Hybrid's Anime Marathon - 1st Part

I've gotten into my own anime marathon in the last two weeks... mainly in the first of the two weeks.
I got to accomplished SEVEN complete series of anime, though short ones with the most was 26 episodes and an average of 13 episodes each.
These animes were all completely in Japanese, but with English subtitles. Good ones too, thankfully.
These animes are also not popular... at least, around here anyway. Around here, you more commonly hear of animes like Naruto, Bleach, & Shaman King.
So, that's why I thought to provide my own personal reviews of each anime series that I got to watch recently, in hopes that POSSIBLY, you guys might wanna check them out for yourselves.

(You may click at some of the pictures to see the enlarged version, mostly '800 x 600')
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Title: Elfen Lied
Original Title: Erufen Riito (J: エルフェンリート)
Company: AD Vision
Series Type: TV Series
Running Time: 13 25-minute episodes + 1 (OAV)
Genre: Horror + Comedy + Romance Drama
My Personal Rating: 5 out of 5

Let me try and do my own synopsis of this story.
Upon starting the story, we are quickly introduced to Lucy, a supposed mutated human known as Diclonius that was making her escape from her containment unit of a secret research facility of sorts, creating havoc and a bloody massacre along the way.
She succeeds in exitting the whole facility itself, but only to be greeted by a high cliff over the ocean. A near lethal hit to the side of her head by a sniper rifle sends her flying into the ocean below.
Then, we are introduced to a couple of cousins, Kohta and Yuka, who by chance, discover a naked young girl stranded by the seashore, which we would all know to be the frightening Lucy earlier. Apparently, the shot to her head did not kill her, but instead cause a bad case of amnesia.
Having lost her sense of language and knowledge of just about anything and everything(!), Kohta and Yuka decide to name the confused girl after the only 'word' that she could say, Nyuu, and bring her home under their temporary care.
From that moment on, the lives of Kohta and Yuka were to change for the better or worse, as Lucy and the rest of her two-horned kind, the Diclonius were deemed a threat to all of mankind and the secret organisation that she escaped from was out to retrieve her, dead or alive and at any cost.
As the story progresses, we will come to know that there's more to the story than it appears to be.

Personally, I love this anime. I just loved how the story unfolded, despite how simple and predictable it was. Maybe it was just because of how I felt about Lucy throughout this series and the ordeals she had to suffer. It kind of gives you a good reason why she would go about and being hateful to the human race. Anyway!

Lucy's childhood, a big factor to her insanity.

Story & Characters - The story, as I mentioned, is quite simple and most of the time, predictable. There are a few twists in the story here and there that would go unforeseen to the unaware. The characters all appear to have a story of their own to tell in this series.
And I quote myself, "Each character seem to have something bad happened, happening and/or will happen to them."
One of the particular twists in the story involves the two main hero and heroine of the story. I'll leave you to judge who the two are. Speaking of which, it comes to another part of this series that I like. It's somewhat difficult to tell some of the good people from the bad, and vice versa. There are characters that act upon good intentions, but hide a bad motive.
The Japanese voice acting was satisfactory for me. I don't know about the English one or any other language for that matter, but I'm one of those Japanese anime fans that prefer the original Japanese voices over any dub versions.

Diclonius are humans with two horns on their heads

and invisible (additional) hands called 'Vectors'.

Artwork and Graphic - I never really go deep into the visual details in my reviews, unless I am somewhat impressed or disappointed/annoyed. I praise the artist/s of this series. The scenes were drawn very nicely and with much details. Same can be said for the characters, and I can say, Lucy/Nyu had an extra special treatment. As Nyu lived happily, peacefully together with Kohta & Yuka, Lucy occasionally wakes up and bloody carnage happens.
Then, there's the gore and nudity throughout the anime, which is why this anime gets a 'MATURE' rating.

Here's a comparison between the murderous Lucy and the cheery Nyu.

General Remarks - Elfen Lied is an anime series that can leave you edging to watch the following episodes, cause every episode ends with a climate. I just love how the anime ended the story between the main hero and heroine at the very last episode, but I just hate how they ended the whole anime with such a cursed cliffhanger!! The story actually leaves a possibility of a sequel as some enemies are not yet defeated. I just wonder if it'll actually happen, the sequel that is.
I really, really would recommend this anime to anyone (as long as they're mature enough, mentally and age-wise). Not only was the story good, it was kind of very meaningful; the lessons you can pick up from the story, like discrimination, and misunderstanding, and trust.
I have this anime in cds now. So, if you wanna have a look at this anime, do contact me.

I have some more pictures if anyone wants.

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Title: Midori no Hibi (J: 美鳥の日々)
Company: Studio Pierrot
Series Type: TV Series
Running Time: 13 25-minute episodes
Genre: Romance Comedy + Ecchi
My Personal Rating: 4 out of 5

"Midori No Hibi is a romance/comedy, but with a twist. Let me first set up the story for you. It's about Seiji, a high school student that likes to get into fights, and it seems like that's all that he's good at. Basically, all he does is beat people up with his "devil" right hand. The people who dare to confront him fear this hand of his and for very good reason. Not only does Seiji get into a lot of fights, but he also wins a lot of fights. Since Seiji gets into a lot of fights and beats up a lot of people, everyone is scared of him. This is where Seiji's true problem comes in. He wants more then anything to have a girlfriend, however, all the girls are afraid of him. It seems that being known as the toughest kid around also comes with its drawbacks, because he can't seem to make a good impression with a girl.
Recently, he has asked out twenty girls and been rejected every time, so it seems that poor Seiji will never be able to find himself a girl. During the first episode, we get his take on this as he's picturing himself being rejected when he's an old man. There is some hope for Seiji though, and that hope is Midori. We never really find out, but she's about two years younger then Seiji and has had a crush on him for three years now. This is where Midori's true problem comes in. She has never said anything to him (I did say she was a shy girl). During the show, we see clips of her at the train station, watching Seiji and trying to build up the courage to talk to Seiji, but she never can. We get to witness as Midori wants to say something to Seiji before he passes and just as she's about to speak, it's too late and he has already left. It seems that poor Midori will never be able to talk to her love Seiji. Soon enough, both of their problems will be "fixed" in a very unconventional way.
One morning, Seiji wakes up to a girl's voice, but has no clue where it's coming from. It only gets louder and louder, and he's really starting to freak out now because he has no idea where this girl's voice is coming from. Finally after some pretty funny moments, Seiji and all of us get to see where this girl is. The girl's voice that he was hearing was coming from his right hand, because now his right hand is a girl, and the girl is Midori. I did say that the problem was "fixed", right?"
('How Bad Would You Want a Girlfriend?' by Joseph Luscik)

I really enjoyed watching this anime series. It gets you laughing a lot, and the romance in the story is really sweetly innocent. The humor didn't go overboard, nor did the romance ever got so serious. It was a nice mix.

Story & Characters - The story is basically simple, with little plot twists or such. The story just mainly revolved around the relationship formed between Seiji and Midori. The storyline was put together really well. There is even one episode where the two got to switch places, which was interesting to watch, yet, with a good lesson in the end as both got to see through the perspective of the other, literally. The characters will work to make you fall in love with them and it is always enjoyable to watch them proceed with their usual roles in the story, especially the love triangle part.

Artwork & Graphic - There's nothing much to say really about the artwork. I personally found the art as really well done, along with the nice clear coloring. There is the occassional exposure of bare breasts here and there, though not much, and that's about it.

General Remarks - I recommend you guys to check this anime out. It's an enjoyable one to watch and follow. It's especially interesting to see how the relationship and romance between Seiji and Midori turn out in the end, when Midori returns to normal. *wink*