Serial Experiments Lain in many ways is weird. It’s the type of anime where even if you watched a few seconds of it, the show would immediately question the sanity of both yours and itself. As someone who watched this around the years when I was in middle school, even a couple of years later as well as giving it a re-watch, I clearly have no idea what this was supposed to be. But in Lain’s case, that’s okay. You don’t even need to know what it is. Serial Experiments Lain is an anime that, yes, is borderline questionable when it comes to how it was constructed, but at the same time, it has a profound message that isn’t even directly shown or told, instead, you can follow the protagonist through her narrative role and listen to her philosophical monologues.
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The story of SEL is about an introverted girl named Lain who explores the dark magic of technology around after receiving an email from a dead girl named Chisa, who recently committed suicide. At the start of Lain’s complicated, egregious journey, she has no idea how basic technology works; yet, when the hatred of technology opens the email, things start to lead her into the depths of absurd information and such. With this, Lain plans to show and tell everyone the connection between reality and symbolism by messing with everyone’s technical properties and their minds. So right off the bat, this is very confusing, even to those who have very high knowledge of understanding. There are so many things going on and I can’t even lay my finger on how it’s supposed to work. Trying to understand Lain is like trying to chew a chicken bone until you get to gulp it.
But again, that’s always fine. Lain doesn’t really need to be understood literally. Granted, I’m not saying that stories that are confusing so they could be confusing would be confusing. They undeniably don’t. However, SEL has this presentation that is shown and told indirectly. And when I say “indirectly”, what I’m saying is that it creates a symbolic perspective where we can see the connection between real-life scenarios and the unfathomable curse behind technology and how they interact with each other. To resonate with this, we follow Lain traveling around her hometown and listen to her monologues. When listened to properly, we, the viewers following Lain’s path, can feel that in a way, the world is corrupted and is used as a tool to tell people that their very own realities are barely a possibility and would live with what is actually true, whether they like it or not.
Looking back at the series, I think I’m seeing the pattern in this show. While I don’t understand the concept behind it, I’m actually able to understand what it has to offer. SEL is about questioning everything regarding human existence and our influence on social media. It tells us that not every human being isn’t really created even remotely equal but how some can act very sad, others can act very cruel, and so on. SEL does a fantastic job presenting that. We get to see Lain interact and/or encounter normal people and mindless goons alike and how she attempts to trap them into her special hell and show them the unfortunate reality of both how humans act (even as of now) and how the internet is used. This is a lot deeper and meaningful than one would like to say otherwise. Human beings aren’t really the brightest group of organisms to talk to or think about. Like I said, some act sad, some act very neutral, and some would act like douchebags.
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Lain is an excellent protagonist. She’s the key heroine who is first portrayed as a shy junior high school student with few friends or interests but then unfolds the true colors of her very own appearance. While she has little knowledge of the basics of technology, she immediately explores more of what witchcraft would be on the internet. And as time goes on, she starts to develop more, bolder personalities, both with her own existence and every setting she would possess. With this, she becomes a goddess who would show and tell everyone what is happening to themselves and how they are living with what they own. The reason why she really stands out as both an MC and a character, in general, is how she manipulates the story structures involved. You see, she spends most of her time studying and understanding the twisted nature of verbal and IRL communication, and she does this because she realizes that every piece of cruel action and disgusting truth would be everywhere. She tells her very own monologues and claims to not only every character in the show but the viewers watching the show as well, even if it’s not direct. It’s complicated, I know, but think about it, Lain is a symbol that represents the reality of how you talk to people and how you browse through the internet.
Some of my favorite lines from her are:
> “No matter where you go, everyone’s connected.”
> “If you’re not remembered, then you never existed.”
> “People only have substance within the memories of other people. And that's why there were all kinds of mess. There weren't a lot of times per se, I was just inside all sorts of people, that's all.”
Such words are so complicated and untouching yet really represent how things aren’t what you would dream of and how you actually live with what’s surrounding you as well as how she would respond to those things. Lain really delivers those. For the record, I am not a social media expert by any means but she might be the scariest character in any industry and I mean that in ways of how she would approach her overall objective.
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Alright, I don’t want to talk about the writing any further. It’s messing with my brain. But what I want to talk about next is both the art and the sound. The art style is very good. Not my utmost favorite per se but it’s well-colored, well-shaded, and looks realistic. The atmosphere in this show is incredibly detailed and dynamic. The computers in any room Lain would be in look amazing and also scary when you know what Lain’s special hell looks like. The OST is haunting and beautiful. The songs would give you a warning of how the show presents by not only sounding horrifying but also virtually crawling through your spines. The Japanese voice acting is great. I don’t have much experience with English voice acting but I’ve seen some clips with it and while it isn’t a lot, I might say that the English does as great, if not, a little better than the original.
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‘phew’ What a damn ride. Serial Experiments Lain is perplexing and visceral in a lot of segments. It’s very well-written but I was frustrated just by watching every second of it. I can’t really understand the premise behind it and I felt like I’m watching something in the shadows of a basement. But funnily enough, my personal frustration is also my personal enjoyment. SEL takes away your sanity by showing what would be one of the most creative storytelling in any industry. It’s very interesting and engaging in so many ways. It doesn’t need a literal plot to present to you what it has to offer but by doing so, it creates a figurative perspective. Sure, I would not recommend this to especially casuals but all in all, it’s a series that has held my attention for a long and had me learning about the overall life without being serious. Without question a show that is truly ahead of its time. 
