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| This has a score of 7.95? Just goes to show how many idiots there are in this world who can't think at a higher level. 10/10 from me. Simply amazing anime. The ending was soo...unexpectedly awesome? I was expecting a crap ending from something like this actually. |
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| The end was just... just RIGHT. To say the truth, I expected something different (though I don't mean I'd like it more), but what I've seen made me amazed and glad. Nothing better couldn't be imagined for the final of SE Lain, the idea fits very-very much. 8/10 'cause of the relatively weak logical basis: transfering memory with IP packages, synchronising it with 8 Hz magnetic field etc. I understand that in '98 it sounded more plausible, Internet wasn't so outspread and there wasn't so much info about it for the big masses of people, but there's nothing I can do about my feelings. |
| Best anime ever created yeah thats right fuck death note and code geass and clannad and logh and gintama(well i actually kinda like gintama) |
| ^as said by the guy who hasnt finished LoGH.. anyway.. this truly is a wonderful series.. also, i love Lain.. but i have to deduct points for lots of dead air, unclear presentation, information overload and lack of tension all spread towards the earlier episodes.. 8/10 for me.. |
| 7/10 I like the "mindf***k genre", as it is, but it would have been much better with some more human characters. This way, I have no emotional attachment to the series. I don't care if all these weird, philosophy-speaking puppets exist or not, live or die. Arisu was basically the only likable human character, but even she had so little on-screen action that she was basically "generic schoolgirl #25675" |
| I was expecting so much more at the end. Most of the series it was mindf*ck "games" so I enjoy it. 9/10 |
| So confusing and awesome i loved it. 10/10 from me. |
| Veery confusing. I might understand a lot more if I rewatch it but - no way I'm gonna watch this boring shit again. It was a chore sitting through this show and I'm glad it's finally over. I'm sorry Lain. |
Earth gets angry after a kick in the face. |
| This episode was kinda sad... even if it has a somewhat happy ending... can't explain why. Basically she deleted everyone's memories about her... I for a moment there thought she erased her very existence, but she came back somehow. She states that memories need not only be of the past, so I guess she became a memory in the future, where she could exixst again, and start over, maybe. Great anime, and yeah Lain will be remembered. 8/10. |
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| Holy shit. After finishing this my brain feels like mush. I think I got the majority of the show, and it's pretty epic. I'll have to re-watch it to notice things from the earlier episodes as those were just chaotic to watch without knowing anything about the show. I personally think Lane never actually 'physically' exists in the real world. She can manipulate memories so I think she makes it seem that she exists by manipulating the memories of people around her, unknowingly. However, there are also a lot of things that prove otherwise, so I'm not 100% sure on this. Guess it's just a theory. The show also pokes at Religion. Would god still exist if no one believed in him? Think about it. As a figure who only exists because people believe in him, then what would happen when no one believed in him? Would he simply fade from existence? Can you exist after death? Some character believed that. But did they mean it literally? Could they actually stay alive in the 'Wired' after dying in the real world. Or are the only alive in the wired because of there presence and logged history? Because unlike in real life, in the wired you don't decay. Every post you made a forum for example would still be a capture of you and your personality. So in the wired they could live forever, unlike in real life where they'd decay and fade away and once everyone forgets about them they no longer existed. Did Aliens help us build our technology? The show also seems to think that. They point out that a Alien spacecraft landed on Earth and Aliens helped Humans created 'the wired'. Was Lain programmed by the Alien? How could humans program such a diverse program that can literally form into it's own personalty and it's own being. It must have been the Alien who created Lain. The dude who got hit by the train(The fake god) claimed he did, but was determined not to be the real 'god'/'creator'. The real creators were most likely the aliens. In one of the episodes you see Lain with a Aliens body; I think this is the biggest hint that she is linked to the Aliens and this is the only way I could think of. I am a computer programmer and I specialize in website programming; so naturally after watching this I feel like a god of the internet. :) I can create my own worlds in the 'wired' and do what I want with them. |
YintamaSep 5, 2010 9:04 PM
| My review of the entire series is here http://wp.me/p12uiW-ia |
My Blog @ http://xly15.wordpress.com     |
| Awesome series. :) |
Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.~ |
| It was good at first but the last two episodes just lost my interest. |
5layer said: 10/10 from me. Simply amazing anime. The ending was soo...unexpectedly awesome? I was expecting a crap ending from something like this actually. Same. I was ready to rate this an 8-9, but the ending completely bumped up the score for me. Aside from how the story was presented, I have no complaints about this anime. 10/10 |
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| 6/10 for this series. I am very disappointed by this anime. I thought I would like it since I'm into the psychological genre, but the was not good. It was very confusing though I understood most of it by the end. The ending was awful. |
| I think this last episode was what topped the whole series off. The quote near the middle of the episode "What isn’t remembered, never happened. Memory is merely a record. You just need to rewrite that record." really hit home with me. It just hurts you a little to see her.... wipe herself out of everyone's memories so they could be happier - even though it would be a life without her. It's a bit sad. But she seemed happy at the end. |
| Well, it was quite an interesting experience...I loved the series as a whole, it really threw me back into the 90's, the atmosphere just sucked me in. However, I am not really satisfied with the ending. I believe that they should have cut out the extraterrestrial references and the recap part, because the last episode felt rushed, and the previously mentioned scenes didn't contribute that much. With a bit of a restructure it could have had a better pacing. As to the ending itself, I'm not quite sure whether I like it or not. The problem is, that I'm afraid I didn't get the message. From the way it was ended, I had the impression that instead of making a choice, Lain stayed at the border. She did not return to experience pain and joy, but didn't cut herself from Arisu either. To me, this would indicate that the message is: "Have one good friend, apart from that, the Wired is superior". I certainly did not get the closure I was looking forward to. Maybe when I rewatch it in a few years time I will get a different picture. I'm giving the ending episode a 4/5...and the series...I can't really decide between a 9 or a 10. I think I'll just go with 10 for now and see what I think about it the next time I watch it. It was definitely worth it. |
Mogami-kunApr 20, 2011 8:12 AM
| Blatant ripoff of Madoka ending. |
waterfall said: Blatant ripoff of Madoka ending. Iknowrite They also stole ideas from Nichijou 3/10 |
| I want to know more about the knights, we never got to know what they were all about.. and those two in black suits aswell, we never really got to know what their objective was.. |
CaritasAvaritia said: waterfall said: Blatant ripoff of Madoka ending. Iknowrite They also stole ideas from Nichijou 3/10 this made me lol. but anyway, i actually finished this series a while ago but never commented on it. I just wanted to say that i think this series is amazing. even tho im not really a fan of older anime. well its old but not that old. i really liked the art, how deep the plot was, how it rarely had any background music, the constant shots of all the power lines, and the blood in the shadows. it all really helped set a unique atmosphere. im definitely gonna re watch this series eventually to try to understand it more. i wish there was more anime made like this. |
Hokuto_no_FuzzMay 25, 2011 10:58 PM
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| The show's philosophical side is well-portrayed: It's entertaining even if philosophy plays a large role, it isn't heavy-handed and it melds very well with the plot. The recurrent themes of loneliness and theology are also executed well. Nothing like a show that entertains, makes you think and makes you feel. Also, the ending got me misty-eyed. 9/10; brilliant stuff. The madoka jokes here are pretty funny, lol |
WombstoneMay 30, 2011 11:12 PM
| Well I finally got around to watching this, partly because of recommendations and partly because I heard there was a similarity between Lain and Madoka, and sure enough there was. I gotta say, this anime blew my fucking mind away. The atmosphere, the characters (LAIN), that subtle but powerful use of background music, the plot and how it raises so many philosophical questions on technology, existence, etc. Definitely part of my Top 5, along with Madoka heh. 10/10 |
| the ending was nice..but i cant give it a score higher than 6/10 this isnt my type of anime..i guess. |
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| First thing first - the ending was better than I hoped for(judging from my NGE experience I expected this thing to end in some horrible way). The ending was... ok, it really is bittersweet if you give it enough thought. Yeah, it's nothing obviously bittersweet, but still it fits into this definition. Lain has gotten into problems so deep that no matter what she's done, she couldn't solve them. The only way she could solve her problems were to erase her existence. Sometimes, people face such problems - ones which they can't solve. They can stop their existence, by lets say suicide, or just keep on living, leaving their problems behind them. But I guess Lain couldn't live while being hated by Arisu and everyone else, so she just chose the most fitting for her thing to do. You might end up wondering why she was still existing, while being forgotten by every person in the world. This explanation is this - even if no one remembers or acknowledges your existence, you'll still be existing, 'cause you'll be existing in your own mind and thoughts. After all, the real Lain's personality(the one we see from the very start) was the one which exists in her own mind, and that's why she in this exact personality was present after the world restart. The sweet part of the "bittersweet ending" is the fact she can still interfere in the real world and start living there again if she decides so. Arisu was sexy at all the time, but in the ending she was just killer! Yeah, even after many things got cleared I still think that many mysteries remain unsolved, but I guess this is the moment where our minds have to start working for themselves. Like, lets say - Eiki. He said he was god who created Lain's body, but she ends up as existing person even after he's not having the slightest idea of being god. Was he lying? Or her existence is more like paradox right now? I got the feeling, that 13 episodes will be nowhere near enough to finish the whole story, even before I started watching this anime and now I know I was right. Anyway, here comes the other part: 1. Character - 1. There weren't really many developed characters, but the few ones were developed really well - Lain, Arisu, Eiki. 2. Atmosphere - 1. Really, this anime has one of the most solid atmospheres out there. Even if it was a sucker on every other aspect, it'd worth it just for the atmosphere. 3. OST - 1. Not much OST at all, but the ED is quite good, and the OP is just on of the best OPs I've ever heard. The sounds at the start of each episodes are irreplaceable part of the atmosphere too. 4. Animation - 1. The art helped very much for the overall atmosphere build up and there weren't many flaws at all. 5. Background story. No point here, probably because we didn't get actual background story - even if there is one, we must think it for ourselves. 6. Storyline - 1. I almost decided not to give point here either, but then I thought on it again. There IS an actual storyline, even if it follows mainly Lain's character build up. 7. Ending - 1. This one even deserves more than one point. If you think for a little on the ending, it's not really hard to understand how good it actually is - one of the best endings I've ever seen. If NGE has ended in such a way it might have been the best anime ever. 8. Fight scenes. [x] 9. Drama. No point here, this might be one hell of an anime, but still it doesn't include much drama in itself. Probably not at all. Except if you go after Lain's personality development, but I already gave her credit for that. 10. Overall feeling - 1. This anime fulfilled my expectations and even ended up in a better way than I expected. This happens quite rarely with most of the animes. Bonus(extra) point for:... - 1. For the overall idea/concept - the Wired. The people involved in it, and most importantly Lain and her connection with the Wired. This the main flavor of the anime and I can just say it's somewhat unique and really hard to forget factor. Overall score: 9/10. It was really great to watch this masterpiece. |
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| OST - 10/10 Mindfuckedness - Over 9000 |
entauri.deviantart.com |
| That was a really interesting show. I'm glad I watched it, I'm excited to go on and read some theories about it now. :P |
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| 10/10 one of the best animes ever made, Period. This thing is gonna be remembered way long in the future. |
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| The last two episodes were very helpful as they brought some sense into the series. Even though what the authors tried to convey became rather apparent by the end of it, the show was overflowed with confusing moments and it was boring as hell to watch. I did like it, though. |
| What am I watching? Its only real if I can remember it. |
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Finally finished the series. Well, I have to admit it was really good. I was expecting a more confusing ending, but this one was nice. Great show. |
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| Don't really know what ppl see in that series? Average, only opening was good and animation, but story? No comment ; d |
| Signature removed. Please follow the signature rules, as defined in the General Forum Guidelines. |
| Terrible series. |
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DJ007 said: Don't really know what ppl see in that series? Average, only opening was good and animation, but story? No comment ; d egoplant said: I feel like this series wasn't so much a show with story, but rather a show with substance through themes (such as the nature of existence). A plot is definitely there (the most concrete synopsis that I found is at the bottom of http://animeworld.com/reviews/lain.html, but http://www.cyberpunkreview.com/movie/decade/1990-1999/serial-experiments-lain/ offers a short review, and http://www.cjas.org/~leng/lain.htm is nice food for thought), but the focus of this show is on the concepts that it presents.Terrible series. Admittedly, I think this show is flawed--what with how the story progressed, it could easily have been condensed, and things need to be more explicitly explained (even if they were left ambiguous deliberately)--but in terms of the ideas it presents, Lain is a great seinen anime. It's like Evangelion, with less action and even more concept. |
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| finally gave this another try after dropping it 10+ years ago.. words to describe the show: 10 years ago: wtf is this shit Now: ambiguous (a more polite version of 'wtf is this shit') Also, I feel sad for people that lie to themselves and is convinced that shows like these are amazing just because it's too 'deep' for anyone to understand. Have fun wasting time rewatching this cluster fuck of ambiguity masterpiece. |
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flaxman85 said: finally gave this another try after dropping it 10+ years ago.. words to describe the show: 10 years ago: wtf is this shit Now: ambiguous (a more polite version of 'wtf is this shit') Also, I feel sad for people that lie to themselves and is convinced that shows like these are amazing just because it's too 'deep' for anyone to understand. Have fun wasting time rewatching this cluster fuck of ambiguity masterpiece. So think about it, am i really wasting my time by rewatching it if i enjoy it? just because someones opinion differs to yours doesnt mean that people lie to themselves in thinking its good, Its a given that some people are gonna hate it and some are gonna love it thats just the type of anime it is. so stop being ignorant ive also never seen someone say its "too deep for anyone to understand" you cant deny it is deep and it has a lot of underlying themes and questions a lot of things. |
| Does anyone else need a doctor to confirm that someone without a head is dead? |
jimbob1141 said: flaxman85 said: finally gave this another try after dropping it 10+ years ago.. words to describe the show: 10 years ago: wtf is this shit Now: ambiguous (a more polite version of 'wtf is this shit') Also, I feel sad for people that lie to themselves and is convinced that shows like these are amazing just because it's too 'deep' for anyone to understand. Have fun wasting time rewatching this cluster fuck of ambiguity masterpiece. So think about it, am i really wasting my time by rewatching it if i enjoy it? just because someones opinion differs to yours doesnt mean that people lie to themselves in thinking its good, Its a given that some people are gonna hate it and some are gonna love it thats just the type of anime it is. so stop being ignorant ive also never seen someone say its "too deep for anyone to understand" you cant deny it is deep and it has a lot of underlying themes and questions a lot of things. You are wasting your time if you kept lying to yourself and pretend to enjoy it. I'm just trying to help all the clueless viewers to think and re-evaluate themselves to what they truly enjoy and not become sheep that tend to follow the majority's opinions (aka band wagon). No harm was intended. I just want everyone to enjoy their hobby to its fullest. Sure, I could've said it in more polite way, but it's more provoking this way. :) Cheers. |
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flaxman85 said: jimbob1141 said: flaxman85 said: finally gave this another try after dropping it 10+ years ago.. words to describe the show: 10 years ago: wtf is this shit Now: ambiguous (a more polite version of 'wtf is this shit') Also, I feel sad for people that lie to themselves and is convinced that shows like these are amazing just because it's too 'deep' for anyone to understand. Have fun wasting time rewatching this cluster fuck of ambiguity masterpiece. So think about it, am i really wasting my time by rewatching it if i enjoy it? just because someones opinion differs to yours doesnt mean that people lie to themselves in thinking its good, Its a given that some people are gonna hate it and some are gonna love it thats just the type of anime it is. so stop being ignorant ive also never seen someone say its "too deep for anyone to understand" you cant deny it is deep and it has a lot of underlying themes and questions a lot of things. You are wasting your time if you kept lying to yourself and pretend to enjoy it. I'm just trying to help all the clueless viewers to think and re-evaluate themselves to what they truly enjoy and not become sheep that tend to follow the majority's opinions (aka band wagon). No harm was intended. I just want everyone to enjoy their hobby to its fullest. Sure, I could've said it in more polite way, but it's more provoking this way. :) Cheers. I dont think is the sort of series someone would lie to themselves about liking though if im honest and i wouldnt say the majority like lain all that much id say it has quite a select audience (especially nowadays) But yeah ofc if someone is lying to themselves then they are wasting their time and also wasting themselves :P I enjoyed the series but i feel the thing that really makes it stand out is the after thoughts and theories its certainly interesting and it also made me question a few things i never have before and of an anime can do that i feel it deserves every bit of praise it gets. but like i say there is going to be a hell of a lot of people who wont like it, each to their own :) I like to have a serious think about things sometimes and this is the most thought provoking thing ever xD |
| Does anyone else need a doctor to confirm that someone without a head is dead? |
| This episode was way more enlightening than I expected.What a nice way to end this series,I loved it! |
| I kind of saw that ending coming a mile away what with Arisu freaking out after the fight. The reset is the only thing that could make Lain's only friend happy again. As someone said earlier, the ending was bittersweet. The sweet part being that everyone is alive again and happy. The bitter part is having all memories of Lain erased. Though, the ending isn't as sad as some I've seen. Lain can still go into the world and interact with it. Apart from when she met Arisu, we don't ever know if she will do it in the future. I found it interesting that she only removed the records of the past which do no include records of the future. That is probably how Arisu kind of remembered Lain. Wonder what she was thinking of Lain that pertained to the future. A part that didn't make any sense to me was when Lain was having tea with her dad in the clouds. The only explanation I can come up with is that Lain's father really was the god of the real world because it is after their conversation that Lain learns that Arisu still has future memories of Lain. Now that I think about it, maybe her father was truly the person who programmed Lain. He was indeed good with technology, but that is the only thing I can use to prove that thought. The reason I was thinking he was god had to be with the part where he was looking down on lain from above and light was beaming down. Plus, there were the clouds that made it look like they were in heaven. Beyond those points, her father did have some kind of significant role in the story for him to appear near the end like that. I'll have to re-watch the series again in order to fully understand what is going on. I found I really liked this series. It posed a lot of questions that made you keep wondering what was going on. It is because of this that the show is interesting. The show draws you in and reveals just enough to keep you wanting to learn more. The anime was really artsy and confusing, but in the end, was really enjoyable. I'm on a border between a 8 or a 9. The fact that I have to re-watch will have to bump it down to an 8. I shouldn't have to re-watch a series to really get "it" so to speak. Maybe that was what that little recap was for? If that was, then it didn't do it for me. I'll rewatch the series sometime. It was something unique and unforgettable that is for sure! |
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