-> If there's one true thing about everything you've heard of this series, is the fact that Lain isn't your common show, It doesn't focus on things such as character development or plot, and instead decides to go analyzing diverse aspects related primarily with communication and technology (A.K.A the internet, or "the Wired" as they call it). In fact, the only coherent part of the plot of this series is this: Lain gets a computer and starts knowing about "The wired", everything else from there on can be considered screwed up, or a masterpiece, depending of how you take it
- So it's difficult to rate the story because there's just too much stuff there that can't be related directed to the plot directly, but it serves to explore deeper into the topics at hand: Still, many would feel it's just pure nonsense.
-> The Art and sound are maybe the best things on SEL, because the simpleness of it really makes an impact of the "weird" factor, dialog lines are lacking, and the art at many times is so simple but it makes the job so well, Duvet by Boa is a song i truly love, and it sets the mood perfectly for this kind of show, and as usual, Yoshitoshi ABe's style is outstanding.
- Now for the characters, just one protagonist, Lain, the one who experiments 99% of the situations on the show, a shy, introverted person which finds in the Wired enough confidence to the point of developing a new personality (Sounds familiar?), and that's as spoiler-ish as i will get.. The rest of the characters aren't even secondary, they are just triggers that allow the diverse situations to flow in a not so nonsensical manner.. In other words, they are only there to serve as a reason of why Lain became the way she becomes and why she acts like she does.
-> Maybe the biggest flaw in Lain is that is extremely indirect, it will not tell you how Lain deals with the situations in her head ala Evangelion, nor will show you directly what the purpose of the story is ala Elfen Lied.. That's why it may appear as pure BS to a lot of people, but i suggest you give it a try, because for me it definitely was something that trascended typical anime, and even typical TV, it was a thought provoking and really interesting visual essay.
Story: 8/10
Art- Sound: 10/10
Character: 9/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
You should see at least: This one is hard, and if you go through 3 episodes (layers) and find yourself boring to death maybe you should stop, but if you're just scratching your head trying to grasp what is happening move on. Layer 05 is where the fun starts though :D
So there it is, a review of my favourite anime, something i think everyone should do sometime. I promise more recent stuff (is already there) but for now please bear with me reviewing things i wanted to since long ago, thanks for reading and have a nice day
