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Elfenlied in Real Life

It is decently well known amongst fans, that many of the places that Elfenlied displays exist in real life, more specifically in Kamakura and Enoshima, south of Tokyo.

After many missed chances due to Covid, I finally got the opportunity to visit Japan after getting a talk on Post-Quantum Noise (Content Warning: This was before my transition and I am accordingly giving this under my deadname; proceed at your own peril.) accepted at Real World Crypto 2023. Naturally I did not let the opportunity pass to take about three weeks of vacation while I was in Japan and my first destination after Tokyo (where the conference was) and Sendai (that I visited to catch more glimpses of the Cherry blossoms, whose best season was already over when the conference ended) was Kamakura.

For me, a diehard fan of Elfenlied, this was very much one of the best parts of the entire trip, possibly the best and I visited it a second time later during my vacation. Naturally I took pictures and a few videos of which I present a selection below.

Episode 1: Begegnung

The pre-title scenes aside, Elfenlied starts at Gokurakuji-Station, and takes a natural path from there to the beach, with the one caveat that if you just wanted to go to the beach, it isn’t really sensible to leave a Gokurakuji, instead of Hase or Yugihama.

A small creek disappearing in a tunnel. the same scene in Elfenlied.
Even unimporant details are still remarkably accurate…
Gokurakuji Station In the anime there is still a phone-booth, but otherwise it’s the same.
Gokurakuji-Station.
Tunnel entrance for trains towards Kamakura. Identical scene in the anime.
The train-tunnel towards Kamakura Station.
The stairs towards the Joju-in Temple (next to “Kouta’s favourite place”. Only the vegetation is somewhat different in the anime.
The stairs towards the Joju-in temple. In front of it is “Khouta’s favourite place”.
The upwards view from on the stairs. The same scene. This is where we see Khouta for the first time.
This is the place where we first see Khouta in the anime.
This is the walk I took from Gokurakuji-Station to the Joju-in temple. Clearly the path taken in the anime makes sense. (higher resolution)
View from “Khouta’s favourite place” downwards to the bay of Kamakura. Again it is essentially identical in the anime.
The view of the bay. It is quite impressive in real life too.

I took quite a few pictures here, on several occasions over multiple visits, with another nice one being available here.

A ramp leading from the street onto the beach. A further away picture showing the same ramp in the anime.
And finally the beach…
My trip from the Joju-in temple to the beach. (higher resolution)

Episode 2: Vernichtung

Boats and Other things on the beach. The same place in the anime. Specifically in the fight between Lucy and Bando.
At least nowadays the beach is not quite as much of a shanty town as in the anime, but there is still a lot of equipment in some places.
Gokurakuji-Station at night. The same place in the anime, from the scene where young Khouta says goodbye to Yuka.
Gokurakuji-Station at night.

Episode 3: Im Innersten

A box with biscuits in pidgin form for sale. Essentially the same pidgin being the form that the kids are trying to free from the surrounding material in the anime.
I’m not sure what the meaning of these pidgins is, but I recognized them and decided to add a picture here.
The view towards “Khouta’s favorite place” from the Kamakura side. The same view with Lucy sitting on the stairs and Nana standing behind her.
The way to the Joju-in temple again, this time from the other direction.

Episode 4: Aufeinandertreffen

Gravestones at the graveyard near the Joju-in temple. Lucy being pushed against one of those gravestones in the anime.
The graveyard.
A tunnel-entrance where the pavement changes so that it looks like it is covered with Sakura-leaves in the tunnel. Yuka walking into a dark tunnel with a bright opening behind herself.
There are a few tunnels like this in the city, so I’m not quite certain that this one is in the accurate location.
View towards the Kokuzodo temple from the graveyard. The same view in the anime. Lucy is in the picture and looking towards the temple as that is from where a sniper just shot at her.
View from the graveyard to the nearby shrine from which a sniper shoots at and misses Lucy.

Episode 5: Empfang

It bears mentioning, that I did not find the find the following place because I was looking for it, but because it is simply the most sensible way to get from Gokurakuji to the beach.

View from a small street that opens up towards the bay showing the ocean. Mayu being at the same place in the anime, walking towards the ocean.
The attention to detail with which the anime reproduced the original location stays impressive…
A picture of the beach and the ocean behind it. Mayu walking into the ocean with her shoes being left behind on the beach.
This is the same beach, but it is clearly one of the less obvious locations.
Eastward view of the street along the ocean of Kamakura. On the left side are the ocean and the beach, behind a fence and in the distance a mountain. A not completely dissimilar view from the north at night.
I didn’t take a night-time picture here, but it is pretty obvious that this is close to the right spot.

Episode 6: Herzenswärme

Mayu walking down the mainstreet at the ocean towards east.
This is a bit further east, but clearly the same sidewalk.

The following images are from the amazing Sasuke Inari Shrine that is well worth a visit on it’s own, but comes with one very important warning: Do not let Google Maps lead you to it! It will lead you over terribly sketchy mountain-paths into a very remote place in the middle of a forest on a mountain-path from which you will barley be able to make out some red flags further down the mountain, but unreachable due to a steep hang that is overgrown with foliage between you and the shrine. Instead you need to ask it to lead you to the “Approach to the Sasuke Inari Shrine”, which is where you actually want to go to, but will not show up in the results if you search for the shrine itself! Instead you need to zoom in on the map, select the approach or search explicitly for the approach.

A red torii in the forset with a hill behind it. The same torri in the anime.
A torri in the shrine.
An old stone statue of a fox with a missing ear. a very similar stone fox with red bib in the anime.
As the shrine is dedicated to foxes, you can find a lot of foxes here…
The atmosphere is amazing. (higher resolution)

Episode 10.5: Regenschauer

“Regenschauer” is German for “rainshower” and ironically enough that is exactly what happened to me: After visiting the Inari-Shrine (see above) I went on to take a look at the Zeniarai Benten Shrine, where I got trapped by heavy rain for quite a while. At the time I did not recognize the place as the location in the OVA and was a bit annoyed that I had not, in proper Elfenlied-style, gotten trapped at the Sasuke-Inari Shrine.

The other thing about that I would mention about this shrine is that I discovered it on the previous day on my search for the Inari-Shrine, but didn’t enter it because I was still trusting google-maps to be less terrible than it was.

A wodden altar in a stone cave. The same altar in the anime.
The altar (?) of the shrine.

Episode 11: Vermischung

By the end of it, we finally get to Enoshima via the Enoshima Benten Bridge. We can already see the Sea Candle next to which the final big confrontation will occur.

View from the mainland towards Enoshima. Yuka looking towards Enoshima. (Though from a place further to the east.)
Approaching Enoshima…
View from the hill of Enoshima towards the bridge connecting it to the mainland. Nana standing in the middle of the car-bridge.
The bridge that will become the sight of a bloodbath…

Episode 12: Taumeln

Young Yuka waving the train goodbye at night.
The train goes into the wrong direction and it’s not night, but still… (higher resolution)
Enoshima from the pedestrian bridge towards it. Khouta on the same bridge looking back towards the mainland as Bando chases after Lucy.
The seperate bridge for pedestrians, next to the bridge for cars.

Episode 13: Erleuchtung

I have a lot of pictures from Enoshima, that I don’t include here because they are not related to Elfenlied, but I strongly recommend that everyon go up on the Sea-Candle, it really offers an amazing view!

The bridges to Enoshima at night. The car-bridge to Enoshima at night in the anime.
The car-bridge at night.
A stone carving on the upper side of the Zuishinmon gate on Enoshima. Lucy standing in front of the carving and looking at it.
Behind the entrance to the shrine on Enoshima is this stone carving.
Closeup of the main-figure in the anime.
The anime shows the figure very closely, when Lucy is looking at it. Sadly I’m not aware of its significance.
The sunset terrace of the Sea-Candle. Lucy and Mariku on the same terrace at night.
The sunset terrace of the sea candle
The base of the actual Sea-Candle as seen from the terrace. A similar view in the anime, though at night with lights shining on the tower.
another angle.
The stairs leading downwards from the sunset terrace. The same at night in the anime, with Kurama carrying Mariku down. Nana is running towards him, while Isobe watches.
and another. 😉
View from the Zuishinmon gate towards the mainand at night. The same in the anime. The only difference is that the gate is not lit here.
The Zuishinmon gate again.
The view from the “mountain” on Enoshima towards the mainland and the bridges at night. The same view in the anime, with Lucy looking towards the bridgesa and a large fire and with a lot of smoke originating from the center of the pedestrian bridge.
Lucy is much further up in this shot, but you do indeed have a great view of the bridge there.
The stairs after the Zuishinmon gate. The same stairs in the anime. Lucy is sitting on them, with Nana looking up to her next to blood-stains on the gate.
Next to the stone carving are stairs to get further into the shrine. This is where Lucy and Nana split up at the end.