Anime A show good enough to seduce bored housewives with...
I've watched Lain twice now, and I am still amazed at its mood and power.
The animation is distinctive and beautiful, and the show is worth watching for this alone. Combined with the fantastically judged pacing, this creates a haunting atmosphere that lingers throughout the entire 4 hours of the series. There is a huge focus on the mise-en-scene throughout, with many scenes bathed in a dominant, almost creepy, wash of yellow glow, like that of a late afternoon on a sunny spring day, while scenes set at night use cool blues and greens instead.
The animation is very limited, and often simplistic (though highly effective); but the attention to detail in the still imagery is incredible. Note the patches of colour, usually red or violet, sometimes other colours, visible in the shadows. Then note how Lain's shadow is visibly glowing, with so many patches of colour in it that the black of the shadow itself becomes barely visible. It's subtle details like this which make this programme the triumph it is.
Most of the character focus is given to the titular Lain, with other characters (the possible exception being Alice/Arisu) only given minor attention, and yet the focus given to them is more than enough to tell you all you need to know about them, such is the quality of the show's writing.
I would recommend this show to anyone, although I would warn them that the plot is complicated, disturbing, and often ambiguous. Lain's creators have stated themselves that the meaning of the show is up to personal interpretation, my interpretation being that it has no inherent meaning. It's meaning is art. Nothing more.
The show also does an incredible job (remember it was produced in 1998) of predicting the rise of modern social networking and many of the internet's other aspects, and elements which at first appear random, pointless, and a bit stupid (episode 9) actually do a fantastic job of explaining meme theory.
The show's soundtrack is also another highlight, often consisting of nothing but silence and the sound of character's voices, at other times using white noise (specifically buzzing power cables) to create atmosphere, before suddenly switching to a badass rock and techno soundtrack, which cuts out as unexpectedly as it does in, catching the viewer out to haunting effect.
99%
Anime Yep, it is weird, and not easy to catch
Finished the series a day ago, I am pretty confused about what to write down in my review. Serial Experiments Lain is different to most anime series I have seen. It has a solid plot, but it is so thinly approached in the story that it could barely be refered as such. Instead, the story simply raids the narrative in order to use to to present ideas and conceptions. In this sense, I feel Lain is a purer representation of cyberpunk ideas (not cyberpunk itself) than many other anime of the genre. His entertaining value is another field. This is not the kind of anime you must watch while in search of a conventional entertaining - it can easily enthrall like any conventional anime, as I myself was ferociously hooked in for the first part of the series, but it will noy make you enjoy by the resolution of a plot or the skilled handling of events. Instead, Lain is almost like a song or even a sung poem: a work about philosophical and scientific themes presented in an artistic and not necessarily sensical way. In other words, this series is to conventional anime what Lain Iwakura is to the rest of humans.
Anime Pretty overrated, quite frankly.
The beginning looks very detached from the rest of the series (especially that special drug ‘Accela’); and, generally, most of the series contained too many additions to the plot that could have easily been done away with and would not be missed. It wasn’t quite as mind-screwy as people said it would be; in fact, it was mostly straight-forward if you bothered to pay attention to the dialogue and the Freeze Frame Bonus texts. Still, it was a pretty good watch (especially if one skipped the opening and ending sequences), with excellent æsthetics that fit the series perfectly.
83%
Anime Good visuals, M.A.A.D. writing
DISCLAIMER The views and events expressed on this anime are totally screwed and are not necessarily the views of anyone. However, the events and suggestions that appear in this series are NOT to be taken lightly. Chiaki Konaka is not responsible for your actions: upon -legally- downloading the episodes you have agreed NOT to try this at home.
So, I recently concluded all of my school obligations, and I decided to celebrate in the only way I know: by watching an old school anime and drinking ice tea. Yeah I do have regrets.
So how can I not talk about "Serial Experiments Lain", the first noticeable series written by the visionary Chiaki Konaka, who would have gone forward to become the main creative vision behind "Digimon Tamers". The world is weird.
So, "Serial Experiments Lain" itself is what happens when a PSA from the 90s on the dangers of the internet gets taken too far. The main focus of the story is really loose, not because the story itself is all that complex, but because it's presented in a really weird way: informations get voluntarily omitted in order to confuse the viewer, and with the dark visuals and atmospheres, it's pretty much clear that they wanted to take the series down on the "tv series as art" path. Does it work?
Well, I would say that, writing wise, it's a bit of a mess. There are some clearly imaginative things here, but the characters feel surprisingly under-cooked and really minimally structured. In this series, Konaka's approach is really close to old art movies and modern horror flicks - masks more than characters, not really developing anyone behind the eyes, and really surface-like characterizations for the sake of message. It's not an approach I love, but I feel like I can tolerate it in the previously mentioned genres because those are made for movies: in a thirteen episodes series it tends to outstay its welcome.
This series shines on the technical side, however. For starters, the style is really good: technological, lenient on the cyber-punk-ian side of the sci-fi spectrum, while remaining cold looking and dark in the visuals, with a good touch of familiarity to the setting to increase the tension and the mystery. The soundtrack is also really good, with creepy ambient and electronic jams, sealed all by a great opening theme.
I'm sorry for not being able to discuss this series in more detail, but it's really hard not to do any spoiler here... so let's say that I appreciated the pacing and the story structure, while thinking that the ending and plot-twists were boring and cliché. The themes... they were there, I guess.
So... I guess it's a 7/10, as in "not for me, but maybe somebody else will appreciate it".
I'm not done with Konaka, though. There's still a certain third series of a franchise left to talk about...