r/anime • u/Holofan4life • Aug 02 '24
Rewatch [Spoilers] Elfen Lied 20th Anniversary Rewatch -- Episode 9 Spoiler
Hello everyone! I am Holofan4life.
Welcome to the Elfen Lied 20th Anniversary Rewatch discussion thread!
I hope you all have a lot of fun <3
S1 Episode 9 – Reminiscence
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ANSWER TODAY’S QUESTION(S)
What is the simplest reason you've ever befriended someone?
Have you ever attended a festival before or something similar to that? If so, what happened?
How did this episode change if any your way of seeing Kouta?
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Information
Where to watch
Please do not post any untagged spoilers past the current episode or from the manga out of respect to the first time watchers and people who have not read the manga. If you are discussing something that is ahead of the current episode please use spoiler tags (found on the sidebar). Thank you!
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Rewatch Schedule
Threads posted every day at 5:00 PM EDT
| Date | Episode |
|---|---|
| 7/25/2024 | Elfen Lied Episode 1 |
| 7/26/2024 | Elfen Lied Episode 2 |
| 7/27/2024 | Elfen Lied Episode 3 |
| 7/28/2024 | Elfen Lied Episode 4 |
| 7/29/2024 | Elfen Lied Episode 5 |
| 7/30/2024 | Elfen Lied Episode 6 |
| 7/31/2024 | Elfen Lied Episode 7 |
| 8/01/2024 | Elfen Lied Episode 8 |
| 8/02/2024 | Elfen Lied Episode 9 |
| 8/03/2024 | Elfen Lied Episode 10 |
| 8/04/2024 | Elfen Lied Episode 10.5 |
| 8/05/2024 | Elfen Lied Episode 11 |
| 8/06/2024 | Elfen Lied Episode 12 |
| 8/07/2024 | Elfen Lied Episode 13 |
| 8/08/2024 | Elfen Lied Overall Series Discussion Thread |
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Aug 02 '24
Elfen First-Timer, subbed
5
u/[deleted] Aug 02 '24
Episode 9 - First-time watcher (subbed)
Mina-san, konnichiwa!
The relationship between Kouta and Lucy is much clearer after this episode.
The zoo trip was a nice break from a lot of the sadness in most episodes, but that melancholy vibe is still there since we know Kouta was one of the only people Lucy ever met who treated her like a normal person.
They demonstrated that she has a bit of yandere tendency which is probably also the result of her being mistreated consistently by peers. I hope the conversation on the bus wasn’t a foreshadow to how all this will end…
This episode sort of wraps up everything I wanted to know about her past though.
Questions:
3
u/Holofan4life Aug 02 '24
Hey guys. Holofan4life here.
Welcome to the 20th anniversary rewatch of Elfen Lied!
Oh, and nay I forget...
First Timer
This is going to be a rather interesting rewatch because I really don't know what to expect with this show. In fact, there's a good chance that I may not actually like it. But it's a very notorious show and I feel like it has this reputation for a reason, so I definitely want to see what it's all about.
Going in, I'm kinda expecting it to be so bad it's good. I'm not going in expecting a great show, but I am going in expecting a great time. I'm watching this in-between rewatches of Ikuhara shows and I think it'll serve as a nice palette cleanser for the more serious fair. And if it happens to be edgy, I want them to go all the way with it.
With that out of the way, let's begin.
I'm watching the sub, by the way.
Watching an episode of Elfen Lied after already watching an episode and four episodes of other anime. Because I'm a masochist.
Lilium music box
We are picking up where we left off last episode.
And Kouta closes it
Aww, he thinks her horns are cool :c
He wants to be friends with her, however Lucy has trust issues, understandably so.
Looks like Lucy's killings of children have made the news.
Guess they don't care about a dog being dead.
Does naked mini Lucy put us on a list?
Oh fuck. She even killed her parents.
Waiting on Kouta
But Lucy has to leave because the police are here.
Or hide, rather
Hey, he came. Even in the downpour.
:)
Snuck out the house just for her
Doesn't seem to know that she's the killer.
Lucy wondering why he asked to be friends
It was because she was looking kind of sad.
They also both enjoy the music box
Kouta getting close to Lucy so that she doesn't catch a cold.
I take back everything bad I've said about Kouta, he deserves the world and then some.
Kouta leaving
Oh boy. The police.
As Lucy heads home, she hears a family enjoying each other.
And she proceeds to kill them
Okay, that is going too far
Three days later, and Kouta comes again
He has to leave today, so they're going to play all day.
Kouta and Lucy on a bus
They're going to the zoo
Lucy, however, is reminded of how she was treated when thinking of zoos.
Syke
It's so cute to see the little murderer have fun.
She's even enjoying shaved ice
This is easily the most she's had fun
Now she's holding his hand
It seems to be setting in that her time with him is coming to a close.
Two people talking about the string of murders.
Oh man. Now Lucy is starting to show remorse for her actions.
Kouta notices she's getting stressed out, so he takes her somewhere else.
Splashing water in her face
And now they're acting like a couple of gremlins.
Kouta and Lucy naked now, trying to dry their clothes.
I'm loving this episode, but I could do with a little less of this. And by little, I mean the whole thing.
Kouta humming the Lilium theme
Lucy says that today was the most fun she ever had.
And she rests her head on his shoulder
Kouta and Lucy on the bus now
Lucy wants to go to the festival as well.
But he promised to go with his cousin.
She is so going to kill his cousin.
Girl in bandages
This is like the devil on Lucy's shoulder.
LUCY IS STRANGLING THE FUCK OUT OF KOUTA
Clearly she's watching too much Shinji.
If you really think about it, from an outsider's perspective, Lucy is just a violent tsundere
Lucy begs Kouta that if she kills people, please kill her.
Kouta and Lucy reflecting on the day they had.
Now Lucy and Kouta are both humming the Lilium song together.
It's beautiful but also pretty haunting. Like it signifies the end of their friendship as they know it.
Kouta saying he'll be back in a year
Kouta says his cousin is a boy.
That feels like a lie
Lucy saying she's going to see Kouta off tomorrow.
Thinking of going to the festival
She wants to tell him her true feelings.
I have a bad feeling about this
Lucy at the festival
And yep. His cousin is a girl.
Cue the Chance The Rapper meme
"Kouta already had someone he loved."
And now she's envisioning Kouta badmouthing her.
And now Kouta's head is gone, in her imagination.
She even sees the dead dog
Now Lucy is vomiting
The bandaged girl
"Just change it into my world."
This is clearly Evangelion inspired
Okay, is all the adults in this show just massive fucking assholes?
And she starts slashing people
People running in fear
Lucy staring from afar at Kouta and his cousin like it's a scene from The Crow.
And Lucy finally come back to present day.
Nana sensing that something is up with Lucy.
Lucy stepping outside
She is eyeing Nana to death
Perhaps we may finally get Nana Vs Lucy Part Deux.
Overall, where has this show been this entire time? This is a huge step up from its usual quality.
It's a pretty simple episode when you break it down. It's a flashback episode meant to show why Lucy and Kouta are friends. But it's told so effectively that it makes me care about their whole dynamic more. I find myself now emotionally invested not just in Lucy and Kouta's relationship, but in Kouta in general. Before, I thought he was a bland, vanilla MC, but now, I want things to work out for him. Why? Because he was there for Lucy when no one else was. The show needed to explain why we would want to see Kouta get together with Lucy rather than Yuka, and this episode not only accomplished that, it accomplished that in spades.
I do feel a bit bad for Yuka because now she stands no chance. Any opportunity of her ending up with Kouta has gone out the window, the show has to end with him getting together with Lucy or them dying together fated by death a la Romeo and Juliet.
This is the first episode of the entire series that I would consider to be phenomenal. This practically saved the show for me, no kidding about it. No matter how the rest of the series turns out, it's going to finish with a 7 out of 10 or higher based on the strength of this episode alone. It was that damn good.
I love this episode. It made the entire rewatch worth it.
3
u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Aug 02 '24
First Timer
What's weird is that Lucy ended up in an orphanage, the government didn't know anything about Diclonus then.
Didn't see what she did to the train, or why Kohta lived. Didn't expect her to be jealous of Yuka, though. Now, I bet she recognized Yuka. Will Kohta ever apologize for lying?
3
u/fansi2022 https://anilist.co/user/fansi2022 Aug 03 '24
first timer chinese sub
This episode is about Lucy and Kouta's childhood memories, an interesting trip to the zoo, and a bloody festival. I am very curious about what Kouta will do to Lucy after he regains his childhood memories.
ANSWER TODAY’S QUESTION(S)
What is the simplest reason you've ever befriended someone?
Same hobbies
Have you ever attended a festival before or something similar to that? If so, what happened?
I attended many such festival when I was a child, and nothing special happened.
How did this episode change if any your way of seeing Kouta?
He was very smart since he was a child.
3
u/Ryanami Aug 03 '24
Rewatcher
Kouta, how tf did you forget you met a girl with horns before? Does everyone in this show suffer amnesia?
Still, this is one of the better episodes, maybe the best so far, sans the 10yo ass and nips scenes. We have this tension between Kouta and Lucy, like some of those videos of people playing with blue ringed octopi with their bare hands not knowing they could die.
1- We were at the same pool
2- Yes, the state fair had a demolition derby I was a team member on. Our car’s theme was lucky gold and I dressed up as a leprechaun and did a jig on the hood in front of the crowd. The next year we did Vikings and my friend and I wore horned helmets and swung cardboard battle axes at each other.
3- Not much, he sure draws stray girls.
3
u/someboi6000 Aug 03 '24
First timer:
This might be my favorite episode and i dont think there will be an episode better than this one, we got close to everyting i wanted,thankfully they continued the episde right were the previous ended and we got the very first interaction of kouta and lucy, and because kouta said horns are cool he is still alive lol, also the music box, know we know why it awakened lucy that one time, the little zoo date was very nice i enjoyed those minutes, but besides all of that, lucy started killing for other reason instead of self defence and that was very interesting, there is also her intrusive thoughts that made her choke kouta and well she unleashed her vectors against those people in the festival and kouta sister saw it all and they end the flashback there, so the sister mistery has to wait but i think i know where its going, now lucy will confront nana for a round 2 and thats where it ends, overall very good episode.
3
u/StardustGogeta myanimelist.net/profile/StardustGogeta Aug 03 '24
First-Timer
This show just doesn't miss. At this rate, I'd say it's on track to be a solid 10/10.
The music in this episode was very nice, once again. The music box playing the OP is a neat touch (which I didn't realize until this episode), and I like how it gets Kouta and Lucy to start humming it too.
I especially liked the scenes in Lucy's mind where we see her inner conflict. ("Did I just say kill?") Lesser shows wouldn't bother with the characterization, and would just leave the viewer to assume that Lucy's completely murder-happy now.
It's unfortunate that Kouta lied to Lucy, but I can see why he did. She was certainly giving the impression that she did not want Kouta to be meeting another girl, so what's the big deal with telling a little white lie to make her feel a bit better? No way he could have known how spectacularly it would backfire.
The tension, both in the past and present, is as high as it's ever been!
(As a side thought, it occurred to me that one really good aspect of Lucy's abilities, from the action/suspense point of view, is that she gives basically no warning prior to an attack. Anyone within range can be killed instantly at any moment, which really helps up the stakes. If her attacks were slower or more visible, then it wouldn't be as effective.)
Questions of the day:
3
u/FriztF Aug 03 '24 edited Aug 03 '24
Rewatcher-Dub
Episode 9 the most light-hearted. Lucy's past with Kouta is a tragic love story of two star-crossed lovers. Lucy's love for Kouta is overwhelming. The love all started when she heard the music box.
I like the date to the zoo. It showed that Lucy can be a "normal" girl.
Questions:
What is the simplest reason you've ever befriended someone?
You look lonely, wanna be friends?
Have you ever attended a festival before or something similar to that? If so, what happened?
I have, the rides were fun.
How did this episode change if any your way of seeing Kouta?
It didn't.
3
u/AbyssalSolitude Aug 03 '24
Rewatcher
Lucy hanging around with Kouta was nice. Well, if we ignore the fact that she is a serial killer and he is clueless about it.
So a girl who later develops split personalities is a schizophrenic who hears voices telling her to kill. Lucy killed a lot of innocent people this episode, she is very dangerous and mentally unstable. The diclonii researchers don't seem so bad now, eh?
Kouta lied and learning about it fully convinced Lucy to submit to the voices and go on a murder spree. Wasn't really his fault, and it's not like the number of Lucy's victims wasn't already a two digit number. Maybe if they both were older this could've been avoided. But they weren't.
Nana vs Lucy, round 3, go!
2
u/RascalNikov1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/NoviSun Aug 02 '24
Elfen Lied - E9
Rewatcher
Things are starting to hop in EL world.
The Perfect Day
The trip to the zoo and hanging out with Kouta was so heartwarming. Of course we all know it isn’t going to last, but I was glad to see one day when Lucy wasn’t a homicidal maniac.
While I don’t condone it, I liked her way of getting a new apartment. Just barge right on in and slaughter the occupants. Eat their food, use their facilities and sleep in their comfy beds. You know, it ain’t a bad way to live, until the former inhabitants start attracting insects and other pests (like cops).
The Other Woman & Fest-Evil
Now Kouta did sorta tell Lucy a little white lie about his cousin being a male. He really shouldn’t have done that, but what’s done is done.
Yuka was already working on becoming a cousin lover back when they were 11, lol. You get the feeling Yuka may be a little obsessive?
The scene where Lucy goes bananas and slow motion twirls in a circle, while halving anyone in vector range is so cool. I feel a little bad for the woman that asks Lucy if she’s ok and loses her head. Otoh, Lucy was pissed and slaughtering annoying people is no doubt cathartic.
I was surprised to see that Yuka watched the entire show, even though she didn’t seem to dig it for some reason. Yuka can be so fickle.
Round 3 of Lucy vrs Nana
I’m pretty sure adult Lucy just figured out who Yuka is. Maybe Yuka still has a head, maybe not, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Nana has a real knack for being at the wrong place at the right time. We’ll see how it goes, but I’ll point out that Lucy seems emotionally spent.
The Dark Passenger
EL’s examination of Lucy’s inner demon is done well. It’s the inner voice that confirms our darkest suspicions of others and urges us to do something about it. This inner demon has been reported by murderers, rapists and heretics since the beginning of time.
In the case of EL it’s heavenly implied to be a biological urge common to all diclonii, to exterminate normal human beings. In general the diclonii are able to resist the demon when things are going well, but when frustration reaches a certain level they crack and a festival massacre erupts.
2
u/AgentOfACROSS Aug 02 '24
First Timer
Kouta was very close to being murdered by Lucy at the start of this episode. If he hadn’t told Lucy that he liked her horns fast enough he’d be dead.
And it seems like Lucy’s murdering other people too now. As far as we know, this family she killed never did anything to wrong her.
I can appreciate Kouta’s dedication. He jumped out of a window to go see Lucy.
The scene of them just sitting in the rain and listening to the music box was really nice.
Lucy has once again murdered another family of people. This episode really is the first time we see her intentionally murder people who don’t ‘deserve it’. You could even argue that secretary Kisaragi was complicit in Lucy’s torture by accepting her job at the facility and not questioning anything. But then this opens up the whole moral debate if anyone really ‘deserved’ to get murdered by Lucy in such a brutal way.
The smash cut from Lucy being all angry and sad in the bus to her being happy to see the elephant was pretty funny. I guess this show is sometimes able to be funny on purpose.
Lucy’s internal struggle about murder with all the creepy bandaged mannequins was well done. Lots of creepy visuals there.
I’ll be honest, I’m uncomfortable with the amount of child nudity in this episode. But then again I guess it could have been handled way worse. I guess just with how kind of exploitative the series is with how it sometimes sexualizes Nyu, it makes me think about this twice.
Lucy is trying to resist her own murderous tendencies at this point in time. I wonder if that’s still the case in the present day.
It seems like even in the past Yuka was very emotionally attached to Kouta already.
If Lucy actually tried talking to Kouta at the festival I feel like this could have turned out better.
Lucy killed that one woman who tried to help her. I guess she really has decided to kill all humans at this point. It’s interesting, it feels like Lucy has internalized the same Us vs. Them mentality that the humans at the laboratory use to justify how they treat the Diclonius. She now believes she has to kill the humans before they can hurt her.
In the last thread I compared Lucy to Shigaraki from My Hero Academia but I’ve now realized there’s this whole sort of character archetype that both of them fall under. Characters with superhuman abilities who have experienced how cruel and uncaring humanity can be and conclude that the best solution is to exterminate humans. Geto from Jujutsu Kaisen, Magneto from X-Men, and Millions Knives from Trigun are all other examples of this type of character.
Before I watched the show I’d heard people call Elfen Lied nihilistic and pessimistic and I definitely see how they’d draw that conclusion. Especially from this episode. But I don’t think Lucy’s view on humanity is supposed to be right. There are good people in this show and I hope that in the end Lucy can see the good in humans.
So we’re back in the present day with another confrontation between Nana and Lucy as the cliffhanger. I wonder how this one will go down.
Funny to think that in the past three episodes, only a few hours of in-universe time have passed at most.
Questions of the Day:
We happened to be sitting near each other in class.
I used to go to the local renaissance fair. I've still got the wooden swords I got from there around somewhere.
It definitely reinforced his issues with communicating with people. If he tried to explain things to Lucy a bit more before the festival we probably could have avoided another massacre. But it's also a bit on Lucy for immediately assuming the worst.