What is Your Favourite of the Three?
Serial Experiments Lain
54.9%
100
Haibane Renmei
28.6%
52
Texhnolyze
16.5%
30
182 votes
| I'm a fan of all three shows and I find the way people's opinions on them vary to be quite interesting. Lain seems to be easily the most popular of the bunch, but I have heard a lot of people saying that they prefer Haibane Renmei and/or Texhnolyze, so I am curious what the results of this sort of a poll would look like. Oh and I know that Tex's only connection to the other two is the character designer (at least as far as I'm aware), but I still think it has enough similarities to them in terms of themes and style to warrant being considered a part of the "trilogy". |
| Haibane Renmei has been sitting on my backlog for years now. I need to get to it soon. As for the other two Texhnolyze > Lain BlueCicada said: Oh and I know that Tex's only connection to the other two is the character designer (at least as far as I'm aware), but I still think it has enough similarities to them in terms of themes and style to warrant being considered a part of the "trilogy". Chiaki Konaka was involved in Texhnolyze so that's another very important connection. |
| MEA·MENTVLA·INGENS·EST |
| HR > SEL = Texhnolyze i have noticed lain's rating increasing steadily on mal lol |
reyqqJul 22, 2021 4:18 AM
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| @Theo1899 Oh yeah, that’s true (about Konaka)! Thanks for pointing it out. And yeah, I highly recommend HR, I think it’s pretty great ^^ For me it was actually Tex that I had in the backlog for a while. I think I watched it like two years after I’ve seen SEL and HR lol. |
Sharmat_00 said: The topic is lain so of course most of us will vote lain. I havnt even seen the other two. Haven’t even thought about that haha. Yeah, that may make this poll a bit skewed towards Lain. Though I think a lot people who see it will see it on the MAL home page so maybe that makes it a bit better? I may be wrong though, I’m not entirely sure how this works on MAL. Edit: Oh, I guess it’s only the general ones that show up on the home page? Well, I guess I’ll know for the future whenever I make this sort of a poll again lol. |
BlueCicadaJul 22, 2021 4:50 AM
| All three of these are my favourites and I am too indecisive, but probably Haibane Renmei |
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| You forgot Ghost Hound aka Shinreigari. That’s my fave out of this ‘genre’. Lain comes second. |
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| Lain, I don't really care much for the other two. |
zepenedo said: Oh, I haven’t actually seen that one, and I’m not sure what the connection there is. The synopsis sounds interesting though. Will definitely give it a shot at some point down the line :DYou forgot Ghost Hound aka Shinreigari. That’s my fave out of this ‘genre’. Lain comes second. |
BlueCicada said: zepenedo said: Oh, I haven’t actually seen that one, and I’m not sure what the connection there is. The synopsis sounds interesting though. Will definitely give it a shot at some point down the line :DYou forgot Ghost Hound aka Shinreigari. That’s my fave out of this ‘genre’. Lain comes second. Same director, Ryutaro Nakamura, and a lot of the same crew including the amazing sound director Yota Tsuruoka and the writer Chiaki Konaka. The atmosphere is quite similar and it shares some of the same themes. The soundtrack for Shinreigari is really haunting and eerie, one of my favorite ever in anime! |
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tiffinrose414 said: Boogiepop Phantom is great (and frankly underrated) and definitely shares some similarities with the three above. I didn’t add it cos it doesn’t tend to get lumped together with them that much, but I definitely see the association :)Boogie pop phantom should be on the poll two!!! |
| Out of the three I like Haibane the most and Texhnolyze the least |
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| wheres niea_7 😭 |
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BibbinsTheGreat said: I know that Niea_7 and HR are both Yoshitoshi Abe but I don’t think N_7 is really similar enough to the other three. Still, for what it’s worth Ido like that show. Didn’t expect anyone to bring it up, with how obscure it is and all :)wheres niea_7 😭 |
Crow_Black said: Do people group that show with the other three that often? I didn’t even know ^^Where's welcome to the nhk on the poll? |
| I liked Lain and Haibane Renmei I gave them both a 9 but I still haven’t watched Texhnolyze |
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| Why does everyone forget about NieA Under 7? Replying to the topic: Serial Experiments Lain and Haibane Renmei. |
ProxyLain said: Why does everyone forget about NieA Under 7? Replying to the topic: Serial Experiments Lain and Haibane Renmei. I’ve already answered someone who brought up NieA_7 so I’ll just kinda copy and paste my reply to them here. I know that Niea_7 and HR are both Yoshitoshi Abe but I don’t think N_7 is really similar enough to the other three. Still, for what it’s worth Ido like that show. Didn’t expect anyone to bring it up, with how obscure it is and all :) |
| Haibane Renmei - Albeit they're fairly close in consideration. Haibane Renmei is actually at rank #3 in my Top 35 overall series and Serial Experiments Lain is at #6. But I've yet to see Texhnolyze, much to the disgust of some. I assume SEL is your least favorite of the trio all things considering, seeing how it isn't, unlike the other two, in your personal Top 10 favorites list (accessed via your profile page)? There is something about Haibane Renmei which transcends all eras and is both overwhelmingly nostalgic and at the same time, timeless to me. Many reject the Slice of Life-oriented first half, but it's essential building blocks of the formula to me and SoL + Mystery + soothing, invitingly drab earthen color palette, slow and graceful music (OST), dialogue, and characterization is a winning combo which scores such high marks for immersion. It's a perfect series for the end of the world or the end of your life. How bold for a mystery series in employing magical realism to make its central mystery serve as a proxy for the mystery and elusive/ethereal nature of life itself from our own collective shared reality. I wouldn't say it's completely supremely perfect, beyond reproach and without even the most minute flaw in evidence as I feel that way about almost no series, but I will say it and SEL are two out of only seven of my 10/10-scored series. |
WatchTillTandavaJul 30, 2021 7:17 PM
| @WatchTillTandava I agree with pretty much everything you've said there ^^ I always loved stuff that mixes SoL with some other genre. The slower SoL elements help me get more immersed in the world and atmosphere, and sometimes work wonders for getting me invested in the characters too. As you've said, Haibane Renmei definitely handles its atmosphere very well, achieving this irresistibly mysterious, ethereal feel to it, and the art style, colors and music certainly help with that for all the reasons you've pointed out. Texhnolyze is definitely worth a shot :D Especially seeing how you are a fan of not only Lain and Haibane, but also of Ergo Proxy, which I've noticed in your faves. I've always considered Tex and Ergo Proxy two sides of the same coin in some ways. And as for Lain, yeah it is my least favourite of the three, but I still do really like it. I have a few issues with it, like some of the plot elements being a bit too vague for my liking, even by this trilogy's standards (the Office Worker), as well as a lot of the secondary characters feeling a bit bland to me. That said, I still think it's a good show with an overall interesting story, messages, and a fantastic protagonist ^^ |
Eziprez said: I highly recommend both of them ^^I have only seen Lain but now I am considering watching the other 2 now that I've seen the other replies |
BlueCicada said: Texhnolyze is definitely worth a shot :D Especially seeing how you are a fan of not only Lain and Haibane, but also of Ergo Proxy, which I've noticed in your faves. I've always considered Tex and Ergo Proxy two sides of the same coin in some ways. Texhnolyze has actually been on my PTW list for quite a while - since sometime in 2019. Folks with similar taste in anime series are often shocked when they find out I haven't yet seen it. I have every intention of watching it. I'm just an incredibly slow-paced person and either complete/finish watching or get around to watching certain series in the first place at a very slow pace. It's also something of an OCD hangup in the back of my mind, this notion that I like to save potentially "special" series for a future time and space them out, as since Texhnolyze is most frequently compared thematically and stylistically to Serial Experiments Lain, Ergo Proxy, and Haibane Renmei like a spiritual sibling, and Haibane and SEL especially were very formative anime experiences for me in the sense of being within the first 15 series I watched (yes, I keep chronological track), I have a pretty firm inkling of how heavy it will be, whether I end up liking and appreciating it better, worse, or at an equivalent level. And Ergo Proxy is most underrated out of all of them in my view, as it seems to have also been the most polarizing and divisive and alienated a lot of the audience with the direction it took with its more experimental and meandering episodes in the second half, but this is what made it special to me. I think it also stems from a latent, unspoken fear of "running out" of some of the most unique anime series. It's like I don't want to be with anime now or in the near future where I already am with cartoons/Western animation, and live action film and television, with most of the best stuff long since seen and 99%+ of what I watch is rewatches of older content in some form. |
| @WatchTillTandava I know what you mean about taking long to start watching stuff. Evangelion is a good example of that for me. It was on my PTW for years now, it always seemed interesting to me, and yet I've only finally watched it a few weeks ago haha. And you are certainly not the only one with a chronological track of shows you've watched. I think I still remember what the first 50 or so anime I have completed are. Wouldn't be able to tell you the exact order after that, but I still can place around which point in time I have watched pretty much every single thing on my list. Ergo Proxy is indeed really underrated. I also loved just how strange it got, and I liked every single one of the episodes you are referring to. Some seem to call these episodes "filler", but I don't really agree with that. They all did something to add something to the characters in some way (e.g. that Smileland episode and Pino's characterization in it). Okay, except maybe for Who Wants to Be in Jeopardy!, but that episode is way to fun for me to care that it probably didn't need to exist lol (plus it does have some good foreshadowing). |
injectmewithlove said: Lain is my fav but I love Haibane Renmei and even more forgotten but just as good Niea Under 7. I agree! HR was terrific, but Lain is a half-step above: 10.5/10 Neia on the short-list of PTW. Finishing Chobits now and watched Kamichu! recently (very good!). |
| I have yet to watch Haibane Renmei, but I love both Texhnolyze and Serial Experiments Lain. With Tex I feel like the thematic power it has is almost unrivaled. I struggle to think of more than a few works with an execution of a theme that was as impactful. Monster, Hell Girl and from western TV/cinema Nightcrawler and Fargo S3 were the only works I've seen that had a similarly strong delivery of their message. SEL on the other hand easily surpasses Tex' characters with the writing of Lain. In Tex the characters are just stand-ins for an aspect of the world. Lain on the other hand is a fantastically written character. Her characterization in the first episodes is creative and broad and her development throughout the show is honestly kind of terrifying. She's very effective as an unreliable narrator and as a representation of people that get absorbed by the internet as well. Both anime are peak psychological shows and true gems. On Anilist, I rated Lain 8.9 and Tex 9.0, so strictly from a numbers standpoint I find Tex just a tiny bit better. I might update this when I watched Haibane Renmei. |
| @Yorrick Yeah, Texhnolyze...definitely hits hard. I’ve seen Nightcrawler, and I do remember it being amazing, with its utterly despicable, but fascinating main character. I do desperately need to rewatch it though lol. And yes, Lain is a great protagonist. Definitely up there among the better ones. Hope you enjoy Haibane whenever you get around to watching it ^^ |
Thread locked for being a random X vs Y thread. Anime Discussion Rules 2: Please refrain from creating threads that do not encourage discussion; e.g. random "xx vs. yy", picture collecting, simple listing, etc. |
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