Story:
As someone who's literally JUST finished the game about a week ago, the story's still fresh in my mind. Technically, this doesn't connect to the anime or the game (at least according to most places I've looked), however, it crosses over characters from the anime like Eiri and characters from the PS1 game like Lain's psychiatrist Touko, which makes the anime and the game in a way feel...connected? Well, it's all written nicely, having the classic themes of existentialism and the questioning of one's place in the world and their memories in it. For only 18 pages, it certainly got quite a lot done and it's both well-written, impressive, and just as good as everything else that's come out of the series! A+ stuff!
Art:
Aaaaah, the art in this wonderous little one-shot is all absolutely GORGEOUS, it feels more like the Lain PS1 artwork than it does the anime, for sure, but I love both styles for both the anime and game either way, so it's all gorgeous. The various usages of dark, muted, colors along with the amazingly well-drawn characters (especially Lain expressions, which help add to her feelings behind what she's saying in the dialogue.) It's all perfect and feels like every panel had the most love possible thrown into it (which may also explain why this isn't longer than it is...seriously, imagine trying to make an ENTIRE manga look like that AND IN COLOR.) Again, A+ stuff that I can't complain about at all.
Character:
Well...I kinda spoiled this section a little bit in the story section there is really much to say. Since Lain and Eiri are the only characters who speak, I guess I'll comment on them. Lain is about the same as her PS1 self at around the Site B part of the game (where she shortly after tried to commit suicide and woke up in the hospital unaware of what she actually did) or if you want to compare this Lain to the anime, probably her around...episodes 7 and onwards-ish (been a bit since I've seen the series, but I remember most of everything), where she's mostly questioning her existence and being...herself. Makes sense considering again when this takes place in the story PS1-game-wise. Eiri is just his godly self...screwing with Lain juuuust as he did in the anime...he barely really talks, but when he does his themes of death and memories through the usage of Bike-chan (Lain's Dog doll, for those who aren't aware or may have forgotten) are very in tune with the show. The other characters like Touko, Lain's Parents, and even Lain's sister are either very briefly mentioned and seen...or in Lain's sister's case, weirdly enough, not mentioned at all, which is odd considering she's mentioned in the PS1 game very briefly early on the game as her being in the hospital. At the very least, it would've been nice to at least have her mentioned. All in all, still great stuff!
Overall:
While this one-shot is extremely short, it's still surprisingly in-depth, gorgeously drawn, and well-written. It's definitely something for Lain fans, especially those like me who played the Lain PS1 game all the way through and finished it, as you'll understand it more if you can connect the dots between when this takes place in-context to the game rather than if just watched the anime and immediately went and read this. Definitely for more hardcore Lain fans only, but if you're that hardcore enough of a Lain fan and you've played the PS1 game AND watched the anime, this one-shot for you!
And with that...I'm getting to Texhnolyze...FINALLY! I'm still juggling NEO: The World Ends With You and Doom 3....vanilla Doom 3, but anyways. I've also bought Azumanga Daioh recently, so whenever I find time for that (along with trying to finish the Persona 1 Manga so THAT can finally get out of my head, as well), I'll definitely be writing reviews for those down the road at some point...hopefully sooner than later...
[Also, here's a hint for you if you wanna find the entire manga for free without giving your computer a funny totally not mentally-draining virus. Imgur, User: itisp. That is all.]
[Edit 03/14/2022: AHAHAHA! God bless the Lain Discord servers I'm in. I found my issue and finished the game all the way through finally! WOHOOOO!]
