Elfen Lied

Synopsis :
The first character we meet is Lucy, a mutant powerhouse who is held in captivity. The very first scenes in the series are of Lucy's brutal escape from a detention facility.

Most of the story from this point is driven by the facility's attempts to recover Lucy using any means necessary led by Kurama, the chief of the facility.

Lucy meanwhile due to trauma has lost her memory, and adopts an adorable but childlike persona that comes to be called Nyu, since that's the only thing she says. The transformation is complete, since while she is Nyu she does not register as a Diclonius at all.

She ends up in the care of seemlingly normal Kohta and his cousin Yuka who believe her to an innocent girl somehow caught up in some kind of trouble, even lying to protect her from the police.

Lied tries to be several things at once, and the combination breaks down what could otherwise have been a strong compelling character driven story. It includes elements of the harem, cat-girl, action, drama and high school romance anime genres, and loses focus with its shifting between them. There is excessive and gratuitous fan-service, which while amusing or not notable in something like Tenchi, is a distraction in Lied's attempt to be a serious show.

Overall the plot is decent, the characters interesting, the premise involving, but the show breaks down because of its lack of focus.