Spotlight Anime: Serial Experiments Lain MAL Series Information Page - Serial Experiments Lain Score: 7.97 (scored by 53050 users) Ranked: #523 Popularity: #132 Original Spotlight Thread - Serial Experiments Lain Please approach this thread as a critical review of the work in question. Avoid fallacious arguments to the best of your ability while taking these criteria into account. Story: Characters: Art / Animation: Sound / Music design: Other production elements. If you are having trouble writing up a review or coming up with specific pro's and cons, please don't worry. Just do the best you can with it and if you can only write two or three sentences about any of the 4 elements then that's OK. Not everyone here is currently at a level which will allow them to articulate their thoughts and opinions completely. After your initial post is made you can feel free to civilly discuss issues of contention. Everyone has the right to their opinion, please try to be respectful to each others views and formulate constructive arguments in response to the work being spotlighted. [/b] |
Rosa_FOEtidaMay 16, 2015 2:56 AM
| this anime was going places (well, kinda) until psychic kids and the KNIGHTS OF THE EASTERN CALCULUS also crystallizing onee-chans and laser-eye KAAARLS yeah :/ |
gloomgirlsJun 7, 2014 11:06 PM
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| I like Lain. It's essentially perfect example of identical Japanese Psychologycal-thriller; it;s mindfuckery, demand its viewers to interpret themselves what is the goal of the anime. But then again, it took me a second watch to little bit enjoy this stuff and I'm still lying if I say I understand what is it all about. This is a nice watch but not universally accepted, personally I like it, but for the club relation I'm leaning towards no |
| Story: 10/10. It's great to see on how historical events affected human way of thinking, internet gossips, and predict how in future the boundary between real life and internet will be blurry so that a scientist try to fuse it. Bomus points for surrealism. Characters: 3/10, Besides Lain herself, I don't found any other memorable characters that stood out much and their characterizations are weak too. almost all of them are also one-dimensional. Art/Animation: 6/10, yes quite nice considering the the year of production, but its nowhere near something like Neon Genesis Evangelion or the likes. Sound: 5/10, I like the OP so much but the ED wasn't really suited for it IMO. Other OSTs are unmemorable for me. Enjoyment: 5/10, too much things left open to be precept was never for me but I enjoyed Lain complex personality due to too often being exposed to the internet and how she was actually a "***" Final Verdict: 6/10 |
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| definitely a seminal cyberpunk work aesthetically one of the most striking/distinctive anime of the 90s - the animation itself isn't great, but the imagery is - dark rooms illuminated only by the glow of the crt, masses of tangled cords filling rooms, stacks of computer monitors. there's something frenzied about the way the technology in lain is rendered, even an energy, suggestive of life, a presence - the transition between early depictions of her in her room with a single monitor to later scenes where her room has been taken over by cords and devices is just one example of the way the show uses visual metaphor effectively and treats its computers and devices as characters themselves. story is totally convoluted and opaque, but interestingly (to me) it kind of parallels the methods of conveying information in (for example) Pynchon's crying of lot 49 or delillo's white noise - both works where technology blurs or totally inhibits the relationships the main characters have to information/the world/a narrative. lain's experience in the Wired and the deliberate ambiguity of much of the ending seems like a deliberate commentary on nature of systems that propagate information on levels outside of our control. i don't think we need to assume every element or technical detail needs to be understood and indeed the purpose could be the opposite. not going to write too much more here, but i do think this is a really fascinating work on a number of levels, visually it's a distinctive and beautiful vision, storywise a meditation on identity, the individual's ability to self-narrate, the chaos of a world with vast quantities of information, etc. definite yes. |
Mayuka said: did you call holier than thou bitch right here last.fm |
truisms said: Ye, even the very first scene with the noise and light of the cars, the glow from the buildings and traffic signs - all before a crowd of silhouettes as their muffled voices are drowned out and then are shown a close-up of "Don't Walk" signal, the first clearest human shape. The way the laughter from the two girls fades as Chisa turns around and is then completely (abruptly) alone. Truly something that grabs your attention right away. I liked especially when you see the telephone lines reflected in Lain's face while on a train in the first episode as the camera moves exactly with them, moving out of the way of obstacles that come along the way to represent its influence as we hear the buzzing noise it utters. definitely a seminal cyberpunk work aesthetically one of the most striking/distinctive anime of the 90s - the animation itself isn't great, but the imagery is - dark rooms illuminated only by the glow of the crt, masses of tangled cords filling rooms, stacks of computer monitors. there's something frenzied about the way the technology in lain is rendered, even an energy, suggestive of life, a presence. The omnipresence of technology, how daunting it's framed, the preoccupation with the self somehow fading away into this non-material world as we navigate within it and the inadequacy of communication despite the new wave of ways to do so, it's rendered in a mesmerizing manner. This evolution of the collection of interconnected networks known as "The Wired", the fear and anxiety of alienation in spite of that ("No matter where you go, everyone's connected", the large disconnect present within Lain's family initially before we begin questioning the truth of it all and Lain's status as a reliable narrator) and such consequences like when reality, or rather your perception, is overridden by groups that can born from it (and generally being unable to cope with problems outside it), the fragmented and non-linear way of storytelling suggestive of Lain's own identity and conflict. One of my favorite moments is when she gives her sister an uncharacteristic big smile as this unnatural zooming effect happens, the screen becomes more pixilated and sounds of static come in, resembling a low-res monitor as the borders between the Lains become blurred and begin to lose meaning. A write up on Lain has been on my to do list for awhile. For the time being, this is better than nothing if it takes too long. Still, a definite yes and I also find trusisms' post very agreeable. It just didn't seem like anyone else was going to post anything. |
| In my eyes, Lain is characteristic of a decade that spawned truly experimental anime (like GitS, NGE, Boogiepop, Texhnolyze), from mid 90's to mid 2000's. In my eyes, this experimental side could solely justify induction. Be it with the visuals, the sound, the atmosphere it tries to convey, Lain produced a truly unique POV for the spectator, who watches all things and their boundaries becoming blur. But the anime also conveys an interesting story about society, technology, and the borderline between fiction and reality. Truthfully, I would need to rewatch the series, and read some analysis about it, because Lain is not a series that is immediately accesible: it uses scientifical and pseudo-scientifical concepts, metaphors and symbolism, and tries to anticipate the effects of the revolution its era was going through, as well as the future. In my eyes, Lain did it successfully for one part; as for the other one... we still don't quite have the answer, almost twenty years after the anime was produced. Lain was more than contemporary of its era; as it understood well the climate of its times, it might be more accurate to call it modern. An obivous yes for me, and I have difficulties to see what could warrant a no. |
| "Even now, I travel on my journey, Believing in the world, Aiming for something far away – an endless journey. Having a dream like someone else’s, Or being in someone else’s dream – Which would you prefer?" |
| Lain was my first WTF anime, and it's one of those anime that the reason why it's so brilliant is because of how old it is. If it came more recently, it would have just been brushed off as pretentious. A lot of people call it a page turner, or a thriller. I had the opposite impression, if anything, I can only take so much Lain at a time (like one or two episodes a day). But that's not because the show is boring by any means. Each episode was just THAT intense for me. I also agree with what y'all people say about how it's aesthetically a masterpiece. I personally love how it uses sound, especially how it uses the lack of it. I like to call it a "deafening silence." I should probably rewatch it again. Also, bear pajamas. |
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