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But I'm so selfish, I get jealous that he isn't paying attention to me. I get angry, and I nag him, and I cry. I'm terrible.

Yuka, briefly aligning with a surprisingly large portion of the fanbase

This article is set up to address questions that bring about notable disagreements by fans of Elfen Lied, either with each other or with the possible/perceived intent of the mangaka. Evidence will be presented fairly representing both points of view (more if needed) and, unless direct word from Okamoto-san emerges, there can be no conclusion.

Number Three and Nana[]

The Controversy: Is Diclonius Silpelit Number Three the older sister of Nana, a member of the main cast?

The Evidence For: One source lists this possibility and says it came from what is described as 'The Official Elfen Lied Website.' But whether this is official to ARMS, the manga company that published Elfen Lied, to Lynn Okamoto himself, or to a group of dedicated native fans who were perhaps in contact with Okamoto-San is never made clear. In any event, only bare remnants remain of that site online, and no answer found in what is still available. The ARMS company website for Elfen Lied is located here, only in Japanese. It is unclear if this is the site cited in some articles. (A check on this by anyone who knows how to read Japanese would be welcomed and encouraged, in the hope to settle this matter once and for all.)

Edit: Thanks to User Stemworker, it seems this site has been eliminated as the source for this idea. But confirmation from Lynn Okamoto is still lacking, either way, as to the notion's truth. (Gojirob March 10th, 2014)

2023 Edit: It seems a possible source for how this theory/rumor started has been found but while it can explain how the idea of Number 7 and Number 3 as sisters started, it is also way to vague to confirm or deny if it is meant to indicate that is true or not.

It would hardly be unique for an author to connect two of his characters in such a way. Both girls are part of Kurama's moral journey, his early revulsion at the treatment of the horned girls at the Diclonius Research Institute causing Number Three to seek him out when she escaped. Number 3 ended up infecting him with the Diclonius virus just before her death, in an act that seemed less vengeful than a form of 'thanks.' This infection, in turn, leads to the birth of Mariko, the loss of Hiromi, and then Kurama's desperate, loving bond with Nana. Nana and Number Three being siblings would bookend Kurama's journey back to his Humanity, and offer redemption for his inability to help or save Three. Indeed, the two girls bore a resemblance to each other. Authors often know the lives and fates of even their most obscure characters. Author JK Rowling is especially noted for this, and can likely tell you who Neville Longbottom dated before he married his eventual wife and if the two ever kept in touch after his marriage.  Okamoto-San is not noted for his public appearances (at one time reportedly suffering from intense agoraphobia). That said, he likely 'knows' which relatives kept Kouta after he was released from the mental hospital, and what happened to the woman who claimed Wanta was her dog, and the fate of the marriage of Mayu's mother after she fled that abusive home.

One chapter states that the parents of Number Three tried once again to have children, only to find that they had Diclonius twins. It does not seem impossible that one of these twins could be Nana. In another part of Kurama's journey, it was this birth that once and for all confirmed that a virus was infecting parents, and not the unborn children after conception, and led to the idea there was a Queen Diclonius. If correct, this idea could unite the fates of all the major Diclonius in the series.

The Evidence Against: We never sees the first bonding between Nana and Kurama, so finding out if she was one of those twin girls is impossible. One of the most damaging pieces of information against this theory is that each fansite that lists the idea of the two being sisters uses the same sentences nearly verbatim, as though copied directly from a source, rather than explanations of where this idea originated. In citing only this website now no longer available, it raises questions. Was this idea/fact/theory presented by someone truly in the know, or in a fan forum whose speculation ended up taken as fact?

At the moment, the intent of Lynn Okamoto in this matter is simply not known for certain. (For this article, the original author searched several sites, none of which offered up interviews or such, only the knowledge of this largely vanished site). But whatever the mangaka meant to be the case, a huge compelling factor against this being the truth is the timeline of the series.

Nana's age at the time of her introduction is said to be half that of her physical appearance, between twelve and fourteen years old. If she is between six and seven, and her deadly encounter with Lucy happened relatively soon after the series starts, then she is in effect too old to be one of the twin girls mentioned earlier. An eight-year gap spans the time between Lucy's murder of Kouta's family and Kouta and Nyu meeting again on the beach. Lucy was active for five of those years, infecting and killing in the Kamakura Area. For three years after the (apparent) death of Aiko Takada, Lucy was a captive at the Institute.

For the moment, the dates of publication of Elfen Lied will be treated as literal to the history of the series. If the series began in June 2002, this places the train murders in late August or early September of 1994 (it was the end of summer, and Kouta and Kanae had to go back to school). This theory would mean that Lucy was killing and infecting Kamakura residents from Fall of 1994 to Summer or early Fall of 1999. At the series start in 2002, Nana is at least six, and at least having entered physical puberty. Nana would have been born sometime in 1996. Mariko (with her first appearance in 2003) was said to be five years old, placing her birth sometime in 1998. Kurama stated that Hiromi became pregnant with Mariko six months after his encounter with Number Three, putting said meeting sometime in 1997. For Nana to be as old as we saw her, even with doubled aging, she could be born no later than late 1996. It appears instead that she and Number Three were part of the same wave of initial infections by Lucy, and were possibly the same age or very close to it. Number Three already had vectors, making her more than three years old, and indeed her appearance seemed that of a six to eight-year-old. The births of the Diclonius twins to Number Three's mother preceded Mariko's birth by only a few months (Hiromi was pregnant, and the mass euthanizing of horned infants had begun). By these times and dates (even if actual years are removed from the process) Nana would have already been a year or older when these twins were born.

Conclusion: Only the word of Lynn Okamoto can resolve these matters. In effect, if he should say that Nana and Number Three are Onee-sama and Imouto, then all speculation and argument are moot, and all talk of years is just the mistakes that any series runs into when trying to tie together a coherent timeline. But there are still logic problems with this idea, and if this were the author's intent, a positive argument at least as if not even more complicated as the one against it would be needed to support why this is so.

Yuka[]

The Controversy: A fair amount of fans seem to dislike Yuka, ranging from mere distaste to near hate.

Possible Explanations: Yuka occupies an unenviable position for any character. She is the apparent winner in a 'harem' scenario, favored by the author but not all fans. She seems to be viewed by many as the greatest obstacle to the union of Kouta and Lucy/Nyu, the many plot barriers to this aside. She is not the first to be viewed so. Her 'elder sister' in harem anime (and possible partial inspiration, for Yuka and many an anime lady), Love Hina's Naru Narusegawa, is often the subject of deaths and downfalls initiated by fan writers who prefer the other ladies of the Hinata-Sou.

Another problem is the wide exposure of the anime, which is indeed the first way many fans first come to know the series. In many an adaptation, complex character motivations are crunched by time constraints; If a movie adaptation includes a dramatic scene where a tough character punches out a snarky character after a sharp remark, it may seem like the tough character is casually violent. But in either the original novel or the novelization of the movie, it can be seen that the snarky character was always pestering the tough one until they gave in and erupted. Perhaps this was even meant to be filmed, but a lack of time or an objection by someone associated with the film caused it to be cut, leaving a scene that has now veered off far afield of the writer's intent. Yuka does, in fact, strike Kouta on some occasions in the manga, probably almost equal to the anime. But whereas the manga can go ten or more chapters between any angry incident with Yuka, to the anime viewer, she is striking him again in the very next episode, or even later that same episode. A necessary feature of screen adaptations is the flagging of certain aspects of the character, emphasized for good or ill. Bando is more aggressive; Mayu leaves her past behind more quickly; Nyu's progress is a bit stunted for humor, and so forth. Any reasonable moments Yuka has in the manga are mostly left behind, making her traits of suspicion and fragile feelings sometimes all that is left. In the manga, for example, Yuka is just as apt to warn Nyu about acting 'perverted' (and even in the anime, admits that Nyu is far worse in that regard) and also shows affection towards her without jealousy.

As mentioned elsewhere, another problem has been the legality (if still a relative rarity) in Japan of first cousins' marrying. This variant can make Yuka (and to a lesser extent Kouta) seem like she has even deeper problems than a temper and intense disappointment in their reunion. To those raised to believe a first or second cousin is simply a sibling once removed, their romance and likely eventual marriage can even seem revolting, and Yuka can seem a stalker with an immoral obsession. There has also been how she has shown jealousy of Kouta being around people that wouldn’t be able to consent to him anyways, such as the infantile Nyu and Mayu and Nana who are clearly little girls and aren’t romantic with him in the first place. One infamous scene for this criticism about her is where Kouta has to change Nyu’s clothes and Yuka thinks he is about to do something sexual towards her, and instead of feeling concerned that this person who cannot mentally consent is about to (in her view) be raped, she was angered because she felt jealous. While she does treat all the girls with hospitality it has been jarring for many how she directs aggressiveness at her cousin for her jealousy of girls being around him most of which aren’t capable of consent in the first place.

Conclusion: The intermix of all the factors listed above keep dislike of Yuka around, and each one can and does intensify the others. The wider exposure of information about the series can alleviate some of Yuka's problems. But since the author determined (seemingly) that it was she and not Lucy that won Kouta's hand in marriage, Yuka will likely always receive some fan ire.

Kouta (and Nyu)[]

The Controversy: Kouta has his fair share of dislike, just like his cousin Yuka, but to a lesser extent.

The Reasons for Controversy: Has an attraction to his cousin and his questionable situation with Nyu, is often criticized for being “bland and boring” by many people and some take issue with his memory problems.

Kouta has his own fair share of controversy and dislike. This mainly stems from people seeing him as someone who is boring and lacks a personality, as well as his attraction to his cousin and some behaviors many perceive as dumb. Kouta has Yuka, his own cousin, as a love interest and is even implied to marry her and have a kid with her in the manga. Kouta doesn’t receive as much hate as Yuka as she is seen as more of the pursuer and abuser in this relationship who constantly attacks him, but people still find discomfort with how Kouta has displayed attraction to his relative.

There is also how he is seen as a bland guy who doesn’t really do much, other than being an important part of Lucy’s history and one of the two people responsible for the Maple House as the main setting. While he is nice and friendly many take issue with how it seems to be one of his only character traits. His amnesia problem also gets mixed feelings as some people feel it’s forced and cliché while others think it would make sense for him to have amnesia after getting severely traumatized seeing his father and sister get murdered in front of him at such a young age. There is also the huge question of what he has been doing all this time in between the time after he gained his trauma and when he went to live in Kamakura. The anime states he was in a hospital for a year but nothing else is disclosed in either the manga or anime. It is possible that he was taken care of by his mother (if she even was alive which is unknown) or his grandparents but this is just speculation. It is unknown how he was able to go to school as well. This lack of knowledge on some parts of his life may annoy people or leave them questioning as it might not make them understand how much may effect him to end up so ignorant and what his life was like other than knowing he has amnesia.

Some people feel he was too forgiving of Lucy in the anime and completely hated her in the manga when neither are true. Both were a complicated mixed bag of feelings on his part and he never truly forgave Lucy for the killings she did and he still loved her (romantically in the anime, platonically in the manga) and saw her and Nyu as people he cared for in the end and just wished she stopped murdering. While Kouta saw Lucy as a romantic interest in the anime, Kouta in the manga saw Lucy/Nyu as a friend and sister and even was hesitant to kill the dying body of Lucy/Nyu/Kaede/DNA Voice because it reminded him of his last moments of Kanae and how she got killed in front of him and how much regret he felt from it. Ironically, Kanae being killed by the very same person Kouta ended up seeing as seeing as family like her. While Kouta in the manga did end up killing their dying body he felt very sad and heartbroken. How these conversations, talks and the way he finds out differ in each version but the result is still similar with Kouta not forgiving Lucy for what she had done but still can’t help but see Lucy/Nyu as someone he cared for and was even happy to see their twin reincarnations at the end of the manga. This misconception could also stem from the real life social perception that romantic love is somehow “greater” than platonic love, as well as how some people won’t give the full context behind Kouta saying he “hates Lucy” in the manga where arguably, Kouta is shown to love Lucy and Nyu even more in the manga, even being hesitant on letting them die while comparing them to his own defenseless and victimized little sister who died at Lucy’s hands is something he never did in the anime, even if his form of love was different than his one in the anime.

An even further controversy is his relationship with Nyu. While even a bit there in the anime and criticized then, it is even more explicit in the manga. Awkwardly, the manga is a bit contradictory on this making it seem like Kouta never saw Lucy/Nyu/Kaede as nothing more than a friend and family but also having scenes where he shows clear attraction to Nyu. This can add an extra layer of creepiness to him for people, as Nyu has the mentality of a baby or a toddler and cannot consent and how he is also meant to be like a partial big brother to Nyu in the found family setting. He also often compares Lucy/Nyu/Kaede to his dead sister Kanae. They may also find it annoying, weird and hypocritical with how the cousins call out Nyu on her “perverted behavior”, when she really is someone who can’t consent and understand what she is doing in the first place, meanwhile sometimes Kouta seems to let things happen with Nyu on some occasions while Yuka may become jealous of this girl who can’t consent. This had made some people go from being annoyed and bored with him to downright hating him and state that he is essentially molesting someone with the mentality of a child. There is even a scene in the manga where, despite the several complaints of Nyu being “perverted” throughout the story, Nyu ends up unintentionally (due to her mentality of course) sexually harassing Yuka to the point Yuka cries and Kouta just sits there in embarrassment of the moment and finds himself attracted to it. Both cousins’ concerns on their minds were more about the embarrassment of the “lewd moment” rather than on what is essentially two-way harassment, given Nyu’s mentality and the fully capable minded Yuka strangely letting this continue despite her clear discomfort, as well as knowledge of Nyu’s mindset, and somehow not perceiving the moment as a form of assault between two parties who both aren’t consenting towards one another and just brushing it off as a simple yet embarrassing perverted moment with neither of the more capable two trying to do or thinking of anything to actively stop it as much as one is just waiting for the “embarrassing scene” to be over. As it is one of the ecchi/fanservice moments of the series where characters may act even stranger than usual and contradictory even to themselves due to the writing of these types of moments and how it was treated as more comedic than disturbing, this scene shows an example of how the contradictions and treatment of these situations can be viewed as quite off-putting and can leave one confused on how characters may denounce something like sexual harassment one moment yet find it to be a simply bashful yet attractive moment the next. Even without Nyu’s baby mentality, Kouta was still under the assumption (even if not outright confirmed) that the girl at least looked 15, and while Kouta’s age is unknown, depending on if he is meant to be as young as 17 or as old as 20 (the latter being more likely), it still would leave huge potential for a concerning age gap or what would be one in his view. Even if there is no true strange age gap between them, in the perspective of Kouta being about 20 and Nyu being 15 in his eyes, it still would be weird that she was someone he at least viewed as 15. It doesn’t help how these often play in comedic moments either. Nyu herself has some criticisms of being a creepily sexualized infantile character and is also seen as a plot device just to prevent Lucy from killing people. Even with her eventual development and growth, it did not erase all those moments where she was depicted the way she was and some have criticized Nyu for what they deem as an offensive depiction of a disabled person. From a plural perspective, it can be even worse or a mixed bag in how she is either seen as just the same person as Lucy who acts and behaves different or gets to be seen as her own person by some. When it comes to more positive feelings about Nyu there are people who do like how she is a complete contrast to Lucy and how she represents someone Lucy wished she could be and can understand how she came to be because of head trauma.

When it came to the mangaka, Lynn Okamoto, he himself said that he felt Kouta's role was too passive and felt like an onlooker. So even the creator regrets some often criticized parts with his character and in turn he did create a character called Ryouta in Elfen Lied’s spiritual successor series, Brynhildr in the Darkness, to act as a sort of “improvement” on Kouta and one that ended up more active and developed. While of course the two do share some minor similarities, such as being the main seemingly “normal” male characters and childhood friends of the main female character, they also are so different from each other that Ryouta feels like an entire revamp of the character into a very distinct new one than someone who is simply based on Kouta, with many of Ryouta’s notable traits seeming to be in direct responses to many criticisms to Kouta’s character and reversing/flipping many of the traits Kouta had.

Conclusion: While far from the same level as Yuka, Kouta and Nyu both have their own reasons some people go from being annoyed or bored by them to absolutely hating them. While many do appreciate Kouta and Nyu’s kindness and the potential for their found family relationship, there has often been criticism on both of them as characters for several reasons by many viewers and readers.

Mayu/Bando & Nana/Kurama[]

The Controversy: The manga series ends with some distinct implications that the two youngest main characters, Mayu and Nana, ended up in adult relationships with two of the older male characters, the merc-like Bando and Doctor Kurama.

The reasons for the controversy: Mayu is, at a stretch, sixteen when the series ends, and perhaps as young as fourteen. Nana is physically between fourteen and sixteen, and chronologically, is probably as young as seven years of age, due to the roughly doubled aging process of Silpelit Diclonii.

Emotionally and physically, Bando and Kurama can sometimes seem the worst choices possible for these girls. Bando has struck or threatened Mayu and made a pronounced effort to push her away at times. Kurama permitted Nana to be experimented on at the Diclonius Research Institute and sent her to be an assassin against Lucy, an order she refused and yet she still nearly died horribly on her modified mission.

Neither girl can be said to exactly have their head on straight, any more than protagonist Lucy or her would-be paramour Kouta, a fact shared with all the residents of Maple House. It is perhaps unwise that either should even attempt to have a lifelong relationship with anyone, their strength of character and endurance aside.

Mayu is the victim of sexual abuse and parental abandonment, while Nana would be disabled without the artificial limbs moved about by her vectors. Both were lied to by those they once regarded as parents. While Nana's 'Papa' Kurama has many mitigating factors against his wrongs (chiefly, the manipulations and scrutiny of the Kakuzawas), Mayu's original parents have none. Their judgment, already undeveloped, may well be impaired by feelings about a new life a fantasy romance can bring. Also, Mayu's abuse may have made her at least averse to a physical relationship with a man, once even suspecting Kouta of being a pervert.

Compounding these factors is the condition of the men in question. Bando, as the old saying goes, was a man barely alive till rebuilt by bionics. An actual physically intimate relationship with Mayu is now impossible, and if his rebuilt body is based on technology similar to that used on the unfortunate Number 28, his renewed lifespan may be somewhat limited. Kurama is a man old before his time, with only his drive for atonement and love for Nana keeping him going. Also, it is implied he underwent a permanent procedure to prevent him from siring children ever again, something which is impossible with the sterile Nana in any event.

Lastly, there is the character of both men. Whatever their failings towards these girls, their feelings for them are genuine and positive, but not necessarily romantic in the way the girls might want. Kurama seems almost on the verge of dismissing Nana's notions of 'making babies' with her, while Bando was openly revolted by the pedophilic tendencies of the Unknown Man as he attacked Mayu.

In neither case is the possibility dismissed. Bando might only feel that attacking so young a girl is, of course, a wrong, while a consensual relationship is not out of the question. Characters in anime and manga tend to support or criticize a relationship based not on age (Barring the worst extremes, of course) but on the sincerity of emotion and devotion. In the iconic Maison Ikkoku series, the male lead at one point dates a high school girl he is several years older than and is only pilloried for perhaps stringing her along. Kurama has been seen to have his views on Nana evolve, from emotional lifeline to constant companion, and she is determined to no longer be a substitute for the deceased Mariko. Nana's place of residence after Yuka's mother raises concerns at issue, so if Nana were staying alone with Kurama, she might find that time to change his mind in the time they both have left. In both cases, a common trope of all fiction and especially anime and manga is the determination of a young woman in love. Doubtless, though, both relationships would face bumpy rides.

Theirs would soon be a world devastated by war, and in such a world, scrutiny upon relationships, so long as they were not abusive, might well fall away entirely. Even if all Bando and Mayu could have would be an emotional one wherein Mayu would tend to Bando as his time ran out, they might find this enough. Kurama and Nana are near all the other has left, and Nana's doubled aging would mean she would seem a mature woman within five years or less. Kurama could even just give in to Nana simply to have around the one he loves best, and it is not impossible that he would turn to her as the burdens of his life wore down upon him.

Conclusion: It is impossible on either side of the Pacific to entirely separate the ages of the young girls from feelings about their possible intended romantic targets. But their situations are unique, as are their bonds. Also, it is entirely possible that Lynn Okamoto intended us to see the love between Mayu and Bando as a spiritual journey only, and meant for us to see Nana's request as a silly one. As with most of these controversies, only the mangaka's word can solve this, and even then, his answer may not satisfy all.

Hating The Bullies[]

The Controversy: Tomoo, his two hench-boys and the girl who at the very least let them know that Lucy/Nyu had a puppy that she cared for are universally hated by all Elfen Lied fans, and are possibly the most unpopular kids in all of anime and manga. Such sweeping statements are often made in haste and are difficult to defend against criticism. In this case, the statement would at least be much easier to defend than most. It is sometimes said that what young Lucy did to them in retaliation was still a too light punishment, an astounding statement when one considers that we are talking about four children not yet ten years old, arguably not past the age of reason.

The Reasons For The Controversy: The emotional nature of the moment cannot be denied. Tomoo was merely the worst among a group seemingly dedicated to making this one girl's life miserable solely because of her horns. Not just the other children but the staff provided a drumbeat of hatred that Lucy both resented and internalized against herself. It is unknown whether newer orphanages have rules against telling children how they came to be there (those children who never knew anyplace else) but the staff seemed to have no problem telling Lucy how she was found, and it can be speculated some relished informing her of her abandonment after birth. Like as not, older children only avoided her, and even those who might wish to defend her had other concerns. Children her age either readily joined in the hate directed at her, either through the prejudice of their own or fear of the unrelenting Tomoo. It is implied that Lucy's attempt to entirely shut down her emotions was driven mostly by an effort to thwart Tomoo, and it is stated that this, in turn, had Tomoo resorting to the actions that got him and the others killed. His two followers will not be bothered with here; for story purposes, they were brainless followers, and they seemed this within the story as well.

Possible explanations: Of further interest is the girl that befriends Lucy after Tomoo pushes Lucy physically. This incident perhaps signifies that the staff, while indifferent to or contemptuous of the pain Lucy faced because of the taunts against her, drew the line at physical attacks, with Tomoo withdrawing at the threat of a teacher being informed (whether the girl was sincere or not). Ultimately, the girl breaks Lucy's trust and tells the bullies about the puppy. What comes to be in dispute is why she did this and under what circumstances. While the split in opinion on this seems to deeply favor a deliberate betrayal and set-up on the girl's part, those who hold to a lesser degree of culpability are firm in this belief, even if they are not united in how much less responsibility the girl bears.

One scenario, starting from the least deliberate premise, goes that the girl did want to befriend young Kaede/Lucy, and revealed her secret either through being tricked or being a blabbermouth or perhaps being threatened or otherwise pressured by Tomoo. Taken this idea to an extreme, it could even be argued that she told them of the puppy in an attempt to prove that Lucy was a nice person, and the attempt backfired.

Another, still leaning to the innocent category, is that the girl was a manipulator, but intended only as a harmless prank to be played on Lucy (at least relatively speaking), and that the intent to hurt the puppy was never hers.

A variant on the previous theory was that she fully intended to see Lucy, who she did not consider to be a real person, hurt, but not the puppy.

The grimmest theory merely holds that her befriending Lucy was all part of a set-up to gain her confidence and then hurt Lucy as deeply as they all could.

Evidence supporting theories of lesser culpability follow from that she offered an apology to Lucy and stated that she would never have told about the puppy had she known Tomoo's intent. She never joins in the violence.

Evidence supporting grimmer theories follow from such things as the timing of her emergence into the room where the puppy was killed. Also to be considered is the swiftness of how it was found by Tomoo, the fact that she made no attempt or real plea to stop the puppy's killing, and a smile spotted on her face while she half-covered her eyes from the spectacle. Lucy's flashback narrative seems a reliable one, but some have offered up that this smile came from her fevered imagination, in shock and pain from the killing and possible betrayal.

Conclusion : While no final conclusion can be reached, primal dislike or hate for these children is inevitable. Those four seem to become in the eyes of a reader/viewer everyone who has ever lied to or hurt them, and the fact that they beat and killed a puppy, a source of innocent love for a lonely child, capping off years of severe torment, seals their standing in amber. In some respects, a world war may be laid partially at their feet.

This moment is also frequently cited by critics of the series (along with depictions of Mayu's rape by her stepfather and the anime's first ten minutes) as being where the series went too far.

Did Aiko Takada somehow survive?[]

Lucy's last real friend before her imprisonment seemingly dies a victim of Kurama's quest to capture the Diclonius Queen. Plot-wise, she chiefly explains how the Diclonius Research Institute was able to capture someone as dangerous and cunning as Lucy in the first place. She is lately introduced, only twenty or so chapters before the conclusion of the manga series, and only in the OVA of the anime. Aiko is a final lifeline to Lucy's dwindling Humanity. Whereas she ends up falsely accusing and terribly wronging Kouta, Aiko she (in her mind) fails to protect and is lost to those who will not leave her be, even if her activities during this period are what drew their attention. It is not even Aiko's loss that seals in Lucy as a persona. After Aiko is taken to be cared for, Kurama informs the now-captive Lucy that she died. In the manga, Kurama follows this with a resentful taunt that the girl was wanted for the murder of her abusive father (something that is made unclear, at least to an extent, story-wise), and that Lucy could have saved her by surrendering sooner. In the anime, he merely announces her death. In both versions, this is also the start of Lucy's intense, focused hatred of Kurama, which will cost him dearly as the series goes on. But did she die at all?

The Controversy: As Wanta wanders Kamakura during the manga series finale, among the things he passes by is a poster adverting an art show by Aiko Takada, and showing what might be a portrait of Aiko grown to be a woman. This brief image is all we see, and only in this one panel. Aiko herself never appears, even though the finale has some characters thought certainly to have died to show up alive in one form or another. It is, in fact, a scene easily missed, and open to differing interpretations.

The Evidence For: While Aiko's apparent wounding and apparent death were simple, mortal ones, they were certainly not as hideously final as for say, that of Kanae or Kisaragi. A young body is strong, resilient, and a gunshot wound, entry point depending, is survivable. Kurama arguably had reasons to lie to Lucy. Emotionally, it is possible he held her responsible for not only the deaths and Diclonius-birth infections she did cause (and the deaths resulting from those Diclonius births), but for the ruin of his life. If there were no Lucy, then Mariko would have been an average child, and his wife Hiromi might still be alive. Further, he would never have been forced to enter the unquestioning service of the Kakuzawas, who at this point he thought of as merely distasteful bosses, rather than the megalomaniacs he later realized they were. While likely not assigning all blame away from himself, this resentment seems a real possibility, leading to an unwise nose-tweaking or simply hiding this happy news from one he hates. On another level, keeping news of Aiko's survival from Lucy gives her no reason to try and escape, to reunite with her friend, since Kurama likely knows nothing of Kouta, except perhaps as a survivor of a murder scene that he might or might not connect with Lucy. Since he had Lucy captive and thought her without any other outside connections, these thoughts, if he had them at all, were not at the front of his mind.

Presuming Kurama was given complete charge over a recovered Aiko, then clearing up (or covering up) the murder accusations against her and reuniting her with her mother was not out of the question since her mother was likely to leave Japan entirely with her daughter in tow, having an art career in Europe. Aiko was shown to have artistic talent, and being freed of her father's bad behavior, was likely encouraged by her mother till she had a career of her own. The poster could have been a return to Kamakura, maybe even one where she planned to try and find her friend from all those years ago. Again, quite a few characters were 'resurrected' in that last chapter, so one more is hardly out of place.

The Evidence Against: As with so many of these controversies, we cannot know the mind of mangaka Lynn Okamoto and what he intended for what character. One hard fact: The conclusion was already larger-sized than normal--another page showing a grown Aiko looking for Lucy seems not out of the question, if her survival is to be taken as a given. Back to Kurama, he had reasons to lie to Lucy, but he also had reasons not to lie. Saving Aiko would have shown Lucy that she sacrificed to achieve a result, and arguably calmed her down at least somewhat. Kurama's manga taunt could easily be seen as his guilt over this happening channeling itself in a way he would come to regret. Gunshot wounds are again iffy - the wrong entry point can all but guarantee death, slow or quick. Also, if Kurama truly wanted to antagonize Lucy, then denying care to a girl he saw as her patricidal accomplice would be possible, if vastly out of character for Kurama.

The next factor possibly putting Aiko back in the ground is that she is known to the Kakuzawas, and this places her on a scale of differing portrayals of the series' antagonists. Would she be overlooked and regarded as unimportant by the Chief who blindly believed that he was Diclonius and that Lucy would join him of her free will? Would she be killed in any event (or care covertly withheld without Kurama's knowledge) by the Chief who successfully infected the world, using almost everyone else to achieve his ends without them knowing it until it was far too late? Aiko, even if she was unlikely to be believed, had direct or indirect (she only sees Lucy's horns in the anime) knowledge of Diclonius, and of the girl called Lucy. Would the grandiose Kakuzawas simply warn her and send her on her way? Or would the no-loose-ends Kakuzawas make sure that Kurama's bullet was allowed to complete its work? The Chief might not even have been a factor in this since his son Professor Kakuzawa was also present as Lucy was taken into custody, and might have killed her with no more regret than he did Number 3.

Finally, there exists the possibility that the poster is not an indicator of her survival. It could simply be an homage by the mangaka, remembering this character as the series shuts down. In-universe, it could also have been for a show staged by Aiko's mother, using recovered sketches given to her after her daughter died, with the image being either the mother herself made up to look like her daughter or an image of Aiko aged by computer simulation. One of the most significant facts, is once again, the fact that of all the recovered characters, Aiko herself does not appear.

Conclusion: Either way, the moment is awkwardly placed, and leaves room for either interpretation, without offering final proof either way. It is almost the most tantalizing of these controversies, itself taunting the readers as Kurama did Lucy, although with a nearly complete non-answer.

Are Diclonius just natural-born killers?[]

The Controversy: Why are Diclonius so apt to kill almost any Human they encounter? This question goes to some of the core elements of the series, and like others listed here has no easy answer. It is not an accusation to say that Diclonius kill during the series, and sometimes they do so in a hideous and sadistic manner. Their power, when used cleverly almost, means that the ways and methods of these deaths are at their whim, almost a mental Aladdin's lamp for murder and cruelty. As depicted, no Diclonius merely kills for the sake of killing. One of the biggest qualifiers is and remains the age and conditions in which their powers emerge. Another very obviously is the treatment most shown in the series receive at the hands of Humans, particularly the employees and associates of Chief Kakuzawa. There does seem to be an innate drive to kill Humans in the form of the DNA Voice, but the series is yet still vague as to whether this voice is truly part of the species or something generated by Lucy's traumas. Two others hear such a voice, being Nana and Mariko Kurama's clone Barbara. But Nana overall is the biggest argument against Diclonius as born killers, and only heard this voice once at a time of primal stress and alienation. Barbara's claim for this, a claim made to Nana herself, must also be stepped back from, as Mariko's clones when uncontrolled seemed distillations of her cruelest and coldest traits, combined with rage at their mistreatment. Two of these four viable clones, including Barbara herself, recognize Kurama as their father, this despite one's claims of not caring about the connection.

When it comes to an answer, the huge difference relies on which version of the story. In the anime it focuses on making the Diclonius' nature of their violent urges as ambiguous as possible as it was made with the intent of the mystery of nature or nurture. So in this version it is mostly left up to the mind what can really be the cause of the way Diclonius truly act. In the manga however, while for a while it flip-flops on the nature of the Diclonius, it finally decides that Diclonii are all naturally violent and need to be killed off and remain a (mostly) extinct species in the end. However while the manga does try to give out many reasons, even aside from violent nature, for why the Diclonius "needs" to be killed off, it still has way to many contradictions within itself on the reasons it provides in why it does so. Very likely the more "broken" nature when it comes to the writing of the Diclonius in the manga has to do with how with the original intent wasn't to focus on the Diclonius in the first place with them originally being planned to be a secondary thing to add interest to a beginner mangaka's first serialized story that originally had a different focus, whereas the anime was an adaptation that already had (half of) a story already set up for them once the switch to focus on Diclonii more was made. Compare and contrast how a more experienced Lynn Okamoto fixed some of the original narrative flaws when writing his new sci-fi species when it comes to Witches in the series Brynhildr in the Darkness, a story he made upon request of making a story similar to Elfen Lied.

Conclusion: It appears the Diclonius do have an elevated killer instinct, perhaps directed at replacing Humans in various ways. But we see the example of one girl (Nana) treated more or less appropriately, another girl who boasted of not caring about her clone parent's parent, the original of that girl kept isolated from birth, and one girl with a lifetime of trauma all responded almost immediately to acceptance and the offer of real affection. In that light, it must be said that a few simple words from a man shot in 1980 could have saved the world of Elfen Lied a lot of grief. However much or little he lived by these words, John Lennon summed it up like this: All You Need Is Love - heed this, or you might see Lucy in the sky. In the end, an ambiguous answer or direct answer on their nature depends on the version.

Sympathy For The Diclonius (Queen)[]

The Controversy: Do the traumas Lucy has suffered make her horrible murderous actions comprehensible and somewhat forgivable, or do they place her flatly beyond any and all hope of redemption?

The Facts: Lucy did suffer a lot, particularly as a child. Even in that suffering's hideous finale, the crossover of her suffering against her actions is in play. As in many literary offerings going back for decades if not centuries or millennia, the antagonistic bully was paid back for their sadism by the very target they pushed too far. But those who argue that Tomoo and his bullies deserved their fate fall onto a slippery slope. They were loathsome, yet Lucy's actions against them cost her as well, and on more than one level. Lucy was still a child herself, and one who is enraged cannot be said to be entirely responsible for their actions. Even the murder of Kouta's family can be claimed to be the result of emotional confusion and bad judgment, again hallmarks of childhood. What followed has less consensus among fans of the series.

The removal of Nozomi and the song Elfenlied from the anime[]

The Controversy: Many fans disagree on whether Nozomi should have been in the anime.

The Reasons for The Controversy: Fans more in favor of the character's presence feel that she was the very reason the series was called Elfen Lied as the one who sings the song itself. Fans less in favor of her feel that she was a character who does little and contributed nothing of importance and that the anime replacing her with a music box showed how she wasn't necessary to them. However some people find themselves confused about why the series is called Elfen Lied, leading to longstanding misunderstandings such as the belief that the title refers to the English word "lied." The English narrator for the anime does use the pronunciation “leed” which fans of any version of the series insist is the true pronunciation but the Japanese narrator actually used the more correct pronunciation “leet” or the Japanese way of saying it “rito.” Some fans who do end up hearing the actual Elfenlied song have criticized it because they found it to be terrible and claimed that Lilium was better, whereas others found the lyrics of Elfenlied more relevant to the series, being the inspiration for Lucy and the Diclonius species, than random bible verses that weren’t part of the series origins and appreciated how the tone of the song goes well with the general running theme of mood whiplash found in Okamoto Lynn's works. In turn some found it silly how the lyrics and tune of the Elfenlied song is meant to be taken as sad yet it is a comical one and how Lilium is more emotional and the while the bible verses aren’t related to the origins of the series, they go well with the themes of sin and atonement and Elfen Lied's somewhat religious inspirations.

There is a bit of a "third argument" from some people who say that they do not care about the addition of a song through either device, as they say it would not alter or change the story in any major way if you took the Lilium music box or the singing Nozomi out, and both versions of the overall stories could have ultimately stayed the same since, while the songs may "add to the vibe" for some people, neither cause drastic changes to the overall plot, and that they do not care about the name for the series or why it is the name. While some other characters also get criticism for having a "lack of relevancy" or "doing nothing" for most of the story, most of them do have huge impact that does heavily alter the story in serious ways (such as Lucy, Kouta and Yuka being involved in each other's pasts, how the aftermath of Kouta and Lucy's relationship effected them in the future and how the two cousins set up the Maple House which is the main settlement for the protagonists) but some may also argue that not every single character must be super relevant to the overall plot as they can simply exist. There have been other examples of characters in other media who's involvement caused no huge impact to the story but remain hugely well liked and popular characters. Some characters aren't enjoyed due to their relevancy or impact but just because people enjoyed the characters as existing entities and there are many characters in media who don't impact the story but are more popular or favored over those who do. Something that technically can be seen as a bit more in favor of this argument is how the original intent/purpose of Elfen Lied was not to primarily focus on the Diclonius, sci-fi and organization/government related topics but the very human folks living at the Maple House and their endeavors before the mangaka's original idea got switched for both editorial reasons and viewer based reasons. So in Lynn's original plan, the story was intended to be more about the Maple House characters and their lives with the science-fiction stuff being more of a side plot as a way to add further interest and it is a common misconception that it was meant to be the other way around.

There is also the debate among some people as to whether or not she provided additional disabled representation as a person with incontinence and diapers at a older age than usual, or if she was only added for fetishistic purposes. This other angle of the character can go from people either not taking her very seriously or feeling very uncomfortable, a situation the series itself sometimes finds itself in. Those who do not take her seriously often give her the nickname of "The Pee Girl" or "Pee Pee Girl" as it's one of the things she's most remembered for aside from singing the song. Some people believe she is just there to provide "fetish fuel" and that it was the real reason she was created with others thinking there is more to her than that. However, it should also be noted that while Elfen Lied has very ecchi things in it, fetishization isn’t the intent in all scenarios. In a tweet made in 2013, Okamoto Lynn explained that he doesn't have any particular interest in omorashi (urine fetish), simply seeing it as a way to add flavor to a story. So he likely intended to use Nozomi's incontinence more as something to add a slight bit of drama or character conflict rather than for the purpose of inserting a fetish he never had to begin with. The author has been accused of fetishization by some people regarding other characters like Mayu, whose character was formerly unanimously understood to have her backstory of sexual abuse to be more about it being tragic rather than for the sake of having it be sexualized, but there have also been scenes where Mayu has been assaulted in other scenarios, outside of her tragic backstory, that are played for comedy/fanservice (like the ecchi Maple House scenes) and the infamous scene where she was almost raped by the Unknown Man, which him being a rapist didn’t add anything and seemed to be used as a cheap way to make him more evil than Bandou and for him to save Mayu, despite how the story could of still had the Unknown Man just be a dangerous attacker on Maple House which could of had the same effect of needing to call Bandou to save the day, leaving a mixed reaction among people. While Lynn Okamoto likely didn’t have fetishistic intent with the Unknown Man, the character has still been controversial, even among some fans of the series, as he was seen as a very cheap and forced way to make a character seem more evil when what his most infamous thing he does doesn’t seem to add anything other than the purpose of making him more despicable. While some of Nozomi’s criticism could stem from people being close-minded and hating her just for having incontinence, a lot of these opinions seem to stem from people not having actual context on what the creator’s intentions are so they lack education on it and spread misinformation that he does “indeed” have a fetish on something despite him saying he doesn’t. The fact that Nozomi is a high schooler can add to readers and viewers feeling uncomfortable adding to existing controversy on how the other younger characters were handled, although it should be noted that considering her character arc of being in her final year of high school and about to take her university entrance exams, this would make her 18 years old.

The Conclusion: Nozomi is just another character who has certain factors that can make her be seen as comical, uncomfortable or unimportant but also emotional and kind so how viewers tend to feel about her as a character will vary. When it comes down to the song itself, many fans will feel differently about it, but Lilium proved to be a very iconic and preferred song among fans, something often liked even by critics of the anime. The anime was planning to place the Elfenlied song for Lucy to sing but removed it likely because, narratively, Lucy never learned it, making it seem like it came out of nowhere. Considering the amount of dislike the Elfenlied song got from some fans who heard it, its removal appeared satisfactory to them, whereas others were left confused and disappointed by the reason for the title being replaced by an unrelated anime-original song. Then there is the other group of people who don’t care about the series name to begin with and don’t care about the addition of any kind of song. Ironically enough, considering the themes of the series, the discourse Nozomi receives for her incontinence and how people felt it was handled serves quite well as proof of why the inclusion of her and her issues in Elfen Lied is very apt. It is likely that it is no coincidence how she is the one to teach Nyu the titular song, as being an abused disabled person herself she can understand and relate to how the Diclonius feel as an outcast.

The exact year and time period of Elfen Lied[]

The Controversy: While not much of a controversy as it is more of a question, the exact year or even time period Elfen Lied is meant to take place in is a bit of a question among some fans. Most seem to go with the idea that it is meant to take place in the 2000s and/or 90s but with an unspecified year but others have theories that it takes place in a distant or not so distant future. Both of these ideas can be plausible as an exact time period is never mentioned.

Evidence for the possible future: Some with the idea that the story takes place some point in the future feel like it may or may not be so far ahead but because of the special gadgets and super science seen in the series, that not even we have today, that is evidence for some that it could take place in the future. While the anime didn't reach that far into the story where the technology would get more and more advanced, the manga does have more advanced technology as the story goes on. It is also not uncommon for ideas of "future humans" to evolve psychic powers or other types of abilities beyond what we have now and some think the Diclonii were meant to represent a type of future human that evolved years past when the real life story was being written. Stories with apocalyptic or world ending themes can often take place in the future. Even if the environment seems modern for it's time it could just be the easiest way to reference things for mundane scenarios if one is trying to make a future setting that isn't trying to be focused on being overly futuristic. There are other forms of media that take place in the future for it's time that have elements of the modern day when the story was being written and can even be seen as outdated once the real years of said future media have finally happened.

Evidence for 2000s/90s: Most people go with the idea that it takes place in the 2000s (or 90s for the current day but most think only the flashbacks are in the 90s) because that is when the story was written and the environment seems like it would be modern enough for that era. It is not impossible for the story to also just be an alternative take of the 2000s where in the world of Elfen Lied, such advanced technology has already been a thing for a while even if it may only be in the hands of the authority, scientists, government or secret organizations. Just because the Diclonii are a newly evolved mutant species with immense powers does not mean it automatically takes place in the future of when the story was written. Apocalyptic and world ending events can also take place in any time in any media. However if Elfen Lied was meant to take place in the mid or late 2000s, as a story that was originally written in the early 2000s, that would technically mean the story takes place in the future of when it came out but that isn't too much time to be so far ahead.

A third option: Another possibility is that Lynn Okamoto never thought of an specific time period, year or date in the first place. He may have only thought of things like if a scene takes place at night or day or what season should it currently be. Lynn is not the best with time and many errors with time can show up within the story. He had initial ideas for Elfen Lied but many ideas weren't planned until a later time. He wasn't planning the series to last long at first, due to the lack of confidence as a beginner artist making his first serialized manga, but was glad to continue as the story got more attention. It is unknown what all possible ideas were and which went unused and which were added much later but an example would be how he said in an interview that one of the central characters, Nana, was not part of his initial design for Elfen Lied but came later as the story itself went on. An example for an unused idea is that in a closed blog of Okamoto, Nana replaced the role of a character who was going to be Yuka's friend and a human. The character was different from Nozomi as this was another college student of the same age as Yuka and not a kohai, as well as a different character description. Who knows how different things would have been if the character wasn't replaced. These examples are just used to show how some things weren't planned until later so if important things could have ended up different, then something like the time itself could have been planned much later or never at all. Lynn has also said he never thought of things like an exact birthday for each of the characters and didn't give Lucy and Nozomi canon birthdays until two fans asked him what they were and he decided to make their canon birthdays based off of the fans who asked him respectively. Perhaps he did come up with an idea for an exact time and date but since a lot of elements in the story seem to be added later on it could be very unlikely.

In Conclusion: Until an official confirmation comes out, the time and date of the story is left up to the viewer.

The Aftermath of Mariko and the Clones[]

The Controversy: There is a mixed reaction among some people about some of the things caused in the aftermath of Mariko’s death/arc as well as the existence of her clones.

The Reasons For: Some people enjoyed how in one version of the story, Kurama dies with Mariko in an almost symbolic and conclusive manner, at a time when the story was only half complete, where as others enjoy Mariko sacrificing herself while Kurama lives on in instead in the version that continued. But even among some people who enjoyed the continuous nature of the manga, some don’t enjoy what happened afterward when it came down to things in relation to Mariko and her relatives. As the anime variant concludes after the Mariko arc it will not be much discussed here.

Kurama is a man who has been murdering children born Diclonii. It has been his job for years to experiment on these beings and he has been conflicted and hypocritical, disliking those such as Lucy for not complying with humanity yet he has shown some guilt and sadness over how some of the kind is treated. He has made fun of his former assistant, Oomori, joking around that his child could be born as a Diclonius at a time when they didn’t know what was causing them to be born. Once it happens, Kurama says he will kill her himself when Oomori objected to it because a father couldn’t allow it and left the facility because he was traumatized. Almost in a twisted fate of karma, realizing what caused the virus because of it, Kurama himself now has a child who is a Diclonius who he has to take the life of only to end up keeping her alive because of a wish of his dying wife to keep the child. Mariko ended up being locked up the rest of her life as a “monster” with growing power who could only reach out and kill people and was manipulated by Saito into thinking her birth father just wanted to dispose of her while not giving her the full story.

Once Mariko and her birth father finally have met, and after all the fighting and discussing that has happened, Mariko ends up accepting and enjoying how her father truly loved and wanted her and that’s all she ever asked for, even if she was angry at keeping her alive to suffer she did still love him realizing why he did so. In the anime, after all of what sin and hypocrisy Kurama has done that has effected his daughters life, he finally dies with Mariko peacefully and tells Nana to go with her other found family seeing she has another group of people who care for her. In the manga, Kurama was needed to continue other parts of the story so it is Mariko who is the one who tells Kurama and Nana to stay with each other and she sacrifices herself on her own to fight Lucy and protect her family, after being satisfied she got the positive conversation with her father she wanted so badly. After the death of Mariko in a fight with Lucy, that lets Nyu front for six months, Kurama is shattered and for several months becomes a mentally broken and homeless man, who dismisses Nana for a time being, until later on he goes back to normal again.

Some people felt it was a satisfactory ending for Mariko and Kurama to just die together and didn’t like how Kurama lived on and have his personality decay for a while and feel like his character had regressed. Others enjoy how he continued to live and be active in the rest of the plot and how he got to stay with Nana, albeit the nature of their eventual relationship is another controversy discussed in a previous section. Kurama himself aside, there were some who didn’t like the Mariko clones because they say it made Mariko’s death feel more pointless and meaningless if it ended up being revealed she had thousands of expendable clones they could have used instead. While how one feels about what happened to Kurama may be a more opinionated matter, arguably some criticism about the clones as elements in the story can make sense as there are many narrative issues with them. While there is a sensible plot reason in using Mariko, because Kakuzawa felt betrayed by Kurama releasing Nana and used his biological daughter as punishment, using several clones would have also made sense strategically, if not more so, as they could have used mind controlled devices on all of these clones as an army against Lucy. There is no reason why they haven’t already used a mind controlled army of Diclonii or why they haven’t inserted more of this controlling tech in more of them already. Why they waited an entire six months to do so, after three failed attempts pre-timeskip, is a whole ‘nother can of worms, especially since the final attempt of capture on Lucy, with the clones involved, ended up being the most successful. The clone Diclonii also probably shouldn’t even exist in the story and have way too many time issues, many more issues with the clones discussed in greater detail here.

It seems one issue is that the clone arc and many of the highly advanced tech in the later half of the story seems to be that it appears to be added later. Perhaps if initially planned and shown or implied in earlier parts, things would have felt more natural and less out of place. But because many elements seem to just be made later, it sticks out in a way that isn’t pleasant for many, serving more as ways to continue the plot and add interest rather than something that was a more established part of the world that feels like it genuinely could have previously been there and not merely just to add more entertainment for the second half of a story.

Alternatively, some didn’t like how the clones were mistreated (as well as the several unnamed other Silpelits) and while tragically abused, most of them never got proper comeuppance against those they were abused by or are just gruesomely killed as expandable beings, despite all they went through, and how the island sinks with many of the tortured Diclonii. The way the story wasn’t consistent or certain on Diclonius’ nature until it decided they all needed to be killed for many nonsensical and/or contradictory reasons or reasons shown with contradictions to them doesn’t help either. There is the added fact of, despite the ending saying their kind’s extinction was a “certainty” and “necessity”, it is also left open, via the ambiguous species of the twins, if the Diclonius kind can or did survive or not and could potentially be able to prosper. Which makes the infamous “extinction” plot even more nonsensical and contradictory. (To be fair on Okamoto’s part this constant switching and indecisiveness could have been the result of the divisive fan and viewer reaction on the Diclonius and not being able to make up his mind on which side to satisfy.) So the treatment of killing much of the abused kind being portrayed as something heroic or necessary didn’t sit well with some, as many of the beings only knew pain and suffering. A lot of people wished that instead of extinction, the humans and Diclonius could have found a way to live in peace, as there is still evidence of Diclonii who never acted dangerously towards people with Nana and even some violent Diclonii who love some humans, rather than completely wiped out.

Bottom Line: Most of the issues seem to surface from a rough handling of how the story went. Many things that were planned later didn’t sit well with people or just felt out of place or had many issues in the plot itself. Some just didn’t like how things were done emotionally. It is also part of the much debate on the Diclonius and how many didn’t like how their fate was left, with Mariko and her clones ending up showing a huge part of that in the later parts of the story. TL;DR: A lot of things within the story, famous, infamous or neither, was the result of Writing by the Seat of Your Pants which either led to many potential “fixes” of scrapped ideas/retconning or making things “much worse” than they potentially could have been.

For horned people, there is no place to turn to, wherever you look.

Nana, citing the conflict she herself practically embodies

Controversy

"You're Nuts! The Munsters are way cooler than The Addams Family!"

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