Anime Review: Serial Experiments Lain

Review Serial Experiments Lain Written by Warpshadow Rating very good/ excellent

An excellent blend of philosophic inquiry and artistic inventiveness Serial experiments Lain is an intriguing show to watch on more than one level. If you have trouble trying to figure out what the moral of the story is, let me give you a clue, Even though it looks like it not everything in the show is important.

It all starts when a girl commits suicide and then Lain Iwakura an email. It says that she is still alive inside the wired (something sort of like the Internet). Lain doesn't know that much about technology but this event spurs her on to learn more. What she finds out is that the wired is more than a simple Internet but a whole other world, maybe it is the real world. Also there is a person of great power and fame on the Wired and it is Lain, despite the fact that she is completely unaware of the actions this supposed Lain is doing.

This show is a head trip and then some. The plot which has as many layers as an onion, and perhaps is very convoluted but trying to make sense of it can be a lot of fun. This is further enhanced by the visuals which range from the spectacular sites in the wired to shadows that seem to glow with a bizarre light. In all honesty the atmosphere of alienation despite the seeming normality of the local is the best part of it all. Whether you understand it or not this is a classic piece of animation and should be seen by anyone who claims themselves to be a serious anime fan.