02 150 Musica e Spettacolo This paper develops an exhaustive analysis of the Japanese animation series Elfen Lied (2004) and its opening song, “Lilium”, which is an exceptional case within its feld of production because its lyrics are written in Latin. The purpose of my analysis is to determine if “Lilium” and its visual presentation really have something to do (thematically and stylistically) with the series it presents, or not. My hypothesis is that "Lilium", both in its musical level and in its visual presentation, fulfls all the formal characteristics of both a lied and an overture; and, given the latter, anticipates core thematic and stylistic elements of the work it precedes. Moreover, it even subtly anticipates the ideological content of the series, which consists of a critical reading of gender roles and feminism in contemporary Japanese and global society. To demonstrate these hypotheses, I made a detailed analysis of Elfen Lied, paying special attention to its animated adaptation but not ignoring its original manga version; and then I analyzed "Lilium" in its three aspects: its visual presentation, its lyric and its musical score. I have analyzed and emphasized how the abundant intertextualities present in "Lilium" were productive for creating music and for transmitting the artistic and ideological content present in the series. The paper adopts an interdisciplinary perspective, and uses theoretical tools from the felds of semiotics, intertextuality, and reception theory. The song «Lilium», written by Japanese composers Konishi Kayō and Kondō Yukio 1 and used as the opening song of the animated series Elfen Lied (2004), quickly became one of the the most popular and em- blematic anime songs of the last 20 years. This is due to several reasons. Firstly, Lilium retakes a practice which was common in the Japanese animation of the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s: the song composed ad hoc for the series it introduces. In the decades mentioned above, it was common for the opening and ending songs to be created by the same band or compos- er who wrote the instrumental inci- dental music of each series 2 ; howev- er, from 2000 onwards, openings and endings are mostly songs still un- published, extracted from an upcom- ing album to be edited by some band or some famous or emerging soloist, and who have little or nothing to do (thematic and/or aesthetically speak- ing) with the series in which they ap- pear 3 . The animated series, therefore, has become, as a cultural phenome- non, a kind of shop front which can be chosen by the record companies to exhibit and sell their future releas- es. Lilium, therefore, is remarkable for recovering a traditional practice, today fallen into disuse, in its feld of cultural production. Another reason why Lilium has managed to excel are its lyr- ics, written in correct Latin. This is The semiotics and politics of the female body: A comprehensive analysis of Elfen Lied and its opening song Ezequiel Ferriol Instituto de Filología Clásica Universidad de Buenos Aires idusaprilis@gmail.com