Serial Experiments Lain

Serial Experiments Lain (シリアルエクスペリメンツ レイン, lit. Lain, Serial experiments^?) is an anime series directed by Ryūtarō Nakamura with character design by Yoshitoshi ABe, script by Chiaki Konaka and production by Yasuyuki Ueda via Triangle Staff studio. It was broadcast on TV Tokyo from July to September 1998. In Latin America it was broadcast on Locomotion in 2004 until the channel closed, then continued its broadcast on Animax during 2005, and in Spain, through channel Cuatro, in its night container for adults "Cuatrosfera+18" (or Cuatrosfera Noche) during the same year. A PlayStation game with the same title was released in November 1998 by Pioneer LDC.

Lain is an avant-garde anime, influenced by philosophical themes such as reality, identity and social communication. The series focuses on Lain Iwakura, a girl living her adolescence in the suburbs of Japan, and her introduction to the Wired, a global communications network similar to the Internet. Lain lives with her middle-class family, which also consists of an expressionless older sister named Mika, a cold mother, and a computer-obsessed father. The series deals with topics such as God, the collective unconscious, the Internet (in this case the Wired), conspiracy theories and many other common themes in cyberpunk literature.

It was the subject of several academic articles. The most frequent word among Western analyzes was "weird" (rare) and uncommon, with positive overall reviews. Producer Ueda said that he intended to listen to Japanese and American audiences to form conflicting views on the series, but he was disappointed in this regard as impressions turned out to be similar.

Argument

The first shock in Lain Iwakura's lonely life occurs when she learns that students at her school have received strange posthumous emails from Chisa Yomoda, a classmate who committed suicide. Lain receives a message from her at her house in which Chisa tells her that this is not a joke and that she is meeting God. From then on, Lain begins a path that will lead her to go deeper and deeper into the Internet—or Wired (Nexus in the Spanish dubbing for Latin America), similar to the current Internet—and into her own thoughts. After that, she tries to find out more about the subject, asking her father for a new Navi and thus trying to communicate with Chisa again.

Little by little, Lain's life begins to develop only through the Wired, so her only friend Alice begins to worry, prompting her to start hanging out with her and her friends. Thus, she learns of the existence of a mysterious Psycho chip that later allows her to enter the Wired freely, and that gradually turns her into an omnipotent being within the network, like a kind of god. As Lain discovers more about it, she notices that some strange men in black begin to watch her house, as do the Knights (a type of hackers within the Wired).

Gradually, Lain becomes famous within the Internet, gaining great prestige which also increases her power and consequently, she loses interest in living in the real world. As she discovers new things, her friends begin to receive rumors about her other personality (her other Internet self that is completely different), creating confusion. Finally, she discovers that she has stopped recognizing her true personality and begins to wonder 'who is Lain?'.

Themes

The series touches on alternative themes to classic anime; the range of theological and psychological themes are treated in various ways: from classic dialogue to just an introspective image, through direct questioning of imaginary characters.

Communication in its broadest sense is one of the main themes of Serial Experiments Lain, not only being the opposite of loneliness, but also as a theme per se i>. The writer Konaka says that he sought to directly communicate human feelings. Director Nakamura, for his part, wanted to show the audience, and especially viewers between 14 and 15 years old, "the school of philosophical existentialism: the different levels of the existential self and the relationships between oneself and the world.". The introduction of technology into the social structure is one part of the process described: when Lain enters the Wired, the viewer can see the protagonist's loss of contact with her friends and family to the point where she can no longer relate or interact with yours."

Loneliness is represented as a lack of communication that affects Lain. She herself (according to the company) is painfully introverted, with no friends to talk to at school, with an arrogant and condescending sister, a strange apathetic mother and a father who seems to want to take care of her but can't because he is too busy to spend time with her. The only song in the series is called "Kodoku no shigunaru" which literally means "Sign of Solitude".

Mental illnesses in general and specifically dissociative identity disorder in particular are a significant theme in this creation: Lain is faced with alter egos (other selves) to the level that the writer Chiaki Konaka and the seiyū who plays Lain, Kaori Shimizu, must use three tones of voices: the "childish" from the real world with shy attitudes and pajamas with childish motifs; the "advanced" with the Wired personality tough and; finally the "evil" Lain, cunning and demonic, the one who does all possible damage to Lain and those closest to her. At a writers' convention, the authors wrote Lain's names in kanji, in katakana and in Roman characters.

Reality never reaches the degree of objectivity and the proper meaning of the word in Lain. The acceptances of the term are in constant battle within the series, similar to natural reality, defined through normal dialogue between individuals; material reality; and the tyrannical reality forced into people's minds through repression. The solution to the debate of all these interpretations in the series is to decide whether the flow of thought matters or the opposite. The production team carefully avoided &# 34;the so-called omnipotent point of view" to clarify the "limited field of vision" from the world of Lain. Theology plays this role in the infinite spirit in an infinite body. From self-realization as a goddess decides, religion is an inherent part of Lain's origin.

Characters

Lain Iwakura ( 音 音, Iwakura Lain^?)

Voice by: Kaori Shimizu (Japanese); Bridget Hoffman (English); Lucila Gómez (Hispanoamerican Spanish) Assumpta Navascués (Spanish Spanish)

The protagonist of the anime. A 14-year-old girl, introverted and lonely, who only has one friend named Alice who always tries to get closer to her and spend more time with her. Little by little, Lain begins to become interested in the world of the Internet after Chisa's email. Soon she begins to mix the world of the Internet with the real world, dealing with her own identity and asking herself big questions such as: What is God?". As the story progresses, she begins to realize her true nature and it scares her. In the end she accepts her true mission in the world.

Mika Iwakura ( 美 ̧ ̧ 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美 美, Iwakura Mika^?)

Voice by: Ayako Kawasumi (Japanese); Patricia Ja Lee (English); Yamila Garreta (Hispanoamerican Spanish)

Lain's older sister. At first she didn't care about her family and she spent all day outside the house, talking to them in the slightest. After a while she seems to care and show more interest. In the course of the story she loses her mental health.

Yasuo Iwakura ( 男, Iwakura Yasuo^?)

Voice by: Ryūsuke ⋅bayashi (Japanese); Barry Stigler (English); Marcelo Armand (Hispanoamerican Spanish) Francesc Belda (Spanish Spanish)

Lain's father. He is passionate about computers, electronics and communications, he worked for Tachibana Laboratories. He initially supported her daughter's sudden interest in technology but then began to worry him.

Miho Iwakura (美, Iwakura Miho^?)

Voice by: Rei Igarashi (Japanese); Petrea Burchard (English); Silvia Aira (Hispanoamerican Spanish) Susana Damas (Spanish Spanish)

Lain's mother. She usually watches television when she is not working in the kitchen. The only one he talks to is her husband.

Chisa Yomoda (أعربية Русский, Yomoda Chisa^?)

Voice by: Sumi Mutō (Japanese); Lia Sargent (English); Karin Zavala (Hispanoamerican Spanish) Rosa Guillén (Spanish Spanish)

She was a schoolmate of Lain's who took her own life by jumping off a roof. She was not a friend of Lain but she did know her by sight. She was the one who sent an email throughout Wired to all the students saying that she was not dead and that God is on the Internet.

Alice Mizuki (日本語 Русский, Mizuki Alice^?)

Voice by: Yōko Asada (Japanese); Emilie Brown (English); Valeria Gómez (Hispanoamerican Spanish) Ariadna Giménez (Spanish Spanish)

She is Lain's only friend. She has two other friends named Reika and Yuri. They make fun of Lain but Alice tries to defend her and show her as innocent of all the events that happen within the story where Lain is the main suspect of her.

Tarō (♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫, Tarō^?)

Voice by: Keito Takimoto (Japanese); Brianne Siddall (English); Hernan Bravo (Hispanoamerican Spanish)

He is a boy who frequents the Cyberia nightclub where he talks a lot with Lain. He later is of great help to the protagonist, highlighting his computer skills. He occasionally works with the Knights although he is not a formal member. Taro loves virtual reality video games, he spends most of his time with his friends Myu-Myu and Masayuki at the nightclub called Cyberia. Among the technology he uses is a portable Navi with video goggles.

Reika Yamamoto (Русский, Yamamoto Reika^?)

Voice by: Chiharu Tezuka (Japanese); Lenore Zann (English); Mara Campanelli (Hispanoamerican Spanish) Carmen Ambrós (Spanish Spanish)

One of Alice's best friends who associates with Lain only because she asks her to, but she constantly makes fun of her and can't stand her. Reika loves parties and she lives in keeping with contemporary times.

Yūri Katō (藤, Katō Yūri^?)

Voice by: Manabi Mizuno (Japanese); Alexis A. Edwards (English); Mariela Álvarez (Hispanoamerican Spanish) Diana De Guzmán (Spanish Spanish)

Another friend of Alice. She is nicer to Lain but her friendship with Reika prevents her from being friends with her so she decides to follow along with her even though she believes that Lain is part of something strange.

Myū-Myū (##, Myū-Myū^?)

Voice by: Yūki Yamamoto (Japanese); Sandy Fox (English)

Friend of Tarō and Masayuki. They always go to the Cyberia nightclub together. She seems to be in love with Tarō.

Masayuki (▪, Masayuki^?)

Voice by: Sora Fujima; Ariel Cister (Latin America)

Taro's best friend. Always accompanying Taro and Myu-Myu.

Eiri Masami (, Eiri Masami^?)

Voice by: Shō Hayami (Japanese); Kirk Thornton (English); Ricardo Alanis (Hispanoamerican Spanish) Tasio Alonso (Spanish Spanish)

The designer of Protocol 7. While working at the Tachibana Laboratories, he inserted his own code into the protocol, being able to manipulate the information at will; This causes your mind, consciousness, thoughts, feelings and emotions to be embedded within the protocol. He was fired from Tachibana Laboratories, shortly afterward he was found dead. He believed that to surpass the development of human beings, they had to free themselves from physical limitations and live as virtual entities on the Wired. He claims to be the creator of Lain.

Office worker

Voice by: Shigeru Chiba (Japanese); Richard Plantagenet (English)

A senior executive at Tachibana Laboratories. He makes personal use of the Men in Black. He claims to be waiting for a real God in the Wired, he is behind the Knights. He knows many details about Lain although he does not reveal them.

Black Men

Karl Haushoffer (Русский Русский Русский, Karl Haushoffer^?)

Voice by: Takumi Yamazaki (Japanese); Jamieson Price (English) Manel Català (Spanish Spanish)

Lin Sui-Xi (Chinese: sourcing 한;; pinyin: Suí-Xī Line)

Voice by: Jouji Nakata (Japanese); Bob Buchholz (English).

They both work for the "Office Worker" to take care of the Knights members. They do not know several details of his work but they know that Masami Eiri is involved; both deny the existence of an almighty God in the Wired.

Content of the work

The Lain franchise was originally conceived to connect various types of media (anime, video games, manga). Producer Yasuyuki Ueda said in an interview for Animerica: "The vision I took for this project was to maintain the essence of the work throughout the entirety of all multimedia products." The plot of the video game was written first, which was produced at the same time as the anime, but the anime was published before.

Anime

The series consists of thirteen episodes of twenty minutes each and were broadcast between July 6 and September 20, 1998 on TV Tokyo. A PlayStation game of the same name was published on November 26, 1998. It was never published in Spanish.

It was licensed on DVD, VHS and LaserDisc for North America by Geneon (formerly Pioneer Entertainment). But Geneon closed its US division in December 2007 and the series went out of circulation as a result. However, at the 2010 Anime Expo in the United States, distributor FUNimation Entertainment announced that it has licensed the series and it would be re-released in 2011. It was also released in Singapore by Odex. The video game that only shares the themes and protagonist of the series was never released outside of Japan.

The series premiered in Latin America on the Locomotion signal from January 18, 2004 until its closure with an Argentine dubbing, although it was originally planned to be broadcast with subtitles, after licensing it from Pioneer USA in 2002. Animax It continued to broadcast it for a time in 2005. In Spain it was broadcast on Canal C: in 2000, on Buzz and later on Calle 13 in 2002. In 2001 Selecta Visión released a DVD pack with the episodes distributed in four albums. The series was also broadcast in Catalonia in 2003 on Channel 33 in the 3xl.nit space, on Friday mornings. In 2007, the Spanish network Cuatro broadcast the anime on its Cuatrosfera space.

Books

Four art books, the original script and a game guide have been published for PlayStation.

• Omnipresence In The Wired. It contains a chapter for each episode of the series and conceptual sketches. It also contains a small sleeve in color entitled "The Hell of the Artificial". It was published in 1998 by Triangle Staff/SR-12W/Pioneer LDC and has 128 pages in 96 colors with hard cover and Japanese text (ISBN 4-7897-1343-1).

• Visual Experiments Lain. It has 80 pages in color with soft cover and text in Japanese. It contains details of the creation, design and plot of the series. It was published in 1998 by Triangle Staff/Pioneer LDC. (ISBN 4-7897-1342-3)
• Scenario Experiments Lain. Soft cover, 335 pages. By chiaki j. konaka (in lowercases in the original). Pawns collected with notes and small extracts from the graphic scripts. (ISBN 4-7897-1320-2)

• Serial Experiments Lain Ultimate Fan Guide for Bruce Baugh. It combines illustrations with various information. It's the only English book in the series. It has 80 pages in color and 32 in black and white.

• Scenario Experiments Lain. With 336 pages, it contains the original script of the thirteen episodes accompanied by several graphic scripts and some drawings of the characters, both in black and white.

• Serial Experiments Lain Official Guide. A game guide on soft cover.

Video game

A video game of the same name was published for PlayStation on November 26, 1998 by Pioneer LDC. The game is unrated and some argue that it can be considered a game at all. Through the game, with the help of Lain, the player unlocks pieces of the therapeutic sessions and journals to discover what has happened to him. The game consists of traveling through the Wired collecting sound, video and text files along with pieces of a teddy bear and other objects that will help you in your search. The game follows a different series of events than the animated series. It is completely in Japanese.

Soundtrack

• Opening theme: Duvet de Bôa
• Subject of credit: Toh-I Sakebi from Chabo.
• Image song (Layer 13): Kodoku no Shigunaru (Signal of Solitude, Sign of Soledad)

Four albums have been published from the series:

• "Duvet" opening song - Written by the Bôa band as its first single.
• Serial Experiments Lain Soundtrack - The first soundtrack containing Nakaido music "Chabo" Reichi. It contains the closing theme and some themes inspired by the television series.
• Serial Experiments Lain Soundtrack: Cyberia Mix - A second soundtrack containing some electronic music themes inspired by the television series, including a remix of the opening theme.
• Lain BOOTLEG - 2 CD, sound track, more than 45 tracks, limited edition. It contains environmental music of the series and a mixed CD with a watch and a game. Published by Pioneer Records.

Reception

Lain premiered in Tokyo at 1:15 a.m. m. JST. The word "weird" (rare) appeared almost systematically in Anglo-Saxon criticism, alternating with "bizarre" (strange) or "atypical" (atypical), due mainly to the artistic freedoms in the animation and its unusual science fiction themes, in addition to its philosophical and psychological context. Critics responded positively to these thematic features and aesthetics and at the 1998 Japan Media Arts Festival he was awarded the Prize of Excellence for "his willingness to question the meaning of contemporary life" and to the "extraordinarily philosophical and profound questions" that he proposed.

According to Christian Nutt of Newtype USA, the main appeal of the series is its sharp vision of "the interwoven problems of identity and technology." Nutt applauded the "crisp, clean character design" performed by ABe and his & # 34; perfect soundtrack & # 34; In his 2005 review, he said that "Serial Experiments Lain may not yet be considered a true classic, but it is a fascinating evolutionary leap that will help change the future of anime." Anime Jump gave the DVD version a 4.5 out of 5, rating it an A+ in all criteria for the first two volumes and a mix of A and A+ for the next two..

Lain has been the subject of comments in the literary and academic spheres. The Asian Horror Encyclopedia called it "a surprising psychological horror anime about the physical and spiritual influence of the Internet." In the series you can repeatedly see scenes of the suburbs in one day sunny, where the shadows of houses and electricity poles contain unnatural red spots. The encyclopedia noted that these red dots look like pools of blood. He also noted that the death of a girl due to a railway accident is "a source of many urban ghost legends in the twentieth century," especially in Tokyo.

The anthology Anime Essentials by Gilles Poitras describes it as a "complex and in some ways existentialist" that "pushed the limits" of anime diversity in the 1990s, along with the much more popular Neon Genesis Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop. Professor Susan J. Napier, in her keynote address 2003 The Problem of Existence in Japanese Animation (published in 2005) to the American Philosophical Society, compared Serial Experiments Lain with Ghost in the Shell and Spirited Away. In his opinion, the protagonists of the other two works cross barriers: they can return to our world but Lain cannot. Napier wonders if there is a reason why Lain should return, when faced "between an empty 'real' and a dark 'virtual'" world.

Unlike the anime, the video game attracted little public attention. Its lack of gameplay was criticized, in addition to its "clunky interface", endless dialogues, lack of music, and very long loading times. However, its notable computer graphics (for the time) and beautiful settings were commented positively.

Allusions

• Computers Apple: In the series Lain show the designs of Apple computers, a brand that was used when the writers, producers, creative and graphics team were.
• Xanadu Project: Vannevar Bush (and Memex), John C. Lilly, Timothy Leary and his model of the Eight Circuits, Ted Nelson and the Xanadu Project were cited as precedents of the Wired.
• Douglas Rushkoff and his book Cyberia: Douglas Rushkoff, author of the book Cyberia, Cyberia in the anime became the name of a populated club of hackers and teens punks.
• Navi: Navi is the name of a device similar to a computer or computer, also called a browser. His creator is the Tachibana company, and everyone has one of his Navi in his house.
• IP Protocol: IP is the common element in today's Internet. The current and most popular network protocol is IPv4. IPv6 is the proposed successor of IPv4; little by little the Internet is exhausting available addresses. In the anime, it is proposed to replace the current protocol, IPv6, by another rewritten, more complex and that at the same time contained memories and emotions of the same Lain, this new protocol was called IPv7, which, who created it could control the entire network.