Serial Experiments Lain

Serial Experiments Lain. Where, oh where do I start? As a series, Serial Experiments Lain is rather difficult to pin down, because it is so many things. A dark, mystical and atmospheric cyberpunk tale. A deeply personal story of one girl’s journey down the technological rabbit hole, into world she cannot begin to comprehend. A serious look at the implications of a virtual reality existing parallel to our society. And even... a love story? Perhaps. But one thing is certain. It is, without a shadow of a doubt, the greatest anime I have ever seen. The story of Serial Experiments Lain appears relatively straightforward. But nothing is what is seems. Meet high school student Lain Iwakura. She’s hardly the type to stand out from the crowd. Lain is beautiful, but shy, isolated and painfully introverted. She was never someone you’d remember after graduation. Rejected by her cold and emotionless mother, coolly rebuffed by her apathetic older sister, and patronised by her creepy father, Lain’s world appears empty. Until a classmate sends her an email. A classmate who killed herself weeks before it was sent. But her letter tells differently. “I have only abandoned my body. I am still alive.” And then, Lain is hurtled into the rabbit hole, down, down into the unimaginable world of the Wired. The Wired, as it occurs in this anime, is a worldwide computer network, not only like our own internet, but an entirely different world, a world of strange, terrible beauty, all accessible at the click of a mouse. Think Tron, not Matrix. And, given the fact that it was made in 1998, some parts of its depiction of the internet are borderline prophetic. It even briefly touches upon the GIFT of Penny Arcade fame. The visual design of this anime is utterly sublime. The scenes of the Wired are hives of intricate beauty, and even seemingly nondescript scenes positively ooze subdued nightmares. The animation is crisp and fluid, and the character designs are simple yet sharp and well-defined, particularly that of Lain herself. This anime possesses some of the best use of sound I’ve ever heard in an anime. From the haunting opening theme, to the powerful, dark electronic of the nightclub Cyberia, to the ravaged desperation of its ending, Serial Experiments Lain’s use of sound never fails to create an atmosphere, of beauty, or of terror. The themes presented in the body of the show are always fascinating and frequently thought-provoking. From reincarnation, cybernetics, schizophrenia, love, Gods, social isolation and suicide, you can expect certain it’s ideas to stay with you long after you’ve finished watching the show. It even touches upon some more mainstream sci-fi tropes, such as van-driving Men in Black, hokey cults, and even the brief yet unforgettable appearance of one such sci-fi archetype that is simultaneously bizarre and disquietingly awesome, if slightly out-of-place. I won’t spoil it for you, but you’ll know him when you see him. Although Serial Experiments Lain is undoubtedly the tale of a young girl in a strange land, the Alice of this story is, nominally at least, not Lain but her best friend. Her only true ally, Alice, (of Arisu in Japanese), despite seeming initially quite shy, her demure facade belies a fierce dedication to her friends, especially Lain. By far Lain’s most meaningful relationship, Alice is at times her only foothold, holding her back from an unknowable abyss. And the ending. Oh Primus the ending. I don’t want to give anything away, but in my opinion it was a fantastically powerful, moving and immensely satisfying conclusion. There are some who do not share my view, in fact, some outright loathe it, and I can appreciate their perspectives, but in my view it was brilliantly executed and possibly the best possible ending to such a fantastic series. Serial Experiments Lain, despite touching on literary and philosophical perspectives hailing from many countries, is a quintessentially Japanese production. It is difficult to imagine it turning out quite the way it did, or even turning out at all, if it had been a western production. The dub of Serial Experiments Lain deserves special note. Now, dubs are oftentimes stereotyped by some of the more elitist anime fans as poorly acted, atrociously written travesties. And there is certainly no shortage of examples of this to be found (The original Akira dub springs instantly to mind.). But there are also some excellent ones hovering around, such as Death Note, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Boogiepop Phantom. All excellent shows with apposite, well acted dubs which remain faithful to the original without translating too slavishly. But Serial Experiments Lain’s dub is neither great nor terrible. The performances themselves are range from passable to excellent. Bridget Hoffman, despite sounding somewhat too old for Lain, manages to successfully capture the awkward shyness of her character. The performances of the aforementioned Men in Black are also very nice. But the true show-stealer is Kirk Thornton as the enigmatic Masami Eiri. To reveal too much about him would be to give away too much about the show, but he is the closest thing the show has to a villain, and a great one at that. Kirk Thornton infuses the role with such a smooth deliberacy, and later powerful anger. “Like steel wrapped in silk”, I believed Bruce Coville once said. Thornton’s performance is sublime, perhaps even exceeding that of his Japanese counterpart Shō Hayami, who nonetheless is also excellent. But the real errors are not in how the actors say their lines, but in what their lines are in the first place. Some conversations are awkward and strangely paced, there are direct translations where there should have been rewrites, and visa versa. Although Serial Experiments Lain relies sparingly on dialogue, the original Japanese language track is predominantly superior. My heartfelt recommendation of Serial Experiments Lain does not come without clarifications. If you dislike series with measured pacing, and if you prefer storytelling to be straightforward, you may not enjoy this series as much as I did. And I have no doubt that it will be to dark and strange for some of you. But if you do not mind these qualities, if you do not shy away from works that are bizarre, terrifying, beautiful and magnificent, then I cannot recommend this series highly enough. And although I have seen many great anime, Serial Experiments Lain tops them all. A triumph of imagination.

“Connection unknown” The Story… This may be not your typical anime so be prepared to tweak your minds on some mind-boggling monologues, pieces of strange situations, and phenomenon that will aggravate into your senses. To start of with, it contains a vague storyline that correlates with different mysteries and cognitive aspects. This might be a bit discouraging as they show such random scenes on every episode, but as soon as it moves on it shows such a very psychological and logical atmosphere that becomes a game of mystery around the main character named Lain. With every strange monologues and phenomenon happening, it pushes your curiosity to know what’s behind to all of this even though its interpretation is quite hard to identify. The series might hook you until the end as it has an entertaining yet unclear point of view that you’ll surely want to think of to. All in all, wrap up with a less amount of episodes, the series truly shown an ambiguous and astonishing storyline that you may never seen before. Art & Animation… A ‘1998 animation’ might be a hindrance to try watching this, so don’t expect too much on the backdrops and colors in the series. Usually In an anime art is a big factor on adding pleasure, but in this series it may be difficult to appreciate the art as you may view it of having a bland, shady, and somewhat unattractive design but even though you may think that way you might reconsider it as the art & animation have done such great impact that spice up the aura of the story. Sound… The sounds matched perfectly to the theme as it gives a major impact to the story which is dark, mysterious, and breathtaking. The series use such low pitch and gloomy sound that affects the overall pleasure throughout the show. OP song that gives a mysterious feeling and ED song that gives creeps through you. Having this brings a lot more impact to its mystery and by having an ambiguous condition. Character… Her existence is quite nostalgic. Lain, is an image that links between the real and the imaginary or ‘The Wired’ world. She’s a very interesting character with a peculiar personality, so following her as seen of being a simple girl towards to her unusual self might be a strange trip. Her conceptualization about the surroundings is beyond thinking as some sort of life and death, superior and inferior, but in the end her reaction on it has a deeper meaning. Involving the surroundings, all the other characters are mere pieces of her existence that reveals her emotions and personality as she follows the path for where she seeks the rightful place. Truly being the spot light on the series gives such amazing feedback that wouldn’t be easily to forget. Enjoyment & Overall… It’s a guessing game that will take some time to solve. It has 13 episodes that are filled with different emotions and perceptions. Even though the development of the story is a bit weird but in the end it has some perspective that stands out. It is a kind of anime that you might appreciate a lot better if you’re those kinds that thinks clearly into a situational event before making a judgment on its core output. In terms of being a psychological and logical this might be the most bizarre anime that I’ve ever seen. Caution: It may ruin your day on figuring out what’s happening but in the end it might give you an extreme feeling.

Serial Experiments Lain did not enchant me the way I hoped it would. The first episode really got me hooked but all episodes after that felt like a pretentious and unenjoyable mess. The first half of the season honestly felt like a chore to watch. This show is also so insanely unstimulating, I kept on zoning out 24/7. I really tried to get it. To see what the writers saw in this show. But maybe I'm just missing something. Something crucial that flew over my head that would've made me like this. However I can't imagine myself rewatching this, ever. It's really such a shame because I love it's concept. It has topics I've never seen in anime before and the show really has a distinct character to it. The art style, aesthetics, and most importantly the opening are what carries this show. Another reason why I refuse to give it a negative rating is because the story isn't thaaat horrible. It's just trying so hard to be good. And I guess that's what triggers me. It's also ridiculously confusing. Not the fun or interesting way. It makes it all even less watchable if you ask me. Im sure there are a lot of people who would love this, wish I was one of them.

The anime had a very good start, and then it just continued, well differently. I watched this anime because so many "anime elitists" called it peak anime and I liked its aesthetic however, I don't understand why people like this show so much. All it has is an aesthetic and that's it. I mean, it does have a story, but the issue with the storytelling is that there could be nothing going on for 10 episodes. It's mostly just Lain walking down a street with loud electricity buzzing coming from utility poles. The nothingness is interrupted every 2 episodes by the narrator giving you an information overload for 5 minutes straight, quickly explaining how the world works by using a lot of scientific terms and "science" that 90% of viewers won't understand. I know that it's supposed to be more "art" than entertaining but the storytelling is so messed up. It's like the show is clogged, and when it gets unclogged, all the things that may have or may not have been revealed get explained in a short period with some weird background, such as some digital dolphins swimming and idk man. The best way to describe it is watching paint dry and it being interrupted randomly by a YouTube shorts video that tries to put the entire history of mankind into 3 minutes. Too harsh? maybe, but no. I told my mom about this show and said how it seemed "very art" and she decided that she wanted to watch it. I am so glad that she forgot about it, because of some weird scenes with Lain's older sister that aren't very appropriate. It's a common thing in such media, but it was unnecessary. It's not an important thing to mention but it has to be said if you are planning on watching this with or recommending it to a family member. Conclusion: this is one of those animes that you just have to push through to finish it. Overrated.

Serial Experiments Lain is a show that comes up on many people's "must watch" lists. Honestly, no clue how that happened. I swear, this is one of those shows people add to their list so they feel smart. Sorry, but no... It's not very engaging or compelling. When it finally does get interesting, it does so in short bursts. Most of the time is spent listening to electrical buzzing and lain staring at walls, turning her head slowly. The show is fine, but I don't think it's a must watch, nor something to eventually get to. I'm gonna just come right out and say it. Most people like this show because of the opening, and that is IT. It cannot be overstated how hard that opening carries everyone's opinion of the show. It's a damn good song with awesome 90's grungy-techy visuals to go along with it. I've listened to it countless times now, both just from watching the OP, and listening to the full version endlessly in my free time. But just because I love the OP, doesn't mean I need to love the show. Just watch the OP, and skip the show. You'll "understand" it just about as much as most of the diehard fans anyway. 😅

If you’ve been following the news lately, you may have heard of Chisa Yomoda, a middle school student who committed suicide by throwing herself off the roof of a tall building in a seedy downtown area of suburban Japan. If you’re like Lain, a quiet, introverted girl who rarely has a word to say to anyone, you may not have heard about what happened until a week later, when her classmates began to receive mysterious emails from the deceased student. Checking her email on her seldom used Navi, Lain discovers that not only has she received an email as well, but it openly references the rumors that have spread since the other emails went out, implying this is more than just a one off prank. Intrigued, Lain convinces her IT savvy father to upgrade her out of date Navi, and she begins to explore the Wired, a world-wide communication tool that Chisa’s email claimed she’d abandoned the living world to ascend to, almost like it was another plane of existence rather than a bunch of ones and zeroes being transmitted between satellites. As Lain delves further and further into the technological rabbit hole, the lines between reality and the wired continue to blur, and the bodies keep piling up in it’s wake. Will Lain be able to discover the truth behind this strange alternate reality? And if she does, will it be the reality she wants to find, or will the revelations regarding her own life become too devastating to bear? Serial experiments Lain was produced by Triangle staff, and if you haven’t heard of them, well, I honestly can’t blame you. They’ve released a few titles I’ve heard of, like Magic Users Club and Macross Plus, but Lain is by far the most famous work that they produced before they folded in 2002. The most recognizable thing about their history is actually the fact that they splintered off from Madhouse, and that does kind of fit in with Lain’s visual style, but they split off way back in 1987, so any actual stylistic connection between the two feels incidental at best. What’s more understandable about Lain in particular is that it’s director was the late Ryutaro Nakamura, and more importantly, it was written by Chiaki Konaka, who worked with Nakamura on Ghost Hound and has a noteworthy taste for dark and psychological subject matter, as his contributions to the Digimon and Cthulhu universes should prove. Much like in Ghost Hound, Nakamura’s visual style and direction is the perfect match for Konaka’s writing, at least on paper. They were, at the very least, on the same page creatively. However, like in Ghost Hound, there’s a noticeable disparity in the animation and art quality. Since Ghost hound came out nearly a decade later and had a much better studio behind it, the divide between normal human animation and the trippy surreal animation was distinct, but both still looked good. In Lain however, this is far from the case. The surreal animation is outstanding, truly ground breaking stuff. It plays primarily with static, focus and matrix-like 3D elements, and the ways it uses color turns just about every shadow into a portal to some outerspace pocket dimension dripping with blood-red plasma. The more normal, every day animation just looks bad. Characters are constantly off model, they barely move or even blink when they’re not the ones talking in frame, and frankly, I’ve seen better drawn faces in hentai doujin. It’s pretty obvious that one had to be sacrificed to protect the budget of the other, and it says a lot about the priorities of the series, but more on that in a minute. For the most part, the music ties in directly to the visuals, more to enhance their surreal nature than to stand out on their own, so they’re pretty easy to forget. The exception to this is when composer Reichi Nakado, a professional musician in his own right, was able to shine through with his own rock and roll roots, including one really lengthy sequence that’s basically just an extended guitar solo. It’s a strong, but mostly forgettable soundtrack. The opening, however, is my favorite part of the series. The soulful song Duvet was performed by british indie rock group Boa, and while the lyrics seem largely inconsequential to the series, the song fits well with the visual of Lain wandering aimlessly through an empty town as she peeks in at people through their TVs. As for the ending, well, it’s basically just an extended shot of 14-year-old Lain naked on the floor next to some wires. I get the symbolism behind this... You generally show a character in such a position when referencing either birth or rebirth, so the idea of Lain being reborn through technology is there, but lingering on that one shot for over a minute and a half is kind of creepy and uncomfortable, honestly. The english is dub kind of similar to the soundtrack, as it’s definitely strong and substantial, but it’s mostly forgettable as everyone fits into their roles and does their job to tell the story. Kirk Thornton has a pretty difficult job playing Masami Eiri, someone who’s more of a babbling mouthpiece than an actual character, and he does his best to make his edgelord monologues palatable. Actors like Jamieson Price, Patricia Ja Lee, Lia Sargent and Brianne Siddall perform their roles to perfection, but they’re really only there to act as hypemen for the real star of the show, Bridget Hoffman, who had to play multiple different sides of the main character while still sounding like the same girl, and she absolutely slayed it. It’s a strong dub all around, but it is absolutely HER vehicle. Now, anime is no stranger to surrealism. Honestly, it’s probably the best medium FOR that genre. Don’t get me wrong, people like Darren Aronofsky and David Lynch can do amazing things with live action movies, but no other medium is more perfectly geared towards it than anime. Animation is already rife with possibilities, and there are western cartoons that have experimented with obscure styles and dense visual metaphors, but the western world also sees animation as mostly a tool for either children’s entertainment or crass, immature adult entertainment. Japan, on the other hand, uses animation to reach a variety of different demographics, so there are far less restrictions in place to limit the imaginations of it’s creative minds. There’s also several ways that surrealism in anime can be used. The first name that should come to you when the subject is brought up will naturally be Satoshi Kon, and good. It absolutely should. He had a tendency to use surrealist visuals and concepts to explore the themes of his work, normally after establishing the world, characters and internal logic before gleefully breaking all three of them. The second should be Kunihiko Ikuhara, and again, good. Ikuhara had a lot to say about maturity, gender roles and sexuality, and his work has always been extremely dense with symbolism and avant-garde ideas to the point that understanding what he’s saying drastically alters your viewing experience, but as more of a lateral move than an actual improvement. And then you have works that just plunge you into a strange, surreal world and expect you to still be breathing on the other side. Two of my favorite surrealist anime are Revolutionary Girl Utena and Cat Soup, both of which I’ve reviewed in the past, and while I didn’t go into any heavy spoilers, I do believe I did a pretty good job explaining some element of what they were trying to say. I also enjoy quite a few Satoshi Kon works, but aside from Tokyo Godfathers, whose narrative I felt was a bit weak before I started piecing things together, I haven’t even bothered trying to work out all of the intricacies, because their narratives are usually perfectly concise and coherent regardless of how weird they get. So, because I have some passing familiarity with anime surrealism, and I have at least a rudimentary ability to analyze them, I should be able to come to a decisive opinion regarding Serial Experiments Lain, right? Well, let’s div…

Wow. It takes about an hour for the characters to move, and about a century for one of them to speak, I'm having the time of my life here. The premise of Serial Experiments Lain is good, I'll give it that, but it doesn't really amount to anything when everything feels so thrown together, not to mention overly complicated. Maybe I'm just a slowbro, who knows, Lain probably because apparently she's a god, but either way this was mostly a drag. The biggest redeeming factor has got to be the nostalgic intro theme... I think I'd have an even harsher perception on this anime had it not been for that song, it left me with this feeling of "wanting" to understand what this psychological/mystery anime was all about, and thus the desire of wanting to rewatch this increases like a dead body on an escalator in the mall.

Honestly, I think this anime is highly overrated. I understand why many people call it a work of art for its atmosphere or supposed philosophical depth, but to me, it feels more pretentious than profound. The storytelling is confusing without any real purpose, and many scenes seem weird just for the sake of being weird. The only aspect I truly appreciate is its aesthetic — it has that Matrix-like vibe, with a dark digital atmosphere that must have been innovative at the time. The animation is fine, though nothing remarkable. Overall, I couldn’t connect with the story or the characters, who felt empty and unnatural. Rather than a deep experience, it left me feeling like I’d watched something trying too hard to appear meaningful without actually saying much.

Story If the purpose of Serial Experiments Lain is to get your mind whirling, it succeeds. If its purpose is to get you thinking, not so much. This anime is a hit-or-miss philosophical cesspool that could either captivate or disgust. It’s like swallowing a series of shots that burn your throat and make you either drunkenly euphoric or nauseous. At the time, Serial Experiments Lain was covering ground few had covered before, and people were hailing the work as the turn-of-the-21st-century version of 1984. Now, more than ten years later, one could look at Lain and call it even more relevant. As it ponders the consequences of over-stimulation and over-connectedness, we ourselves have to ponder if being connected is the only way to assert our identity. In this way the anime is worthy of praise. It uses an innovative, pertinent medium to ask an age-old question. Is it possible, though, for subject matter like this to come in such an unsavory form? The anime’s highly experimental and impressionistic style ends up blurring much of what it wants to say. In ingesting the Lain pill, the viewer becomes desensitized instead of enlightened, and eventually he gets lost and stops paying attention. For all the effort it takes to watch the thing, it leaves one with a diaphanous general idea and little satisfaction. There have been arguments that Lain does this purposefully so that we can make our own conclusions, but the storytelling isn’t engrossing enough for us to even want to make our own conclusions. The anime burrows under a smothering blanket of metaphors, leading us on and then giving us a paltry return for how much we invested. We will follow the mystery as if by masochistic impulsion, stomach the nearly indigestible, and then emerge at the end with our mind whirling but not made any better. Animation The animation does its job. And it’s an important job. Rarely does one come across an anime whose central tenets are linked so closely to how they are drawn. The dark red splotches on the pavement hints at a shadowy world that lurks just beneath the real one; solid gray figures sit inertly at their desks and on the train, unable to connect to the world around them; connected power lines loom against a garish yellow sky, ready to entangle those who walk in their midst – they’re all symbols. It is a visual style so abstract it could be called meaningful, a style so distasteful it could be called artistic. A cruel beauty, if you will. Sound The sound, or rather the lack of sound, suits the anime well, and eerie minimalist electronic music quietly adds to the unsettlement. Personally, I would have replaced the ill-fitting alternative-rock riffs for some Berg or Kurtag. Rock is just too down-to-earth for this business. Characters Lain is not a girl I would want to take up in my arms and cuddle. Her vacant expression and porcelain-glass eyes incite more unease than empathy. However, the identity crisis she undergoes in the latter half provides all that is needed for the story to jump-start. Lain’s efforts to fill her empty life with worth becomes mildly arresting, if not frustrating. As she continues to ask herself the same questions and uncovers no answers, her journey to self-discovery teeters between suspense and stagnancy. Things do come to a head at the end, but I have to wonder if it's worth the hours of waiting. Meanwhile, the other characters fit into Lain’s story a bit like incorrect puzzle pieces. Some of them, like Lain’s sister and father, are good ideas that lack the punch to make an impact. Others, like her friend Alice and the mysterious men who spy on Lain outside her house, appear again and again, meant to be manifestations of Lain's internal struggles but instead flickering out as uninspired motifs that the viewer would likely deem not important enough to figure out. Overall The beginning of the last episode opens with Lain saying, “I’m confused again.” I agree. To me Serial Experiments Lain resembles those books one reads in high school English class that are supposed to be eye-opening but actually just sweep past the brain and go out the other ear. There is no denying that the anime is a groundbreaking and creative work, but it seems to have remained in anime history not so much for what it says as for what it represents. While the ideas are there, it has stumbled a little over its convoluted wording.

My good friend once told me that I wouldn't like this anime... that it was too dark and confusing. It turns out my friend was wrong this time... not only do I like lain, it's turning out to be one of my favorites...It's a difficult show to sit through, that's for sure. And that electrical hum that you hear whenever Lain is walking outside always puts me to sleep. Story:9/10 serial experiments lain takes place in "Present Day, Present Time", but it's not quite the reality we know. It's not exactly a reflection of our society, but more like a funhouse mirror. The story is about Iwakura Lain, a quiet 14-year-old girl who, as strange things start to happen all around her, begins to explore and discover the intricacies of The Wired (the Internet, more-or-less). As she looks for answers, she finds more than she ever expected. There aren't any story details you need to know before you dive into the complex world of lain,but I'll give you a sense of what the show is like in case you're deciding whether or not to watch it. First off, it's trippy. The makers of lain went for a distinctly psychedelic mood, and I'm not just referring to tie-dyed T-shirts. Second, it's weird -- in an X-Files/H.P. Lovecraft sort of way. Chiaki Konaka, the writer of the series (as well as Armitage III and Bubblegum Crisis 2040), is a Lovecraft fan. [Lovecraft was a horror/cult author whose works were very weird. -Ed.] Third, it draws you in. The show is a mystery of sorts. There's a lot we don't know in the beginning, and as we're given clues and answers about the truth, we end up with more questions needing to be answered. There are long scenes featuring unusual camera work, and scenes with little or no dialogue. Some scenes are altogether impossible to decipher. There are details at every little turn, some of which are crucial while others might be meant to distract you. The show demands your concentration, and you might find yourself very willing to give it. Fourth, it's a computer lover's show. If you can appreciate the appeal of a powerful computer, or the feeling of urgency associated with needing a new one, you'll like this show. If you live a good percentage of your life online, this show speaks to you. If you feel amputated every time you visit home because there's no ethernet, the makers of this show understand. Better than any other anime I've seen, lain examines our networked society and discusses the implications of our humanity becoming increasingly "wired". Some people have criticized lain for the fact that it covers many of the themes already presented in Evangelion. In my opinion, those people are only seeing the similarities they want to see while being blind to the (very significant) differences. Consciously or subconsciously, all great works build upon and are influenced by the great works that preceded them and then add their own unique style and flavor. Even if two works appear similar, they each have a heart of their own. lain is an anime which not only incorporates the best of what has come before, but actively acknowledges (through references) that there's a lot more out there beyond the scope of what 13 episodes of anime can explain, that the ideas presented are not brand new, that other people have a lot to say about these ideas, and that the sources are available to anyone with more than a passing interest in what the series is all about. In that sense, lain does not take itself and its own viewpoint overly seriously. Instead of being self-absorbed, lain's anti-dogmatic approach and call for every viewer to perform his or her own "experiments" adds tremendously to the show's appeal. Art:7/10 The low budget really shows in the animation. It's choppy and inconsistent especially when faces get a close up then you can sit there and count the frames. On the other hand the colorful and atypical art style does a lot to distract from the bad animation. SEL has a very unique and phantasmagorical style and, due to the use of color, texture, shadows, lighting, and dynamic angles, the show really feels very surreal, almost like a dream. Sound:9/10 Techno at its finest. This song really had my foot tapping and head bobbing with its fast rhythm and library of classic techno sounds.It really fits well with the background pulse.The Club Cyberia vibe might the best ost ever created in anime.This song even comes complete with DJ J.J (Chikada Wasei) soliciting fun and ecstasy to all the good little clubber boys and girls. Character:8/10 As far as characters go there isn't much to say. Other than Lain and the main Villain, Masami Eiri, there aren't very many interesting characters. It's also almost impossible to talk about Lain or the Eiri without giving away spoilers... so consider this a spoiler warning... Enjoyment:9/10 It's true that lain is "dark" in its presentation, and even moody sometimes, but I never found it depressing. On the contrary, I found serial experiments lain, ultimately, to be positive and uplifting. lain's multi-faceted expression of several interrelated themes, its captivating visual landscape, its pulsing soundtrack, and the impressively actualized psychedelic mood make this show a must-see.

The WTF genre is probably best explained by simply pointing at the anime that's actually in it - anime such as "Boogiepop Phantom" and "Paranoia Agent". But what paved the way for those aforementioned titles is the cult classic "Serial Experiments Lain". It's probably the original anime of that genre, and for that, it has my respect even if I do think it's outdone by its spiritual successors. To begin with, I found "Serial Experiments Lain" to be grindingly slow. And I don't just mean slow with its overall pacing like a slice-of-life anime - it's slow in its finer grain details too. A dinner table conversation would feel ridiculously drawn out because some of characters take about 5 minutes to respond when talked to. This over done attempt at producing the right atmosphere made the characters feel wooden and the interactions between them too artificial. As a result, I was honestly nearly falling asleep during the first few episodes. Even though there's a sense of mystery, at the rate it was going I felt no sense of urgency to get to the bottom of the mystery. However, after the sluggish start, "Serial Experiments Lain" improved as it went on, becoming more and more exciting and intriguing. Abstract and philosophical, it's not a series that's easy to understand. I can't say I have it all sussed out myself, but I was able to enjoy it for the atmosphere and the direction even though I was ultimately still confused about the story. Considering the abstract nature of the story though, the climax feels a bit too much like some boss battle from a game. "Serial Experiments Lain" has some good productions values. The distinctive art style and the superb use of ambient sounds such as the incessant humming of the phone lines etc all helps to get you into the mood. It also has one of the best opening credits sequences ever, combining one of the coolest opening theme you'll ever hear with some fantastic art direction (pity the ending theme sucked big time though). But Beyond its main storyline, "Serial Experiments Lain" doesn't feel like it has as much going for it as the likes of "Boogiepop Phantom" or "Paranoia Agent". Although "Boogiepop Phantom" also had me confuzzled over large sections of the story, the mini stories themselves can be thoroughly enjoyed without understanding the overarching story. I also found the social commentary "Boogiepop" to be far more compelling, and the atmosphere a lot thicker, providing a better "horror" experience. "Paranoia Agent" has a main story that's ultimately disappointing, but with its black humour and entertaining individual episodes that provided so much variety in style and feel, getting there is just so much fun. Compared to these, "Serial Experiments Lain" may feel a little bare in its offerings if you don't get the story. So what I'm trying to say is, if you're very keen on mind bendingly abstract anime, then "Serial Experiments Lain" is a show you cannot afford to miss. But if not, then, the show is likely to be a miss for you.

Lain is mostly remembered today for the opening song, or the creepy atmosphere, but it also stand out as a period piece by being one of the best speculative fiction series of the time period it came out. Although the way it presented the internet in its early stages can be seen as silly now that we are all using it, it still predicted how it affects the way people think or how bad guys would abuse it for achieving deification by controlling peoples’ minds. It’s an exaggerated version of what actually happens today. You know, the mass media controlling the narrative, megalomaniac sociopaths promoting their agendas, and many becoming NPCs who are supporting the current thing. The presentation in Lain is of course not that down to earth, it’s done in a metaphysical way, as was the style at the time. Because back then the end of the millennia was near, people were worried about new technologies, and Neon Genesis became a big hit by having the exact same concept with Instrumentality, so let’s copy it to get a piece of the pie. Historical impact aside, the anime is obviously dated in terms of visuals, although it still holds up in terms of mysterious atmosphere and mindfuck special effects. The biggest issue most newer fans will have with it is how it doesn’t have the usual crap that sell, such as elaborate fight choreographies, or excessive fan service. The heroine can be seen as a waifu when she is dressed in those silly bear pajamas (and you are that fatally desperate to need one for watching an anime), but she’s mostly a surrogate for the viewer. She’s not there as a manic pixie dream girl that motivates some dull guy to participate in some hobby, as is the trend these days. Lain is not entertaining, it’s not about carefree characters in some high school and there are no silly romantic triangles. You see, the bulk of anime are about escapism. To run away from the boredom of your dull existence and into a realm of excitement and lack of responsibility. Lain seems to be doing that at first with everyone getting hooked on their internet and videogames (with wireless joysticks I must point out, at a time when it wasn’t widespread or cheap). And then it makes the whole thing to seem horrifying by changing peoples’ perception, and by causing death and mayhem everywhere. In effect it becomes anti-escapism and a cautionary tale on what happens when you indulge too much in any hobby. That’s the prime difference with something like Sword Art Online which is the polar opposite of what Lain is going for. You know, videogames are cool, I too wanna get trapped in a virtual reality and have lots of waifus being amazed with me. That is the main difference between sci-fi shows of the late 1990s and the 2010s. Back then almost everything was serious and scary. Lain is of the same vein as something like the original Ghost in the Shell movie. Philosophical, about loss of self in a virtual sea of impersonal information. What happens if your consciousness becomes data and you get a fusion of man and machine? Do you become a God? Do you ascend into a higher dimension? It’s that shit that makes science fiction great and memorable. With that said the show has its problems. How does a girl who doesn’t know or like computers that much changed so fast in a few episodes? It feels like a character rewrite because we don’t see the change, it happens out of screen. It’s the same thing with Kirito and Asuna in Sword Art Online loving each other when we hardly see them together. I mean, it’s done for maintaining a sense of mystery by making you ponder why does such a thing happen, but it’s still too sudden. Also why does nobody do something if videogames and The Wired are forcing people to commit suicide? What are the parents doing, the teachers, or the police? Why don’t they ban or regulate the damn thing? Because if they did we wouldn’t have a story. Also the whole concept of technology changing your perception is resolved in a really cheap way at the end that almost makes the whole theme pointless. The answer to the mystery of what is going on and why is Lain acting like a different person at times is not her losing touch with reality because of overexposure to The Wire. She was a deity. Not because of the internet, she was all along. So, um, what kind of a moral message does that leave you with? It’s no longer about how technology changes her, because she was always different. She was another Suzumiya Haruhi, which is not helpful when she’s supposed to be a stand-in for the viewer. Oh, what a betrayal. We are mortals, we wanna view and evaluate the show with mortal standards. That’s why it was way better when in the Haruhi anime the protagonist was Kyon. A mortal, not the goddess. As if that wasn’t enough, the mortals in Lain (and by that I mean every other character in the show) don’t achieve that much. Not only the heroine takes up most of the screentime, the others don’t affect the outcome much. There’s this really elaborate conspiracy going on that involves a dozen different things which are resolved in a hurry at the end and in a cheap way because the heroine can do a lot of weird reality warping shit. So what was the point of the show? If you are not the Special Chosen One from the very start you are fucked? Thanks every popular fighting shonen ever made! What would we do without your important moral message? With that said, Lain is still a good watch. It’s thematically powerful and attracting as a mystery, the music and the atmosphere hold up. It’s just that it’s very impersonal (and dare say un-relatable if you are a feelfag) when you get the answers and not everything comes together in an organic way at the end. It works far better conceptually than it does in execution. Still worth recommending, but not flawless.

The most succinct way to describe Serial Experiments Lain is to call it a complete and total mind screw that still holds a LOT of relevance in today's technologically dependent society. It's a shame that this show doesn't get the recognition that it deserves, but I can see how this has come to pass. Most programmes these days practically spell everything out for you whilst Serial Experiments Lain requires the viewer to make sense of what's going on to some degree and it's that very approach that makes it rather inaccessible to the bulk of anime fans out on the market. Hell, I've watched this show twice and I still don't think I wrapped my head around everything. Regardless, watching this show again gave me a newfound appreciation for this show and the subject matter it tackles. Serial Experiments Lain is hard to talk about if only because of the fact that it relies heavily on viewer interpretation. If you go into Lain without thinking about what you're watching, chances are that nothing will actually make sense to you. Regardless, there's still a plot that Lain follows from beginning to end. Throughout the show, we follow Lain Iwakura: an introverted and technologically inept girl who ends up falling prey to circumstance. The recent suicide of a classmate leads to everyone getting emails from this now-deceased person and once Lain finds out about this, she decides to get with the times and see this for herself. She makes contact with the so-called classmate via mail and this person tells Lain that she merely gave up her physical form to exist on "the Wired" (I'll talk about this later) and by doing so, she apparently found God. What happens next is entirely up for you to experience. Now this of course raises a lot of questions: did this girl actually find a way to exist on the Wired or is it just a prank that some punk decided to play? Is there really a God and if there is one, does God exist on the Wired? What about Lain? Is she God? What significance does Lain herself hold? As you keep watching, the questions keep mounting but there's nary an answer in sight... or so it would seem. You see, Yoshitoki Abe and the rest of the SEL team actually put all of the answers (well, more like answer choices) right in front of you and scattered them about so it's entirely up to you to find them. Think of Serial Experiments Lain as the anime equivalent of a word search puzzle, but with a LOT more words to find than what's normally present in a word search puzzle. In regard to the concept of "the Wired," think of it like this anime's equivalent to the internet. Well, that's the closest to an equivalent I could think of anyway. The Wired combines various concepts like virtual reality, communication, and our understanding of the Internet as it was back in 1998 and the end result is this weird mix of past and future in that computers still have CRT screens but also have the capacity for voice commands and virtual reality. I mean, the show itself takes place in the "present day" and "present time" (hahahahahaha) but it still begs the question of how long it would actually take until Serial Experiments Lain ends up about as technologically accurate as a Silver Age comic book, especially with standards advancing as quickly as they have within the last few years. Even so, the enigma surrounding "the Wired" and its very nature is what makes this show so captivating to watch in the first place. Throughout the show, a major theme is where "the Wired" ends and reality begins (technical limitations notwithstanding, ofc) and this theme still holds a lot of relevance today, especially with the advent of stuff like Google Glass combined with the fact that the bulk of us online would probably suffer from severe withdrawal if we were severed from our phones, video games, computers, and internet access. There are many other themes this show explores, but I feel like this is the one that's aged the best and is the one most people will focus on when they even bother talking about this show in the first place. From a production standpoint, Serial Experiments Lain certainly isn't Cowboy Bebop in terms of animation quality but in terms of stylistic visuals, Lain and Bebop may very well be equals. The character models aren't anything special and are occasionally drawn off-model (unintentionally, I'm presuming), but where this show shines is how it handles its atmosphere. Serial Experiments Lain is one of those shows that just loves to jump between the mundane and the surreal, but it doesn't go overboard like the bulk of everything produced by SHAFT tends to do. Rather, the surreal imagery in Lain is quite subdued (for the most part) and serves to strengthen that sort of creepy and uncanny atmosphere this show tries its hand at creating. The animation quality is also rather fluid and given how it integrated CG to render the Navi operating system (among other things), I'm surprised that this show didn't go all Evangelion on us and have the animation quality gradually deteriorate as time went on. Of course, the animation could've been nothing more than inanimate character models sliding across the screen and that creepy atmosphere Lain has wouldn't suffer a bit because it's the audio that actually sells the entire thing in the first place. From ominous guitar chords, hardstyle techno beats, and other such delectations, Lain knows how to set the mood and roll with that shit. There's also no shortage of scenes where background music is thrown to the wayside and we're left with ambient noises which further hammer in the point that the show's trying to make. This show also goes so far as to have an English opening theme sung by a native speaker of the language! "Duvet" by Boa (the rock band from the UK, not the Korean JPop singer) is an enchanting OP theme and it strangely fits the tone of the overall story. The ED theme is also quite nice, and I have both of them saved on my phone so I can listen to them when I'm not near a computer as well. Unlike the OST, the dubbing across both the Japanese and English tracks is decidedly average. Now, the English dub produced by Geneon (or rather, Pioneer as they were known at the time) is fair enough but it's not the kind of English dub that'll make people scream in ecstasy over how amazing it is. Sure, there are some great voice actors here and there (i.e. Kirk Thornton, Jameison Price) but Serial Experiments Lain isn't exactly one of their more noteworthy performances. If I really had to say whether or not you should go for the sub or the dub, it really depends on how many subtitles you want to read. Bizarrely, Geneon didn't edit any of the Japanese text in the show so that it reads in English when they were localising it so you still end up reading subtitles no matter which one you watch (before you ask, the Funimation release of the show still has subtitles). Personally, I prefer the dub since I'm an illiterate bastard who can't handle reading anything with more than one syllable in it, but that's just my take on the whole situation. So, final thoughts? If you're the kind of person who binge-watches stuff like Hunter x Hunter and Attack on Titan, chances are that you won't get a lot out of this show but to those of us who watch re-runs of The Twilight Zone on TV Land or enjoyed stuff like Ghost in the Shell (either the movies or Stand Alone Complex, either works), chances are that you'll get a lot out of it. What it boils down to is your desire to actually think about what you're watching rather than relying on the show to tell you everything that's going on. Regardless, Serial Experiments Lain is one of those shows that you should give a chance at some point down the line. Whether or not you'll like it is entirely up for you to decide, but it's one hell of an experience and that much certainly can't be denied. Anyway, that's all for now. Feedback's always welcome and with that, I'm out. Peace :) *** To people who say that Serial Experime…

I can't watch this show without constantly comparing it to The Lawnmower Man (1992 film). Lain and her classmates are very nice characters which is a shame because there is very little of them. I watched this show just for the friendship between Lain and Alice, the only thing differentiating the show from The Lawnmower Man (1992 film). It's sad that there is very little of this versus all the techno-philosophical ideas, which they mostly aged very badly and just didn't become true. Computers and the internet are just boring, and I don't remember any of these techno scenes at all, it all functions as technobabble filler for the most important and central part of the series. Lain and Alice. The biggest disappointment was realizing that there was going to be no yuri. But that is just personal taste. 5/10

For an average viewer, this will be hard to follow. Those who look to others for explanations on this series will most likely get hung up on how to interpret it, when in fact the very being of this anime has a couple of themes that can be interpreted in different ways (ie the aliens, communication, loneliness, personality disorders and the real definition of reality and god). The sub-plot is built up on the fabric of multiple theories and ideas. For me, personally, I liked the psychology of the story as a whole, but found the story telling clunky to the point of almost deliberately making it confusing. I had to rewatch certain sections of episodes because I felt like I was still missing important key elements of the plot itself. There is a lot of places that have hardly anything significant to the main story line (to most likely help you appreciate the artwork), and suddenly a wave of meaty plot is shoved in. As a personal preference, I enjoy character development of more than one major character. But to completely disregard this anime as something that doesn't earn respect would be foolish. The ideas of technology for it's time are very vivid, as 1998 is a different time than the present. The themes of reality and the internet are still heavily relevant. I give it a '7' because it was good and thought provoking, but lacked a couple of story/character points that I expect when I invest in a story so heavily. For something to be a masterpiece, I need to like every aspect of the anime. Though I agree people don't use the full scale to it's potential, I'm giving a score on my experience with SEL as a whole. -------- Annnd....! As promised, a plot guide for those who were completely confused [spoilers]: The story starts with Masami Eiri, an employee at Tachibana Labs. He is a key designer of Protocol 7, the next version of the internet/the Wired. Eiri created a code to break down the barrier between the Wired and the physical world in a way where you wouldn't need a device to access it. He looked for a way to insert a administrator that would oversee the entire internet with all the tools to fix anything that wasn't working out as planned. An early version with the codes to merge the two worlds was discovered, and to escape, Eri committed suicide. Although physically it was noted as a suicide, he was able to upload his mind to the Wired and still regain his memories and sense of reality of the real world. When he was in the system, he made an elite hacker group called Knights of the Eastern Calculus to do his bidding. Next, Lain was created to fix the holes in the Wired, but Tachibana Labs soon realized her Wired personality wasn't as dependable as they would like, due to her abnormal tendencies. To fix this, the physical body of Lain was developed in the real world. By giving her a family and normal human life, she would able to connect better with the average user rather than rely on personalities and coding to solve the problems on the Wired. To keep records, her "father" raised her. He also worked at Tachibana labs. After that, the Knights used the underground information they dug up from the KIDS system that Professor Hodgeson was working on. They used the findings to build the club Cyberia to feed off the children's psi energy to further break down the wall between the Wired and the real world. Chisa was one of the first to be influenced by this by visiting Cyberia, and committed suicide to upload her mind to the Wired, much like Eri. Chisa sent emails to further pull her classmates in, specifically Lain. Lain is affected by the atmosphere when she visits Cyberia, battling her hidden powers of her other personality that runs the Wired. To further push triggers, the men in black brings Lain to the executive of Tachibana Labs to question her and pull out her alter ego. After the Wired Lain comes out, she spreads rumors about Alice having relations with their teacher (which is true, considering the last episode in the future). Confused about the fact that Wired Lain is really herself, Lain in the physical world deletes all the memories except Alice's. This causes Alice to confront Lain. At the same time, Eri manifests. The chaos causes Lain to reset everyone's memories, so that no one would have any recollection of Lain's physical or Wired form. But Lain battles with the right to exist, which is why she appears to Alice later in her life, and inevitably watch her from afar.

I've got to be honest. Were it not for one, massive, issue I have with this series, It would be my favourite anime by a landslide. Everything about it is just so...Incredible well done that its hard to critique it on anything but personal preference. The Animation might look a bit plain, but its perfect for the series because it permits such a degree of variation throughout the series. The actual quality of the Art and Animation is very high, but it seemingly mundane enough that it doesn't distract attention from the true Core of the series: The Plot. Lain has, no questions asked, the best story I've ever seen in an Anime. Its more twisted than Evangelion, more confusing than Flcl, and more polished than...a very shiny table. It doesn't draw on vast numbers of, often obscure, references, its Acsessable to the average man. BUT, at the same time, its got depths to it that you can't plumb without a mile long cable of Solid Thinking. But, even better, it does, slowly and somewhat obscurely, explain itself. Not completely, because no anime of its kind would ever give away all its secrets, but at least some of those mystery's DO get cleared up for you. Oh, and I love the soundtrack. Especially that opening theme. Oh god how I love that Opening Theme. Oh, and despite my previous statements, the animation is beautiful. Watch the opening sequence and marvel at the sheer brilliance of Lain's facial expressions. Wonder at the consistency in the little features, like the slashes of blood in the shadows or the little touches to Lains appearance that show her development through the series. If I were a girl, I would wear that hair clip. Heck, I'd wear it now If I had one. But, like all Animes, it has one, in this case Vast, flaw for me. That ending. GOD that ending. HOW I HATE THAT ENDING No spoilers now, but if anyone ever claims that was a proper "Happy and plot resolving" ending I will cut their lips off. (not really) But still, If I could, this series would have an overall score of 12. Probably 13.

Every once in a while there's an anime that almost defies "description", making the viewers think about how weird and unusual the anime is, and is utterly impossible to give an accurate rating to due to it's complexion. Serial Experiments Lain is certainly one of those rare anime. Serial Experiments Lain is the most unique, rare and "different" anime out there but, it's definitely not for everyone To individuals who cannot think outside the box and see the deeper theme/morale behind symbolistic items/actions/events, I recommend you not watch this anime, for it may literally blow your head up. Also, if you don't like dark, sinister, and ominous anime settings and are looking for ecchi, romance, comedy, happy anime, then this anime is certainly not for you. This is an adult series, by which I mean that it doesn't talk down to its audience. It doesn't simplify/downplay any of the horrors of our reality. There are parts of it that really hurt a lot to even imagine, but that's because the anime wants it to hurt. In Serial Experiments Lain everything happens for a reason; every scene, every action that happens feels significant however little sense it might make, and everywhere there are subtle hints and allusions to... something deep. Twisting, disturbing, and surrealist scenes comprise most of the series, and that's where Lain shines as a unique masterpiece of writing the most. This series lends a whole new perspective to the human condition. Briefly summarized, Serial Experiments Lain is a deep story about communication. How humans are all connected to one another, yet separated at the same time, whether it's through a phone, across a computer connection, or talking face to face. The story is something which is best experienced rather than described. It starts out relatively simple enough: In a time not too far into the future from ours, the internet (which is dominating our society today) has taken one step further into becoming a world of its own; with powerful self-controlling systems called Navis, everyone from businessmen to kindergartners jumps into the Wired to interact, play games, make friends, and gossip. Iwakura Lain, our protagonist is a quiet, unassuming junior high school student who stays away from the Navis, despite her father being part of the internet business... Until suddenly several girls at her school, including her began to receive e-mails from a dead classmate who had committed suicide a week earlier. Out of curiosity, Lain responds to the e-mail she receives and gradually Lain's attitude begins to change due to specific causes. As she becomes more involved with her Navi, the world around her and her friends become increasingly more unstable. More suicides and bizarre killings happen one after another, and Lain is somehow connected to them... but how is she related to all those random deaths? It's through her experiences on the wired and face-to-face interactions with the people around her that she slowly awakens to some dark and startling discoveries of reality. People will probably wonder if the climax and ending of the show was good, and my answer to that is simply yes. “Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures.” - What does it mean for something to be fiction, and for another thing to be reality? "The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." - Try to think about this quote and perceive it in your own way, for it has much to do with this anime. When I said the story is best experienced than described, I truly meant it. The thing with Serial Experiments Lain is that each person who watches it will come away with their own perspective about what truly happens in each episode, and the underlying meanings that are ambiguously conveyed. The fundamental story is about technology and the blurring of the borders between the real and online worlds. There are numerous questions posed in the series, and even the answers are open to each person's own interpretation. The series asks us to consider whether it is more real than the "real world". Where do we really live? If we have real and wired versions of ourselves, which is genuine and which is the shadow or reflection? It also further delves into basic questions about reality and our perception of it. If no one can remember an event, did it really happen? If no one knows about something, does it really exist? Finally the deepest questions raised by this anime is about religious symbolism, such as life after death and whether or not God exists and if so, in what form. I really want to go into detail, but I'd have to spoil parts of the anime for you which would be blasphemous to even think of doing. It's truly symbolic and ingenious. The characters in Serial Experiments Lain from our quiet, innocent Lain, to her computer otaku father, snotty older sister, and gossipy friends aren't very deeply explored, probably because there was absolutely no need for it. They are all easily identifiable as someone you might already know in reality, making the plot flow along more "realistically" and smoothly. The music in Serial Experiments Lain is rather old classical, in the sense that it doesn't have epic themes, or tragic sad songs, but rather ominous guitar, or mysterious religious chants. The music was not my favorite soundtrack out there, but certainly the anime made it work somehow by placing the songs in at the perfect moment of each scene. The voicing of Serial Experiments Lain was rather nice, but there's not much to talk about that since we don't hear side character's voices very much and Lain is basically the only main character... As for Lain, Kaori Shimizu did an excellent job voicing the voice of a bright yet dark Lain (if you can put your head around that). The opening for Serial Experiments Lain was rather interesting, and the visuals of the opening were representative/symbolic of the themes in the anime. Want to find out more? Watch the anime. As for the art of the anime, it's one of those obscurely drawn, sinister-feeling graphics from the dim lightings, to the shadows cast upon things. Furthermore many ambiguous items are drawn up in specific ways for it to be recognized as a "symbolic" figure each to the viewers own opinion. The characters aren't your average big-boobed, red/orange/green/pink haired weirdos that you can't tell apart from others, they are each drawn in their specific ways. The eyes of characters were fascinating to observe, for they showed everything about a person, the feelings that they're feeling, the thought process currently revolving around in their heads. If you watch the anime you'll know what I mean, truly a very intriguing art style, and personally, I loved it. There is extraordinary attention to detail in this series whether it be each minor detail in the plot, allowing no plot-holes to enter the anime, or all the symbolic themes that are presented through dark conceptions of reality, fiction and communication in both. A lot of work went into creation and presentation of an alternate GUI concept used by standard Navis which was nice to see. The anime is so mystifying, confusing, and challenging, but if you can grasp the concept around in your head, this anime will be so genius that your head may possibly explode metaphorically. I'd recommend this anime to anyone who has a brain and can actually process what's happening and use this to answer psychological questions about this world for themselves. It's truly a masterfully written piece of anime that takes focus to comprehend, and in conclusion to my review I will thank you for reading it~

An adventurous and abstract anime about a middle-school girl with extreme split personalities who can make or break the world is portrayed in the style of postmodernism and avant-garde. Released in 1998, directed by Nakamura Ryutaro, the person who brought us Kino’s Journey, Serial Experiments Lain is labelled as dementia, in the same category as "Agitated Screams of Maggots". This series has a unique philosophical take on communication’s impact in the modern era, as well as one's self-awareness. Its biggest selling point is delivering mysteries episode after episode and submitting subtle hints enough to puzzle together the whole picture for the keened eyed in a rewarding fashion, but not so much that you can gain such delight by watching it half-asked. A middle-school girl isn’t the most exciting choice for a protagonist; but when this girl has a similar power to Suzumiya Haruhi, the setting suddenly turns into one of a surreal reality. Lain’s world is very similar to our own but with a superior virtual communication network known as The Wired, developed by Tachibana Labs. A group of hackers known as The Knights, very much like the infamous Anonymous made the system its playground, causing chaos and conspiracy across the globe. Some even worshipped them but nobody knows of their true identities, or their goals. It is up to Suzumiya Lain to stop them and restore peace. Or, would she make matters worse by adopting Haruhi’s personality? If the series was not directed by someone who enjoys testing the waters and rape minds, Serial Experiments Lain might have been a landmark in its genre. Unfortunately, despite Nakamura’s claim of him not being influenced by Neon Genesis Evangelion, his work left just as many question marks, leaving many viewers confused and frustrated. Lain is bizarre. She has three personalities: the shy and timid that we see most of the time, the bold and more mature version in The Wired, and the evil Lain who harms not only her reputation but also her friends’ well-beings. Our protagonist found her life changed in the most dramatic way possible after a voice mail from the dead hinted her very own existence and that of the world she lived in were expendable. She was unrealistically calm and was even entertained by the idea of this parallel world in “The Wired” and its prospects. Throughout the 13 episodes, she fights against her other personalities to realise what is real and what is right. Not much character interaction is in display because the series consists of heavy monologue and the protagonist talking to a computer or an imaginary friend. Her family is mostly indifferent and never gets to do things together on screen. But her character’s transformation from the beginning to the end is big enough to warrant a phenomenal development. Lain’s best friend, Alice is also given an interesting character progression, thanks to her curiosity. However, it was the 11 year-old Taro, a supporting character, whom appeared to be the most normal individual in this show that I wanted to see more of. Little animation exhibition because there are many still pictures and the art is not detailed enough for elaborate movements, but the dark and moody atmosphere is well portrayed and draws you in. There is a punk soundtrack on the lines of Cyberpunk but most of the time we hear only static background noise or silence. The opening song is in English; it’s quite soothing and is written by a British indie band called Boa. The English voice actors did a fine job but the “antagonist” sounds like an onii-chan in the Japanese dub. Serial Experiments Lain could be improved with a faster pace for it didn’t do much deciphering but more on showing us the protagonist staring at our face through a screen. The concept was fascinating but could have been better executed. Serial Experiments Lain is for those who enjoy a complicated plotline that focuses more on atmosphere than the story. Call it philosophical, thought-provoking, or creepy; “The Wired” is a more convincing playground than The Matrix. If you like this, you might like Ergo Proxy. (Thanks to Vis4Vanity for recommending this series)

Serial Experiments Lain is a really hard anime to review. I can give an opinion of what it is about and you would see something completely different. To describe it in just three words would be strange, confusing and compelling. The reason for this is its philosophical nature exploring the flow of communication of information on the internet, the existence of God and can God or someone exist if no one believes or remembers them. The story revolves Lain a small girl who is at that awkward age where you begin to transform from a child to an adult. She is maturing a lot slower than other girls and doesn't share the normal interests of other girls her age or has an interest in technology so has no real friends. After a girl in her class commits suicide, Lain receives an email from her through an online community called the Wired telling Lain that she is still alive but has shed her real world body. Lain decides to reply and discovers that the Wired is an online world controlled by a "God" and a secret group called the Knights. Lain is more and more dragged into this world finally questioning her own existence, whether she can only exist in the Wired without a real world body, can the border between the real world and the Wired be torn down and why is she being confused with someone else. Serial Experiments Lain needs to be taken in its historical context as in was made in 1998 when the internet had just taken off in a big way and the flow of information began to become out of control. If the invention of the microprocessor in 1970 is the Big Bang then 1998 is probably the Age of Discovery. This is the interesting part of Serial Experiments Lain. We see identity theft as Lain realises she isn't the only Lain in the Wired and the fact that her friend Arisu's secret that is having an affair / being abused by a teacher in their school is revealed in the Wired with a confounded Lain appearing to be the culprit. The anime moves between the real world and the Wired seamlessly make it confusing to whether what we are seeing is in the real world or not. Just when you think you have got Serial Experiments Lain figured out it distorts itself leaving you as confused as before which I am in no doubt is deliberate. Serial Experiments Lain is not for everybody not because of nudity or fan service but because it will bore or confuse some people. This not a criticism because I can see where that opinion will come from. If you enjoy being challenged you will enjoy Serial Experiments Lain if not you will struggle to appreciate its message.

Serial Experiments Lain is one of those clever shows where everyone has their own different theories and interpretations about what's happening on screen and lots of important stuff is implied rather than shown, in short it takes patience and a quite a lot of pondering before you reach your own conclusions on the plot. The story is said to take place in the present and centres around a middle school student, Lain, becoming obsessed with a kind of virtual reality world called the wired that's not all too different from our own internet. Initially a shy, good natured but ultimately anti-social girl, Lain begins to develop a multitude of undesirable and uncontrollable split personalities that wreak havoc in her life and eventually lead to a full blown existential crisis. Unsure of which world she truly belongs in, the cyber or the physical, Lain delves deeper and deeper into the world of the weird becoming powerful enough even to insert her body as well as her consciousness into cyberspace. That's the simplest introduction I can muster and I won't go any further but I will say the rest of the story involves failed psi experiments on children, the internet's own version of God and his elite fellowship of hackers known as the Knights and an infinite cauldron of sci-fi references to everything from the Roswell incident to the Cetology work of John. C Lilly. The depth and complexity of the storyline is absolutely mind-blowing and I personally thoroughly enjoyed watching in my darkened living quarters until three in the morning then lying awake until five trying to process it all. However despite appreciating the subtlety and being allowed to make up my own mind about the meaning of the story, I did feel like the show could/should have thrown the viewer just a little bit more of a rope in terms of explaining some of the more important plot points, not a big rope but just big enough not to drown in the sheer intrication of the Lain universe. On the other hand, I believe the confusion helped me empathize with Lain herself, so I can forgive. On to the audio/visual side of things. The atmosphere in this show is really just top-notch. Although the animation is quite choppy at times and the character design looks quite dated (to me at least), the eerie lack of strong colours combined with some brilliant moments of cyberpunk mindfuckery and medium blending led to a tense and unnerving visual feast. There wasn't really much in the way of music that stood out for me (apart from the opening theme by the obscure British indie band Bôa) but the use of various creepy sound effects was... effective (hur) particularly the hummings of electricity cables that dominate the supposedly calm scenes, in which Lain travels to school, contributing yet more suspense. Until the hilarious semi-forth wall breaking scene in which Lain appeared to read my mind and shouted at them to shut up, which they promptly did. The slow animation and minimal dialog in certain scenes gave even the most seemingly trivial scenes of the story a strange piercing quality and the whole show made me very uncomfortable, right up until the end, in a good way. Character-wise, each one was interesting in their own way but the only characters I really sympathized with were Lain (a lot), Arisu and to a lesser extent Lain's father towards the end. The main villain, Eiri (at least I think he was the main villain) was nice and ominous but overall less scary than the concepts and atmosphere of the story itself, which are terrifying so don't worry. I would thoroughly recommend Lain to anyone with even the smallest interest in Psychological anime. It provides unparalleled food for thought and a truly unique viewing experience, if you give it the attention and thought it deserves. Oh yeah and the shadow affects in Lain's road that look like they're reflections of the cosmos are REALLY COOL, like, cool enough for an additional pointless sentence.