Serial Experiments Lain

[Graag]

For a long time I have enjoyed anime, but I never thought it could be art. Serial Experiments Lain is one of the most amazing things I have seen for a while. Anyone else seen it?

[Anodyne]

I've seen it!

Well, the first few episodes sober, the rest highly caffeinated. But yes, it is ART! Probably the most psychedelic animated fiction I've ever seen - a place with lots of electric wires and purple shadows, a girl wearing a bear-suit at home and men stepping out of shadows saying "we weren't here". Oooooo!

No but really, it was great.

[Graag]

No sh*t.

Yeah I've watched it through twice now. Stunning. I still don't get it, but I haven't seen anything as beautiful or thought-provoking in a long while. Now all I need to do is save up for the DVDs so I can watch it proper.

Anodyne, you HAVE to see it all the way through again. As do I. As soon as I get some smoke. You are a toker, I imagine?

[Anodyne]

Originally posted by Graag
Anodyne, you HAVE to see it all the way through again. As do I. As soon as I get some smoke. You are a toker, I imagine?

You're so correct.
The only time I saw it was in a small, crowded room and I practically missed the episodes after 6...

I need to watch it through my own tv/stereo-systems!
Preferably baked, yes
But alas, I can't download it before I get a new computer (1,5Gt is hardly enough...)

You should definitely see some of Don Hertzfeldt's works! Now they're psychedelic! ...although in a VERY different way than Serial Experiment...

[Graag]

Who Don Hertzfeldt? Will I be able to d/l anything by him?

[Anodyne]

You could search Kazaa (or similar...) for;
Rejected
Billy's Balloon
L'Amour
Genre

[Anodyne]

Oh, the official website!

http://www.bitterfilms.com/

[ixnay]

I haven't gotten around to seeing it yet. But TechTV is going to be showing it on their new anime block that launches on Monday, so I'll probably watch some of it then.

[SnowFire]

Wraith appearing in 4...3...2...

Anyway, yes, Lain is an excellent show. Definitely one of the rare shows that will really punish you if you try and sleepwalk through it.

Now I just need to actually get around to borrowing the last 2 episodes of Boogiepop Phantom, being that I missed the showing of them...

[Wraith]

--"but I never thought it could be art"

There are a number of works that really qualify as art. I'd recommend movies by Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away) and Mamoru Oshii (Jin-Roh, although he wasn't director on this one) as a for instance, as well as works like Grave of the Fireflies.

--"Anyone else seen it?"

Certainly. It's the series that hooked me on anime. I had seen some before this, but nothing truly outstanding. But this...

I will make my usual recommendation of visiting Thought Experiments Lain, the best SE:L site I've found.

--"Probably the most psychedelic animated fiction I've ever seen"

Well, there actually are other shows that probably outclass it for psychedelic. Angel's Egg, Utena the movie, stuff like that.

--"Stunning. I still don't get it,"

It doesn't present a solution wrapped up in a neat package. It raises more questions than it answers. It's highly unlikely that you'll find any two people who "get it" in exactly the same way.

--"But TechTV is going to be showing it on their new anime block that launches on Monday,"

Which is great and all, but there are two problems here. Tech TV is going to be editing the shows for time (US stations typically run almost a full 5 minutes more commercials per half-hour than Japanese stations do), and I'm pretty sure it'll be the dub.
Now the dub isn't flat out bad or anything, but it is too flat. They managed to miss some important touches, which is readily evident even in episode 1. One of Lain's lines is supposed to be delivered in a markedly different voice, but isn't. (It's the line in Cyberia, btw. You'll know which one I mean when you get there.)

--"Wraith appearing in 4...3...2..."

=^_^=

--"Now I just need to actually get around to borrowing the last 2 episodes of Boogiepop Phantom,"

Another good one. I need to go rewatch that one, especially since I've got an AMV idea for it I might try.

If you like Lain, Boogiepop is another to check out for sure. As is Key: The Metal Idol.

And I must mention my current otaku obsession, Haibane Renmei. This is the work of yo****oshi ABe, the guy who did the character designs for SE:L (may be obvious from the attached image; ABe's developed a unique style). Haibane is based off of ABe's doujins, and he's the one doing the screenplay, and it is excellent. It just finished airing in Japan, so it'll be a while before it gets overseas, but something to keep an eye out for.

Wraith
"If you aren't remembered, then you never existed."
-- Alice ("Serial Experiments: Lain")

[Apocalypse]

Originally posted by ixnay
I haven't gotten around to seeing it yet. But TechTV is going to be showing it on their new anime block that launches on Monday, so I'll probably watch some of it then.

No Lain this week. Just 4 episodes of Crest of Stars or whatever it is called.

[Jaakko]

Lain wa hentai desu...

Spoiler:

My take on it is that Lain is simply a paranoid split personality case who can bend reality at will. Everything else that happens in the series is just a reflection of her insanity.

[DanS]

It's an excellent work. I took it as an offshoot of the cyberpunk genre (i.e., Western). But IIRC, Wraith doesn't necessarily agree with this.

[Anodyne]

But the thing that really makes me confused is why is the girl's name LAIN if she's Japanese? They don't use the letter L.

[Graag]

The theme song is amazing. Maybe only be association with Lain, but it blows my mind, for no clear reason.