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Lain be really surfing the web, gaining knowledge from who knows what or who these things are, A.I. perhaps?? She's probably going to control the entire realm of the wired and with it also obtain world domination. Her poor sister though, it looks like she's the one who's really on the brink of losing her mind. Does a part of everyone who's used the wired, exist in the wired, not only Lain? I'm assuming we'll at least get SOME answers, but most will probably have to be left up to speculation.
Twill be me next, I want lain to personally purge me.
Behold of my awesomeness~
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But my feels.
I feel like her sister is kinda concerned for Lain and that made her interested in The Wired. So she started connecting all the dots -like the secret agents, the spam prophecy mails she probably got as well and Lain's behaviour - and started getting a bit paranoic. But I'm pretty sure that her increasing involvement with The Wire is what is making her merge it with reality and that's what we just witnessed. I may be wrong tho.
And as some of you pointed out, I think that prophecy thing has to do with some sort of 'in order to evolve we must get rid of our body' idea. Somewhat like NGE did.
Now, what was going on when Lain had those conversations with her plushies and parents, I have no idea.
What I know for certain, is that I'm getting creeped out the more this series progresses.
Sound design was really on point in this episode. The dinner table sounds, the plaza ambience and the errie atmosphere achieved in the bathroom scene was amazing, even for the sounds of things that don't exist, like what I assume is the Wired apparition of the sister towards the episodes end. Story-wise, I am left with more questions. What was happening with the sister feels quite sudden and lacking in build-up. Maybe I'm not too smart to understand; and maybe I will by the series end; but it felt like stuff just happened. It may have expanded on the world of the Wired somewhat, and hinted at what I would assume is a storyline involving Lain bridging the world of the Wired and the real together or her becoming its' Deus (to use a term from the episode) or her choosing to exist in it as opposed to the real world (I hope I'm wrong with these predictions so I can be surprised). It's likely that once I understand everything at the end, I'll be more satisfied or surprised, but I wonder if this incredibly unknowing aspect to the story is or isn't to its' detriment, as I sometimes wonder why I'm watching, and even debating as to whether or not the answers will be worth it or even comprehensive to really follow. SEL makes wonder if the storytelling model of obscurity is good or not, as the more answers I get, the more questions they spawn. Let's hope I dine on these concerns by episode 13 and have SEL completely have changed my life or something like that. I'll end this off by mentioning that I like the segments of the episode where Lain is being told some philosophical concepts/ideas/truths. The one in particular I liked, is when Lain's "Mother" or "Wired Mother" explains that the body exists so that we can 'verify' that we exist in the universe. I feel that concept alone is what the series is all about.
idk i starded the anime yesterday and every episode i watched was like 5 minutes this episode felt like 10 minutes tho bc i was pauseing it a lot bc i had things do tobut yeah i really liked it as an episode btw i feel that sel will be one of my fav anime bc its just the type of anime i love to watch like especially i like the artstyle and how lain personality is btw she is one of my kins even tho i havent complete it but for now my rate for serial experiments lain is 10/10
There's a LOT to brew on with this. I have multiple ideas already, a lot about the difference between the physical world and the Wired. I'm partially thinking that there's two versions of everyone through the physical world and the Wired and maybe there's something in between and that's where Lain's headed. Seeing the spirit-like Wired Mika at the door of their house was really unsettling.
I think back to the start when the Wired mom was talking to Lain during one of the plushie scenes, and how she mentioned that the physical body is only used to verify our own existence. When the girl killed herself and yet emails still went out to her classmates- did she abandon this world for the Wired? Is that all where dead people have left to go other than the nothing? The note that was given to Mika in the crosswalk scene...
here's my analysis for this episode. As you may know there were voices talking to lain up to this point on how "you don't need a body". I think theres someone behind all this. Like in i think episode 4 or 3 a god talks to lain, the god is probably behind some of this but i do believe theres actually more ppl behind this. Not the knights but like a other worldy creature. I think lain's sisters soul or self disconnected from her physical body somehow and now her body is basically an empty shell while her "soul" or "self" is free is a way. Like how she no longer needs a body to do things.
Looks like Lain hacked the internet too much to the point that a 2nd world was created and her room looks like a whole Lab right now. She's definitely the #1 hacker in Japan to be able to hack street lights and what not, someone needs to stop her asap.
I really don't understand what's going on, but I can't stop to watch it, maybe we don't have a linear plot, and as suggest one quote of this episode, we have to link all the dots to understand what's happening. How intriguing!
But what's the point of this episode? Why Lain says 'Who's the next?' ?
And the Mika's part of the episode was disturbing, Is she into the Wired (which I haven't already understand what it is)?
This episode Lain goes to the mental illness dealership and trades in her autism for schizophrenia. She even got a 2 for 1 deal and gave the extra copy of schizophrenia to her sister! How nice!
Need to find the instrumental that was playing during the scene where the sister sees a duplicate of herself, this epsiode gave more clarity on the series for sure
This anime continues to be so weird and confusing.
So,clearly, The Wired (Internet World) is connecting with the real world.
And... no idea what that entity of the older sister is.
Her avatar ghost, avatar, or Internet self... I don't know... but she doesn't seem to be on the internet, so I don't understand how she'd exist.
For whatever reason, the I guess real older sister ignores her, but Lain can faintly see her.
Meanwhile, Lain's parents seem fictional. In these past or mind thoughts of Lain.
The sister is probably fake too.
Does Lain have a split personality? Herself and Wired Internet self? So damn confusing!
And it seems maybe people can teleport unknowingly because of the Wired.
And that people who play games on the Wired can play VR and be stuck in seeing it in their real life.
Aside from that, her "father" seems to know.
Thoughts upon Rewatch:
I can't decipher this episode's narration, but I guess it's something about The Wired, regarding "Ghosts", or something else. I think it's Chisa or another Lain knowing that if she starts hearing and seeing Hackers or Visions, it's a sign of her "destiny" to become fully sentient and in control of the simulation starting.
The misunderstood "God" speaks to Lain again, with his own narcassitic belief as to why he's superior, now that he's hacked the simulation.
... Lain's older sister, Mika witnesses a car crash with any sign of caring, which is another sign of how cold these AI's can be because they subconsciously know this isn't real. She also completely ignored the guy she slept over.
"In her Mind:" A young Lain questions her doll to tell her a story, the doll "tells" her that she can't tell her anything that she already doesn't know.
Hinting that she's the most potent AI able to know everything... yet she tells her for every event, there is a prophecy.
Which is a hint to the Creator of this simulation already having a vision with her for this project.
The Employee/Father then launches a new event.
A planned action where Mika opens a wet wipe written that the side of the dead is overcrowded.
Mika then notices Lain in the street with cars avoiding her, speaking to herself, yet she's "in her mind" now speaking to a Mask that is hinting to the project going smoothly. While projecting herself for a brief moment on a screen of the city of which her sister notices.
Meanwhile, Alice notices that the Knights/Hacker's actions don't seem coincidental. Hinting again that the project for Lain is in effect.
Before that... Lain was oddly unaware and oblivious of transfering herself to screens.
Later, a copy of Lain's Mother hints to her that the "real" world and Wired are both similar, because they live in a simulation, not a real world or a real virtual reality.
... Mika then questions Lain for confirmation if she saw her in Shibuya. Lain acting confused, Mika stops her questioning.
But because she's slowly being conscious of Lain's changes, her Father transports that awareness (her body) into the streets.
Her father then continues to teleport her with glitches to torment her, with a writing of "Fulfill the prophecy!" Later locked in a bathroom, she's left there with the same writing.
Then the Father hints to Lain that the "Not God" is a Dues-like embodiment.
Hinting that that AI has hacked the simulation to become a developer with the ability to manipulate the simulation to an extent.
His wonder of another world being created through the manipulation of The Wired is basically the "Developer World". Where some AI's who have hacked the simulation can manipulate it.
"In the form a prophecy." hinting again that this is all part of the project for Lain.
"Mika" then returns home and comes across the "original Mika" who was at the dinner table, seperate from each other off her awareness of Lain developing.
The New Mika ignores her copy, yet Lain faintly sees Copy Mika as a "Ghost" who's data is now curropted and vanishes.
... Lain then goes back to her Navi asking "Who is it today?" ... ready to investigate again.
this anime is jsut hella confusing lol. i hope things will get more clear soon. but i guess this means that some god is coming and Lain is the god? thats kinda what im getting. and poor Lains sister
Holy shit what a crazy and trippy episode. Man if anything this ep just made me feel worse for Mika with how reality looked like it was literally warping around her like a sick nightmare, all the weird paranormal shit happening around her with the message "fulfil the prophecy" were wild. She really does feel like this innocent bystander caught up in path of an tornado invisible in the story rn.
The scene changes to Lain talking to various objects and her parents were interesting, i think the overarching message of them being along the lines of questioning God and their hand in deciding fate, came in quite nicely as it help present the idea of (I think anyway) the Wired creating or having it's own God somehow, and also in relation with the last scene, maybe the Wired is also starting to bleed into reality causing all these weird distortions of the virtual world and real world?
The ending as well felt insane and like the icing on the cake for me. Both Mika's meeting one another, only one able to see the other and then the camera swapping to Lain's perspective and all we see about the second Mika is a ghostly shadow, honestly such a breath-taking scene that sparks so many new theories about the plot and Lain.
Some of my own crack theories are,
two alternative realties crashing and merging into one another with only Lain being able to see the other reality, or the Wired somehow download and created copies of people through the data it's gathered from user data, and combined with my previous point of the Wired leaking into reality, digitalising these copies that are now breaking into reality.
And I understand why this show is so "off", there's little to no background music, only background noise. Also faces, while stylised, are extremely uncanny in the way the emotions are portrayed.
My man Taro is the real MVP of the episode lmao
"Hey oneesan... u single? ;) wink wink"