Diclonius Research Institute

Japan's National Institute On Human Evolution was the headquarters, main base and very often the primary residence of most of the antagonists in the manga and anime series, Elfen Lied, located on an island somewhere off the coast of the seaside resort of Kamakura. It is arguably the series' secondary location, right after Maple House. It acts primarily as a holding and research facility for the horned girls who come to be known as Diclonius. While its public charter and funding from the Japanese government was to find a way to control and counter the growing number of children (in the series, all but one are girls) born Diclonius, its true agenda was far more sinister. The Diclonius 'Queen' called Lucy spent three years of her life held captive there, with her escape marking the start of the series.

It is not revealed exactly when or how this massive facility was built. It appears to have opened shop shortly after young Lucy began infecting Human males with the virus that makes them sire Diclonius children. Since the facility was built atop the Kakuzawa family's ancient ancestral home, it seems likely that the Institute's first and only head, Director Kakuzawa, offered up the site or somehow manipulated the Japanese government into choosing it. It is also possible that Kakuzawa had a site pre-set for such a use, since his family believed itself to be descended from ancient Diclonius, persecuted as demons in medieval times, and that a messiah-figure would arrive to re-establish their dominance over Earth.

One of the first and most pivotal recruits to the staff was Doctor Kurama, brought in by the Director's eldest son, Doctor Yu Kakuzawa. Kurama quickly discovered that the promise of studying the next wave of Human evolution meant for most others there seemed to mean conducting painful experiments on a group of helpless girls, who were kept and used like animals. His objections sadly never got the other staff to change their ways, but it did have an unintended consequence.

(TBC...)