The Bottom Line: "Superb"
There is a lot of action, it's not really horror.. just violence.. A love story is thrown in. There are a lot of twists in the plot. You learn a lot about the past, and almost every episode is important.. except for the special episode 10.5 but that episode also explained a lot. As the story progresses you really get to know the past of Kouta, Lucy/Nyuu, and Yuka. You really get to see how their past all relate somehow and why they act the way they do in the present. There is a very nice romance/drama present through out the series, backed up with occasional very brief moments of comedy and just enjoyment of the current setting/atmosphere. There is even a bonus episode 10.5 that is exactly half comedy and half drama. The story is a rollercoaster, taking you through moments filled with satisfaction and happiness, only to plunge you into dispair and grief, only to bring you back up for a few moments of relief and hope and then sinks you down again. Each episode is intense and important, even that episode 10.5, and you are always dying to see the next episode. Each character, Kouta, Lucy/Nyuu, and Yuka are really well developed. We learn about the past of the three characters individually at first, and then at one point or another Lucy/Nyuu and Yuka's paths crosses Kouta, which brings the three together in a way at that, now once again they are reunited, except that Yuka never really knew what happend, and Kouta and Lucy/Nyuu don't remember. As the story progresses we learn more about their pasts, and their significance and then in the end everything is brought together for a fantastic reunion. Kouta who has amnesia doesn't remember the past because of a tragic incident, while Lucy has the split personality Nyuu. Lucy who has gone through the world and endured a lot of pain understands how cruel the world can be and Nyuu is the childlike side of Lucy, the carefree girl who is pure and free of violence and sin. The two sides contrast each other really nicely. Kouta loses his memory from one significant tragedy, while Lucy experienced all the discomfort and hate of life great or small before developing a split personality. While Kouta's brian shuts off entirely after the tragedy, Lucy struggled to live and pursist, she eventually gave in, but not completely for she was able to maintain another personality, Nyuu. The way everything is shown is to die for....literally. While there seems to be a lot of violence and gore, it is there to make a point. Instead of subtly making the audience infer what Lucy/Nyuu is doing like most series, they blatantly present everything. Because of that we get a really good feeling of her anger and wrath, which then relates really well to her past as it is slowly uncovered and revealed. Another point is the ecchiness, again it could seem a little excess, but again it is there for a point. To show the innocence of Lucy/Nyuu's split personality. Nyuu with no idea of whats going on, and Lucy who is confident and task oriented, who knows about the darkness in humans. The combination of horror/violence and ecchiness is a really strange combination, but the series brings out the extreme of both to create a strong support for the entire theme and story of the series.
The music is one that is really hard to understand, at first the OP might seem a little too weird, and the ED a little to unfit for the series. In the end both really grows on you. The slow and mournful like OP introduces us very nicely and sets the mood for the horrible situations that Lucy had to endure, it really shows the pain and agony that she goes through. The ED is a very nice happyish song that just seems to happy for the series. but if you were to listen to the lyrics you would understand that the song is what Nyuu/Lucy's heart is crying out. The ED ends each episode in a way as if to try to comfort the audience from the current situation, and to give a little hope to what the characters are going through. The soundtrack itself is very mixed, the majority of the songs being slow nervewreaking moments, and a couple pleasant relaxing songs.. each song is able to trigger a specific scene or two that was very memorable...
The sole reason why every area of the series is so great is because of the way the entire series was put together. Without the pain that Lucy/Nyuu went through, the depressing songs would not of so impactful, and without the violence, the ecchiness would of been overboard, and without the numerous sad situations, the delightful scenes would of been weakend. The entire series is very well balanced out.
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