Serial Experiments Lain

>>146274663
I look at it from two points of view.

#1: We need to be aware of who we are online vs who we are offline. Lain's personality in the wired was nearly a complete 180 from her personality offline. She did some pretty mean and messed up stuff online, and then had to deal with the consequences offline. It's both a warning that things can come back and bite you, and that you should be aware of what kind of persona you cultivate online, and how other people perceive you.

#2: Connectivity online is increasing at an exponential rate. Nowadays, nearly everyone has an internet capable cellphone in their pocket. As more and more people spend more and more time online, what is happening to society? Are we all checking out to live a blissful virtual life? Are we becoming too accustomed to the digital universe (with the ability to erase and undo things we don't like instantly) at the expense of our ability to deal with real life?

>>146274986
Wait, so were the two Lains literally the same person? I thought the Lain of the Wired was supposed to be the true Lain and that the Lain of the real world is a doppleganger of her. Also, how did she reach God status?

File: 1471414647419.gif (252KB, 838x650px) Image search: [Google]

252KB, 838x650px

no matter where you are we are all connected

Who were the Knights? who are the men in black? What is psi? What was the whole experiment with the kids? Who is John C. Lilly?

>>146275041
>so were the two Lains literally the same person
Kinda, and kinda no. The "real" lain is just a computer code. She was born online. At some point she was manifested a physical body and sent to live with a foster family. However, for a while she believes that she is real, which is where my two points come from. The fact that she's not a real person is separate from the messages of the show (at least in my opinion).

>Also, how did she reach God status?
She was always god, it just didn't become apparent all at once. Because she never really bothered with the wired until a certain point, she couldn't do anything like she could do by the end of the show. As she learns more about herself and what she is, then her powers begin to manifest. Ultimately she performs a hard reset and ends her life in the process. The reset was far back in time long enough to "undo" or prevent certain actions from occurring. In reality, it's unclear if this was her first time doing something like that. She simultaneously prevented her own manifestation in the real world, and kept her own memories intact.

>>146275072
>Who were the Knights?
A group of hackers, led by a man who understood how to break the barrier between the wired and the real world. He inserted a special code which interacted with the Schumann resonances in order to achieve immortality in the wired. He then killed himself since he knew that it was possible to travel freely between the real and the wired.

>who are the men in black?
They worked for the company that the founder of The Knights worked for. They were tasked with hindering Lain and preventing her from breaking the wall between the wired and the real. As I said, the leader of The Knights did it in a special way, but Lain was supposed to make it so anyone could do the same and thus abandon their physcial bodies at will

>>146274663
Lain is ansicheral.

>>146275454
That's not a word.

Arisu best girl

>>146275889
*Alice

It wasn't an essay dumbass.

Lain has sexy legs.

>>146274986
This is exactly it, and I'd like to add that this show was incredibly prophetic when it came to smart phones/web 2.0. Seriously, this is from the 90s.

>>146275889
>>146276250
But what's the difference?

>>146278174
One is a transliteration, one is correct.

What's the deal with Mika's character arc?

>>146278291
If I had to guess, she just straight up went insane learning that her parents were fostering a hologram person from the internet. Also that her parents didn't really love each other, and their entire family life was a lie.

My interpretation, but that is the area of the show that is most ambiguous imo.

>>146278291
I always saw it as her getting partially stuck in the wired, with her body being left as a husk with no personality.

>>146278432
Yeah, this works.

>>146278432
Why do those things happen to her specifically? Is it meant to show what happens when someone fails to merge Wired and Reality?

She also seems to be the only other remnant in the world before Lain's All Reset.

>>146278762
Well it happened just as Lain was getting really into the wired, and she sees Lain on the street acting weird just as it starts, so maybe Lain accidentally did it to her. That's all I can think of for a specific reason.

>>146278762
>Is it meant to show what happens when someone fails to merge Wired and Reality?
This seems likely. Iirc, she's one of the only characters who simply doesn't use the wired, so when she's exposed to it, she just short-circuits.

File: [Kanavid] Serial Experiments Lain - 07 [BD][1080p][AAC].mp4_snapshot_15.17_[2016.06.13_19.51.40].png (2MB, 1520x1080px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 1520x1080px

>>146278762
She was mind-hacked by The Knights to "fulfill the prophecy" and bomb Lain's computer.

bump because this is the longest thread on Lain I've ever seen here.

>>146279832
>tfw Lain will never help you build a rig

>>146278203
She would used the transliteration and write it in katakana in her everyday life like papers and stuff though.

>>146274663
Lain was born when the internet was merged with the noosphere with the new internet protocol.

She's the embodiment of consciousness connected to the internet, and she can make a choice of either remaining who she is (gaia) or becoming one with the technology. She chooses the latte.r

>>146278369
Half of her was stuck in the wired, her body was left behind.

She is a tachibana labs employee. She knows the deal.

How come Lain's always on the computer and doin' computer shit barefoot in her jammies? Wouldn't she get cold? Is it to prevent being electrocuted or something?

>>146281698
You mean the longest thread without someone calling it pretentious?

>>146284620
Gotta be careful with static electricity.
Really.

File: image.jpg (90KB, 1024x768px) Image search: [Google]

90KB, 1024x768px

What was his deal?

>>146274663
Let's all love Lain.

>>146274663
And you dont seem to understand

>>146286101
A shame you seemed an honest man.

>>146286137
And all the fears you hold so dear

>>146286188
Will turn to whisper in your ear

>>146286284
And you know what they say might hurt you

>>146286359
And you know that it means so much

>>146286469
And you don't even feel a thing

File: 1399259866262.png (174KB, 600x480px) Image search: [Google]

174KB, 600x480px

>>146275072
John C. Lilly was a real person who did research on the consciousness. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Lilly
Also check out this site, very good in depth analysis of lain http://www.cjas.org/~leng/lain.htm

File: [Coalgirls]_Serial_Experiments_Lain_09_(1008x720_Blu-Ray_FLAC)_[BB9AB83B].mkv_snapshot_07.00_[2016.08.26_16.27.44].jpg (106KB, 1008x720px) Image search: [Google]

106KB, 1008x720px

>>146274986
To expand on your first point, I think the show intents to show literally that we do not interact with whole people when using the internet, so it is important to not confuse reality and the virtual world. Lain is seen interacting with ears, eyes and mouthes when she is seen in the wired.

>>146284252
>remaining who she is (gaia) or becoming one with the technology

This is important. Lain could have chosen to stay in her body, but towards the end we see her struggling with maintaining her existence. Her foster family left, and she realized that she was totally alone in the world. Her friends weren't really her friends (they befriended essentially a meat puppet, a Lain that wasn't really Lain), she had no family to take care of her, no future in life. She, for all intents and purposes, didn't exist even though she had a physical body. The human Lain, a sort of meat husk, was basically just a shadow of her online self.

With that realization, she found her existence to be terribly lonely. It's hard to blame her for checking out at that point. It's hard to find an appropriate metaphor in real life, because this sort of thing isn't really translatable to our lives. Essentially it's like waking up one day and realizing you were adopted by people who never loved you, and all your friends were only pretending to like you. At that point you'd want to completely start over your life. For Lain that meant discarding her physical body.

File: WiredLogIn.gif (43KB, 592x592px) Image search: [Google]

43KB, 592x592px

>>146274986
>>146287407
While this interpretation of SEL being about the digital world and our interaction with it is a good interpretation I have a different view. I interpret the message of SEL to be more existential, as a lot of the show focuses on how different peoples memories change how offline and online lain act, and I think that the online element adds to this in that their is a different platform for people to form impressions on what a person is based on different factors (no appearance factors and a culture difference, eg "hacker culture"). Also the significant amount of "conspiracy theory's" brought up in the show that often have themes of a sort of telepathic or linked subconscious nature help to show this theme of a persons identity being influenced by connections between people. The thin line between wired and reality seems to show the wired as being sort of an extension upon a linked human subconscious, which implies that the internet could be viewed as sort of a human readable form of our theoretical collective subconscious. Of course, SEL is a creative masterpiece which can have many varying interpretations.

File: 1301795857238.jpg (508KB, 962x1342px) Image search: [Google]

508KB, 962x1342px

>>146274663
>>146288574
Also, playing the game adds different interpretations as it actually follows a different plot line, and story-wise is very good (game play is pretty bad though). Here's a translation http://psx.lain.pl/ and you can find the rom on various rom sites.

How is Tehxnolyze compared to Lain? Just finished Lain.

>>146277259
I don't think it was that prophetic considering the state of technology in japan and the society which focused on it at that time. They say that MGS2 was also "prophetic", but I think it's japans willingness to adopt any gimmicky technology and ruminate on their consequences. I know people in japan didn't have smartphones, but they did have the internet. And I'd say that a lot more of them were engaged in "cyberspace" in the 90s than people in the west.

>>146284883

he wanted to fugg Lain

and so did I

>>146288574
I very much consider the games to be a prequel to the anime. The most common interpretation is that it is a parallel universe, but that doesn't make any sense. This is "serial experiments" not "parallel experiments. Also the game covers Lain from the ages of 11 to 14, while the anime starts off with her being 14/15.

If you interpret the game as the literal prequel to the anime, it completely changes the scene when the 2 gods of the wired swap perspectives and have their chat. That dude goes from telling 100% lies to telling mostly the truth in that entire scene. That scene is masterfully done, by the way, and worth a rewatch after getting spoiled on or playing the games.

>>146291070
are the games canon?

>>146291687
Yeah, although I'm pretty sure its just one two-disk game.

>>146291070
After rewatching that scene (start of episode 10 for anyone whos wondering) I completely agree with you. The game being a prequel to the anime makes a lot of sense.

>>146286469
You know what bothers me? The fact that she has to stretch the word much. She could easily say "what it means to my heart" instead of "that it means so much" and still fit the meter.

>>146277079
>thesis automatically implies essay structure
How's high school treating you?

File: erfpsdas.jpg (285KB, 1506x2124px) Image search: [Google]

285KB, 1506x2124px

SEL had such a rich visual language, can anyone rec me a show with similarly experimental visuals/editing?

>>146294704
Ghost Hound is the first thing that comes to mind.
It's the same people who did Lain. Different topics though.

>>146293656
I've never picked up on that before. Does the "HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAHOOWOWOWOOAOOOOOAH" in the middle of the song bother you?

>>146288574
how do you login

>>146295008
Not really. It's just vocalizing.

>>146294704
I don't get what that cinematography is trying to convey.

>>146294704
NGE

If Lain's parents are fake, where did Mika come from?

>>146296498
I think Mika was either their actual daughter or was another person set up to be part of the "foster family"

>>146290681
I specifically mentioned web 2.0. Social media and the like. That was completely unheard of at the time.

>>146288574
At the very end, right before the scene in which Alice sees Lain on a bridge over a road, Lain talks about how memories aren't necessarily just about the past. I thought at first she was just kind of talking about how the words for memories has some kanji for "before" or something in them so I wasn't paying super close attention.

But then Alice goes up and speaks to Lain and asks if they've met. Lain says no. Was there more to this scene than I realized? Lain had, at this point, reset everything and thus saved the life of Chisa and prevented a lot of stuff from happening. But what did this future scene mean? Was Lain just checking in with Alice to make sure she was doing well in the future? Or was she directly altering Alice's memory while remaining in the present so that Alice would eventually remember meeting Lain in the future at some point? From what I understood, Lain had completely erased herself from the real and thus Alice and the rest of her classmates never knew her.

Although it is odd that her "foster" dad looked sort of longingly at the empty place at the table during dinner. Like he might have almost remembered something, or thought it was odd that that place wasn't filled.

>>146297384
I think that kind of like deja vu effect might be because lain (the universal subconscious) still has those memories so ordinary people still have some access to them, even if it is vague.

File: 1367108161.png (533KB, 1176x1080px) Image search: [Google]

533KB, 1176x1080px

>>146287711
I thought that she wasn't really abandoning the real world because she didn't want to be part of it, but rather realized that her physical form wasn't "real" or was a limited form and ascended to be what she truly was as omnipresence(God) of the Wired? Like she realized that she was already connected to everyone's subconscious, so having a physical form was only wasting her true potential. Why bother talking to someone physically when you are just a part of them?

>>146296498
>>146296612
Lain's parents aren't fake, though. Mika was their biological daughter, Lain's existence as their adopted child was the confounding variable.

>>146298804
>I thought that she wasn't really abandoning the real world because she didn't want to be part of it, but rather realized that her physical form wasn't "real" or was a limited form and ascended to be what she truly was as omnipresence(God) of the Wired?

In my opinion, it was a bit of both. There was a point at which she realized that she could do the most good by returning to the wired. At the same time, it wasn't until she found herself completely alone that she realized she didn't really belong in the real anymore. (I keep typing "the real" but I don't remember if they used that in the show. I just mean like the offline world) Remember when she went to school and her desk was gone? I think that was the turning point for her, when she realized that there was nothing left for her in the real world anymore. Her "parents" were gone, she was completely alone. I don't think there were any overnight realizations for her as to what to do next, but that everything was a process in terms of how she was coping with what was happening or what she was discovering.

In a lot of ways, Lain's story mimicked mental illness in a way. Her manifestation in the real world was like a split of her persona, with one portion remaining in the wired and one portion being physical. We can see this in how she spread the rumors about Alice and the teacher. The Lain left online had all filters removed, and did anything she wanted regardless of the consequences. The Lain left in the real was completely the opposite, a very meek and shy girl. I think any one of us would feel insane if we began to uncover some sort of duality of body occurring where our online presence seemed to have a mind of its own. Lain must've felt completely insane before uncovering the truth, which contributed to her probable depression and isolation. This only deepened as she realized that she was technically a fake only inhabiting the real as a sort of human shadow.

>>146290681

i want so hard to have a cyberpunk future...

I agree with the part of japan being more into the web, i mean they create a bunch of sites there around that time imageboards and BBS

>>146296115
I haven't watched SEL in a while but I believe it was an early scene into Lain's sister's arc. The cup is used as a barrier between the two characters that had been constructed by their parents. The action of passing the cup - in turn blocking the two sister's view of each other - was cut into, that is to say the scene cuts from the shot above to the shot below, drawing particular attention towards this event. Notice also how the camera is close to Lain (above) and how, in the shot of her sister, both of their parents' hands are visible, somehow imply that the obstruction is emphasised in the sister.

It's not necessarily trying to convey anything deeper, only using the cinematography as a means of developing/foreshadowing their relationship.

>>146299251
>I think any one of us would feel insane if we began to uncover some sort of duality of body occurring where our online presence seemed to have a mind of its own
Not trying to be presumptuous, but I think this what draws people to 4chan. They're sick of the normalfag realm of social media, and they just decide to become anonymous and 'one with the internet'. No filters, just pure expression.

>>146300007
I can't speak for anybody else, but the lack of a user account for 4chan(and thus, lack of permanent "social" consequences for anything) is one of the main reasons I was drawn here. Obviously anonymity means that, even if I want to say something that I would not want people to normally associate with me, I can do that without worrying about how it will affect an online persona. So if that's what you mean(being drawn here because I don't have to worry about creating and maintaining an online version of myself) then I can say that is what happened with me, and likely many other people.

>>146300533
You get my meaning. I think this show resonates with 4chan users because they exist more on the internet with their words than they do IRL with their actions. It's a sad consequence, but that's what Japanese anime shaman foretold.

>>146300007
I think you're right. And I know that internet message boards were around when SEL came out, but was 2ch around at that point? I don't know much about the history of 2ch so I'm not sure. There definitely are draws to anonymous sites like 2ch and 4chan which draw a particular group of people together.

It's pretty amazing how prophetic SEL has become as the internet has evolved. Now we have such a huge social media industry built around customizing your own little personal internet (Facebook, Twitter all linking everything you do online and offline to your friends, sharing photos, locations you've been, family members, etc). It really makes you wonder about the future, and how we will continue to interact with the internet. It seems likely that one day the line between what's online and what's offline will become so fuzzy that it seems to disappear. VR, AR, all sorts of new methods for connecting and putting ourselves online are being developed everyday and at some point maybe we will be able to upload even our own consciousness to the internet.

>>146301327
Yeah, that's exactly why SEL is so important. Before MySpace, before Facebook, before Twitter, this show told us exactly how the internet would go down. It's crazy how accurate this 90s show was to our current position.

>>146299251
Comparing Lain's story to a mental illness is a pretty good comparison Especially since a lot of the game involves Lain talking to a psychologist about her mental problems

>>146274986
fpbp

File: 1451544109069.jpg (396KB, 1280x720px) Image search: [Google]

396KB, 1280x720px

So is Lain real in this world?

>>146302281
No. Did you watch the show, or even read this thread?

>>146302281
Yes. Did you watch the show, or even read this thread?

>>146302406
Poorly worded I guess. I meant real(in any sense of the word) in our world, as apposed to just the fictional world of the show.
Never mind.

>>146302514
>apposed
Get back to those ESL classes, friend.

>>146299663
>i want so hard to have a cyberpunk future...
The idea of everything having more or less two lives that can end with the termination of one is a bit daunting, if Mika's case is anything to go by.

>>146304881

on lain's world Mika never realized where she was, anyway i think not a lot of people would want to mess with their head

File: aj.jpg (39KB, 1715x92px) Image search: [Google]

39KB, 1715x92px

Hint 1: It's not about the internet

Hint 2: It's not about technology

>>146291687
It's just one "game". It's canon in the sense that it embodies the same themes and ideas. It's not a prequel or a sequel, it's an entirely different storyline with the same overall principles. It's something the creators were working on before they decided to make the anime and finished it around the same time as the anime.

>>146274986
>taking the internet part so literally

>>146274986
It's not about the internet. It's a story having to do with connection and introversion. In the same sense that SEELE wanted to regress humanity into its primordial connective state in NGE, Eiri wanted to do the same here. The point is that this is NOT the way of going about doing things.

>>146305726
>>146305901
>>146306073
Wow, thank you, my anime scholar friends. Care to elaborate?

>>146307179
It'll help to rewatch with the following in mind:

The plot - attempt to explain everything you see within the confines of this plot - keep in mind the abilities the Knights have to affect the real world

There is only one real Lain

Eiri and the Knights are trying to connect all humans in a primordial mess because they believe that the flesh is obsolete. They need Lain to cooperate.

The dialogue Lain has with herself at the very end of the last episode before she talks with her "dad"

Keep the idea that the show is trying to send a "message" about the internet or technology out of your head, and you'll more easily notice the deeper thematic material. For more information on Lain as a character and for a look at a struggle which for whatever reason was downplayed in the anime, see the translation for the game at psx.lain.pl

Lain's struggle is more prominent in the game and ties into its plot, but I believe, based on a lot of little aspects still present in the anime, that it is still a very important part of the story, and helps to highlight her experience as a human and how that relates to her choices and what Eiri and the Knights do to torture her into compliance.

>>146308066
A bunch of (wait for it) pretentious nonsense. Sum it up in a sentence or two, or you're full of shit.

>>146309242
So you didn't read it?

>pretentious

You're retarded