would be pretty stellar tragedy/drama if not for author insistence to make any "evil" (whether truly evil or "not really" evil) character also a huge jerk for no apparent reason. Everyone wanting to kick their puppies and also set them on fire while laughing and drinking wine is actually THE main plot drive, nearly all the subplots wouldn't even happen if some of characters simply wouldn't be jerks.

Unfortunately this "narrative quirk" loses pretty much all of its impact after you realize that author made no exceptions. Everyone is a jerk, because reasons. Most victims are jerks too, because reasons. And the rest is simply driven to madness, because apparently everyone is a jerk in this setting.

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eh...

by loztcause
10 years ago

Rating: N/A

Tragic manga. If you're into tragedy, watching everyone die, and having a horribly sad and pointless conclusion, then you came to the right place. Personally, I struggled through it in spite of not liking the direction it was going. And now I wish I'd stopped when I realized what kind of manga it was.

But like I said. If you're into tragedy, death, torture, and so on. You'll eat this up.

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great contrast

by whitespade
12 years ago

Rating: 9.3 / 10.0

i really really love the childish undeveloped art because it makes it very easy to just breeze through the manga. im able to take in the plot, know the characters and enjoying the story without having the blood and gore distract me.
everyone is over the top, cry too much and just plain crazy, but i have a wonderful time. anyone who dont really like gore but love intense actions should read this.

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Awesome

by cuti3m00n
13 years ago

Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

Well, I usually don't read Manga with so much Blood and echii, but with this one I gave it a try, and I don't regret it.
This is truly the most tragedic manga I've read, really,... .On top of that, my fav char, Lucy/Nyuu has a sad ending, made me cry for 15 mins T_T. But then, I still think that this one is much better than the cr4ps I'm reading right now. A happy ending for almost everyone.
I give it a 9 ^.^

... Last updated 13 years ago

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Very good.

by lif2
13 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

So many years after the anime, I found again this manga in a dark & forgotten corner of my computer.
I was afraid to read it, because that could have kill my wonderful memories about the anime. But I'm lucky I readed it 🙂

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Good

by Ziex
13 years ago

Rating: 9.5 / 10.0

Even though the ending was a real tearjerker the manga as a whole was pretty darn good. The drawings take sme getting used to but it turned out to be well worth reading. Highly recommended for those who enjoy action/gore/drama.

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the dog didn't die

by dreamer00013
13 years ago

Rating: N/A

The first time I read Elfenlied was quite a few years back. I was young and this series might have been my first seinen manga with lots of bloody gore and way too much ecchi.
Which I wasn't quite ready for and thus my parting point with Elfenlied was the the beginning of v2 when dear Lucy seemed to have killed that sweet dog. (which she didn't do)

Now, after reading quite a bit of seinen, horror and mature mangas I have tried Elfenlied again - and was shocked by the art O_o
But I still didn't stop reading and finished this series in one go. The art improves greatly after a few volumes and there's - like I already suspected - quite a lot of drama and lots of blood! Blood, Gore and ripped limbs - be assured, they play quite a big part.
The plot was also interesting and I have to say that it was quite an entertaining trip. But it's far from a masterpiece.
While there were so many emotions - and don't forget the DRAMA - connected to the girls, it wasn't like that with the male lead. He was "nice" but all in all, he just didn't seem to have much personality. He was lacking even compared to the other male characters.
The plot didn't make up for it in any way. Of course there were aspects that were interesting - there are 12 volumes after all - but it was quite drawn out with many characters that only added drama.

But I still enjoyed reading it. I recommend it to everyone who loves DRAMA, lots of gore and lovely looking girls with killing intention. (and let's not forget the fanservice)

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I dont know

by andasideoffries
14 years ago

Rating: N/A

I abosolutely loved this manga...and then I got to chapter 7 (I think)....the problem is

many of the "evil" characters turn out good. "well, whats wrong with that?: you ask "isnt that a great plot twist?
well, 2 pts 1) the mangaka uses this "plot twist" sooooo many times that the story line practicalt becomes a pretzel-its just reeaally irritating after a while 2) many of the evil characters that turned good-realy ARE evil and no amount of "oh its not his fault" fluff takes that point away-certainly not when this is guy number 7 who was evil and seen the light.

this also affects the believability of the characters immensely. take for example this doctor who experimented on the creatures. terrible right? well, it just so happens that one of the creatures that he experimented on falls in love with him...not because he complained or did anything contrary to his superiors -but because his eyes looked pained...as he flipped the switch to shoot a poison laced 200lb metal ball at her chest.awww how romantic.

other than my very large rant, if you can get past the repetitveness of the characters as well as their questionable believabilty, then you should be able to enjoy a pretty original manga with an engrossing plot.

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Finish

by xierf
14 years ago

Rating: N/A

Wow. This series made me want to cry and if you know me that is almost impossible. I've been told I'm scary but this made me teary eye. I wonder who the two girls are, maybe she implanted her psyche into two girls. What ever happened to the perfect demon boy? This all besides the point. If you finish this you are lucky and read a great manga.

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Mixed feelings

by intemango
14 years ago

Rating: N/A

You can't simply describe this series as 'good' or 'bad'. Like the characters themselves, whether it's acceptable or not depends heavily on your point of view.

The characters in this story are mostly psychotic, and irrational to the extremes so what happens might or might not make any sense to you. You could even say they're all idiots, and undoubtedly they all paid for that one moment of hesitation. You must have seen a lot of stories where people are supposed to forgive and sympathize with a girl who's born with unwanted supernatural powers that threaten normal people, and a happy ending is achieved. Well,

the aesop from this story is that you're supposed to shoot her in the face. Multiple times. Along with anyone who tries to defend her. As buddhism tells you, a man who commits murders and then tries to save others in the end must still go to hell (which is not eternal) to pay for his crime before he can be rewarded in heaven. You wonder why no one in this fictional Japan is familiar with that concept.

... Last updated 14 years ago

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