Serial Experiments Lain

Lain Iwakura, an awkward and introverted fourteen-year-old, is one of the many girls from her school to receive a disturbing email from her classmate Chisa Yomoda—the very same Chisa who recently committed suicide. Lain has neither the desire nor the experience to handle even basic technology; yet, when the technophobe opens the email, it leads her straight into the Wired, a virtual world of communication networks similar to what we know as the internet. Lain's life is turned upside down as she begins to encounter cryptic mysteries one after another. Strange men called the Men in Black begin to appear wherever she goes, asking her questions and somehow knowing more about her than even she herself knows. With the boundaries between reality and cyberspace rapidly blurring, Lain is plunged into more surreal and bizarre events where identity, consciousness, and perception are concepts that take on new meanings.

Written by Chiaki J. Konaka, whose other works include Texhnolyze, Serial Experiments Lain is a psychological avant-garde mystery series that follows Lain as she makes crucial choices that will affect both the real world and the Wired. In closing one world and opening another, only Lain will realize the significance of their presence.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Iwakura, Lain Main

Shimizu, Kaori Japanese

Mizuki, Arisu Supporting

Asada, Youko Japanese

Eiri, Masami Supporting

Hayami, Show Japanese

Iwakura, Yasuo Supporting

Oobayashi, Ryuusuke Japanese

Iwakura, Mika Supporting

Kawasumi, Ayako Japanese

Yomoda, Chisa Supporting

Mutou, Sumi Japanese

Haushofer, Karl Supporting

Nakata, Jouji Japanese

Taro Supporting

Takimoto, Keito Japanese

J.J Supporting

Chikada, Wasei Japanese

Sui-Xi, Lin Supporting

Yamazaki, Takumi Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Ueda, Yasuyuki Producer, Planning, Original Creator

Maseba, Yutaka Producer

Abe, Shoujirou Producer

Reviews

Nov 20, 2024

MyOpinionMatters

Recommended

Anime is a great medium of artistry to be displayed. The reason a lot of people venture into anime, including myself, is to be creatively driven or emotionally moved. With the growing age of modern animes, a lot of the older, less novel animes tend to get pushed into obscurity, especially to the eyes of newest consumers of the market. For the average new-gen consumer, even animes in the 2000s seem to be considered old. There are exceptions to this old-new phenomenon. For example, shonens like Naruto, Bleach, Dragon Ball, One Piece, etc, and certified classics like Cowboy Bebop or Neon Genesis: Evangelion are some ... on the list. Serial Experiments Lain is a sci-fi mystery drama that can be easily swept under the mountain of sci-fi and mystery animes.

Or so you would think...

Look at this review from the angle of a newer generation of anime enthusiast. After getting used integrated with anime, the consumer watches the basic "normie" animes. Then, they gets bored due to the oversaturation of well-animated action animes. So they delve deeper to find something, anything to give their mind a break from the monotony. After scrolling, they find a bunch of people talk and praise an 1998 anime called Serial Experiments Lain. They look into its history, seeing its prevalence among anime reviewers and MyAnimeList. So after waking up at early hours, they binge the entire series.

I know this very well, as this is my perspective.

And I would watch it for the first time ever again and again and again.

Instead of going piece by piece, I will go into what I think makes Lain so great.

- - - - Storytelling - - - -
To understand Lain is to understand philosophical principles. Theology, mental illness, loneliness, purpose, all ideas that wrap into Lain in a wonderfully projected package. To unwrap it is similar to completing a game. Constantly going through small things all to lead up to the main objective. The main objective is always in sight but is not achievable until all the small things are completed. The small things can satisfy, but the main objective is one that the player knows will give them the most satisfaction. In my watching experience, Lain is confusing to start and weird to just pick up out of nowhere. But personally, I love that. Its not the kind of confusion that pisses me off, it's the kind of confusion that intrigues. The kind of confusion that makes the watcher long for more. It makes you work to understand how and why everything is happening. It gives you the main base somewhat linearly, however, when piecing the details together, it fits beautifully. Who would've guessed that a suicide victim's message would've caused all this? This review is spoiler-free, so I won't speak about the ending phase. But, oh my god, it is moving.

- - - - Style - - - -
A key part of Lain is its style. Between its artistic portrayal of its themes scattered among the background or its lighting changes to represent important areas that Lain interacts in, the style is prevalent and necessary to understand the overall message and story. Between layers, which are episodes, the premise of blending the border of the Wired and the real world shown with how the powerlines stay parallel to powerlines intertwining and balling up to a point where they break are incredibly creative details. The change of Lain's room from going to relatively empty to chaotic cyber landscape, just showing how far Lain is connected to the Wired. The text used in the opening sequences and title card makes you feel like you're in the Wired. The bright white used in contrast with the mix of red and black in nearly every day scene adds to that surrealistic feeling.

- - - - Environments - - - -
Don't even get me started on the environments. Cyberia feels lively and always moving. As if at any moment something important, good or bad, will happen. The same goes for the Iwakura home. Even if it may be silent, it's almost as if you don't want to be. Like something unsettling could be right around the corner, adding to the mystery ambience. The loud drone of the powerline transformers as Lain walks to the train paired with the train's atmosphere join in a unsettling, mysterious vibe. The best example of a great environment is the Wired. The Wired is supposed to be a simple communication and information medium but it has so much more than what the surface entails. I can't go into it, just watch it an find out.

It has so much more to it that I can't describe here, not without it spoiling the show. I want this to be a persuasive review, so I would like it the reader of this review to watch Lain. It will take you through so many ideas that you may have never explored before.

+ added bonus point for boa - duvet. actively attempted to skip it, but it was so good that I literally couldn't.

Personal Rating: Let's All Love Lain / 10

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Nov 20, 2024

AmineBee

Mixed Feelings

This show is really weird and kind of difficult to watch because it's so abstract to a point where it feels like a nonsensical mess sometimes. That being said it's the kind of media that sticks with you long after you finish watching it, and it'll make you remember it, leaving a surprising impact as you take a moment to step back and look at the internet from the outside.

Most shows are designed to be entertaining but this is more focused on it's message. I could go on about it all but a lot of it has already been said by countless reviews and ... video essays.

My main take away is the importance of the human body. It is part of who we are and protects us against evil. We must not confuse the digital with that of the real world as making that separation puts us in danger of losing ourselves.

It's kind of all over the place sometimes but I'll give credit where it's due. It sure is interesting. If you're looking for an anime unlike anything else, this is definitely that.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Mar 29, 2024

BlueKojiro

Not Recommended

Serial Experiments Lain is a story that would be infinitely better told as a few dozen-page short story or a feature-length film, NOT a 13-episode TV series.

The only reason I give it a 6 is because of reading a few think pieces about the ending that made me appreciate it a bit more. I like the *idea* of the story, but hell, I have plenty of *ideas* for stories I'd like to write someday so that's not really impressive. The thing that impresses me about storytelling is the ability of a writer to take an idea and *show* it to an audience. This show is, ... in a word, self-indulgent.

75% of what you see on screen is just for mood and vibe and communicates zero information. There's a movie-length story cut up and shuffled into someone's schizophrenic episode. Maybe that's the point! Too bad, don't care! It's not enjoyable to watch, and what is the point of spending my free time watching something that's not enjoyable? That's what *work* is for, i.e. something unenjoyable that yet offers some benefit (whether this is working for an employer so they pay you, or working out your body so that you retain your health, etc). I have consumed stories that are both enjoyable and thought-provoking at the same time, so let's please dispense with this idea that we *owe* any writer our attention just because they've got a really cool idea they want to communicate. If you're going to make me work for it, I'm passing.

This is a story that is only understandable through reading someone else's synopsis, and those people are only able to understand it by watching it multiple times and filling in all the gaps with their headcanon. I don't know when it became acceptable to call stories like this "good." Lain is not even remotely the most complex story I've come across, so why is it so inscrutable? Just because it's hard to understand does not mean it's complex and it certainly doesn't mean it's good. One of the most fundamental aspects of writing *anything* is learning how to communicate efficiently. This goes for fiction and non-fiction equally. Just as you don't want to drown your boss in unnecessary details about the specific procedures you applied to get them your data set, you also don't want to bore your reader with an unnecessarily drawn out scene, too much dialogue, too much exposition, etc. Lain is filled with too much noise that does not communicate any meaning. You could replace most of this show with a windows screensaver slideshow and come away with roughly the same experience.

Ultimately this show is a reflection of one of my least favorite aspects of the process of classicification (in my usage here I refer to the process by which a particular story becomes canonized as a "classic" in its specific genre or medium). Sometimes a story is just really poorly executed, and there is a class of people that believe the consumption of art should be work and thus the process of parsing through a poorly executed story is somehow part of the process of bettering one's mind and spirit. I think this is frankly bullshit. Anyone can write a terrible story based on a cool idea. This does not make it a good story. If we really thought this was a legitimate enterprise, then there is no such thing as a bad story, and by necessity there is then no such thing as a good story, because execution does not matter. All that matters is stringing together a story in your own imagination, in which case the entire enterprise of writing and scripting itself is meaningless. Let's all just write down plot summaries and let each other write the story in our minds and then we can all tell eachother what we were actually trying to say.

This show does not deserve to be a classic. It's trash.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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