Elfen Lied - Tumblr Posts
It's pretty scary to think that Eri, Anya, Kaede, King and Shiro could have ended up like Homelander.
Eri had a quirk that allowed her to rewind her target until she erased them from existence, which caused her to accidentally rewind her father, which caused her mother to abandon her and Overhaul to begin experimenting on her by extracting her blood and mutilating her to create anti-quirk bullets and in that way make the Yakuza gain money and influence through the trade of said bullets and if that were not enough, Eri had to endure hearing Overhaul tell her that she was a curse because of her quirk. One day, Eri briefly escaped and even though she had to go back to Overhaul and see herself as a curse, convincing herself that she wasn't worthy of being saved, she was eventually rescued and given a chance to live a normal life and taught that her quirks wasn't a bad thing but that she could help people with it and she just had to learn to control it.
Anya was raised by scientists who kept Anya isolated in a lab and always forced Anya to study and learn how to use her powers for the sake of world peace every day and they never gave her love nor let her act and play like a normal girl. On day, Anya escaped from the lab she was locked away in and ended up in an orphanage where she was an outcast and all the families that adopted her took her back until Anya was finally adopted by Twilight and found love with the Forgers.
Kaede was an orphan who suffered bullying and killed her bullies and was resentful towards everyone until she met Kouta but due to a misunderstanding Kaede kills Kouta's family and goes on the run until she meets another girl called Aiko who becomes her friend until said friend ends up dying to protect Kaede from the scientists who wanted to take her to experiment on her for being the Queen of the Diclonius race and Kaede turns herself in but not before swearing revenge, some time later Kaede escapes from the laboratory where she was locked up and later after a series of events she was able to resolve things with Kouta before dying.
King is a lunarian who was captured as a child by the World Government and held at Punk Hazard to be experimented on and have his lunarian abilities tested, as well as to extract the lineage factor from his lunarian blood. One day he is freed by Kaido (who was also being used as a guinea pig in the experiments at Punk Hazard) and the two escape and form the Beasts Pirates with Kaidou as the captain and King as his right-hand man and King is loyal to Kaido because he saved him and because he feels that he gave him a reason to continue living. Over time the Beasts Pirates became one of the most feared pirates, Kaidou being part of the Yonko and King one of the most respected members of his crew, although King became a pirate, Kaidou fully trusts and respects him and although the relationship he has with the other members of his crew is tense, they genuinely have a certain degree of respect for him and they recognize his fighting skills.
Shiro was an orphan who was subjected to horrible experiments that were originally intended to be experimented on by Ganta only for Sorae (Ganta's mother) to change her mind so Shiro was experimented in his place; the only good thing she had was Ganta who was her friend and emotional support since she was a child and due to a series of unfortunate events they ended up separating and hurting each other but in the end Shiro and Ganta reconcile and can have a normal life together.
But Homelander? He had no heroes to save him and no one to teach him to accept and use his powers like Eri, he didn't have a loving family to adopt him like Anya, he didn't have ties to ordinary humans to make him stop hating them like Kaede, he has no reason to live nor does he have people who genuinely trust him and respect him like King and he didn't have friends during his childhood to give him hope of living a normal life or at least give him a feeling of love and normality like Shiro.
Homelander is the Eri, Anya, Kaede, King and Shiro that was never saved, never knew love, and never experienced what it's like to live a normal life.
It's pretty scary to think that Eri, Anya, Kaede, King and Shiro could have ended up like Homelander.
Eri had a quirk that allowed her to rewind her target until she erased them from existence, which caused her to accidentally rewind her father, which caused her mother to abandon her and Overhaul to begin experimenting on her by extracting her blood and mutilating her to create anti-quirk bullets and in that way make the Yakuza gain money and influence through the trade of said bullets and if that were not enough, Eri had to endure hearing Overhaul tell her that she was a curse because of her quirk. One day, Eri briefly escaped and even though she had to go back to Overhaul and see herself as a curse, convincing herself that she wasn't worthy of being saved, she was eventually rescued and given a chance to live a normal life and taught that her quirks wasn't a bad thing but that she could help people with it and she just had to learn to control it.
Anya was raised by scientists who kept Anya isolated in a lab and always forced Anya to study and learn how to use her powers for the sake of world peace every day and they never gave her love nor let her act and play like a normal girl. On day, Anya escaped from the lab she was locked away in and ended up in an orphanage where she was an outcast and all the families that adopted her took her back until Anya was finally adopted by Twilight and found love with the Forgers.
Kaede was an orphan who suffered bullying and killed her bullies and was resentful towards everyone until she met Kouta but due to a misunderstanding Kaede kills Kouta's family and goes on the run until she meets another girl called Aiko who becomes her friend until said friend ends up dying to protect Kaede from the scientists who wanted to take her to experiment on her for being the Queen of the Diclonius race and Kaede turns herself in but not before swearing revenge, some time later Kaede escapes from the laboratory where she was locked up and later after a series of events she was able to resolve things with Kouta before dying.
King is a lunarian who was captured as a child by the World Government and held at Punk Hazard to be experimented on and have his lunarian abilities tested, as well as to extract the lineage factor from his lunarian blood. One day he is freed by Kaido (who was also being used as a guinea pig in the experiments at Punk Hazard) and the two escape and form the Beasts Pirates with Kaidou as the captain and King as his right-hand man and King is loyal to Kaido because he saved him and because he feels that he gave him a reason to continue living. Over time the Beasts Pirates became one of the most feared pirates, Kaidou being part of the Yonko and King one of the most respected members of his crew, although King became a pirate, Kaidou fully trusts and respects him and although the relationship he has with the other members of his crew is tense, they genuinely have a certain degree of respect for him and they recognize his fighting skills.
Shiro was an orphan who was subjected to horrible experiments that were originally intended to be experimented on by Ganta only for Sorae (Ganta's mother) to change her mind so Shiro was experimented in his place; the only good thing she had was Ganta who was her friend and emotional support since she was a child and due to a series of unfortunate events they ended up separating and hurting each other but in the end Shiro and Ganta reconcile and can have a normal life together.
But Homelander? He had no heroes to save him and no one to teach him to accept and use his powers like Eri, he didn't have a loving family to adopt him like Anya, he didn't have ties to ordinary humans to make him stop hating them like Kaede, he has no reason to live nor does he have people who genuinely trust him and respect him like King and he didn't have friends during his childhood to give him hope of living a normal life or at least give him a feeling of love and normality like Shiro.
Homelander is the Eri, Anya, Kaede, King and Shiro that was never saved, never knew love, and never experienced what it's like to live a normal life.
“O castitatis lilium...”
I felt like painting something horror related
Content warning for topic of SA
And how I think it's represented through a character in jujutsu kaisen.
I think he was very well written and that this was intentional.
He's on level with curses from the earth, forest and ocean (which are so big with so much negative energy directed at them that the curses gained consciousness without form) but Mahito is from humans.
He mutilates bodies and souls without consent. The transfigured humans beg for help, they beg for relief, even if it means death, to be put out of their misery, whenever they can manage to say anything coherent that's all that it is.
And these victims are seen as monsters themselves. Less than human, their consciousness tampered with, they die of asphyxiation.
All of these effects come from SA. the damaged body, brain, nervous system, feeling like air doesn't exist, like you're no longer breathing, that the state you've been left in is worse than death.
And in the end, when Mahito faces judgement and begs for mercy, it's easy to feel sorry for him. To want to give him another chance. And that might be the sickest part of all.
It's so real and such a good representation without actually showing SA on screen.
And the relationship that he had with Junpei was grooming. I could elaborate on that but honestly. I don't have it in me rn. Just, the intellectual conversations, the it's easy to talk to you, the manipulation and coercion and pushing boundaries with corpses and his mother and transfiguring him in the end.
Mahito is such a creep and I hate him but it isn't exactly triggering to watch, either. I got triggered by the night beyond the tricornered window, though - which I put on after hearing that it influenced jjk. And I do see where gege got the domains and pacts from, the art style was rly cool, but I could not keep paying attention to it omg. It wasn't even graphic, but a sort of spiritual rape, and the dynamics there were...
What I'm trying to say is that I think both jjk and this anime did a good job of showing SA without there being SA. (though tbf I didn't get through the other one, or like I did eventually bc I liked the art style so much but I could only glance up to it occasionally bc at that point I knew better).
Also I believe that elfen lied and banana fish inspired jjk, and those series are heavily about autonomy and sexual assault and the effects of abuse.
I've been thinking about this reblog of yours for months and I finally figured out how to respond to it.
I went and read No Longer Human by Junji Ito and it was a very upsetting thing to go through. I don't think I can read it again. However, I came out of it thinking that Gege was probably inspired by it.
When Yozo is first introduced, I noticed that Takaba's backstory was very similar. Feeling isolated from others, he decided to become a clown to gain acceptance from others. (Citations in Image Captions)
And later when Yozo was caught "cheating" (it's in quotes because those women are child rapists), I noticed that her face was really similar to the one Higuruma's client made when he felt betrayed by the trial outcome.
There's probably a lot more to say about how themes surrounding CSA and suicide in this work are echoed in JJK, but I'm not able to make the post myself. No Longer Human is too far out of my comfort zone in terms of graphic depiction to delve into it deeper.
But you seem strong enough to handle it, so... Idk maybe run with this some more.
Ohhh this is so interesting! I could definitely read No Longer Human again - tbh I read Junji Ito's version years ago. This year I listened to the audio book and bought a copy - but it's like, a draft in the author's handwriting (bc I thought it would help me study Japanese and if I had an English translation that I'd read it on repeat lmao). But you're real for that - I forget how disturbed people tend to be trying to read through it, I'm sorry that was rough.
I did go back to read the reblog and idk how relevant all that was - I've reread the manga since and felt like, oh I might have been misremembering some things like Uraume - idk if they actually had a freeze response in ch. 219, since they did tell Yorozu to back off though it took a minute - but it's also interesting how their CT deals with ice. Like to have a fight response, they freeze others? It's so interesting but I can't be sure whether it's there at all. (ik that yap II inspired some more coherent posts, like how it influenced Choso's self-image, etc., I linked but didn't tag you back then bc I felt Annoying especially w heavy topics but I can definitely go back and find them if you'd like.)
On a twin peaks note (without spoiling it), I feel like it inspired jjk to some extent - I've been feeling like the last chapter will end the way s2 did. Or at least - with the weird dreamy themes, "we are the dreamer who dreams and who lives inside the dream", etc...
But you're right - Yozo and the others' reactions resemble more jjk characters than I would think to connect. Takaba's jokes are truly a shield... And now I have an excuse to read Junji Ito's version again? Thank u so much (also isn't it funny how September 28 Uzumaki airs and September 30 jjk ends?).
I think gege gets inspired by the most tragic stories, I wonder how much of that is accurate but I can't always be convinced otherwise.... Especially when anime / manga series that he's confirmed as influences often deal with autonomy in ways that I couldn't handle (Evangelion, the night beyond the tricornered window).
By the way - ik we've mentioned elfen lied before, but in the first episode, you know that coffee mug? How it looks like jjk foreshadowing? Even has snail head Mahito - cut off-, the baseball, Panda, the worm (also cut off).... and later the newborn babies that look just like Yuuji...
I swear that elfen lied, Kagewani, and banana fish influenced jjk. It seems so obvious w those, maybe Vampire Princess Miyu as well.
Sorry for getting off topic - I've been looking into why Momotaro keeps coming up in jujutsu kaisen, and in the end it came back full circle to that damn coffee cup. Invest in a baseball team? A zoo? I'm going insane.
All this to say - rereading Junji Ito's version and seeing if I notice similarities between manga panels is so exciting. Gege even made a note that he asked for permission before drawing - I think it was the Uzumaki CT - So we know he's a big fan of Junji Ito. And it seems like there is a rly good chance No Longer Human inspired him as well (though I feel like characters with similar traumas having similar reactions is inevitable to some extent, if they're written in a believable way, it should be clearer when I'm reading both stories in the same format) based on the stories he has officially referenced.
Top 10 Anime that should be on Toonami INPO
10. Gurren Lagann
9. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
8. Gundam 00
7. Ouran High School Host Club
6. Shugo Chara
5. Elfen Lied
4. Vampire Knight
3. Hellsing Ultimate
2. Saint Seiya
1. Akame ga Kill
Top 10 Horror Anime: INPO
10. Black Butler
9. Elfen Lied
8. Vampire Princess Miyu
7. Devilman
6. Hellsing Ultimate
5. Mermaid Saga
4. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
3. Bride of Deimos
2. Le Portrait De Petite Cosette
1. Laughing Target
Top 10 Love Triangles in Anime: INPO
10. Tohru, Yuki and Kyo - Fruits Basket
9. Asuka, Rei and Shinji - Neon Genesis Evangelion
8. Menma, Jinta and Anaru - Anohana
7. Kotonoha, Sekai and Makoto - School Days
6. Taiga, Ryuji and Minori - Toradora
5. Naruto, Sakura and Hinata - Naruto
4. Lelouch, Kallen and C.C. - Code Geass
3. Lucy, Kota and Yuka - Elfen Lied
2. Amu, Tadase and Ikuto - Shugo Chara
1. Sakura, Syaoran and Meiling - Cardcaptor Sakura
Top 10 Seinen Anime: INPO
10. Black Lagoon
9. Ai Yori Aoshi
8. Maison Ikkoku
7. Berserk
6. Hellsing Ultimate
5. Tokyo Ghoul
4. Rozen Maiden
3. Oh! My Goddess
2. Elfen Lied
1. Gankutsuou
Top 10 Anime Yanderes: INPO
10. Ryo Asuka - Devilman
9. Lucy - Elfen Lied
8. Russia - Hetalia Axis Powers
7. Himiko Toga - My Hero Academia
6. Toneri Otsutsuki - Naruto
5. Kodachi Kuno - Ranma 1/2
4. Mikaela Hyakuya - Seraph of the End
3. Azusa Shiga - The Laughing Target
2. Karasu - Yu Yu Hakusho
1. Yubel - Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
New to anitumblr!!!!! Follow me if you like any of the anime in the tags <3 I’ll follow back!
maybe watching 'elfenlied' when i was eleven wasn't such a good idea
Lucy - elfen lied I drew this on computer, but shaded it on a tablet.. im trying to practice coloring on computer coming for my upcoming comic... I dont have any touch screened devices, only my computer..... but im happy