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Elfen Lied: Vector 4

By noghri
27th Sep 06

Vol 4

I can safely say that no series has got my blood up as much as this has, from the first episode of this show I couldn’t wait to find the conclusion, would it live up to my hopes and dreams, do I have a problem dreaming about things like this,

The mysterious organization protecting humanity from the deadly power of the Diclonius is faced with the devil’s bargain. Will they unleash #35, the deadliest mutant yet, to hunt Lucy down? Or will they risk letting the notorious killer slip through the cracks? Things have never been easy for the young misfits at the heart of this battle, but they’ve never had it harder than this. As Kohta learns how Nyu’s past is inextricably tied to his life’s greatest tragedy, he may find that protecting her means destroying himself. Even those who have already lost pieces of themselves to this brutal fight have more to lose. As Nana goes from hunter to hunted, and Bandoh from lawman to outlaw, the shadow of death creeps closer. And what of the man who the diclonius call “Papa?” How far will Kurama go?

Review

In this volume we see the introduction of the mysterious new 3rd stage diclonius and discover a little of her past, it is clear that she is the most callous hate filled diclonius introduced in the show and her apparent disregard for human life is unmatched, even when compared to that of lucy.

There is a lot of explaining to be done and rather than explore through flashback as so much of the show has done a lot of dialogue is involved, but this does not compare to the amount of action squeezed into the final three episodes.

I have no interest in spoiking this show for you, and although my earlier reviews explain in great detail the plot I will do no such thing in this final volume, all I will say id that it lives up to my expectations, although I did not forsee the ending it brought a nice close to the show and although I would love any expansion of the story I am sated for now.

Overall

Vector four is the series finale, and so it had a lot to measure up to, to satisfy my expectations. Although being only 4 disks long it has developed a complex back story and had a lot still to be explained, not least the clifhanger of introducing a brand new character last thing at the end of the last volume. Who was this character, what are the abilities of the 3rd generation diclonius and what is going to happen when she is released.

With all this in mind it seems a little crazy to just have three episodes on this disk, but then again the story line they have packed into this short series is phenomenal. And helps to demonstrate the quality of production and planning gone into this show. Not only is it amazingly beautiful it is also deeply disturbing and thought provoking, the dichotomy of the content is utterly enthralling. I have said it before and I will say it again this is in my opinion the best title released so far this year, although it may not be for all audiences this is my personal favourite in a long time, and will take some beating. It is a cruel and dark horror, and at the same time a story of childhood innocence and the creation of a family of friends brought together under unusual circumstance.

Elfen lied both warms your heart and rips it out in one fell swoop … buy it.

Elfen Lied Highly recommended

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Elfen Lied: Vector 4

R2 DVD Notes

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