History YMMV / SerialExperimentsLain

* SpecialEffectFailure: Nezumi's goggles show him the world as what is quite clearly just processed live-action footage shot on the streets of Tokyo. This is fine, except for later on when the [[spoiler:Knights come to kill him for meddling in their business]]. They're clearly just still images, perhaps even concept art of the characters.

** Lain seems to have greatly inspired Yuno Gasai of ''Manga/FutureDiary''. Both girls [[spoiler:had neglectful parents that shaped their worldviews, clinging onto the first person to show them genuine kindness and undergo extreme SanitySlippage after losing their parents and being faced with the potential of becoming a god. Both give up their powers and reset time in order for the sake of the person they care about most.]] The series share some themes as well, both including [[spoiler:A mid-series ArtificialHuman twist]], humans becoming gods, surveillance via advanced technology, predicting the future, and an ending where the protagonist [[spoiler:sits alone despairing in total darkness but are then saved by a person close to them cracking open the void.]]

** Lain seems to have greatly inspired Yuno Gasai of ''Manga/FutureDiary''. Both girls [[spoiler:had neglectful parents that shaped their worldviews, clinging onto the first person to show them genuine kindness and undergo extreme SanitySlippage after losing their parents and being faced with the potential of becoming a god. Both give up their powers and reset time in order for the sake of the person they care about most.]] The series share some themes as well, both including [[spoiler:A mid-series ArtificialHuman twist]], humans becoming gods, and an ending where the protagonist [[spoiler:sits alone despairing in total darkness but are then saved by a person close to them cracking open the void.]]

** Lain seems to have greatly inspired Yuno Gasai of ''Anime/FutureDiary''. Both girls [[spoiler:had neglectful parents that shaped their worldviews, clinging onto the first person to show them genuine kindness and undergo extreme SanitySlippage after losing their parents and being faced with the potential of becoming a god. Both give up their powers and reset time in order for the sake of the person they care about most.]] The series share some themes as well, both including [[spoiler:A mid-series ArtificialHuman twist]], humans becoming gods, and an ending where the protagonist [[spoiler:sits alone despairing in total darkness but are then saved by a person close to them cracking open the void.]]

** ''Lain'' itself became relatively dominate among anime "doomers", mainly due to it's depressive/somber vibe. It does help that Lain is a {{Moe}}, albeit creepy of course.

* TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: So much so, that even ''the creators'' couldn't agree on what ''Lain'' is supposed to be about.

* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: Just for starters, it's a severe MindScrew, there are references to Timothy Leary, it has {{Fantastic Drug}}s...

** The story of a simple human who find themselves learning something about reality that it's something much more malleable than they originally thought, learning about the secret word that she more learns and understands to the point she starts changing the world around them and eventually ascend to godhood thanks to their new power? It's basically the closest thing we'll ever have of of a "TabletopGame/MageTheAscension" anime adaptation and more specifically, an Virtual Adepts chronicle from fledgling mage to full on Sphere Mastery.

* SpiritualAdaptation: The cyberpunk aesthetics, the idea of humans becoming gods, all of these and more that are presented in ''Lain'' make for a great ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' anime.

** Let's all love Lain. [[labelnote:Explanation]]A phrase that, due to how often it's repeated in the series, has naturally been repeated by fans as well.[[/labelnote]]

** I'm ballin'. I'm faded. [labelnote:Explanation]]A humorous mishearing of a line from the anime's opening theme: "I'm falling. I'm fading." Often accompanied by edited images of Lain spinning a basketball and sporting a 'waves' haircut.[[/labelnote]]

** I'm ballin'. I'm faded. [labelnote:Explanation]]A humorous mishearing of a line from the anime's opening theme: "I'm falling. I'm fading." Often accompanied by edited images of Lain spinning a basketball and sporting a 'waves' haircut.

*** And you don't seem to understand[[labelnote:Explanation]]The first line of the anime's opening theme; often applied to viewers confused by the MindScrew story.[[/labelnote]]

** The themes mentioned above under {{Anvilicious}} became sadly ironic in 2021, when head writer Chiaki Konaka revealed he'd become terminally online himself, by writing political buzzwords like "cancel culture" into a Digimon stage play and taking them seriously. (He did apologise after it caused controversy.) Apparently being able to recognise a bad thing ahead of time is no protection against being swept up in it yourself.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Certain ideas about the users of the Wired are eerily similar to the users of a very popular real-life imageboard.

* HarsherInHindsight: The themes mentioned above under {{Anvilicious}} became sadly ironic in 2021, when head writer Chiaki Konaka revealed he'd become terminally online himself, by writing political buzzwords like "cancel culture" into a Digimon stage play and taking them seriously. (He did apologise after it caused controversy.) Apparently being able to recognise a bad thing ahead of time is no protection against being swept up in it yourself.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:

* DiagnosedByTheAudience: Lain has a crippling social ineptitude, stunted emotional reactions, inability to understand interpersonal relationships, extreme adherence to unreasonable habits, obsessive tendencies, and massive talent for mathematics and computers. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking She also talks in a weird staccato.]] [[spoiler:Except in the Wired.]] Many of these traits are common in people on the autism spectrum. It's also notable that a lot of the things that happen to Lain are evocative of the symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia.

* DiagnosedByTheAudience: Lain has a crippling social ineptitude, stunted emotional reactions, inability to understand interpersonal relationships, extreme adherence to unreasonable habits, obsessive tendencies, and massive talent for mathematics and computers. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking She also talks in a weird staccato.]] [[spoiler:Except in the Wired.]] It's notable that a lot of the things that happen to Lain are evocative of the symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia.