This show was amazing. An engaging, romantic, touching, and beautiful story about love, innocence, forgiveness, and tragedy; and how these feelings all correspond with each other in the relationships of the people who deal with them.<br /><br />Elfen Lied had some of the best animation I've seen in a long time. The colors are vibrant, the character designs are superb, and the environments are well drawn and realistic. The animation flows very smoothly and it's a joy to behold.<br /><br />The series is presented in both English and Japanese 5.1. The English voice actors did an actually decent job of representing the characters and there weren't very many "painful" listening moments in the dub. It's an understatement to say that the music is absolutely phenomenal. The opening theme "Lilium" is great and it really sets the emotional mood for the show; the song itself is gorgeous and is actually very touching in how beautiful it is. The rest of the music in the series, minus the ending theme, is also very touching and well composed.<br /><br />I won't go on and explain the whole story behind Elfen Lied, i'll just kinda highlight the main points. The story is essentially about the characters finding out where they belong in the world and how they deal with the situations they're faced with. The show deals heavily with the concepts of love, romance, innocence, promises, discrimination, and acceptance. It essentially sums up with that despite all the evil that there is in this world, there is still innocence and love to be found.<br /><br />The characters in Elfen Lied were superb. They all acted like anyone else would in their situation. They all changed according to their circumstances. They were all REAL characters that people can relate to; and they were very fulfilling to watch.<br /><br />This anime will go down as one of the best in history because it speaks to the heart of the person watching it. It takes you into the world of the characters to where you can actually feel for them. Elfen Lied accomplishes what most anime doesn't, it actually hits you right in the heart and moves you.