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SERIAL
EXPERIMENTS LAIN is
at the top of my anime personal favorites list. It's
beautiful to watch, smart, thought provoking, and
has wonderful character designs and music. I've watched
and rewatched my subtitled tapes of this series..
and each time I see something different. The series
focuses on one Iwakura Lain, a 15 year old Junior
High School Girl and her discovery of an alternative
reality... "the wired." The series is not all that
hard to figure out despite what some people have been
saying. In essence it's a story about the human spirit
and technology. The riveting tale strikes home because
we can ALL see ourselves living "in the wired." After
all... here we are, exchanging thoughts and developing
friendships by way of the internet. What could be
stranger than that?
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The
great success of Serial Experiments Lain is that
it not only entertains, but challenges us to think,
to meditate upon our existence in the digital
world we are presently building. The series invites
us to ponder the consequences of our running headlong
into the future with wild abandon.
Sometimes
I feel like Lain... staring into my computer monitor,
writing e-mails to people I've never seen or heard.
Browsing through endless Web sites and taking apart
my computer to make it more efficient. The character
Lain is an introvert and an outsider who "finds" herself
when she discovers technology. In essence that describes
me... and I know it also describes many of those who
are reading these words.
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Serial
Experiments Lain is a must see. While other anime
have tackled the issues of alienation and technology
("Ghost in the Shell" "Perfect Blue"), Lain almost
makes it seem as if no other anime had confronted
the issue before. Not only is this anime introspective...
but it is an absolute joy to watch from an artistic
standpoint. Tension and angst come across in this
series, all due to the wonderfully inventive ways
of visually expressing uneasiness that the animation
staff of Lain worked hard on creating. Modern Hollywood
Directors could learn a thing or two from watching
Lain.
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The
soundtrack to Lain is unforgetable The opening song
performed by "BoA" is the very sound of a wondering
soul lost in the modern landscape. "I am falling,
I am fading, I am drowning, Help me to breathe, I
am hurting, I have lost it all, I am losing, Help
me to breathe." It is a pop tune but lilting and slightly
downcast.
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Lonely
but somehow hopeful. Perfect. The aching theme music
plays over one of the most intriguing opening visuals
I've yet seen. Lain walking through the city... steel,
glass, neon, and the ever present telephone wires
dangling overhead. The
city crows flock on street signs and watch Lain as
she makes her way through the canyons of commerce.
Strangers from all over the city interact with their
electronic gadjets...
each machine displaying the angst ridden face of young
Lain.
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A
crow dives from the sky and comes so close that its
beating wings blow the cap off of Lain's head, the
scene freezes with the bird's shadow arcoss Lain's
face. Serial
Experiments Lain is a haunting series that is meant
for the serious minded. It is a wonderful statement
on our disturbingly numb modernity. If you enjoy speculative
science fiction with a touch of social criticism,
then it just doesn't get any better than this!
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