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Elfen Lied Omnibus #10-12
Elfen Lied, Omnibus 3-in-1, Volume 4
It all ends here. A sudden attack on the Maple House places Kouta, Yuka, and the rest of the gang hostage under a group of equipped soldiers led by Nousou!
This confrontation sparks Kouta to recollect the missing pieces of his past which may ultimately be chained to the history of the Diclonius Research Institute. . .
Lynn Okamoto's beloved series is now available in English for the very first time, presented here in a special omnibus collecting three volumes in one! The stunning conclusion to the beloved sci-fi manga!
Collects Japanese Elfen Lied Volumes 10-12.
This confrontation sparks Kouta to recollect the missing pieces of his past which may ultimately be chained to the history of the Diclonius Research Institute. . .
Lynn Okamoto's beloved series is now available in English for the very first time, presented here in a special omnibus collecting three volumes in one! The stunning conclusion to the beloved sci-fi manga!
Collects Japanese Elfen Lied Volumes 10-12.
680 pages, Paperback
Published June 2, 2020
11 people are currently reading
144 people want to read
About the author
Lynn Okamoto
99 books80 followersLynn Okamoto (岡本倫 Okamoto Rin) is a Japanese manga artist and a former employee of Bandai. His most famous work is the series Elfen Lied, which was adapted into a 13-episode anime series by the studio Arms. He lives in Tokyo, Japan.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
May 25, 2021
I did it, I'm done with this messy ass series.
Once again the backstory was interesting, as was the history of the dicloni even though it was an info dump. There were actual moments of dread and horror that didn't involve someone blowing off someone's head.
The conclusion and epologue were ok, some parts decent some dumb. Once again all the characters here are dumb, flat, and gave me zero reason to care about anything emotional that happened. More weird father daughter moments and parental abuse. This series as a whole just reuses the same character dynamics and plot points, trying to have surprising reveals when we know there are just more clones, so and so really isnt dead even though they got blown to pieces, and there is another secret department doing something.
Glad to be done, this was hands down the most disappointing read of the year. The backstory of Lisa and what's his face was so good, it is a bummer to see the potential there and not get the execution. This was only a 12 volume series, and it felt like it dragged on forever with all the filler and backtracking.
Once again the backstory was interesting, as was the history of the dicloni even though it was an info dump. There were actual moments of dread and horror that didn't involve someone blowing off someone's head.
The conclusion and epologue were ok, some parts decent some dumb. Once again all the characters here are dumb, flat, and gave me zero reason to care about anything emotional that happened. More weird father daughter moments and parental abuse. This series as a whole just reuses the same character dynamics and plot points, trying to have surprising reveals when we know there are just more clones, so and so really isnt dead even though they got blown to pieces, and there is another secret department doing something.
Glad to be done, this was hands down the most disappointing read of the year. The backstory of Lisa and what's his face was so good, it is a bummer to see the potential there and not get the execution. This was only a 12 volume series, and it felt like it dragged on forever with all the filler and backtracking.
January 19, 2021
I rarely cry with books or manga. This is one of the few that hit me so hard in the feels.
June 12, 2021
What an ending omg 😭
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 28, 2021
Well that was depressing. Couldn't have expected a different ending though. Sad it's over, but it was a lovely story.
November 27, 2020
I honestly feel like this series really grew over time. I feel like it started out with the main male character moving into a place for college and more and more women/girls moving in and him getting into "awkward" situations with him, but somewhere in the second omnibus it changed and became much more a story about the Diclonii with one group trying to get them to take over the world and another group trying to eradicate them all.
I feel like this omnibus volume really brought things together, tied up loose ends, and actually ended really well and in a way that was fitting to the story.
There was good character development over the course of the series, it had a good pace and good artwork. I do feel like Nyu/Lucy changed in look over the course of the series, but it wasn't enough to make it distracting.
With content warning (it's not for kids) I would probably recommend this series to others.
I feel like this omnibus volume really brought things together, tied up loose ends, and actually ended really well and in a way that was fitting to the story.
There was good character development over the course of the series, it had a good pace and good artwork. I do feel like Nyu/Lucy changed in look over the course of the series, but it wasn't enough to make it distracting.
With content warning (it's not for kids) I would probably recommend this series to others.
May 5, 2024
Afgemaakt waar ik vijftien jaar geleden ooit eens mee was begonnen. Niet helemaal mijn stijl (wel héél weeby), maar fijn om het af te sluiten. Uiteindelijk bleek het een veel serieuzer verhaal te zijn dan ik had gedacht en dat is een goed ding! Een verdrietig maar goed einde van het verhaal.
October 12, 2020
And with this the story has come to an end, it is very bittersweet and messy but the story is wrapped up. The mention of medicine kind of mirrors issues going on in 2020, which I hope to see resolved. The promise of the epilogue’s ending is intriguing and I hope gets followed upon. I also wish the proper ending had made its way into anime, maybe there could be a reboot.
July 11, 2021
Volume score: 3
Series score: 3.25
I think what I can most compare this manga to is a boxing match between a promising new fighter, and a veteran, where the fight is a damn good one, but the in the end the newbie loses. Okamoto throughout this whole series has been punching above his weight class. He wanted to draw something better than he was capable of, wanted to write trauma better than he was capable, and wanted to write the world darker than it really is (by how much is up for debate). And had he not constantly went up against these impossible odds, he probably wouldn't have ever created anything nearly as memorable.This isn't the best debut I've seen from a manga artist, but I do think it might be the most ambitious. Yeah you have One Piece and Berserk which were both debuts that were epic in *scope*, but Elfen Lied wanted depth over length and tries to ground itself in the real world, while making great use of the "speculative" part of speculative fiction. I want to be sure that there is no veiled insult in the following statement though: I think the next time I want to experience this story, I'll pick the anime back up. I mean NO insult there, the anime has long been lauded as one of the best adaptations in anime, and now that English editions of the manga are widely available, will likely go down as one of the biggest improvements from one medium to the other. And the reason the anime is so good is because it follows Okamoto's vision, rather than his execution. The anime does a lot right, it improves in many aspects, but for all that, he wasn't given the option to go back and redo the initial volumes with the experience he had gained from doing more. He talks about getting to add a page here and there, but that's about it. Unlike how a novel is sold to a publisher in drafted state, a manga creator sells a concept, and when it gets picked up they have to constantly move the story forward on some insane deadlines. The story we get through the anime (albeit it's only the first half of the story) is likely the way we would have received were it published in big chunky releases, rather than 18 pages a week. (and at some points 40 pages a month) The story is a great concept with wonderfully realized themes, but it's deeply flawed from a lack of experience. I recommend everyone read the manga at least once if you're into manga, or scifi horror, but I more recommend that you rent it from a library than buy it (MSRP on this set is $100, and that's a little steep for the quality imo). The anime is one I think belongs in every anime fan's collection.
Beyond this point lie spoilers.
I think it ends fairly well. It certainly feels climactic and like the series got to play out as Okamoto intended, however some of the decisions are a bit odd and worthy of scrutiny. The Director by this point has just gone flying past the maniacal and into a realm that I can no longer empathize with. The end with the song Elfen Lied went beautifully...but it made Nozomi seem even less necessary since that's the main thing she contributes, and the anime pulls off something similar with Lilium simply by having Nyu find a music box. Didn't have to introduce a new character (or a new fetish), to get that scene to still resonate just as much. Also the Dark Horse translation leaves virtually all of this in German, only translating around 3-5 lines to English. Weird choice imo. They don't even include a full translation at the back. And I think my biggest criticism is that the manga doesn't seem to know what it is by the end. The romcom aspects are so far back you can't see them in the rearview, and they're so outnumbered by other types of scenes that can't serve their purpose as juxtaposition, but the ending loses a ton of punch without those feelings from the earlier volumes. The ending also takes more cues from disaster movies than scifi horror movies and when you hit something that big, you get spectacle or awe rather than fear. Also when you set up world ending stakes in a series with only one world...well I don't think I've ever seen the world lose in any form of media, so anyone that's read or watched much stuff that hits that "disaster" button, immediately primes us to expect a win from the protagonists, even more than just the fact they're the protags. And that's basically what we get. And, considering the incredibly unfortunate amount of unforshadowed ass-pulls we get, expecting a big loss is just unlikely, which kills tension. (Also...just, so, SO many ass-pulls from the villains).
Series score: 3.25
I think what I can most compare this manga to is a boxing match between a promising new fighter, and a veteran, where the fight is a damn good one, but the in the end the newbie loses. Okamoto throughout this whole series has been punching above his weight class. He wanted to draw something better than he was capable of, wanted to write trauma better than he was capable, and wanted to write the world darker than it really is (by how much is up for debate). And had he not constantly went up against these impossible odds, he probably wouldn't have ever created anything nearly as memorable.This isn't the best debut I've seen from a manga artist, but I do think it might be the most ambitious. Yeah you have One Piece and Berserk which were both debuts that were epic in *scope*, but Elfen Lied wanted depth over length and tries to ground itself in the real world, while making great use of the "speculative" part of speculative fiction. I want to be sure that there is no veiled insult in the following statement though: I think the next time I want to experience this story, I'll pick the anime back up. I mean NO insult there, the anime has long been lauded as one of the best adaptations in anime, and now that English editions of the manga are widely available, will likely go down as one of the biggest improvements from one medium to the other. And the reason the anime is so good is because it follows Okamoto's vision, rather than his execution. The anime does a lot right, it improves in many aspects, but for all that, he wasn't given the option to go back and redo the initial volumes with the experience he had gained from doing more. He talks about getting to add a page here and there, but that's about it. Unlike how a novel is sold to a publisher in drafted state, a manga creator sells a concept, and when it gets picked up they have to constantly move the story forward on some insane deadlines. The story we get through the anime (albeit it's only the first half of the story) is likely the way we would have received were it published in big chunky releases, rather than 18 pages a week. (and at some points 40 pages a month) The story is a great concept with wonderfully realized themes, but it's deeply flawed from a lack of experience. I recommend everyone read the manga at least once if you're into manga, or scifi horror, but I more recommend that you rent it from a library than buy it (MSRP on this set is $100, and that's a little steep for the quality imo). The anime is one I think belongs in every anime fan's collection.
Beyond this point lie spoilers.
I think it ends fairly well. It certainly feels climactic and like the series got to play out as Okamoto intended, however some of the decisions are a bit odd and worthy of scrutiny. The Director by this point has just gone flying past the maniacal and into a realm that I can no longer empathize with. The end with the song Elfen Lied went beautifully...but it made Nozomi seem even less necessary since that's the main thing she contributes, and the anime pulls off something similar with Lilium simply by having Nyu find a music box. Didn't have to introduce a new character (or a new fetish), to get that scene to still resonate just as much. Also the Dark Horse translation leaves virtually all of this in German, only translating around 3-5 lines to English. Weird choice imo. They don't even include a full translation at the back. And I think my biggest criticism is that the manga doesn't seem to know what it is by the end. The romcom aspects are so far back you can't see them in the rearview, and they're so outnumbered by other types of scenes that can't serve their purpose as juxtaposition, but the ending loses a ton of punch without those feelings from the earlier volumes. The ending also takes more cues from disaster movies than scifi horror movies and when you hit something that big, you get spectacle or awe rather than fear. Also when you set up world ending stakes in a series with only one world...well I don't think I've ever seen the world lose in any form of media, so anyone that's read or watched much stuff that hits that "disaster" button, immediately primes us to expect a win from the protagonists, even more than just the fact they're the protags. And that's basically what we get. And, considering the incredibly unfortunate amount of unforshadowed ass-pulls we get, expecting a big loss is just unlikely, which kills tension. (Also...just, so, SO many ass-pulls from the villains).
January 14, 2021
This review is for the entire series.
Synopsis: Lucy is a special breed of human referred to as Diclonius, born with a short pair of horns and invisible telekinetic hands that lands her as a victim of inhumane scientific experimentation by the government. However, once circumstances present her an opportunity to escape, Lucy, corrupted by the confinement and torture, unleashes a torrent of bloodshed as she escapes her captors. During her breakout, she receives a crippling head injury that leaves her with a split personality: someone with the mentality of a harmless child possessing limited speech capacity. In this state of instability, she stumbles upon two college students, Kouta and his cousin Yuka, who unknowingly take an injured fugitive into their care, unaware of her murderous tendencies. This act of kindness will change their lives, as they soon find themselves dragged into the shadowy world of government secrecy and conspiracy.
Review: A horrifically violent, gruesomely sexualized, shocking and depressing series that's further intensified by the horrific acts done to a group of young girls. The things we are forced to watch happen to them is sickening, which makes their bloody vengeance and murderous rampages almost justified, if it wasn't for the ridiculously high body count of innocent civilians and bystanders.
Everyone in this series is an extreme sadist, the type of people that would beat a puppy to death with a glass vase just to spite another person. I admit, the shock value can get tiresome and pointless in certain instances, but from the standpoint of a horror flick, it can be entertaining to see just how much you are able to endure. Reminiscent of old-school slasher movies with excessive splatter and gore. Shock value for the sake of shock value. It can get redundant, but it can also be entertaining if you're looking for simpler entertainment.
There are plenty of flaws in the series as well as very awkward and misplaced moments that drag down the overall serious tone, but it's something I feel happy having experienced. It's a great example of exploring the minds of very tragic and emotionally broken characters. These instances of incredibly sad, memorable and heart-wrenching moments are the saving grace of the series.
***
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Synopsis: Lucy is a special breed of human referred to as Diclonius, born with a short pair of horns and invisible telekinetic hands that lands her as a victim of inhumane scientific experimentation by the government. However, once circumstances present her an opportunity to escape, Lucy, corrupted by the confinement and torture, unleashes a torrent of bloodshed as she escapes her captors. During her breakout, she receives a crippling head injury that leaves her with a split personality: someone with the mentality of a harmless child possessing limited speech capacity. In this state of instability, she stumbles upon two college students, Kouta and his cousin Yuka, who unknowingly take an injured fugitive into their care, unaware of her murderous tendencies. This act of kindness will change their lives, as they soon find themselves dragged into the shadowy world of government secrecy and conspiracy.
Review: A horrifically violent, gruesomely sexualized, shocking and depressing series that's further intensified by the horrific acts done to a group of young girls. The things we are forced to watch happen to them is sickening, which makes their bloody vengeance and murderous rampages almost justified, if it wasn't for the ridiculously high body count of innocent civilians and bystanders.
Everyone in this series is an extreme sadist, the type of people that would beat a puppy to death with a glass vase just to spite another person. I admit, the shock value can get tiresome and pointless in certain instances, but from the standpoint of a horror flick, it can be entertaining to see just how much you are able to endure. Reminiscent of old-school slasher movies with excessive splatter and gore. Shock value for the sake of shock value. It can get redundant, but it can also be entertaining if you're looking for simpler entertainment.
There are plenty of flaws in the series as well as very awkward and misplaced moments that drag down the overall serious tone, but it's something I feel happy having experienced. It's a great example of exploring the minds of very tragic and emotionally broken characters. These instances of incredibly sad, memorable and heart-wrenching moments are the saving grace of the series.
***
My Social Media
My YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPs...
My Instagram Account: https://www.instagram.com/michael_sor...
My Wattpad Account: https://www.wattpad.com/user/Michael-...\
April 3, 2024
This only gets 2 stars because of Lucy and Nana and my bias towards them. At this point the series seems to have basically lost all meaning. Like we are coasting through space and we don't know or care where we are going. This absolutely didn't end how I expected it to but thats mostly because I had given up on this making any sense. Character dialog in this felt so blah, it wasn't great before but I feel like this had the worst. We used some of the biggest words in this volume and yet they seemed to mean basically nothing, just vaguely emotional ramblings that seemed like they were trying to instill a sense of impending doom or even legacy but just always landed as a long drawn out splats of empty words. Maybe I'm just tired because reading this was a chore for me, I had to know what the anime never told me. Now I do and I see why they stopped lol that being said I think this was the least pervy volume yet, not for this volumes lack of trying (we still shoved them in where we could), but there was genuinely too much action and gore to leave much room for unnecessary nudity and pervy antics this time around which I am NOT complaining about lol That being said the ending also really just seemed like a rushed hot mess as well. My final opinion is Elfen Lied is a rather poorly written and purely explicit waste of my time that appears to be gross for the sake of being gross. Tiny me needed better supervision because for some reason she thought there was meaning somewhere in this mess and there absolutely isn't, and now adult me probably needs therapy.
October 10, 2022
Wow, feels good to FINALLY be done with this odd series. It was so utterly dreadful in feeling, and there is absolutely no hope for any of the people involved in this world.
I do like knowing how it all ended. I started reading this back in highschool YEARS ago, and I'm thrilled to finally know how everything wrapped up. But, it was not what I expected at all. I thought the whole history of the diclonius thing was interesting. I guess I wanted more on the director's daughter...how did she just flop back to normal after all that?? I was a bit confused.
I do not recommend this series to anyone in all honesty..it was absolutely not an enjoyable read in most cases. I was more curious about the ending and the lore behind the diclonius.
The ending was very info-dumpy. A lot of the characters do things for stupid non reasons. Excuses galore and dialogue
Glad I finally finished it!!! Woohoo!!!!
I do like knowing how it all ended. I started reading this back in highschool YEARS ago, and I'm thrilled to finally know how everything wrapped up. But, it was not what I expected at all. I thought the whole history of the diclonius thing was interesting. I guess I wanted more on the director's daughter...how did she just flop back to normal after all that?? I was a bit confused.
I do not recommend this series to anyone in all honesty..it was absolutely not an enjoyable read in most cases. I was more curious about the ending and the lore behind the diclonius.
The ending was very info-dumpy. A lot of the characters do things for stupid non reasons. Excuses galore and dialogue
Glad I finally finished it!!! Woohoo!!!!
February 18, 2024
Definitely worth the read if you enjoy really messed up morals.
The story is very engaging and keeps you guessing at every turn. The characters are simply beautiful and filled with life and growth throughout the story.
But most of all, this series is REALLY dark. There are a lot of graphic messed up things that happen. Horribly grotesque thoughts and actions by some characters and all around the world despite being fantasy feels very real. I can easily see someone in real life wanting to watch the human race come to an end just to be called a God. I don't know what that says about my faith in humanity, but I will say that makes this manga a 10 out of 10.
The story is very engaging and keeps you guessing at every turn. The characters are simply beautiful and filled with life and growth throughout the story.
But most of all, this series is REALLY dark. There are a lot of graphic messed up things that happen. Horribly grotesque thoughts and actions by some characters and all around the world despite being fantasy feels very real. I can easily see someone in real life wanting to watch the human race come to an end just to be called a God. I don't know what that says about my faith in humanity, but I will say that makes this manga a 10 out of 10.
August 7, 2025
5/5 concept
0/5 execution
Watched the anime as a young adult and found the concepts fascinating but wanted to understand better so I finally started reading the manga.
For example: one major question that kept coming up for me was if the author knew how female bodies work. Many jarring scenes that were unrealistic and beyond fan service into just bizarre and excruciatingly awkward.
This could be such a great series if it just... was severely edited and reworked. I love the concepts and connected thoughts and I'm glad I read the series but it's genuinely poorly done after the concept framework is laid down, unfortunately.
0/5 execution
Watched the anime as a young adult and found the concepts fascinating but wanted to understand better so I finally started reading the manga.
For example: one major question that kept coming up for me was if the author knew how female bodies work. Many jarring scenes that were unrealistic and beyond fan service into just bizarre and excruciatingly awkward.
This could be such a great series if it just... was severely edited and reworked. I love the concepts and connected thoughts and I'm glad I read the series but it's genuinely poorly done after the concept framework is laid down, unfortunately.
June 4, 2021
Corny and dramatic and repetitive. The grammar and spelling of the translation leaves something to be desired. And it's so hard to kill a good guy, I tell you hwat. I never remembered the names of a good couple of characters, and I didn't care what happened to them. Whatsername in the end was not too important, so I guess we the reader can just feel for her and her unreciprocated feelings.
I guess there weren't any loose ends and everybody lived happily ever after. Cool beans.
I guess there weren't any loose ends and everybody lived happily ever after. Cool beans.
November 22, 2024
Sadly it took too long for the author to start actually writing with purpose and feeling. This volume, while plagued with the same problems as the other (over sexualization, one dimensional characters, info dumping plot/lore) seemed to catch its stride the last 8-10 chapters. Just wish the rest of the volume, and series as a whole, followed that.
The series as a whole is a mess, 3 star is probably generous for them. Watch the anime, probably skip these.
The series as a whole is a mess, 3 star is probably generous for them. Watch the anime, probably skip these.
February 18, 2025
I feel genereous for giving this three stars considering I kinda hate this series. I will say, the plot was pretty interesting this time and I enjoyed the ending. The art has also improved a lot throughout this series, which I can appreaciate. That being said, I am very glad to say goodbye to this series and never read it again.
July 7, 2022
This series has many repetitive themes and so much gross fan service (that didn’t add much to the plot) that it was difficult to take seriously. With that being said, the underlying themes of the full story, and some of the characters make me enjoy Elfen Lied quite a bit.
September 9, 2023
Tearjerker
Elfen lied... You either get it or you don't. This series spoke to me on a deep emotional level. I wish this novel didn't focus so much on the side characters but the pay off was worth it.
Elfen lied... You either get it or you don't. This series spoke to me on a deep emotional level. I wish this novel didn't focus so much on the side characters but the pay off was worth it.
November 5, 2024
Bleh
Way too much unnecessary fan service. This manga can't seem to decide if it's sci-fi or harem. There was not given much to the sci-fi element or why the people with horns are bad. They seem abused. There's too much of a bow on top element to the ending.
Way too much unnecessary fan service. This manga can't seem to decide if it's sci-fi or harem. There was not given much to the sci-fi element or why the people with horns are bad. They seem abused. There's too much of a bow on top element to the ending.
September 14, 2025
more of a diary entry 5 stars than a critical 5 stars, it probably gets 3 . i wish the art was better, story probably isnt radically impressive. it was really nice and moe and endeared itself to me idk
August 3, 2022
The ending solidified this series 5 stars for me. Good and Evil, love and hate, violence and tenderness. This is a fantastic series and definitely pays off in the end.
December 29, 2024
Didn't turn out like I thought it would but was bitter sweet at the ending
January 31, 2013
Que fuerte todo xD
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews