Elfen Lied

Elfen Lied
Genre	Dark fantasy Science fiction
Manga
Written by	Lynn Okamoto
Published by	Shueisha
English publisher	NA Dark Horse Comics
Demographic	Seinen
Imprint	Young Jump Comics
Magazine	Weekly Young Jump
Original run	June 6, 2002 – August 25, 2005
Volumes	12
Anime television series
Directed by	Mamoru Kanbe
Produced by	Kazuaki Morijiri Manabu Tamura Osamu Koshinaka
Written by	Takao Yoshioka
Music by	Kayo Konishi Yukio Kondo
Studio	Arms Studio Guts (#2, 5, 7, 10, 12)
Licensed by	AUS Madman Entertainment NA Sentai Filmworks UK 101 Films
Original network	AT-X
English network	NA Anime Network UK Propeller TV ZA Animax
Original run	July 25, 2004 – October 17, 2004
Episodes	13 + OVA

Elfen Lied (Japanese: エルフェンリート, Hepburn: Erufen Rīto) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Lynn Okamoto. It was originally serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump from June 2002 to August 2005, with the 107 chapters collected into twelve tankōbon volumes. Elfen Lied revolves around the interactions, views, emotions, and differences between human beings and the Diclonii, a mutant species similar to humans in build but distinguishable by two horns on their heads and "vectors", transparent telekinetically controlled arms that have the power to manipulate and cut objects within their reach. The series is centered on the teenage Diclonius girl "Lucy" who was rejected by human beings and subsequently wants revenge.

The series' title is German for "Elves' Song" or more formally "song of the elves" and takes its name from the song "Elfenlied", which is featured in the story. Elfen Lied involves themes of discrimination, social alienation, identity, prejudice, revenge, abuse, jealousy, regret, and the value of humanity.