Pretty Packaging: 101 Anime's ELFEN LIED Sure Is One Shiny Steelbook
In the struggling market of DVD and Blu-ray distribution, it's always a surprise when you suddenly see a known property appear, released by an unknown company. UK distributor 101 Film has been around for a (little) while, but 101 Anime? Yet a few weeks ago, they were the ones releasing a Blu-ray boxset for Elfen Lied, a pretty well-known title from almost a decade ago.
Elfen Lied is a bit of a weird series, a very exploitative telling of a sad story, with loads of torture, (other) extreme violence and nudity thrown in. It is also a brutal send-up of the many harem-comedies and dating video games which were very popular at the time, in which the male protagonist had a slew of pretty girls thrown at him to pick and choose from.
Your mileage on this particular series may vary, but parts of it are better done than might be expected. For example, it is rightfully famous for its opening and closing credits sequences, which are based on the paintings of Austrian artist Gustav Klimt. For their packaging of this release, 101 Anime has followed the lead of that sequence, and the end result is... well, damn pretty!
In the pre-order listings, this release showed with a considerably higher price attached, and a considerably thicker-looking packaging, which makes me wonder if 101 Anime's original plans were a bit more ambitious. As it is, this release is basically just a steelbook with two discs and a booklet, hardly the stuff for a "Pretty Packaging" article. But while watching the series (a review will follow), I did notice the steelbook is quite the eye-catcher. I kept letting the light play over it, creating new color combinations each time. It undeniably is a piece of pretty packaging, so... ah well, why not? It's rare to see a steelbook given such proper use of its metallic qualities.
Therefore, here is a gallery of shots. Click on the edge of the pictures to scroll through them, or at the center of one to see a bigger version.
Elfen Lied is a bit of a weird series, a very exploitative telling of a sad story, with loads of torture, (other) extreme violence and nudity thrown in. It is also a brutal send-up of the many harem-comedies and dating video games which were very popular at the time, in which the male protagonist had a slew of pretty girls thrown at him to pick and choose from.
Your mileage on this particular series may vary, but parts of it are better done than might be expected. For example, it is rightfully famous for its opening and closing credits sequences, which are based on the paintings of Austrian artist Gustav Klimt. For their packaging of this release, 101 Anime has followed the lead of that sequence, and the end result is... well, damn pretty!
In the pre-order listings, this release showed with a considerably higher price attached, and a considerably thicker-looking packaging, which makes me wonder if 101 Anime's original plans were a bit more ambitious. As it is, this release is basically just a steelbook with two discs and a booklet, hardly the stuff for a "Pretty Packaging" article. But while watching the series (a review will follow), I did notice the steelbook is quite the eye-catcher. I kept letting the light play over it, creating new color combinations each time. It undeniably is a piece of pretty packaging, so... ah well, why not? It's rare to see a steelbook given such proper use of its metallic qualities.
Therefore, here is a gallery of shots. Click on the edge of the pictures to scroll through them, or at the center of one to see a bigger version.
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