Serial Experiments: Lain

Also Known As: SE: Lain, Lain

Genre: Drama

Format: 13 Episodes

Allegiance: Triangle Staff/Pioneer LDC

Director: Nakamura Ryutaro, Matsuura Johei, Nishiyama Akihiko, Murata Masahiko, Ueda Shigeru

Vintage: 1998

Intelligence Agency Report by: The Macaque

Lain is a small and introverted girl, who at first glance doesn't seem too quick-witted. This will soon prove to be a false interpretation, as she is truely the incarnation of curiosity. Following a string of events where one of Lain's schoolmates commits suicide, and her ghost starts haunting the students PDA's, Lain is dragged deeper and deeper into the world of cyberspace. There she will encounter a whole range of complex philosophical questions about our very existence, and how we operate over electronic networks.

Field Agent Report by: The Macaque

Plot
Characters
Impact
Visual
Audio

9.00
9.00
9.00
7.25
6.00

Overall

8.00

(not an average)

This is a very tough anime to watch, that has to be mentioned up front. The sheer concentrational skills required to view this OVA, will more than likely scare the most short-tempered otaku to Timbuktu. Watch this series with someone right next to you, and you can surely hear their brain working overtime. Having said this, those who like to get challenged by whatever they're viewing, will have a fun time infront of the TV set.

The complexity lies in the multitude of philosophical theories, which are being thrown at the viewer. Not only that, but at the same time the series is explaining the evolution of electronic networks, all done quite well, as it progressess on several different levels at the same time. At some point of the show the difference between reality and artifical reality becomes blurred, as Lain gets to the fundamentals of cyberspace, eventually meeting God online. This might sound confusing, but it isn't going to get much clearer when it's presented with moving images...

...which in reality aren't really moving all that much. The character designs by ABe Yoshitoshi are as brilliant as ever, but sadly they never really come alive when most of the time the animation lacks movement. As the series is furthermore crammed with flashbacks, one would've assumed that the animated sequences could've been done better. The flashbacks do come in handy however, since the jungle of unanswered questions grows by every part. Sadly there are too many of the same flashbacks being shown over and over again. This only goes to show that too many cooks can in fact spoil the broth.

All of this could have been lingered out with some exiting music, but sadly the SE: Lain soundtrack is about as unforgettable as David Hasselhoff's singing career. Not saying it is in any way as bad, I just can't remember much of it. Only the opening song by an English band named BOA (not to be confused with the South-Korean singer of the same name) proves to be worth listening to.

After a negative rant this long, I still have to admit that I liked SE: Lain. Lain is cute as she doesn't seem to believe anything that is fed to her. Fox Mulder, eat your heart out! Unfortunately the animation is not of the highest standard. I mean it's filled with some very cool still-art, accompanied by good character-designs. However with moving pictures you just expect them to... well... move sometime. Fortunately, the story is complex enough to keep the viewer from being too concentrated on the animation, which actually saves the whole ordeal.

Field Agent Report by: Djudge

Plot
Characters
Impact
Visual
Audio

7.25
5.00
7.25
6.25
7.00

Overall

7.00

(not an average)

Why Serial Experiments: Lain remains as one of the more popular anime series in recent memory completely baffles me. Its plot, though heavy in material that will continuously fascinate aficionados of science fiction, is a bit inaccessible to the casual viewer and stands a high chance of bewildering a very large percentage of its audience. By default, the show's technical merits should carry this title into the hearts of its fans, but here again; Lain shows faults that would put an end to the logic behind this rationale. So what is it about the story of this Yoshitoshi ABe creation that Lain fans find so addictive? A question that stands to be even more perplexing than anything the show's plot could ever cook up.

Artist Yoshitoshi ABe is one of the world�fs most renowned character designers. As a result, the title character in the show, Iwakura Lain, easily stands as one of the most recognizable icons in anime. However, his splendid work has been animated in a much finer fashion in other titles such as Haibane Renmei and NieA_7 than it was here in Lain. Virtually throughout all thirteen installments of the show, the characters and objects onscreen were very lackluster in their motions. Facial expressions on the characters seemed plastic, leaving many countenances (at times, on different characters as well) to retain similar looks. This was a problem most evident in tense scenes where revelations made in the plot were rendered sterile by the appearance chosen for the individuals involved. Movements, though not totally clipped by any means, were a bit rough and could've used a few more frames in order to smooth out the final product. In fact, I found myself on more than one occasion having to take a second look at a scene to make sure that it wasn't my DVD skipping or any other sort of hardware failure. While these small errors are nothing in comparison to Evangelion's infamous stilted cuts, they still annoyed me, albeit in a more discreet fashion.

As for the actual meat of the show, the first things that I have to touch upon are the plastic characters. While I found the characters designed quite well thanks to ABe's touch, the way they interacted with each other onscreen left something to be desired. It was absolutely clear to me about halfway through the show that the active personas in this title would, well, remain as they were when they were first introduced to the viewer: mysterious, and over time, fatally detached. In the overall scale of things, when you look at the cast, they seem more like marionettes in this grand design rather than living, breathing people seeking to further their understanding of the events surrounding Lain and The Wired. The characters were a bit too bland for my taste, but the overall plot of this show will most definitely attract tech junkies and Matrix enthusiasts alike. While not technically a full-blown member of the cyberpunk genre. Lain's Information Age-type setting coupled with a dark plot sprinkled with hints of conspiracy here and there are enough to snag the attention of hi-tech thriller aficionados.

To be blunt, ABe's artistic styling saved this title from becoming an extremely dry exercise in fiber-optical suspense. For the most part, the intriguing plot design animates the characters in a more effective fashion than the actual production staff, and that is simply a shame. Had Lain been the object of more artistic scrutiny (and possibly production funding) the anime community could have had that much more of a brilliant gem to drool over than they do now.