Elfen Lie (エルフェンリート, Erufen Rīto?) is a Japanese manga series created by manga author Lynn Okamoto. A thirteen-episode anime television series adaptation based on the manga was produced by the studio ARMS and broadcast on TV Tokyo from July to October 2004; the anime was later licensed in North America on DVD by ADV Films. The anime started before the manga was complete; as a result, the plot differed between the two, especially towards the ending of the story. In 2005, a special original video animation, written to occur between the tenth and eleventh episodes of the series, was released. The title is literally German for "Elves' Song", or more properly translated "Song of the Elves", and takes its name from the poem Elfenlied and the German word lied, a classical-romantic poem or musical work.