History Anime / SerialExperimentsLain

* [[spoiler:ResetButtonEnding]]: ''Lain'' features a rare variation which gives the series a sense of closure; the fact that [[spoiler:it wasn't a complete reset]] definitely helps in that regard.
* [[spoiler:WholePlotReference: To Comicbook/Lucifer. A young girl find out that she was [[ArtificialHuman designed]] to be the new God in a [[ViewersAreGeniuses schizophilosophically intense]] storyline that has the viewers questioning the nature of ''everything''. Okay, so it's Lucifer slid down to the other end of TheSlidingScaleOfMagicVersusTechnology and halfway down SlidingScaleOfRealisticVersusFantastic, but the big arcs are the same, from the discovery of the otherworldly to the young-girl-God [[RetGon Retconning]] herself out of existence to fix things. Well, that and the RomanticTwoGirlFriendship.]]

The setting for ''Lain'' is a place that appears to be contemporary Japan -- albeit [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture with a few telling differences]]. The story [[StartsWithASuicide begins with apparently-normal schoolgirl Chisa Yomoda throwing herself off a building without warning]]. Several days after her suicide, Chisa's friends receive emails purporting to be from Chisa herself. The emails claim that she has not died, but simply abandoned her body for an existence within "[[{{Cyberspace}} The Wired]]", a pervasive computer network very much like the Internet as first envisioned by WilliamGibson (with some touches of ''Film/TheMatrix'').

The setting for ''Lain'' is a place that appears to be contemporary Japan -- albeit [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture with a few telling differences]]. The story [[StartsWithASuicide begins with apparently-normal schoolgirl Chisa Yomoda throwing herself off a building without warning]]. Several days after her suicide, Chisa's friends receive emails purporting to be from Chisa herself. The emails claim that she has not died, but simply abandoned her body for an existence within "[[{{Cyberspace}} The Wired]]", a pervasive computer network very much like the Internet as first envisioned by WilliamGibson (with some touches of ''TheMatrix'').

* AnimeThemeSong: "Duvet" by British band Boa. Haunting and will remind you of GunslingerGirl.

* ArcWords:
** ''Everything is Connected''

* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler: Eiri's]] goal, [[spoiler: Lain's]] eventual solution.

* EveryoneOwnsAMac: The Tachibana corporation is loosely based on Apple, which explains all the references to [=NeXT=]. (Note that the tachibana is a type of fruit native to Japan.) This is interesting today when you think about how prevalent Apple is, but Apple's own history is practically shown in this series, [[ItMakesSenseInContext if you can understand it]]. Check the [[{{Trivia/SerialExperimentsLain}} Trivia page]] [[ViewersAreGeniuses for more insightful fun]].

* EvilutionaryBiologist: He is not a biologist, but [[spoiler: Eiri's]] motivation for his plan was to [[EvolutionaryLevels help humanity evolve further.]]

* HeroicBSOD: [[spoiler:Mika, after the 5th episode]]. Also [[spoiler: Alice Her]] HeroicBSOD is what inspired Lain to [[spoiler: RetCon herself out of existence.]]

** She also contributed her body parts to the live action "Devices" segment at the end of each show.

* NoSocialSkills: When we first meet Lain she has a wide-eyed befuddlement when faced with a social situation, to the point where she is almost mute. Her friends bubbly interchanges are juxtaposed with an odd -- troubling gap where a response should be. She develops some skills as the series progresses: it is uphill work and Lain is never a normal girl.

* RevealShot: There are several shots where Lain or her friends have a ReactionShot followed by a RevealShot -- the camera moves out to show the horror they just saw.

* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: Lain does this to Eiri.
* TheTeamWannabe: The Knights fanboy who wanders around the streets wearing a virtual reality headset and begging them to let him join their group.

An erudite, confusing and chilling anime from the late 1990s, '''''Serial Experiments Lain''''' is creepy cool {{seinen}} {{cyberpunk}}, as well as a notable MindScrew in the genre. {{Shonen}} has ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'', {{shojo}} has ''RevolutionaryGirlUtena'', and seinen has ''Lain''. The show takes an information-rich dive deep into the nature of reality and truth, and in the process leads the viewer to come to his or her own conclusions about the meaning of the show, the meaning of reality, and even what actually happens in both.

* FictionalVideogame: [=PHANTOMa=]. It looks kind of like ''EyeOfTheBeholder'', but with unusually invasive multiplayer elements.

* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: Lain's attitude toward Alice involves a romantic tint. It is open to interpretation how serious it is and whether Alice returns it.

* [[spoiler:ResetButtonEnding]]: ''Lain'' features a rare variation which gives the series a sense of closure; the fact that [[spoiler:it wasn't a complete reset]] definitely helps in that regard.

* HollywoodScribbling: Lain's doodles in her notebook are often just spirals and other random shapes.

* [[spoiler:ResetButtonEnding]]: ''Lain'' features a rare variation which gives the series a sense of closure; the fact that [[spoiler:it wasn't a complete reset]] definitely helps in that regard.

* ExtremeGraphicalRepresentation: The [=NAVIs'=] user interface.

* BlackEyesOfEvil: See CreepyChild, {{MIB}}.

* GrandInquisitorScene: When the {{MIB}} take Lain to the Tachibana office in Layer 07. Eventually [[ShutUpHannibal she gets fed up with their interrogation]] and decides to leave, and they don't stop her.

** In the next episode, the {{MIB}} have laser sights on their high-tech eyepieces. It's never explained what function the laser sights serve, other than tipping people off that they're being watched and generally creeping them out.

* {{MIB}}: Coupled with ThoseTwoGuys.

* ParkingGarage: [[spoiler: Where the {{MIB}} meet their [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness ultimate fate.]]]]
* PermaStubble: The {{MIB}}; it [[BeardOfEvil makes them look dangerous]] and makes it obvious that something is very, very wrong.

* EveryoneOwnsAMac: The Tachibana corporation is loosely based on Apple, which explains all the references to [=NeXT=]. (Note that the tachibana is a type of fruit native to Japan.) This is interesting today when you think about how prevalent Apple is, but Apple's own history is practically shown in this series, [[ItMakesSenseInContext if you can understand it]]. Check the [[{{Trivia/SerialExperimentLain}} Trivia page]] [[ViewersAreGeniuses for more insightful fun]].

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

* RetGone: [[spoiler:The series ends with Lain doing this ''to herself''. [[OrIsIt Mostly]].]]

* If you are a computer techie who knows way too much about esoteric operating systems, and the history of computer development...

* EveryoneOwnsAMac: The Tachibana corporation is loosely based on Apple, which explains all the references to [=NeXT=]. (Note that the tachibana is a type of fruit native to Japan.)

* EpicRocking: First half of episode 11 is a recap with awesome music.

* FictionalVideogame: [=PHANTOMa=].

* FreakyFridayFlip: [[MindScrew Maybe]]. Episode 10 opens with a sequence where, for lack of a better phrase, [[spoiler:Lain and Masami appear to have switched lines. Muddling the issue is the fact that despite the actual dialogue, however, their body language and delivery match what they ''should'' be saying--i.e., Masami triumphantly questions Lain's godlike nature while Lain demurely proclaims her supreme power]].
* FreeRangeChildren: Despite being in the eight grade, nobody really seems to care what Lain and her classmates get up to at night, [[AdultsAreUseless including her own parents.]]

* GainaxEnding

* RetGone: [[spoiler:The series ends with Lain doing this ''to herself''.]]

* {{Transhuman}}: [[spoiler: By the end of the series, pretty much everybody.]]

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: Mixed with PresentDay (Present Time!). The setting is presented to be strikingly real, implying it all might be happening right now, but there are apparent cyberpunk-style differences.

* AnimeAnatomy

* AmbiguousDisorder: Lain, what with her 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.

* EvilutionaryBiologist: He is not a biologist, but [[spoiler: Eiri's]] motivation for [[spoiler: his]] plan was to help humanity evolve further.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Chisa is practically forgotten after the first few episodes, only getting a basically inconsequential mention in episode 10. Also, the fate of [[spoiler:Mika and Lain's fake parents]] is not revealed.
** Well, [[spoiler:after Lain hits the ResetButton, we see a scene where all three of them formed an actual family, at Lain's behest one would imagine.]]

* [[spoiler:PhysicalGod: Lain is effectively a god that physically exists; a more straight example would be the guy that commited suicide to become a god.]]

* HackerCave: Lain turns her room into one over time, completely with a WallOfMonitors.

* CreepyChild: Goes to town with this trope.

* HackerCave: Lain turns her room into one.

* PermaStubble: The {{MIB}}; it makes them look dangerous and makes it obvious that something is very, very wrong.

* PresentDay: [[strike:Present Time!]] The series is said to take place around 1999.

* SubwaysSuck: For Lain especially.

* WhereDoesSheGetAllTheseWonderfulToys: Lain's computer setup. It's made vaguely plausible in that her father seems to work as a computer engineer of some sort, but by Layer 4 she has entire racks of servers and several monitors in her bedroom.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Lain. What with her 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.

* ScaryShinyGlasses: Lain's dad has them at times.

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture mixed with PresentDay (Present Time!): The setting is presented to be strikingly real, implying it all might be happening right now, but there are apparent cyberpunk-style differences.

* FiveRoundsRapid: When confronted with the CreepyChild in [=PHANTOMa=], the player shoots her several times with a FingerPistol. It's completely ineffective.

* AmbiguousDisorder: What with her 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.

* MindScrew: The best way to describe Serial Experiments Lain is to throw paranoid schizophrenia and depression in a blender, along with a heavy dose of philosophy. After blending on the "puree" setting, add a dash of [[ConspiracyTheorist conspiracy theories]] and NightmareFuel, to taste.

* NoSocialSkills: When we first meet Lain she has a wide-eyed befuddlement when faced with a social situation, to the point where she is almost mute. Her friends bubbly interchanges are juxtaposed with an odd -- troubling gap where a response should be. She develops some skills as the series progresses: it is uphill work and Lain is never the normal girl.

* SchoolUniformsAreTheNewBlack: Lain can be seen wearing her uniform hours after she's gotten home from school.

* EmpathicEnvironment: Including bleak grey skies, crows, and what looks like blood everywhere.

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Episodes are called a layer and a 2 digit number, for example the first episode is "layer 01". Each episode title is a single word of English.

* InsideAComputerSystem: Pretty much the entire soul and fiber of the story!

** In the same anime, the {{MIB}} have laser sights on their high-tech eyepieces. It's never explained what function the laser sights serve, other than tipping people off that they're being watched and generally creeping them out.

* ScaryShinyGlasses: Lain's dad.

The setting for ''Lain'' is a place that appears to be contemporary Japan -- albeit [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture with a few telling differences]]. The story [[StartsWithASuicide begins with apparently-normal schoolgirl Chisa Yomoda throwing herself off a building without warning]]. Several days after her suicide, Chisa's friends receive emails purporting to be from Chisa herself. The emails claim that she has not died, but simply abandoned her body for an existence within "The Wired", a pervasive computer network very much like the Internet as first envisioned by WilliamGibson (with some touches of ''TheMatrix'').

''Lain'''s creators are also quite well-read, as they draw upon dozens (if not hundreds) of real-world sources for what seem to be the most outre concepts in the story:

An erudite, confusing and chilling anime from the late 1990s, ''Lain'' is creepy cool {{seinen}} {{cyberpunk}}. A notable MindScrew in the genre: {{shonen}} has ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'', {{shojo}} has ''RevolutionaryGirlUtena'', and seinen has ''Serial Experiments Lain''. It takes an information-rich dive deep into the nature of reality and truth, and in the process leads the viewer to come to his or her own conclusions about the meaning of the show, the meaning of reality, and even what actually happens in both.

The setting is a place that seems to be contemporary Japan, [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture with a few telling differences]]. The story StartsWithASuicide: an apparently normal schoolgirl named Chisa Yomoda suddenly throws herself off a building. Several days later her friends receive emails purporting to be from the dead girl. The emails claim that she has not died, but simply abandoned her body for an existence within "The Wired". The Wired is a pervasive computer network very much like the Internet as first envisioned by WilliamGibson, with some touches of ''TheMatrix''.

Enter Chisa's classmate Lain Iwakura, a shy, reclusive teenage girl who looks younger than her actual age. With [[NoSocialSkills nary a social skill]] and having absolutely nothing to do with computers, she keeps a resolutely reclusive attitude, barely even interacting with her not-really-friends, her best friend Alice/[[SpellMyNameWithAnS Arisu]], her cold, quiet parents, or her indifferent sister Mika. One day, however, she receives something that will change everything in the whole world: one of the e-mails from Chisa Yomoda.

Everybody thinks it is just a really mean prank, but Lain is curious about the meaning of the message. When her tech-obsessed father happily supplies her a brand-new top-of-the-line "navi" (personal computer), she begins searching the Wired to find out more. What she discovers undermines her family, her sense of self, and perhaps even the fundamental fabric of reality. Soon, Lain is forced to deal with a power she is in no way ready to control.

''SerialExperimentsLain'' is a unique creation. Its visual style is unlike any other animated work, Western or Eastern, and constantly evolves through the course of the series, being a metaphoric device in and of itself. Much of the plot development is [[JigsawPuzzlePlot orthogonal]] to the viewer, sometimes seen but often simply implied, requiring the viewer to think about and draw his/her own conclusions about what is happening. A fair amount of information is obscured or distorted, but this simply reflects what is happening within the series itself; the story challenges the viewer to impose his or her own interpretation on even the most self-evident aspects of the show.

In addition, ''Lain'''s creators are quite well-read and draw upon dozens if not hundreds of real-world sources for what seem to be the most outre concepts in the story:
* If Vannevar Bush, W.O. Schumann, Douglas Rushkoff, John C. Lilly, Ted Nelson or Nikola Tesla mean anything to you
* If "Majestic-12", "Roswell", or the Knights of the Lambda Calculus rings a bell
* If you would spot literary references ranging from LewisCarroll to Marcel Proust to Cordwainer Smith
* If you are a computer techie who knows way too much about esoteric operating systems, and the history of computer development
Then you will enjoy digging through the densely packed web of information that makes up the conceptual foundation for ''SerialExperimentsLain''. It's not necessary to do so to enjoy the anime, but it enhances the experience greatly. If you'd like to understand some better, or add some examples, visit [[{{Trivia/SerialExperimentsLain}} the Trivia page.]]

It was originally conceived as a multimedia project, but the other two parts are not nearly as widely known as the {{anime}}. One is a short {{manga}} story included with an art book, entitled ''The Nightmare of Fabrication''. It touches on similar themes, albeit without all the heavy references, and serves as an awkward sort of "bridge" between the anime and the third part of the project by including characters exclusive to each. The third part is a game for the {{Playstation}}. Calling it a "game" may be a bit of a stretch, however; instead of actual gameplay, it acts more as an interface to access parts of Lain's story -- which runs in a different direction to the one presented in the anime. It presents a multimedia experience including video, diary excerpts, and notes from Lain's therapist.

* [[spoiler:ArtificialHuman: Lain is a genetically engineered "homunculus." Or she could be a computer program, or an alien. The series is not clear.]]
* [[spoiler:PhysicalGod: Lain is effectively a God that physically exists, a more straight example would be the guy that commited suicide to become a god.]]
* [[spoiler:ResetButtonEnding]]: A rare variation in which it gives the series a sense of closure. Of course, the fact that [[spoiler:it wasn't a complete reset]] definitely helps...
----

** The opening scene, because it is set in a relatively recognisable modern-day setting, also links back to the infamous opening line that we hear before the intro: "''Present day...heh...present time! Hahahahahahaha...!''"

''SerialExperimentsLain'' is a unique creation. Its visual style is unlike any other animated work, Western or Eastern, and constantly evolves through the course of the series, being a metaphoric device in and of itself. Much of the plot development is [[JigsawPuzzlePlot orthogonal]] to the viewer, sometimes seen but often simply implied, requiring the viewer to think about and draw his/her own conclusions about what is happening. A fair amount of information is obscured or distorted, but this simply reflects what is happening within the series itself; the story challenges the viewer to impose his own interpretation on even the most self-evident aspects of the show.