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| Interesting episode. Lain is getting more and more alienated. |
| "Perhaps there is a universal, absolute truth. Perhaps it justifies every question. But that's beyond the reach of these small hands." Mamoru Oshii There is a cult of ignorance (...) nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” Isaac Asimov |
| Easily the most confusing episode, but sheds partial light on most things. I don't understand when she says to Taro "the other (Lain) with a body only appears in the club". That's mostly true but what happened when she went to the Tachibana offices and they confronted her about her parents - she switched personalities then? Well I guess technically she's both of them and that was her body, but *mind explodes* |
| The alien that was watching Lain might be related to John C. Lily's ECCO model that was mentioned in this episode. According to Lily, ECCO is a network of extraterrestrial beings (aliens) that watches over people's lives and control the "coincidences" that occur in them. This might explain why people in the Wired have reported seeing the alien appear in their doorways, watching them. But what role do aliens play in SEL? I dunno. Perhaps they influenced the creation of the Wired? Lily often reported making contact with ECCO while using drugs (mainly Ketamine) in combination with his isolation tank (also mentioned in this episode) to control his chronic migraines. Basically, what the drugs and the isolation tank did was place him in an altered state of consciousness, which is similar to what Lain is experiencing at this point in the series... she doesn't know who she is because her Wired self and her "real world" self seem to be at odds with each other. |
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| At the very end, why did Lain seem to recognize the guy who looks like Michael Jackson?... Or is he just another creeper whos gonna start stalking her too? |
~my list
googz said: I sure did like the cute little holiday sweater that alien was wearing. |
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| I feel like most replies here are people just overreacting and not even paying attention/giving this anime some thought. It's as if you've ignored all the things we've been told and act as if this is one big mystery still. On the other hand, I wonder how much money Lains room puts on the Electrical bill. |
| Don't know why everyone is saying that Lain is becoming more of an Alien and detached from the real world. She was like that from the beginning but now she's becoming more aware of what is going on around her, in the physical world and the wire. At first she had little control and she was fine with that, but she's learned that she can't ignore or pretend that something is happening and she seems to be one of the major reasons for it. Sure she's questioning who she is and who the real her is, isn't that something that all children do? I'm seeing the as an extreme coming of age story more and more. The documentary made me think it was telling us how the wire came to be and how people later manipulated it to suit their needs; just like our internet now. |
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| I'm completely baffled at this point. I have absolutely no clue what's going on Lain was pretty badass this episode |
| this is beyond words |
"Urushibara Ruka. The mannerisms and voice of a woman... No... More feminine than any woman. But he's a guy. Taller than Mayuri, but so very thin... But he's a guy. Looks great in a miko outfit... But he's a guy. It's already twilight And yet, it's so hot. The cicadas are crying. But... He's a guy." |
| This episode was by far the most confusing. I think it will all be explained and make sense eventually but as of now I'm not sure what to make of this episode. - It seems in the world of SEL, aliens are somehow linked to the wired. - It seems Lain's sister couldn't handle being more connected to the wired and her mental state is deteriorating. I think she also said at one point that she had been visited by something in a green and red striped sweater before so that alien thing in this episode that Lain saw could also be freaking her out. - That guy at the end could either be an alien or the embodiment of god. - That guy at the end also looks like the guy from Yu Yu Hakusho [spoiler] who was on the Togoro team at the Dark Tournament who fought Kurama. [spoiler] |
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notsomacho said: I'm completely baffled at this point. I have absolutely no clue what's going on |
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xAvengerx said: And I thought this anime couldn't get any weirder xD |
| I don't get the point of this huge information dump from the narrator, I hope it will be cleared up soon. |
aero said: THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE. ---------------------------------------- How did the random documentary on aliens and communication connect with the story? lol, they basically told us straight face how the wired came to be - from the first thought process to the integration of the possibility to connect human contiousness without devices (by psychic means I guess, the human psy ability was explained to us in an earlier episode). Memory rewriting also explains Lain's other personality's appearence in some locations in the real world. I'm still unsure about the whole hologram stuff but now that everything makes a lot sense I'm fairly confident that it will be explained later. |
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| This gets better and better. |
| trippy af, lol. I like how they used the documentary to kind of start bringing things together, very intersted to see what happens in these last 4 episodes |
| A lot of info to take in there. I wonder if the guy at the end is the voice claiming to be God, and if he's the guy who died at the end of the documentary. They said they found him on the train tracks, and those bandages made it look like he could have been run over by a train and cut in half or something. ★3/5 |
| I thought the documentary thing was filler, but reading these comments gave me a different insight. Thanks. That scene with the 2 Lains :0 |
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| Are all those information true? e.e 'Cause I really had fun knowing 'em. Found 'em pretty darn interesting. A world that's connected with all the neurons? The largest neural network? This is getting good *~* |
| Aliens eh i think this explains everything |
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| I used to think that episode 5 was the key to understanding this series, but I'm now convinced that episode 9 is the best candidate. |
| Now you're wondering if there's white text in any of my other posts. Over there, I'm everywhere. I know that. |
| A very information heavy episode. Unlike other people have said before me (calling this episode "random" and whatnot), I personally think it was carefully crafted to expand and inform us on what is happening in the show as of late (to Lain, the Wired, etc.), something like a recap episode that explains everything that has happened so far in more depth, while still not exactly saying exactly what they want us to get from it. I get a vibe that this show does have some common ground that anybody watching gets, but it's ultimately the viewers own perception that will make out the outcome of the series. |
googz said: I sure did like the cute little holiday sweater that alien was wearing. LOL. |
| Imagine being connected subconsciously and how that will trigger the Earth's "awakening" kind of scary and fascinating at the same time. I think there will come a time where we will be able to go online or have some form of conscious networking or connection even when we're sleeping. As starcorea has mentioned, we're slowly becoming one whole entity. Scary thought but utterly fascinating at the same time. |
| 臭い- |
| Okay just what the f*ck is happening here. The only thing I understand is Lain has a fake family, that's it. |
| Finally a really great episode , this is the best episode of SEL until now , good choice of the OST as well , liked the mystery that was presented . Loved it . |
| this was like watching a conspirationist documentary...i have some clues, yet i don't on how this is all related to the plot. TyrantRC's comment basically nails what happens in this episode. 5/5 |
Sayonara,papa! "Just how a mirror reflects you,people will also reflect your heart." ~Athena Glory,Aria "Whatever happens,happens" ~Spike Spiegel's thoughts on dying(Cowboy Bebop) |
| Information overload... Yay!! The return of the bear suit. |
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| The one thing i'd managed to understand is that lain is getting serious on chasing her real personality now. Hope this will get a little easier to understand. |
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| fawwk i'm scurred na0 Jesus fuckin christ ILLUMINATI CONFIRMED! |
starcorea said: I think that the documentary was very relevant. The documentary was interesting in that it implied that by creating the internet, we are becoming like one huge network; and by comparing this network to the neurons in our brains, it seems that this network (or the 'Wired') would allow us to become like one entity, creating neuron pathways through information and communication. I think the part with the alien and bit about Roswell was supposed to show how Lain was becoming more and more detached from reality, as the wired and the real world begin to collide and overlap. The aliens signify her own alienation and how different she perceives the rest of humanity to be. The episode also highlights the question of what reality is. As the Knights are supposedly changing the past through their omnipotent control over the wired, Lain is unsure of what has happened or if indeed, she has lost control of herself and is committing all of these acts whilst in some sort of semi-conscious state. On top of this, Lain is confronted with the concept of 'deleting' the past through the wired, and this challenges the concept of history. In the same way that The Ministry of Truth deleted the past in Nineteen Eighty-Four through modification of past events, Lain is shown that through the wired, it is possible to erase all evidence of something ever existing, and in doing so, effectively 'deleting' something from time and space altogether. I think much of what is spoken about in SEL can be related to the current situation of the world. The fact that we are constantly being bombarded with information and propaganda means that we start to lose our sense of reality too, although not to the same extent that Lain does. Equally, as it becomes easier to connect with people all over the world, perhaps we are slowly becoming this 'one entity', each human being as one neuron, creating one massive brain through our communicative network... I've only just finished ep8 though, so my opinions will probably change once I've seen the whole thing. :) great episode analysis |
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| this anime has gotten me so hooked... at first i wasn't sure... but now i am it's so amazing, the episode theories on this thread also help so much to piece things together |
| I'm finding it hard to like this.. I am not finding it as good as I first thought |
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| I mean I would make a comment about how none of that made a lick of sense, but I guess that's the reason we're all watching this show, so I'll just refrain. I'm honestly starting to think that at the end of this show there'll be a message from the creator, going out that this was all one big practical joke, trying to warn the audience about the dangers of mystery shows. "You thought this would all make sense eventually and that's why you endured it until episode 13? Ha, you were wrong!" |
| Ok. What the fuck is up with Lain's sister. This has been bugging me a while now but she just gets worse mentally every episode since the incident. And I guess we got the confirmation that Lain isn't actually part of that family? Who knows what's true at this point. Also this episode was kinda annoying with all the random "history stuff" in between. It's probably important for the story. I can't really keep watching those though. They feel so out of place. |
| now that's a fashionable alien. |
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| So i was left pretty confused after this episode, had to revisit some of those historical references and how they add up to the story. Pretty pretty interesting thou. I am with the hypothesis this masami guy is indeed the Wired's God. |
 SEIZON SENRYAKU: Hungry 100% of the time.Vzla-IT |
| I'm still trying to make sense of what I watched. I'll just write down every piece of information we've learned in this episode -there sure are a lot- in hopes of understanding the relevance they have with the actual plot. Ok so first we have Roswell UFO Incident. This and the alien Lain sees in the beginning of this episode suggests aliens may actually have something to do with the Wired. I'm not sure how but they wouldn't just throw this information for no apparent reason, at least that's what I like to believe. Then the Majestic 12. This again is a conspiracy theory and reinforces the idea that aliens are relevant to the plot or maybe even to Lain herself but I have no proof of that. Memex is also mentioned. From the wikipedia page, it seems this Memex has striking similarities to internet (or the Wired in SEL universe). The idea was from Vannevar Bush, who is a member of MJ-12. In that sense, it supports my theory. Actually the god of the wired world may as well be an extraterrestrial being controlling them for whatever reason they have. Physician John C. Lilly and his experiments with dolphins and isolation tanks. This one I can't really put it anywhere in the plot. He made experiments with Dolphins and invented the isolation tank as a means of sensory deprivation. This term appears in the show as well so it may be important. Other than that I don't know what to make of it. Project Xanadu is according to the wikipage the first hypertext project and predecessor to the World Wide Web. One thing I found odd is that Wired magazine made an article called "Curse of Xanadu". Now it might just be a coincidence but I still think it should be noted. I don't know how exactly they jumped from the Schumann resonances to finding a way of making everyone connect to wired unconsciously without a device but I guess that Eri Masami guy knows something. I'll just have to watch the next episodes. |
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starcorea said: I think that the documentary was very relevant. The documentary was interesting in that it implied that by creating the internet, we are becoming like one huge network; and by comparing this network to the neurons in our brains, it seems that this network (or the 'Wired') would allow us to become like one entity, creating neuron pathways through information and communication. I think the part with the alien and bit about Roswell was supposed to show how Lain was becoming more and more detached from reality, as the wired and the real world begin to collide and overlap. The aliens signify her own alienation and how different she perceives the rest of humanity to be. The episode also highlights the question of what reality is. As the Knights are supposedly changing the past through their omnipotent control over the wired, Lain is unsure of what has happened or if indeed, she has lost control of herself and is committing all of these acts whilst in some sort of semi-conscious state. On top of this, Lain is confronted with the concept of 'deleting' the past through the wired, and this challenges the concept of history. In the same way that The Ministry of Truth deleted the past in Nineteen Eighty-Four through modification of past events, Lain is shown that through the wired, it is possible to erase all evidence of something ever existing, and in doing so, effectively 'deleting' something from time and space altogether. I think much of what is spoken about in SEL can be related to the current situation of the world. The fact that we are constantly being bombarded with information and propaganda means that we start to lose our sense of reality too, although not to the same extent that Lain does. Equally, as it becomes easier to connect with people all over the world, perhaps we are slowly becoming this 'one entity', each human being as one neuron, creating one massive brain through our communicative network... I've only just finished ep8 though, so my opinions will probably change once I've seen the whole thing. :) Wow, I didn't think that when I was watching, thanks for help me to understand that confusing episode! |
"No matter where you go, everyone's connected." Iwakura, Lain. |
| This might be my favorite episode of the season so far... It was like a documentary. I still don't get the part of the aliens but the rest was pretty brilliant. |
| The set of documentary videos shown during the episode provide information on what is probably happening. Everything about trying to investigate the psychology of humans and that if they were all connected they be the number of neurons in a brain. It is certainly quite reflective and introspective. But still, what about Lain? Who is really she? I have my hypothesis but ugh... |
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