Lain

Anime existentialism, generally speaking, is largely inaccessible to western audiences... and it's almost totally inaccessible to myself. I'm not ashamed to admit that I had to watch Akira three or four times before I fully understood it, and Ghost in the Shell had to live in my VCR for a couple weekends until I was satisfied I'd eked whatever shred of understanding out of it that I could. I grew very tired of essays on where mankind came from and where it was going. I decided, at that point, that I would never understand anime to a degree where I could be pleased with it, and abstained from watching it for a while (with the exception of the occasional Ranma1/2 episode, at the behest of my then-girlfriend).

Then, along came Lain.

I was very, very skeptical about watching Lain. Not only did it look like your typical "what is it all about" anime, but it was a thirteen-episode series, clocking in at well over five hours. I figured I'd watch the first four episodes and scrap the rest.

Lain sucked me in.

I can't stress how shocked I was when I swapped DVD #3 for DVD #4 and looked at my watch to realize I'd been sitting in one place for over four and a half hours. Serial Experiment Lain is simply incredible. There's enough mystery and enough seeds planted to keep the viewer watching from one episode to the next. The artwork is friggin' incredible... minimalist yet so rich that each shot breathes with its own life. Even the opening title sequence draws you in, with its careful attention to camera, style, and its mournful score.

Mournful, indeed. I don't make it a point to cry when I'm watching cartoons, but Lain beat the living hell out of my emotions. In very broad strokes, Serial Experiment Lain is about family, alienation, friendship and humanity. It analyzes the differences between obligation and true love, and comes down to the question of what is right and what will make you happy... and most importantly, what happens when we're forced to choose between the two?

Lain takes a lot of chances with style and presentation, and is a truly refreshing breath of fresh air from a medium that has grown far too comfortable with itself. The combination of cel animation with computer graphics and live action footage creates a world not unique to anime, but totally unique unto itself. Serial Experiment Lain rekindled my faith in anime, which is saying a lot. It is a great experience (I wouldn't be here telling you about it if it wasn't) and a great piece of film. If you've got a few hours to kill, step into Lain's world for a while, you won't be disappointed.

"SE: Lain" is a great anime series. It's not godly perfect or anything, but it gets up there...way up there. From the killer opening title sequence (with a great opening song, by the way) to the strange "previews" (they only consist of a girl talking and her body parts - I'm not kidding) for the next show, "Lain" certainly has a fairly unique style. But it goes beyond style and gets into substance.

The story is simple at first and seems half-predictable in these post-"Matrix" times. After a classmate seemingly commits suicide, Lain gets e-mail from the dead girl. Apparently, her consciousness is still on the net...or is it? From then on, things get weird, complicated, and interesting.

Splicing in elements of Matrix-style cyberpunk, X-Files conspiracy, and the David Lynch-esque surreal, "Lain" is, like the Wired world it portrays, a synthesis of disparate ideas and personas, all thrown into a blender for the viewer to interpret. The interpretation's the thing, and those looking for action or comedy may come away slightly disappointed. After 13 episodes, there will probably be more questions than answers, but isn't real life like that, anyway?

Generally speaking,Japanese anime products,as its by-product known as "otaku" culture, are full of contradictions. First of all, anime's "artistic" level has never been adequately estimated in its homeland(namely by audience, critics and mass medias) and usually "discovered" by foreigners(most sad example is "Inoccence--Ghost in the shell", Mamoru Oshii's best and probably last artistic film). Secondally, anime's highest level in dramaturgy had been achieved before it was "discovered" by world film festivals and foreign audiences(French people is said to have believed "Candy Candy"'s not a Japanese serial, because it was so sophisticated).

"Serial experiment Lain" is a accidental postmodern masterpiece,made after anime's classical achievements("accidental", because no one had intended to make a work of art). "Lain" uses plenty of postmodern devices: citation from purely historical materials,stylish eclecticism,"open" ending or circular structure and showing its own media's limitation(many scenes are openly "two dimensional" and look like rather abstract "picture").

Having been made in the time of imitation and citation of past anime "classical "serials of 80s and later 70s, "Lain" is superb in its originality and the sense of the contemporary.After seeing this serial, "Evangelion" seems to be boring and too long(experimental works must be not so long as ordinary "genre" works,it is the rule from the time of silent era).

I recommend to compare this serial with "Kairo" by Kiyoshi Kurosawa,the latter will seem to be some kind of a little out-dated remake of this serial.

You normally don't think of subtle and sci-fi anime in the same sentence, but that's what Serial Experiments Lain is. The atmosphere is slightly sinister all the way through, with beautiful animation. The story could be compared to the Matrix and the Sixth Sense, while the atmosphere and style is reminiscent of Twin Peaks, eXistenZ, and the end of Neon Genesis EVA.

The ending makes this clear that you won't be getting any easy answers.

I feel like I have to say a few things about zetes's rant. For one, it's kind of depressing when people watch 4 episodes of a show and feel like they know everything about it. To put things in perspective, this is like watching the first 35 minutes of a movie and being convinced that it's worthless. But onto his points:

1. Yeah, a lot of effort does go into making the show more mysterious, but eventually it really does touch on themes that would appeal to those looking for something intellectual, especially functionalism, descriptive materialism, and the problems with a wholly materialistic interpretation of identity. Don't expect hardcore analytic philosophy, just a nice sprinkling of references and some interesting perspectives.

2. When you first start watching the series, it makes absolutely no sense, and every episode just seems to be adding to the complexity by introducing new aspects. But by the time you finish it, I guarantee that all of these things will make perfect sense (even why Lain's family seems so shallow and undeveloped). In this sense, the series creates perfect order out of total chaos, an aspect that I particularly liked.

3. I'm not going to pretend to be a film critic, but the directing seemed pretty effective at creating the kind of atmosphere that the series needed. And many of the episodes ended with great "what the hell just happened?" moments, that forced me to revise all my theories and definitely made me want watch more.

No offense to zetes, but you shouldn't watch this anime expecting to find character portraits or traditional "slice-of-life" drama. Just like any good existentialist movie ("Donnie Darko" comes to mind here) it won't make too much sense until you've watched the whole thing and maybe even thought about it a bit. So if you feel like you won't be satisfied unless you get your moral straight-up, then this series isn't for you. It'll make you think and will only provide you with more question, not answers.