someone explain SE : LAIN

bum · Post by **bum** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 2:51 am

i just finished watching it about an hour ago, for the third time over, its one fucked anime. i mean, i kinda get a bit of it, but lain makes eva look as complex as pokemon. so, can anyone answer that one question, wtf ?

Revenance · Post by **Revenance** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 5:55 am

SPOILER LOADED!!

*cracks his knuckles*

Alright Serial Experiments Lain is about who else but Lain. Who is she? Why is she the way she is? How does she do all those nifty things?

Alright in the first few episodes it is explained by Lains dead friend that if you die you can insert your mind into the wired. For those of you who dont quite understand what the wired is its the internet. So for the next few episodes you have Lain getting into computer which after this explanation you will laugh at since she is already in the computer... Not laughing... Well you will be. In the episode where the young man kills himself you get your first glance at "wired lain". Just view her as badass Lain for right now. the young man dies because of the things Wired lain says to him. Reality is basically unimportant is the jist of what she said. Soon you start learning about the KNIGHTS. This is a group that is trying to take control of the wired. Its members are very influential people in the wired but not necassarily in real life. Now then about now you start seeing men in business suits spying on Lain. I wonder who they could be spying on Lain for? Soon hereafter, Lain's sister's mind gets fucked up by the KNIGHTS. Bad move for them. There is a random part in the series where it seems like people just get killed for no reason and dissapear. Once is a mother, another is some fat guy in a dirty apartment, another is a successful businessman. These guys are the KNIGHTS and Lain basically finds out who they are and sends them to government officials who seem to neutralize the KNIGHTS. There seems to be one exception. The boy that Lain talks with about alot of the computer things early on. He was training to be in KNIGHTS and i guess he was contacted but was never officially invited to join the group. About this time in the series Lain has a special chip and her room is nothing but wires and coolant systems. No more teddy bear shi'at. Lain sees a man with red stripes under his eyes. This is supposed to be the father of the wired. The god if you will. Him and Lain have a small standoff then he dissapears. At this point Wired Lain's behavior is most apparent. The rest of the series focuses on Lain better understanding the wired (another funny aspect) and herself in the wired. Towards the end its increasingly apparent that Lain herself exists in two places at once and eventually the personalities merge to form wired lain version 2.0 I guess you might say. The wired and reality also seem to merge and Lain seems to be the most powerful entity in existance. Now lets go to the opening of each episode so I dont lose anyone. A voice says: Present day, present time then laughs. For those of you who dont understand this and while other previous aspects of this overview let me explain it to you. In the end of SE: Lain, she discovers that the world would have been better off without her so she basically resets the world to the point where she doesnt exist. That way nothing bad happens with her sister, Lain doesnt have to feel out of place, and thier isnt anything bad going on with Alice (her friend at school who was having sexual relations with the teacher). Its not really the present time cuz Lain reset the world. Thats why is kind of funny. Its also funny that Lain is like god with the wired and computers when she is in fact better than anyone at any given time. I hope I have explained things well. If i havnt feel free to explain it yourselves. Im a bit sketchy minded on the last 4 episodes. Well I think I got most of it down.

Declan_Vee · Post by **Declan_Vee** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 6:59 am

You see that's where you've gone wrong.

Lain is best enjoyed if you just take it on face-value. In other words... You'll get it if you don't try to.

Zarxrax · Post by **Zarxrax** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 10:20 am

I have read somewhere that one of the themes throughout the series is how western values are corrupting Japan. I can't find the source any longer but it was a good read.

Zarxrax · Post by **Zarxrax** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 10:54 am

I've been thinking about Lain some now, since you mentioned it, and arrived at a thought that I've never really heard anyone else mention before. I think the show sort of shows how people can become a totallt different person when they are on the internet than they are in real life, and what effects does that 2nd personallity have on your real personality? Also, the actions that you take on the internet are still effecting real people on the other end. I think maybe Lain had effected too many people in a bad way because of her internet persona, and in the end she made it so that she never existed on the internet at all.

bum · Post by **bum** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 8:35 pm

in art class a few weeks ago we got a bit indeath about the subconsios, the ego and super ego, and stuff like that. theys things are mentioned in lain a few times, esspecialy towards the end of the series. for me lain has allways bein about how the internet has affected human interaction with the world and with itself. lain is just one of thoughs things thats open to alot of interpretation

IamSano · Post by **IamSano** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 8:40 pm

I haven't seen that show although I am planning to. Maybe I'll refer to this when I'm done watching it....

Kalium · Post by **Kalium** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 8:49 pm

Zarxrax wrote:I've been thinking about Lain some now, since you mentioned it, and arrived at a thought that I've never really heard anyone else mention before. I think the show sort of shows how people can become a totallt different person when they are on the internet than they are in real life, and what effects does that 2nd personallity have on your real personality? Also, the actions that you take on the internet are still effecting real people on the other end. I think maybe Lain had effected too many people in a bad way because of her internet persona, and in the end she made it so that she never existed on the internet at all.

This makes sense. For some, the internet is a catharsis, a place to release tension and anger. These tend to be the trolls/flamers. To other, the Internet is, well, home. For these few, the 'net is where they belong. Meatspace ceases to have much meaning. Fortunately, I think, most of the world falls somewhere in between these two extremes. Not that net users can be catagorized on such a simple scale effectively (at least three axes would be needed). But, here, I'd think that we tend toward those that live on the net.

Or maybe that's just me.

Revenance · Post by **Revenance** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 6:02 pm

For me SE Lain is more than just an anime stricken with deep twisted meaning its the best god damned drinking game ever. Think about it, take a drink every time somone dies. Take a drink everytime someone who is dead speaks to Lain. There are so many things u could do. this will either: A) get u drunk fast while at the same time raising resistance or B) turn into a long night or twisted thoughts by drinking men and women.

bum · Post by **bum** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 7:26 pm

find a no-anime fan freind. get them drunk then make them watch end of eva. fun