

The anime _Elfen Lied_ is notorious for its one of a kind OP, featuring the
mesmerizing theme song _Lilium_ composed by MOKA and performed by Kumiko Noma,
as well as sequences of art porn, a homage to Austrian symbolist painter
Gustav Klimt. The idea to pose the characters as in Klimt's artworks came, as
far as I know, from director Mamoru Kanbe, who continued this idea in the OP
of Sora no Woto. (In my humble opinion, the OP of Sora no Woto is rather
bland, and seriously, Klimt with Kalafina?)

This is a self-answered question and a modest attempt at unraveling the
sources of and the symbolism represented in Elfen Lied's OP scenes. Other
answers and/or suggestions are welcome.


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question
theme-song symbolism elfen-lied
About the artworks used in the Elfen Lied opening scenes (contains nudity)


## The Elfen Lied OP Code

This original analysis is built on previous works by [Anime
Afterglow](http://animeafterglow.wordpress.com/2006/10/01/its-the-arts/),
[莉露兜](http://www.keyfc.net/bbs/showtopic-41583.aspx) and
[知日部屋](http://www.cuhkacs.org/~benng/Bo-Blog/read.php?686). For the meaning of
Kaede's hand gesture that was [once popular in
manga](http://zombiebi.web.fc2.com/yubinokotonitsuite.html), see [What's the
significance of the 'w' finger position in Elfen
Lied](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/5472/whats-the-significance-
of-the-w-finger-position-in-elfen-lied) and [In the opening of the Elfen Lied
anime why does Nyu/Lucy have her fingers positioned in a certain
way?](http://elfen-
lied.wikia.com/wiki/Elfen_Lied_Frequently_Asked_Questions#In_the_opening_of_the_Elfen_Lied_anime_why_does_Nyu.2FLucy_have_her_fingers_positioned_in_a_certain_way.3F)
All names and dates of Klimt's artworks are taken from the [Klimt
Museum](http://www.klimt.com/).

The Elfen Lied OP animation is sequential storytelling beginning _[in medias
res](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_medias_res)_ :

> Kaede sheds her tears as she and Kouta embraces. (Episode 13)

![Lucy staring at you](https://i.stack.imgur.com/m7nbB.jpg)

> os iusti meditabitur sapientiam et lingua eius loquetur iudicium — [Psalmi
> 36:30](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalmi%2036&version=VULGATE)
>
> The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of
> judgment. — [Psalms
> 37:30](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2037&version=KJV)

As the vocal sets in, we have a zoom out shot of Kaede hugging a mannequin
(dummy). A close-up view reveals an uncomfortable suggestion that it is a
headless dummy. If you still don't know what to make of the headless dummy,
take a look at the surrounding black ravens: they signify death.

> Lucy killed Kouta's father and sister, thereby killing his feelings for her.
> Now, only death awaits her as the armed forces are soon approaching.

In the background, we can see ripe cereals ears, which are ubiquitous in
Klimt's artworks presumably as phallic symbols, decorating the Tree of Life.
The Tree of Life grows through reproduction and evolution, and bears its
fruits, the ravens (deaths), that rest on its branches. Is the human race at
the end of one of those branches? Or is it the Diclonius?

![Kaede hugging a dummy](https://i.stack.imgur.com/mhZwa.jpg)  
`Stoclet Frieze — The Fulfillment (1905)`

> beatus vir qui suffert temptationem quia cum probatus fuerit accipiet
> coronam vitae — [Iacobi
> 1:12](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Iacobi%201&version=VULGATE)
>
> Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall
> receive the crown of life. — [James
> 1:12](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=KJV&search=James%201)

From here on is a flashback to the very beginning of the story of Elfen Lied,
when Kaede was first conceived as a child. The first appearance of the title
can be seen behind the rustling ripe cereal ears.

![Elfen Lied in-OP story title](https://i.stack.imgur.com/P4QCM.jpg)

Notice here the horns on the female dummy whom we may identify as Kaede's
mother. Despite being a human, she gave birth to the 'Queen' Diclonius and
therefore is the true originator of the virus. The mysterious 'blemish' on the
mother's abdomen may be tied to a manga-only plot:

> After Kaede's mother committed suicide, her abdomen was cut open and her
> ovaries and womb taken by Chief Kakuzawa.

However, this is not certain as the information was only revealed almost a
year after the airing of the last episode of the anime, in Volume 11 of the
manga, which was released on August 19, 2005.

The phallic symbols (which almost lit up completely before dimming again)
around the private area of both the unconscious Nyu and Lucy, the Eve of the
Diclonius race, allude to

> Professor Kakuzawa's unsuccessful attempt at raping Lucy/Nyu.

We can make one-to-one correspondences between the females in _The Three Ages
of Woman_ and Kaede, Lucy and Nyu. Out of the three, only the cuddling one is
making the hand gesture, so she is Kaede, as she is the only one out of the
three asking for forgiveness. Then the unconscious one is Nyu, and the
facepalming one is Lucy.

Another possibility is that the baby girl is Nyu, the young woman is Lucy, the
fertile Queen of the Diclonius, and the old woman is Kaede, who lost her favor
with Kouta.

On a related note: Gustav Klimt uses circles, triangles and squares in his
artworks, as does the famous [Sengai
Gibon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sengai), who might have had an indirect
influence on him because Klimt also studied Japanese art profusely, but I
don't have a source to cite for this. Sengai is well-known for his [_Circle,
Triangle, and Square_ painting](https://i.stack.imgur.com/FQw4o.jpg), the base
of design for the [Circle-Triangle-Square
Garden](http://www.kenninji.jp/english/) at Kenninji, the oldest Zen temple in
Kyoto.

> In Zen Buddhist philosophy, the Circle, Square and Triangle represent these
> three elements [ten-chi-jin 天地人] and their relationship to each other: the
> square signifies Earth, the circle refers to Heaven, and the triangle is
> man, or the potential of humankind to stand on the Earth and reach toward
> Heaven – both physically and metaphorically. — [Spirit of the Man: Mario
> Uribe](http://www.thespiritoftheman.com/mario-uribe/)

> Sengai left the painting without a title or inscription (save for his
> signature), however the painting is often called "The Universe" when
> referred to in English.

While we don't know what Klimt had in mind when he drew those circles,
triangles and squares, the workings of the universe do seem to be personified
by _The Three Ages of Woman_ and also Nyu, Kaede and Lucy. Isn't it
interesting that the [Fates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moirai) also come
in threes?

![Child Nyu and Lucy the Eve of the Diclonius
race](https://i.stack.imgur.com/uVeJL.jpg)  
Bottom: `The Three Ages of Woman (1905)`  
Top: `Adam and Eve (1917)`, altered to look also like `Medicine (1897)`
([image](https://i.stack.imgur.com/S1zIz.jpg))

Then comes an interesting sequence of introductions to three important
characters in the series: Yuka, Mayu and Nana, of ages approximately 19, 13
and 7 respectively (according to Wikia). In other words, from elder to
younger, from least unfortunate to most unfortunate, and in the order of first
appearance in the anime. It is curious to see **three females** of different
**ages** (adulthood, adolescence and childhood), each getting their own
portrait shots, make their appearances in _The **Three Ages** of **Woman_**
scene, out of all scenes. Is this incidental or intentional?

![Yuka's portrait](https://i.stack.imgur.com/5n4XC.jpg)  
`Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907)`

The origin for Mayu's portrait is not without much contention. It had been
suggested to be _Lady with Fan (1917)_ , _Portrait of Ria Munk III (1918)_ and
_Portrait of Serena Lederer (1899)_ , but I concur only with the suggestion
that is _The Girlfriends_. The two women, possibly lesbians, in _The
Girlfriends_ are close to each other just as Mayu is close to Nana whose
portrait appears immediately after hers. The fact that Mayu prefers to be with
girls lends more evidence to Mayu's artwork being based on _The Girlfriends_.
However, instead of a naked Nana, we have the recurring phallic symbols in the
background, which tell us some backgrounds about Mayu:

> She was subject to rape and sodomy by her stepfather.

![Mayu's portrait](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ka3ia.jpg)  
`The Girlfriends (1916)`

> Mäda Primavesi was, by her own account, an independent, assertive young
> girl, qualities amply captured in this portrait of her at about nine years
> old. — [The Metropolitan Museum of
> Art](http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-
> online/search/436819)

The age and personality of Mäda Primavesi indeed fit Nana's. It is the
director's sympathetic portrait of a very real and willful little girl.

The lyrics sung just before Yuka's portrait, _"beatus vir qui (blessed is the
man)"_ , refers to her good luck, while the lyrics before Mayu's and Nana's,
_"suffert temptationem (that endures temptation)"_ , signals the pass in
Mayu's and Nana's life challenges and in their resisting the temptation to
give up and die.

![Nana's portrait](https://i.stack.imgur.com/tPhRl.jpg)  
`Portrait of Mäda Primavesi (1912)`

> kyrie _ignis divine_ eleison — [ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΝ
> 20:30–31](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=%20%CE%9A%CE%91%CE%A4%CE%91%20%CE%9C%CE%91%CE%A4%CE%98%CE%91%CE%99%CE%9F%CE%9D%2020&version=SBLGNT)
>
> O Lord, _Fire Divine_ , have mercy on us. — [Matthew
> 20:30–31](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2020&version=KJV)

[Kyrie eleison](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrie) is a common name of an
important prayer of Christian liturgy. The _"ignis divine (Fire Divine)"_ line
is added as a [trope](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trope_%28literature%29)
because [_"kyrie eleison"_ is too short](http://dic.nicovideo.jp/a/lilium).

> A specialized use [of a trope] is the medieval amplification of texts from
> the liturgy, such as in the Kyrie Eleison (Kyrie, / magnae Deus potentia, /
> liberator hominis, / transgressoris mandati, / eleison).

The prolonged singing of a single syllable of text while moving between
several different notes in succession is called
[melisma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melisma). As a side note, _quoniam_ is
used in the song in favor of _quia_ because it means the same and sounds
better.

This is the only artwork with moving characters: Kouta turns his face away
from the viewer and kisses a dummy. Take notice of the human-like dummy Kouta
is kissing: judging by her height and bust size, she is around 10 years old,
clearly someone from his childhood memories. Is she child Yuka? Or is she
child Kaede whom child Kouta treated as a human being?

The third and last scene of Kaede forgoing the hand gesture, and this time she
is Kaede herself, not Lucy or Nyu. Ironically, Kaede finds her own fulfillment
(not) in the event of _The Fulfillment_ where she still had the hand gesture
and where Lucy fulfilled her own desire and duty to kill humans, but in that
of _The Kiss_. You could imagine the dummy kissing Kaede is God or the
hypothetical Kouta who loves her / would have loved her in a different
universe.

![Kouta kissing a dummy and Kaede being kissed by a
dummy](https://i.stack.imgur.com/U9W1r.jpg)  
`The Kiss (1908)`

> Kaede's realization that Kouta had cheated on her by going out with Yuka
> drove her into a deep pit of sadness and madness.

![Kaede facepalms](https://i.stack.imgur.com/wi6J0.jpg)  
`The Three Ages of Woman (1905)`

Fire Divine! Kaede was engulfed in a burning rage for revenge! The background
is the same as Mayu's. This scene, the only other that looks like the one
where the title is first shown, also marks the end of the flashback.

![Kyrie eleison](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Digcx.jpg)

This and the first scene (tear drops) are the only two non-filler scenes
without any known reference to an artwork. The two scenes both serve as
section stops (almost perfectly at the 0:00 and 1:00 marks in the 1:30 long
OP) that fade to black in similar ways, and therefore this is the end of the
story of Elfen Lied.

![Kaede's bosom shot](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ewSrB.jpg)

> Oh, quam sancta, quam serena, quam benigna, quam amoena! Oh, castitatis
> lilium.
>
> O how holy, how serene, how kind, how pleasant! O, lily of chastity.
>
> — [Ave Mundi Spes Maria](http://sanctus.marketproductions.com/?p=762)

From here on, the scenes are all about depicting Elfen Lied the work. The
lyrics in this last section may also be a praise of the series.

Originally, Klimt named his work _Water Serpents I_ as a pretext to show the
feminine body in an erotic context without fearing censorship. The anime is
certainly challenging and pushing the boundaries of censorship with its gore
and nudity.

![Nyu the Water Serpent](https://i.stack.imgur.com/lKl1U.jpg)  
`Water Serpents I (1904)`

The last scene may have borrowed ideas from _Water Serpents II (1904)_ , but
ultimately this is just a 90 degree rotation of _The Fulfillment_ , with a
slight change in Kaede's head and hands.

![Last scene](https://i.stack.imgur.com/rZyEP.jpg)  
`Stoclet Frieze — The Fulfillment (1905)`, altered to look like `Water
Serpents II (1904)`

If you count the number of unique dummies that have appeared in the OP, and
the number of artworks referenced or the number of appearances of Kaede, Lucy
and Nyu, you get [these
numbers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_superstitions#Numbers).

[Walter De Maria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_De_Maria) once said,

> "Every good work should have at least ten meanings."

In this regard, Elfen Lied is a good work of art.


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