Kumiko Noma -- LILIUM

Hanging out with my anime buddy all these years, I've gotten to hear quite a few titles of famous or infamous shows that I've not ever seen such as "Shingeki no Kyojin"（進撃の巨人...Attack on Titan）, "Code Geass"（コードギアス）and "School Days" (nice boat, by the way).

Then, there is "Elfen Lied"（エルフェンリート）. With that title, the cute-looking characters and the title font, my assumption was that it was the usual run-of-the-mill sword-and-sorcery anime featuring magical girls. Oh, boy was I wrong! I've been reading up on the show via "TV Tropes" and Wikipedia among other sites and then I saw a few key scenes. Let's say that I decided not to have any meat sauce spaghetti for about a week. I did find the above trailer which is safe for viewing.

But what got me intrigued was when I was getting my amusement from one of those YouTube videos that showed misheard lyrics in anison, and sure enough at 1:16, there is the opening theme for "Elfen Lied" which was broadcast in 2004. Yup, I did get my one chuckle during the ten seconds but still even on hearing that briefest of excerpts, I was intrigued by the song.

And I wasn't disappointed. "LILIUM" as performed by opera singer Kumiko Noma（野間久美子）is one of those themes that had goosebumps popping up all over me when I saw the opening credits. It is melancholy, beautiful and noble (bookended by ominous bells) that could pull out tears from a hunk of granite, and with those artistic scenes in the credits, from what I've read of the synopsis of the show, I think it can describe the main character's struggle for love and acceptance.

Listening to the whole song, there is a segment which has signs of hope woven into the arrangement. It makes me wonder if this is the Nyu part or even that of Kaede. Overall, though, I think "LILIUM" is a tragic tale. Yukio Kondo and Kayo Konishi（近藤由紀夫・小西香葉）, who make up the duo MOKA, created the song along with the soundtrack for "Elfen Lied". The Wikipedia devoted to the series provides a more detailed description of "LILIUM" along with the translated lyrics.

Wow! There was some levity in "Elfen Lied".