Line #6 Fridge/SerialExperimentsLain


1	* A slightly meta-ish FridgeHorror realisation - Lain is not explicitly set in any time period, and has only became dated as TechnologyMarchesOn in the real world. The only series marker of time is 'Present day, present time', which implies that the events of the show are not constrained to past, present, or future - it is always 'present day, present time' as long as humanity is relying on computers and the internet.
2	* When I was watching Anime/SerialExperimentsLain I thought that the only reason that [[spoiler: Lain and Eiri could rewrite reality]] was only to up the MindScrew factor or because [[AssPull the writers couldn't come up with a good solution to a problem.]] But then I realized that [[spoiler: Eiri's Wired persona]] was named Deus. He told [[spoiler: Lain that they are both gods in the Wired,]] ergo, they are both literal DeusExMachina's.--chloeraven
3	** Ooh! The "literal"-ness of that suddenly makes a whole lot of sense of the [[spoiler: "Who made you God?" / "You mean there already was a God to begin with?"]] exchange. [[spoiler: Eiri's]] power comes from [[spoiler: the amalgamation of his personality with]] [[DeusEstMachina the Deus Est Machina Trope itself!]]. Very meta.
4	* At first it may seem a little strange that Lain, a middle school student with no apparent training or experience in computer programming can become the best computer hacker in the world in a couple of weeks, at most. [[{{Foreshadowing}} That's kind of the point]].
5	* A meta-example: An article in a 1999/2000 issue of ''Animerica'' indicated (roughly) that writer Chiaki J. Konaka's goal was to create a series that wouldn't be received the same way outside of Japan that it was within it. Hindsight now tells us he failed in that regard-- most everyone goes "well, what the hell was ''that'' all about?!". That's not the FridgeLogic. What is, however, is the fact that he wanted to ''divide people's opinions'' about a series revolving around the concept of ''everyone being, on some subconscious level, connected''. Self-defeating, don't you think?
6	** Well, perhaps he succeeded ''partially''. While everyone may still get the concept, there will always be someone who has a different opinion, or interpretation on it. And because of the nature of the show, chances are no one is going to be completely divided up over it and is open to any interpretation as long as it makes sense to them.
7	** FridgeBrilliance: Maybe everyone being connected is why he failed.
8	* Early in the series Lain appears to be the sort of befuddled person who is frequently described in the American vernacular as "isn't all there". After a while it becomes apparent that "isn't all there" is the literal truth -- Large parts of her are in the wired.
9	** At one point, Lain has smoke emit from her fingers and fill the classroom. It is in fact a fairly typical schizophrenic hallucination to perceive yourself emitting ectoplasm from your body. This, along with many other incidents in the early episodes are foreshadowing to the assumption that Lain is mentally unstable.
10	* That moment when you realize [[spoiler:Lain's parents expected (hoped? planned?) Lain would be shot and killed at Cyberia]] - they were so sure the "playing house" charade was now over, that they moved out in advance of... oh, crap, she's fine?! After that, Lain's mother always has this "why are you still alive" look on her face when dealing with Lain...
11	* Wait, are Karl and JJ the same person? Is Mika also an AI housed in a clone? Did Taro just slip Lain an Accela during that kiss? How many different people have hacked into Lain and used her to their own ends? Did Lain just murder all the Knights, and if so, ''which'' Lain did it? Did I actually understand ''any'' of this?
12	** No, Karl works for Tashibana Labs, JJ works for Cyberia ergo the Knights, they are opposed. No, Mika is a normal human, her consciousness got separated from her body, also Lain is not an AI on a clone, she's [[spoiler: humanity's collective unconscious, she can simply exist in reality because reality, the wired, and the unconscious are merging]]. I'm not sure they hack into Lain, there's shy Lain, assertive Lain aka Lain's internet personality, and smug Lain who might just be Eiri looking like Lain or a construct build by the Knights who just looks like Lain, I'm not sure. The Knights are killed by either Tashibana labs or commit suicide after Lain doxxes them, this is done by the real Lain because they are trying to manipulate her.
13	* In a bit of FridgeLogic, what exactly is Mika doing there? I mean, once you find out that [[spoiler: Lain's family is fake]], that begets the question of why they apparently went out of their way to include an apparently normal teenager, especially since, by most appearances, she wasn't in on it.
14	** Perhaps to help maintain TheMasquerade and keep the family out of suspicion?
15	* FridgeBrilliance: Near the end of Episode 1, the train that Lain is riding to school on is stopped due to an "accident" that's implied to be somebody committing suicide by jumping in front of the train. The blood rains down in front of Lain before she's engulfed with light. Later on, it's revealed that Masami Eiri likely [[spoiler:killed himself by jumping onto a set of train tracks, and given how stable Lain's world is, it's not impossible that she was just created...]]

Context Fridge / SerialExperimentsLain