Elfen Lied comes to a bloody climax with volume four.  Though I'm disappointed that they only put three episodes on most of the discs, this is a quality show, albeit very violent.  In this final volume Kohta finally remembers his past, and the most powerful Diclonius is released to kill Lucy and Nana.  The series races to a very satisfying conclusion.

Series recap:

A secret research base is working on a special project: involving the next step in evolution.  Looking normal from the outside with the exception of two horn like protrusions from the skull, Lucy is a 'Diclonius.'  She has amazing psychic abilities and she's quite deadly.  Kept under lock and key because of her violent and unpredictable temperament, society is safe from this killer.  Until she decides to escape that is.

Kohta is returning to the city where his childhood friend, Yuka lives.  Renting a vacant restaurant from Yuka's mother, his old friend helps him move in.  They take a break from unpacking and go for a walk on the beach when a naked woman walks out of the surf.  Only able to say the word "Nyu" that quickly becomes her name.  Nyu is innocent and childlike, and having no where else to go, Nyu moves in with Kohta.  Which causes Yuka to get a bit jealous, so she decided to move in too.  The group find a homeless girl, Mayu, and her dog and they move in too.

Nyu isn't always an innocent child though.  She's also Lucy, the maniacal genetically engineered killer.  The two personalities share the same body, and the slightest thing can cause them to switch. Of course, the military isn't just going to let their secret project walk out on them without a fight.

This volume:

Things have gotten out of control, and the complex decides to release its strongest weapon, #35.  She is the strongest Diclonius that exists, having many vectors that can stretch to 11 meters in length.  They are afraid that they won't be able to control her though, so several bombs have been inserted into her body to make her more compliant.

They take her to the mainland to kill Nana, something that #35 is looking forward to.  Nana can sense her coming though and goes out to meet her.  She doesn't want to put Kohta and the others at risk.  Of course the sweet Nana is no match for #35, who has the body of a child, but the mind of a killer.

Khota, when he discovers that Nana has gone off to be killed, runs after her and Nyu tags along.  Once they arrive at the scene, it doesn't take long for Lucy's personality to emerge though, leading to the exciting, and violent, conclusion.

This is a great series.  I went into it with pretty low expectations.  I don't usually like bloody violent anime because they often don't have much of a story, just a lot of senseless action.  This series was different, in addition to the gore filled fight scenes, there was a pretty interesting background story to keep viewers interested.  The characters are three dimensional and it's easy to relate to them, something that's rare in this type of program.

The show wrapped up in a very nice manner too.  The final episode was very good and worked well to bring closure to the series.  There is ample room for a sequel (including a surprising revelation in the last episode), but things did get resolved for the most part.

Audio:

This disc has the original Japanese track and an English dub, both in 5.1.  I listened to both soundtracks, and they were equally good, though I preferred the Japanese track.  Both audio choices made very good use to the whole soundstage.  There were a good number of directional effects, and the sounds and music sent to the rears really put the viewer in the middle of action.  An excellent sounding disc.

Video:

The widescreen anamorphic picture looked really good.  The lines were tight and the colors looked good.  The contrast was also excellent, making night scenes dark but not murky. The show used a wide color palate, with bright colored clothes and dark dingy alleyways both seeming real. Digital defects were practically nonexistent.  A nice looking disc.

Extras:

This disc includes a clean opening and closing, two reels of artwork, one devoted to the characters and the other for backgrounds and sets, and the DVD cover artwork for the Japanese release of the series.

Final Thoughts:

This was another good disc and a fine resolution to the story.  Not for the faint of heart, this is a very bloody program, Elfen Lied also has a good story to go along with all of the gore.  Most anime shows of this type rank the story way down at the bottom of the list of things to put a lot of work into, but this one doesn't.  It has a well crafted story that has a very tight plot.  Highly Recommended.