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[cj_iwakura]

Present day...

Present time.

AHAHAHAHA

Serial Experiments Lain is a sci-fi/suspense/cyberpunk/etc. anime from 1998, and it had an eerie knack for predicting how the internet would become connected with every facet of modern society.

It got a masterful rerelease on blu-ray a few years back, which I've been rewatching.

I've seen the show several times, so let's call this spoiler heavy.

I'm up to Episode 8 on my rewatch, and maybe I was too naive back then to appreciate it, but the show is unapologetically adult at times. Not just the heavy subject matter about technology and society, but the general themes.

I'm honestly surprised they got away with the stuff Alice gets mixed up in, not to mention the implications of Mika(Lain's sister) at the love hotels. Even Lain outright mocks Alice for fantasizing about her teacher.

I think the biggest mystery, and tragedy, of the show is pretty much what happens to Mika. She's far from a good person, but she doesn't really do anything wrong.

Just the wrong place at the very wrong time.

What's your thoughts on the show?
Favorite moments, artwork?

Let's All Love Lain!

(Where does she get all that hardware from, anyway?)

The director Ryutaro Nakamura, sadly, passed away some time ago, so it's always good to rewatch it in his memory.

Incidentally, the PS1 game is really, really weird.

It's meant to be more of an alternate take on the series than a retelling.

It's an assortment of very lengthy journal entries with assorted animation clips and voice overs, less a game and more an interactive dossier.

 

[boredandlazy]

And you don't seem to understand...

 

[opticalmace]

Awesome, I haven't watched this in forever. Bluray release you say...

 

[boredandlazy]

Awesome, I haven't watched this in forever. Bluray release you say...

It's a good release. People whinge about some pretty bad banding, but it had it on the Japanese release and there's only a couple of times that it stands out as being worse.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Awesome, I haven't watched this in forever. Bluray release you say...

I imagine it's all kinds of out of print by now, but I could be wrong. I think you can watch it on Funimation's site?

Apparently it was an exhaustive restoration, there's a huge book detailing all the work the producer(s) went through.

 

[AbsolutBro]

One of my very favorite series.

 

[boredandlazy]

I imagine it's all kinds of out of print by now, but I could be wrong. I think you can watch it on Funimation's site?

Apparently it was an exhaustive restoration, there's a huge book detailing all the work the producer(s) went through.

Still available, and quite cheap:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G0OM22O/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[cj_iwakura]

Still available, and quite cheap:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G0OM22O/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Ah, it got rereleased. I have the original with the massive collectible packaging. I love the cover, though. I used to have a shirt of that.

 

[wwm0nkey]

I need to rewatch the Bluray again, amazing series

 

[Exis]

After watching Twin Peaks, I was thinking of re-watching this. I watched it when it came out and thought it was amazing and wanted to see how it held up.

 

[Hyoukokun]

The blu-rays for this are great - they put a lot of effort into the transfer. I need to sit down and do a full re-watch some day here; I believe my girlfriend has never seen it, so perhaps that's the excuse I need.

 

[turmoil]

I watched until ep8 I guess

I didn't seem to understand

Someday i have to give it another try

 

[Nephtis]

Fun fact: Serial Experiments Lain is what got me into water cooling for my PCs.

 

[AbsolutBro]

Somewhere around I have a huge art book and a Lain messenger bag.

First time I watched the series it never really clicked what was going on. The second time I decided to binge watch until like 2am, whole series just straight through. It suddenly all made sense and between the epiphany of what the series was asking and being up late, I wasn't quite right the next day.

 

[Hello? This is Hailun!]

I haven't seen it in forever.

I remember thinking it was good, but I also remember the fandom being.... ridiculous. To say the least. So it turned me off giving it a second run through.

 

[bishopcruz]

One of the greatest anime openings of all time.

I really need to get around to a rewatch. I met the character designer Abe at an academic conference, and he was a really solid dude. I still think he has one of my all time favorite art styles in the medium as well.

 

[ponpo]

Great show

Spoiler

too bad she has been coopted by wannabe cyberpunk INFOSEC teenagers online :^)

 

[King of Cups]

Oh man, this show was my shit back in college. That theme song is ingrained in my head.

 

[SynthFetish]

My all time favorite anime. I would love an art book for this show.

 

[cj_iwakura]

My all time favorite anime. I would love an art book for this show.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/4789713431/?tag=neogaf0e-20
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1569708991/?tag=neogaf0e-20
(US version)

Worth every cent.

 

[bishopcruz]

This thread made me pull this out. Such a great set.

 

[Polioliolio]

I'm sure I watched this whole series on DVD several times in highschool, but I can't seem to remember anything about it other than the intro, and I have no idea what the plot is.

 

[game-boi]

I recently started rewatching this after years of trying to get into it. The pacing of the show was a little grating to me as a young, but it fares better now. I'm four episodes in, which is farther than I've managed to get during any of my previous attempts to get into the show.

It feels like none of the episodes really connect with each other. Like there are critical things happening between them that aren't shown to the viewer. Is this intentional or am I missing something?

 

[cj_iwakura]

I recently started rewatching this after years of trying to get into it. The pacing of the show was a little grating to me as a young, but it fares better now. I'm four episodes in, which is farther than I've managed to get during any of my previous attempts to get into the show.

It feels like none of the episodes really connect with each other. Like there are critical things happening between them that aren't shown to the viewer. Is this intentional or am I missing something?

Yes and no. There is an overarcing plot of Lain's slow descent into being consumed by The Wired, but the main premise of an episode is usually stand alone.

 

[Mr_Antimatter]

One of the few anime series I own on multiple formats. Always enjoyable, if surreal.

 

[navii]

I should get the blu ray. Loved the DVDs with the special print in the discs.

Also, my usernames in forums usually reference the show.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Also, my usernames in forums usually reference the show.

Yeah, that too...

Spoiler

I've used this username ever since it came out.

 

[MadeULook]

Just finished up a rewatch on my Blu-ray set last week. Still one of my most favorite anime and definitely holds up today. An easy recommendation for anyone thinking about watching it.

Funny enough, Lain was what got me really into computers back in high school.

 

[poppos2097]

Incidentally, the PS1 game is really, really weird.

It's meant to be more of an alternate take on the series than a retelling.

It's an assortment of very lengthy journal entries with assorted animation clips and voice overs, less a game and more an interactive dossier.

I thought of Her Story as following in this vein but are there other games similar to this in exploring bits of multimedia as a character study? Remembered Gone Home sort of does this too.

Love this show and prompted to watch again.

 

[cj_iwakura]

I also bought Boa's album because of this show. It's wonderful. (They're a band, not the Kpop idol.)

 

[bishopcruz]

I also bought Boa's album because of this show. It's wonderful. (They're a band, not the Kpop idol.)

I didn't realize that the other BoA was Korean. She's actually not bad. When I was stuying in Japan in the summer of 2006 I remember looking for Boa albums, and found her instead.

Do the Motion is still a pretty neat song.

 

[cj_iwakura]

I didn't realize that the other BoA was Korean. She's actually not bad. When I was stuying in Japan in the summer of 2006 I remember looking for Boa albums, and found her instead.

Do the Motion is still a pretty neat song.

Lain's Boa are from Canada, I think.

 

[Messofanego]

I only watched this like a couple of years ago, and felt bad for missing out on it much earlier cause Serial Experiments Lain works as a nice contrast to Ghost In The Shell. It's a more psychological and introspective take on cyberpunk and techno paranoia. The main character being a loner and diving into computers really resonated with me. The slow pacing and surreal atmosphere really appealed to me, like with the disease-like shadows.

It's no surprise that the writer, Chiaki J. Konaka, went on to do Digimon Tamers which was the darkest iteration of the kids cartoon and made other weird works which I had to watch like Ghost Hound.

It fits right along with other psychological anime like Welcome to the NHK that is also about a loner and paranoia, and Paranoia Agent.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Episode 9 might be my favorite. So many real world parallels, and it really ups the ante.

 

[Ottaro]

And you don't seem to understand...

One of the greatest opening songs. So good.

 

[Borboleta Amarela]

I was obsessed with this when I was a teen. Spent most of my days after school watching this.

Very good memories and amazing show. Still holds up amazingly well.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Finished my rewatch last night, ending is as bittersweet as ever.

I'm not sure if Alice is a true friend or an idiot, but I guess seeing a Wired monstrosity made flesh appear in the real world would cause anyone to flip out.


I LOVE Chabo's jam session during Infornography, almost makes up for the clip show episode.