Lain - DVD Box Set

Starring:Kaori Shimizu, Ayako Kawasumi, RyÃ»nosuke Ã”bayashi, Rei Igarashi, YÃ´ko Asada, Chiharu Tezuka, Manabi Mizuno, ShÃ´ Hayami, Kotomi Muto, Keito Takimoto, Yuki Yamamoto, Sora TÃ´ma, Kirk Thornton, Takumi Yamazaki, JÃ´ji Nakata, Brianne Siddall, R. Martin Klein, Jake Martin (II), Horace Muckle, Alexis A. Edward
Director: Ryutaro Nakamura
Studio: Geneon [Pioneer]
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Disturbing, perplexing, sometimes infuriating, Ryutaro Nakamura's serial experiments lain covers some of the same themes as The X-Files and the films of David Lynch. When introverted 13-year-old Lain receives an e-mail from a dead classmate, she gains access to "the Wired," a virtual world that promises unlimited power to those who can exploit it. Gradually the borders between the real and the virtual blur, and Lain's own identity begins to fade and fragment. Her parents tell her that she is not really their child, her online self grows in power and independence, and shadowy organizations pursue her in both worlds. Finally she begins to realize that she is either reality's only hope, or its worst enemy.

Nakamura keeps the pace of serial experiments lain deliberately slow, imbuing the early episodes with a sense of mounting dread that pays off as the plot develops. The anime technique of panning across static images creates a meditative stillness that works perfectly, and the repetition of certain key images gives them a dreamlike significance. Viewers will either love or hate the complex plot, which seems intent on incorporating every possible paranoid conspiracy, from sinister nanotechnology to alien plots. However--unlike many other anime--it somehow hangs together, and frankly not understanding everything is part of the pleasure of this kind of story. Fans of action-heavy anime and people who like every loose end tied up should steer clear, but those who surrender themselves to the slowly unfolding mysteries of the plot will be amply rewarded. --Simon Leake
Description
We're all connected... The world around us, made of people, tactile sensation, and culture has begun to blur with the wired wold inside the computer, of images, personalities, virtual experiences. The day after a classmate commits suicide, Lain, a thirteen year-old girl, discovers how closely the two worlds are linked when she receives an e-mail from the dead girl: "I just abandoned my body. I still live here..."

Lain - DVD Box Set
Average customer rating:

Welcome to the Wired

Good anime, interesting plot

Pretty super

One of the best (and oddest) animes ever made!!!

If Nobody Remembers Me, Did I Ever Exist?

Lain - DVD Box Set
Starring: Kaori Shimizu , Ayako Kawasumi , Ryûnosuke Ôbayashi , Rei Igarashi , and Yôko Asada
Director: Ryutaro Nakamura
Manufacturer: Geneon [Pioneer]
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Serial Experiments Lain | Characters & Series | Anime & Manga | Genres | DVD | Video
Geneon | By Studio | Anime & Manga | Genres | DVD | Video
General | Anime & Manga | Genres | DVD | Video
( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Anime | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00005094P
Release Date: 2000-11-28

Amazon.com

Disturbing, perplexing, sometimes infuriating, Ryutaro Nakamura's serial experiments lain covers some of the same themes as The X-Files and the films of David Lynch. When introverted 13-year-old Lain receives an e-mail from a dead classmate, she gains access to "the Wired," a virtual world that promises unlimited power to those who can exploit it. Gradually the borders between the real and the virtual blur, and Lain's own identity begins to fade and fragment. Her parents tell her that she is not really their child, her online self grows in power and independence, and shadowy organizations pursue her in both worlds. Finally she begins to realize that she is either reality's only hope, or its worst enemy.

Nakamura keeps the pace of serial experiments lain deliberately slow, imbuing the early episodes with a sense of mounting dread that pays off as the plot develops. The anime technique of panning across static images creates a meditative stillness that works perfectly, and the repetition of certain key images gives them a dreamlike significance. Viewers will either love or hate the complex plot, which seems intent on incorporating every possible paranoid conspiracy, from sinister nanotechnology to alien plots. However--unlike many other anime--it somehow hangs together, and frankly not understanding everything is part of the pleasure of this kind of story. Fans of action-heavy anime and people who like every loose end tied up should steer clear, but those who surrender themselves to the slowly unfolding mysteries of the plot will be amply rewarded. --Simon Leake

Description

We're all connected... The world around us, made of people, tactile sensation, and culture has begun to blur with the wired wold inside the computer, of images, personalities, virtual experiences. The day after a classmate commits suicide, Lain, a thirteen year-old girl, discovers how closely the two worlds are linked when she receives an e-mail from the dead girl: "I just abandoned my body. I still live here..."

Customer Reviews:

Welcome to the Wired.......2007-06-01

For anyone who loves Hitchcock films or cyper-punk movies like "Blade Runner", Serial Experiments Lain might be for you. However, you should be aware that some people still don't understand Lain's powers or how the "god of the wired" fits into anything at all. Be prepared to watch this series multiple times to understand it.

But this is an important anime about religion and the truth. Lain is a girl in her early teens who sees strange images. Images blur into child-like sketches. Steam floats out of her hands into a mysterious web over her in the classroom. Her friend, Chisa Yomoda, dropped off a building and died. Yet, she still sent an e-mail that said that she hadn't died. She merely lost her body in order to integrate herself into the wired world (the internet).

Lain discovers that she is a powerful girl, capable of transfiguring the real world via her mind. Although the series doesn't specify how she can do it, her mind is capable of changing events in the real world from her consciousness in the wired. She also learns that other people are using the wired to kill girls and boys with games and programs. This group of technology freaks is known as Knights. The Knights are led by an old scientist who committed suicide to integrate himself as the god of the wired.

If this sounds twisted and confusing to you, don't worry. This series, by design, is meant to confuse people at first. The language can also confound people who aren't into technology, because the characters talk about "databases", "protocols", and fancy processors and data compressers. However, for anyone who is willing to watch this series multiple times, they will see that Lain is a small girl who is willing to do anything to stop the Knights and destroy any bad memories of herself from her friends.

I believe that this is my favorite anime series of all time. "Serial Experiments Lain" forces people to think about how the world of the internet can nearly take over our own lives. Do you feel like the internet is your only release from social pressures in the real world? If so, "Serial Experiments Lain" might be the cure for you.

Good anime, interesting plot.......2007-05-19

I enjoyed watching this anime, it was much better than I expected, considering many people who review anime don't all have the same tastes. I'm not sure why the anime fans out there are so focused on such terrible stuff, such as dragonball z. This is for the fan who wants more than dragonball and could use a touch of drama with a dash of euphoria. Good story line, decent characters (even though they were kids), and OK art work.

Pretty super.......2007-05-12

You know how in most animes when something happens, the next thing that happens is the next thing in the story? For example:

*Man walking down street*
Then!
*A robot appears!*
Then!
*They fight!*

Lain is like this:
*Girl walking down street*
Then!
*shot of telephone lines*
Then!
*slowly zoom in on telephone lines, electric humming sound gets louder*
Then!
*girl keeps walking down street*

Which you either find awesome or you don't. But anyway it is way interesting and well done and unique. Also it's good to buy because it has a lot of reply value because it's coooomplicated.

One of the best (and oddest) animes ever made!!!.......2007-04-26

It's hard to say what LAIN is about, as it's about many things, but the anime is definately an example of creators pushing the anime form past comfortable limits. Everything clicks with this anime and my only beef with it, really, is the final "Layer" (SPOILER ALERT!!!) where Lain renounces her identity in order that the world can continue without her (it was just a little too biblical for my taste, and what's with the alien in the sweater, but okay). Other than that, each "Layer" is interesting in what it brings to the whole and, what is says entirely as an isolated episode. In many regards, Lain is a series which can be viewed chronologically, but needn't necessarily be. Oh, and the series boasts one of the best uses of music out there (though there's not much of it in the series). Anyway, well worth the price and one to purchase (as you won't get it all the first time out).

If Nobody Remembers Me, Did I Ever Exist?.......2007-04-20

THE STORY:
Beyond the soft hum of information passing through cables, beyond the gentle glow of computer screens there lies another world. The world of the Wired. Lain is an introverted, but otherwise seemingly normal 13 year old girl. When a classmate commits suicide, and everyone from her school starts receiving e-mails from her, Lain becomes increasingly interested in the world of the Wired. The Wired is akin to our internet - accessed by computers called NAVIs. Lain asks her father for a new NAVI, and it doesn't take long before the barrier between the "Real World" and "The Wired" starts crumbling. What is the Wired? What is the Real World? Who is Lain? The only common theme you will find is that:

"We're All Connected."

REVIEW:
The one common word you will read/hear used to describe Lain is "weird". Yes, it is that, but it's much more. Being a Japanese anime, I can't be completely sure what its influences are, but Lain very much reminded me of a David Lynch approach applied to an The X-Files season with bits and pieces of Akira, Ghost in the Shell, and Evangelion thrown in. The thing that will throw most off is the completely abnormal narrative of Lain. We're shown inexplicable things without explanation, opaque symbolism crops up everywhere, and all the while the viewer is left to wonder "Just what is real?" and "Just what the hell is going on?".

To those used to Lynch's approach to film-making - especially something like Mulholland Drive - Lain MIGHT not be so confusing. That's because you become used to spotting "red herrings", so to speak, and understand that everything you're shown - no matter how emphasized at the time - may be inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. The best advice I could offer when going into Lain is to have no pre-conceived notions about what is or should be real or important. Let the narrative flow and if you simply take things as they come, without analyzing them, it will seem much less confusing than some make it out to be.

The animation quality in Lain is rather unspectacular. However, I'd say the visuals throughout are quite good. The animators play off dark/light themes with colors splashing the darkness to create a really psychedelic feeling which perfectly matches the mood of the series. This semi-minimalistic approach works extremely well and adds to the sense of mounting ominousness throughout. From the very beginning they're able to use this approach to create a sense of disconnect and discontent between both Lain and the Real World and the viewer and Lain's world.

The pacing is incredibly slow. If you feel the need for alot (or any, really) action in your anime, steer clear from Lain. At times, Lain is so slow it feels as if its standing still in its own dream-like world. If it's one negative thing I could say about Lain it's that the pacing is just a bit too inchoate at times, seemingly lacking direction or real motion. This was perhaps done intentionally to create the effect of being in some kind of dream - or at least being disconnected from anything that's real. It only "flows" in its own dream-like trance towards its ending, although at times you'll be wondering how it arrived there.

Lain will overload you with information. Government conspiracies, Aliens, nano-technology, psychic children experiments, secretive organizations both real and fictional, powerful computer programs and protocols... One episode interlaces the narrative with a history of certain scientific discoveries - and the people and organizations behind them. After viewing it, one wonders how everything connects. I'd be daft if I said that by the end, it all connects in a very neat, coherent manner. However, an astute viewer will likely be able to link most of the references to the fictional world of Lain in a roundabout manner. I'm convinced that most everything referenced plays an important part either as influence or to the direct narrative, but linking it all together would be difficult.

The ideas discussed throughout Lain are fairly extensive. Many are only touched on, but others go a little deeper. Just some of the ideas include the subjective nature of reality and self, commincation and the collective connectivity, the role of information both in a tangible and intangible sense (memory). Basically, there's the more tangible ideas discussed in the latter paragraph, and the more intangible ideas discussed in this one. In the end, you're left with a very complex and multi-layered narrative that just begs for exploration. Even if you're able to extract the main ideas on first viewing (like I was), you'll likely want to enter the world of Lain again to discover even more.

Are there other negatives I could find about the series? Only a few. The ending is rather disappointing after all that's lead up to it. This is mostly a pacing and amount of content problem. You'll find many anime series have this problem where they run out of ideas to fill episode time near the end, so they have to find a way to stretch things out. Lain does this quite badly. The actual "ending" just goes on too long, and doesn't give a sense of closure. Evangelion had the same problem with the TV ending, which is a big reason why they had to create the film to give fans that sense of closure. I'd also say it's only slightly disappointing from a dramatic standpoint. From the beginning there's this sense of ominous foreboding. Something big is brewing and poor Lain is right in the midst of it. But by the end, the "big evil" off in the distance didn't seem so bad afterall.

Even with a lack of adept pacing and a dramatic ending that gives a sense of closure (for my tastes) only amounts to small complaints. They're small when one realizes how truly rich the rest of Lain is. All in all, Lain still remains a highly influential and extremely original anime. It might've borrowed from many that came before it, but it melded and morphed into something that was completely new and different. For that it deserves all the praise it gets. Even though I can't say it is perfect, it is still superb. I even feel the creators have gone on to take the ideas and style they cultivated with Lain and utilized it to greater and more mature effects in future works such as Texhnolyze. But I still highly recommend this series to those looking for something truly unique, original, and yes, "weird" in the world of anime.

DVD REVIEW:

This set is fairly bare-bones. 4 discs featuring very little in the way of extras. No anamorphic widescreen, no 5.1. I imagine it won't be long before Lain is given a fairly lavish makeover and re-issued for its 10th anniversary. However, the current price makes up for the lack of goodies.

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