Reviews

Serial Experiments Lain is difficult to rate. On one hand, the anime as a whole is enjoyable. On the other hand, it's very confusing, incoherent at times, some episodes are a bore to watch, and it just is obtuse overall. There's a lot going on here: questions of identity, what it means to be human, the progression of technology, and human evolution. While these are typical elements of cyberpunk anime, SEL doesn't handle these concepts in the best way compared to other similar anime. Additionally, there are scenes packed full of information that amounts to confusing filler as it really has nothing to do with progressing the narrative. And that's my overall issue with this anime: I just came away with an uneasy, unsettling feeling that nothing was really resolved in any meaningful way (especially the last episode). In conclusion, SEL is a thinking person's cyberpunk: if you don't want to have your brain warped for you, steer clear of this - it's definitely not for everyone. While I enjoyed some bits of the anime, by the end of the ride I was exhausted and unsatisfied with the obtuse ending and scatterbrained nature of the action.