History Trivia / SerialExperimentsLain

* ChidrenVoicingChildren: The 14-year old Lain's voice actres, Kaori Shimizu, voiced Lain when she was only 15-years old and still a third year junior high schotol student. The video game was also her debut role as a voice actor to boot too.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: A sizable portion of the fanbase is Latin American. This is because Lain got a Latin American and a Brazilian Portuguese dub and was broadcast in the Latin American satellite TV channel Locomotion.

* StarMakingRole: In the English dub, Lain was this for Creator/BridgetHoffman.

* NamesTheSame: This series is about Lain ''Iwakura'', not Lain ''Claes'', protagonist of vulgar UsefulNotes/RPGMaker title ''Lain's Horrible Adventure'', though this series is the subject of a gag in that one. The Juri Kato in this series is also different from the one in ''Anime/DigimonTamers'', though they [[Creator/ChiakiKonaka share the same creator]].

* NamesTheSame: This series is about Lain ''Iwakura'', not Lain ''Claes'', protagonist of vulgar VideoGame/RPGMaker title ''Lain's Horrible Adventure'', though this series is the subject of a gag in that one. The Juri Kato in this series is also different from the one in ''Anime/DigimonTamers'', though they [[Creator/ChiakiKonaka share the same creator]].

* WordOfGod: Mika [[spoiler:actually tried to delve into the wired like Lain, and got "stuck". After that her mind is literally gone and her brainless body is left for the rest of the series.]]

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: The original box set was out of print for many years, but a new combined DVD/BluRay box set was released in late 2012.

* NamesTheSame: This series is about Lain ''Iwakura'', not Lain ''Claes'', protagonist of vulgar VideoGame/RPGMaker title ''Lain's Horrible Adventure'', though this series is the subject of a gag in that one.

* NamesTheSame: This series is about Lain ''Iwakura'', not Lain ''Claes'', protagonist of vulgar RPGMaker title ''Lain's Horrible Adventure'', though this series is the subject of a gag in that one.

** [[http://www.mebious.com/wiki/Main_Page Not at the URL you'd expect.]]

* HeyItsThatVoice: In the Spanish dub, Lain is [[Manga/LoveHina Motoko Aoyama]], Yasuo is [[Anime/"/CowboyBeBop Jet Black]], and Alice and Reika are respectively [[Franchise/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Sayaka Miki and Madoka Kaname]].
** In the English Dub, Mika was [[Franchise/PowerRangers Cassie Chan]], the Pink [[Series/PowerRangersTurbo Turbo]]/[[Series/PowerRangersInSpace Space]] Ranger.

* HeyItsThatVoice: In the Spanish dub, Lain is [[Manga/LoveHina Motoko Aoyama]], Yasuo is [[Manga/CowboyBeBop Jet Black]], and Alice and Reika are respectively [[Franchise/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Sayaka Miki and Madoka Kaname]].
** In the English Dub, Mika was [[PowerRangers Cassie Chan]], the Pink [[PowerRangersTurbo Turbo]]/[[PowerRangersInSpace Space]] Ranger.

** In the English Dub, Mika was Cassie Chan, the Pink [[PowerRangersTurbo Turbo]]/[[PowerRangersInSpace Space]] Ranger.

* WordOfGod: [[spoiler:Mika actually tried to delve into the wired like Lain, and got "stuck". After that her mind is literally gone and her brainless body is left for the rest of the series.]]

The creators of ''Anime/SerialExperimentsLain'' drew on a freaking ''lot'' of sources. The series takes on a whole new meaning when you understand all the {{Shout Out}}s and allusions . So here's a quick guide to them all.

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[[AC:The entire series]]

* '''Cyberia''', a bar/disco frequented in the series is an allusion to the nonfiction novel by the same name by Douglas Rushkoff. The pun on "[[EvilIsDeathlyCold Siberia]]" is intentional. See also ''Gaia'', the global brain in the same book.
** It was also the name of one of the earliest cybercafé franchises - which had a branch in Tokyo.
* '''Protocol 7''' refers, probably, to the 7[[superscript:th]] Layer, the neurogenetic circuit, of the ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-circuit_model_of_consciousness Eight Layers of Conciousness]]'' as proposed by Timothy Leary.
** And could also be a successor to the upcoming new internet protocol [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv6 IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6)]] which was already in the planning stage when SEL was made. (the current internet protocol is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv4 version 4]]).
* '''NAVI''', the trademark-turned-noun for computer in the series, is contracted from ''Knowledge Navigator'', a term invented by Apple CEO John Sculley in his book ''Odyssey''. It referred to a computer connected to a vast network where everyone was connected.
** Probably completely unintended, but in Hebrew, ''navi'' is the word for "prophet." "Fulfill the prophecy" indeed . . .
* '''Copland OS''' was an unreleased operating system by Apple Computers. See also ''System 7'', its predecessor.
* '''Devices''', in this context, refers to Marshal [=McLuhan=]'s concept.
* '''Gaia''', a global brain in ''Cyberia'' shares a common thread with the collective shared unconscious in ''Lain''
* '''Earth Coincidence Control Office''' by John C. Lilly, a higher intelligence controlling the "coincidences" on Earth.
* '''Knights of the Eastern Calculus''': The Knights of the Lambda Calculus are a semi-mythical, semi-serious, real-world group of hackers devoted to the use of the programming language Lisp.
* '''Tachibana Labs''' is a play on words on AppleMacintosh, (a type of Apple) itself being the name of a citrus fruit (the ''citrus tachibana'')
* '''Layer ##''' at the beginning of each episode is said by Apple's ''Whisper'' voice in Mac OS text-to-speech software.
* Nezumi, the Knights-wannabe who carries a computer rig and accesses the Wired while he walks matches the description of a ''Gargoyle'' from ''SnowCrash'', as do the MIB agents, who wear the same headgear (complete with laser sight) that Lagos was described as wearing.
* '''Close the World, Open the [=neXt=]'''. Compare [=NeXT=] and [=neXt=]. [=NeXT=] was the high-end computer company founded by Steve Jobs after his ouster from Apple. The Internet as we know it (that is, the hypertext-based World Wide Web) was invented by Tim Berners-Lee on a [=NeXTSTEP=] computer.
* '''to [[color:blue:B]][[color:red:e]] continued''', where [[color:blue:B]][[color:red:e]] uses the same colouring as ''Be OS'' used.
* '''hello (again)''', the text from an Apple advertisement, is used in an omake.
* '''What is Artificial Life?''' from ALIFE VI is quoted in text-form at several places.

* WordOfGod: [[spoiler:Mika actually tried to delve into the wired like Lain, and got "stuck". After that her mind is literally gone and her brainless body is left for the rest of the series.]]

[[AC:Layer 01: WEIRD]]
* '''Think Bule Count One Tow''', an allusion to ''Think Blue, Count Two'', a short story set in Creator/CordwainerSmith's ''Instrumentality of Mankind'' series.
* Lain's old computer is reminiscent of a ''20[[superscript:th]] Anniversary Macintosh''. It runs a '''Communication OS''', denoted by a large capital C as its logo - reminiscent of the ''Commodore'' logo.
* The text seen on the blackboard in the classroom is code, written in the C programming language.
* '''[=NeXT=]''' (an OS) icons appear on Lain's father's computer desktop.

[[AC:Layer 02: GIRLS]]
* '''[[http://theplace.walkerart.org/urban_diary/page1/diarypage1.html Urban Diary]]''' is used as a background during the Accela TV News report.

[[AC:Layer 03: PSYCHE]]

[[AC:Layer 04: RELIGION]]
* Lain's computer rig includes '''[[TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey HAL Power 5000]]''' systems.

[[AC:Layer 05: DISTORTION]]

[[AC:Layer 06: KIDS]]
* Parts of Lain's rig comes from ''[[http://moebius.co.uk Moebius]]'', a real-world software company that would have been quite new to the market when ''SE:Lain'' was released.
* Actually the URL of the brand in the equipment is ''[[http://mebious.co.uk/ Mebious]]''. Which contains a Lain related mumbo-jumbo page.

[[AC:Layer 07: SOCIETY]]
* During class, Lain programs on her [=HandiNAVI=] in the multi-paradigm programming language [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisp_(programming_language) Lisp]]. This is likely related to the Knights of the Lambda Calculus, because in real life they were a community surrounding the Lisp language.
* Nezumi's perspective is viewed through Apple's ''[=HotSauce=]'' interface, which was created to give users a novel Internet experience. The program code shown in one scene seems to be a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perl perl]] script for generating a web page, also known as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cgi_script CGI Script]].

[[AC:Layer 08: RUMORS]]

[[AC:Layer 09: PROTOCOL]]

[[AC:Layer 10: LOVE]]

[[AC:Layer 11: INFORNOGRAPHY]]
* '''Think different''' was one of Apple's most successful advertisement campaigns.
* Alice apparently uses an '''iMac G3'''.

[[AC:Layer 12: LANDSCAPE]]

[[AC:Layer 13: EGO]]
* Lain's father comments that "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeleine_(cake)#The_Proust_connection madelines]] would be good with tea."

-->With thanks to ''[[http://www.cjas.org/~leng/lain.htm thought experiments Lain]]''

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* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: The original box set was out of print for many years, but a new combined DVD/BluRay box set was released in late 2012.

* '''Think Blue Count One Tow''', an allusion to ''Think Blue, Count Two'', a short story set in Creator/CordwainerSmith's ''Instrumentality of Mankind'' series.

* '''Think Blue Count One Tow''', an allusion to ''Think Blue, Count Two'', a short story set in CordwainerSmith's ''Instrumentality of Mankind'' series.

* '''Lain''' is a pun of the word '''"line"''' as it is pointed out in the series '''Anything can be connected with a line'''.

* '''Lain''' is a pun of word '''line''' as it is pointed out in the series '''Anything can be connected with a line'''.