Serial Experiments: Lain

Serial Experiments Lain is rather artistically ambitious, ruminating on the internet, Emergence, Japan's distrust of individualism and other fun stuff. Despite the praise for it (even a couple of academic papers written about it), I thought it was philosophically hit & miss - and the sci-fi medium for its philosophy was distinctly unscientific. The mood and art were quite striking; unsettling.

Certainly not as striking today as it was in its time, and the quality can be variable, but Lain is quite an eerie and uncanny exploration of the internet and its influence from a time when it was a fraction of what it is today. Absolutely bleeds atmosphere. One of the better philosophical anime to come out of the post-Evangelion boom.

This series is the perfect example of the obscure psycho-thriller genre of the animes. I loved it when I watched it at those years, but looking back maybe it was too ambigious and revealed too little in the end for my satisfactions. But as an attempt to build an atmosphere about the fuzzy boundaries between virtual/real, it is still top-notch.

Perhaps if I had watched this when it originally came out, I'd be a lot more impressed, but the animation is far too lackluster to give a high score to.

errrm.. guys.. wth is happening... i watched this while high tbh so i probably understand it even less than normal... this is a famously incomprehensible show about.. the internet? god? growing up in the 90s? having autism? who knows man who knows... but anyway its pretty cool, i would say it's pretty compelling and its fun to try and figure out whats happening. just uhh.good luck. but also cool cause autism girl protagonist, love to see it

*static*

Exceptionally strange, and difficult to understand what's happening 90% of the time. Animation is lacking in many respects. However, the philosophical aspects of the show are deep and thoroughly explored.

A slow, intimate exploration of the early internet and the potential of computers. There's practically no science here, but rather an artist's thoughts and ideas on the subject.

Started off almost too slow. Then got pretty good/interesting, stayed weird lol. Then episode 9 got overwhelming outta nowhere. Then slowed down again. Didnt really go somewhere+end in a way i liked. I would prefer if ep 9 stuff was sprinkled throughout the show nicely but i appreciate this show's unique approach and now i gotta google explanations haha

very good anime

I was really excited going into this - I'd heard so much hype for years. But I found it slow, pretentious, and inaccessible. Pity.

Although somewhat outdated and unscientific in terms of its portrayal of the internet, I do admire its take on mankind's relation with machine as well as a number of other themes. Visually speaking, the show is really breathtaking and it plays really well with its own themes and general weirdness. It is undoubtedly hard to follow, but one thing to consider is that the show has numerous different ways to interpret it. In essence, it's kinda like Evangelion in that regard for better or worse.

Being avant-garde is fine, but there's a line between being experimental and disappearing up your own arsehole. This falls on the wrong side of the line. I imagine its high rating is down to an Emperor's New Clothes-style delusion where people give it credit because everyone else is praising it and they don't want to be the one to call bull.

Interesting setup but the philosophical line of questioning isn't really resolved in a satisfying way (read: not a complete mess), nor is it really precise enough to think about

Pre-millennial philosophical questioning at its best.

Serial Experiments Lain is a psychedelic, post-modern cyberpunk series that one wonders how the director ever managed to make. Lain centers on a very shy school girl who slowly begins to figure out that she is not what she seems to be. After getting a computer and connecting to the "wired," something with is far more expansive than the internet, Lain begins to realize that she may not be human, and that truly, reality and the "self" is exists (or does not exist) on many different levels.

So very boring.

Not sure if I liked it. It's strange, kinda slow-paced and..well.. just weird. But on the other hand it's nothing like I've ever seen before, it's not forgettable

Brilliant sci-fi anime mini-series.