Time has not been kind to even some of the most popular anime ever made. Outdated visuals, narrative choices, or pacing issues have caused certain showsto fall out of favor as the art form continues to progress, which makes it all the more impressive whena series is able to stand the test of time. There are plenty of classics from the ’90s and 2000s that still receive massive amounts of praise today, and one series deserving of a bit more isSerial Experiments Lain.
The 1998 psychological cyberpunk series from Triangle Staff has all the makings of a ’90s classic, from its stylized visuals and moody aesthetic, down to its iconic alternative rock opening. However, one major aspect ofSerial Experiments Lainmakes its lasting success somewhat surprising. Underneath its visual style and ’90s charmis a non-linear narrative that has left viewers in confusion for the better part of 30 years. The most popular anime is typically the most accessible, yetLainchallenges the viewer at every turn, and that’s exactly why the series is so great.
Serial Experiments Lain Is Uncompromising in Its Vision
Lain Is Strange and All the Better For It
Serial Experiments Lainisn’t the first overly strange or confusing anime series to have become incredibly popular. Only a couple of years before its premiere,Neon Genesis Evangelioncame toa conclusion that shocked everyone, and remains at the center of online discussion nearly three decades later. Though before it reached that point,Evangelionwas able to lure its audience in with flashy robot fights and slowly unraveling mysteries. Another similar series is Satoshi Kon’sParanoia Agent, which touches on connection and perception much in the wayLaindoes.
At the heart of that series is another mystery that helps to tie some of the seemingly nonsensical events of the plot down.Serial Experiments Lain, on the other hand, doesn’t offer viewers a rope in the form of mechs or one central mystery, and instead delivers a storythat forces its audience to engage if they want to get anything out of it. Protagonist Lain Iwakura is a shy, timid middle school girl who spends the majority of her time alone in her room, exploring the Wired, or the anime’s version of the internet.
However, only an episode later, Lain is an outgoing girl spotted at the futuristic nightclub, Cyberia. And sometimes, she’s an evil presence bent on causing pain and misery for the timid Lain who stays in her room. In examining the effects of the internet on people and society by splitting the series' protagonist into three different versions of herself,Serial Experiments Laincan be incredibly disorientating on first watch. But this unwillingness to compromise is what allows for the series to be great, andnow, nearly three decades on, prophetic.
Lain Is Confusing, and So Is Reality
Serial Experiments Lain Predicted a Future That’s Come to Pass
Serial Experiments Laincan be almost unsettling to watchnearly 30 years on from its premiere. The future the series paints comes disturbingly close to the one in which it currently exists, and not in its comically large computer towers, CRT monitors, and overly 1990s interfaces,but in the effects of the internet on society. Personalities becoming split between the real world and online, and the blurring of the barrier between both worlds is a uniquely modern issue thatLainwas able to predict years before the advent of social media.
As Lain dives deeper into the Wired she loses her grasp on what is and isn’t reality, and so does the viewer, just as people who spend far too much time online can lose sight of who they are behind a screen.Serial Experiments Laincan be incredibly confusing, but so is reality for those who have experienced any similar sort of dissociation.
5 Overlooked ’90s Anime You Probably Missed Out On And 5 You Are Better Off Skipping
As iconic a decade for anime as the 1990s was, there were plenty of anime that didn’t get enough attention and plenty that are best left ignored.
When it becomes clear that not every aspect of the series will make itself clear to the audience,Lainbecomes a highly enjoyable cyberpunk anime experience that packsall the charm of the decade it’s from, and it deserves just as much, if not more, recognition among its peers. Unfortunately, the series is not currently available on major streaming platforms in the U.S., and any fan who wants to watch it will, ironically, have to do so with technology that pre-dates the present daySerial Experiments Lainpredicted.
Serial Experiments Lain
Cast
Serial Experiments Lain is a Japanese anime series directed by Ryūtarō Nakamura, following teenager Lain Iwakura as she becomes increasingly entangled in the enigmatic virtual world called the Wired. Through confronting various psychological and philosophical dilemmas, the series delves into themes of identity, reality, and consciousness, challenging viewers with its layered narrative and complex visuals.
