Serial Experiments Lain – Episode 1 (Wired)

Well, I’ve decided to start off with a rather well known series that most people have at least heard about: Serial Experiments Lain. Keep in mind that everything after the read more cut has spoilers for the episode, as it is a full summary of the episode as well as my closing thoughts about the show itself. Though Lain is the only series up on the blog right now, I hope I’ll be able to add more as time goes by – some that I’m planning are Chrono Crusade, Monster, and Fantastic Children. I’m going to try and balance between blogging popular shows and unheard of – but still good – ones. So if there are any good animes out there that are underrated that you wouldn’t mind me blogging, drop a line and I’ll check it out.

If you have an animé blog yourself, and want to be part of my blogroll, drop a line. I wouldn’t mind being added, too. ^_^ We’ll both do ourselves a favor.  And as this is my first time using wordpress, the first posts bound to be a little space glitchey.

 

 

 

 

 

Serial Experiments Lain has always been one of those shows that you often times have to get or understand – not unlike the fabled Neon Genesis Evangelion or RahXephon. I have only seen part of the latter, and non of the former, but that is what I’ve heard, and after seeing this, I believe it.

They’re obviously trying to make this animé as mysterious and mind-bending as possible, already throwing in little mysteries from the get-go. Like is one of the girl’s alive or dead – and where did they go if the latter is true? Along with other things that make me wonder why I bother to watch this type of show, as I’m not one for the dementia-type animes – or whatever you’d classify this as.

 

 

The opening and ending themes of this thirteen episode series are pleasing – with Duvet (By boa) being a very nice, and welcome addition to the show. I’m so used to English Jpop openings that I really welcome a more serious English addition.

The first episode deals with Lain and the mysterious suicide deaths of students, as well as Lain’s introduction to the world of technology, which she hesitantly gets into, and is encouraged by her father. The techology and internet talk was actually the highlight of the episode, as it relates a lot to the internet run world we live in now – even more so than when this animé was first debuted. Not much other than that happens in this episode, and it feels (and goes by) very slow – at a snail’s pace I daresay. I can’t say whether I like or hate this show – and it’s impossible to say that usually when only you have watched the first – but I felt this episode – save for a few key moments, like the Internet talk between Lain and her father, were rather bland and uninteresting thus far, and the way the show is done, it makes you feel quite distant from what’s going on.

The episode starts out on a pleasantly cheerful note when a girl kills herself by jumping off a building, killing herself, of course, to a bunch of startled onlookers. The scene then cuts to whom this show is about: Lain, a girl in Junior High school. She’s riding on the subway car thing to school, daydreaming or something like that on the way there. She arrives in her classroom to find one of her classmates crying, though Lain seems curious, but doesn’t seem to care a lot about it. One of the classmates who was comforting the crying girl, comes over and asks Lain if she’s checked her e-mail. Lain responds by saying no, and that she isn’t really that good with computers, and gets berated for it.

Lain then decides to ask why the girl is crying, and after a skeptic glance from her female classmate, the student explains that the girl (Juri) just received an e-mail from Chiyaro Yomada, the girl who is supposed to be dead – as she killed herself a week ago, and it’s not only Juri. A whole bunch of other students have been receiving mysterious e-mails from Chiyaro.

This obviously sets Lain to thinking, and when she gets home she pulls out her very cool looking computer (called a Navi), to find that she’s received an e-mail from Chiyaro. She opens it, and the computer reads the cryptic, mysterious note from Chiyaro, in which she explains that she’s still alive (in a way) and that she hopes Lain will believe her, and if she doesn’t.. well, it doesn’t matter, for she will soon.

The next scene is with Lain having dinner with her family (Her sister, I assume, and her mother). Her sister abruptly leaves, and after a few moments of silence, Lain tentatively explains to her mother that she received an e-mail from a girl who’s dead. Her mother – a women who I don’t think is very attractive – is emotionless to this, and says nothing..

Later that night, Lain (in a brown bear suit no less) walks into what I assume to be her father’s little “office”. It’s an odd setting, and he’s turning on his very…. Large array of computers (that look like more of the ‘normal’ computers of today). Lain asks if she can have a new Navi (computer), and her father seems quite happy that his daughter finally ‘caught the bug’, and how Lain wouldn’t be left behind in the dust anymore, because anyone can make friends on the Internet. He then mumbles about he can’t see why Lain’s mother thinks computers (the internet most specifically) is scary. Because it’s not. He then inquires why the sudden interest, and Lain only replies that she has a ‘friend she wants to see.’

The scene then cuts to the next day, and Lain’s on the subway/traxx thing again, when suddenly the train jerks to a sudden stop, and as the intercom guy apologizes for the delay, people question whether someone hit the train. Lain then looks out of the window, and sees blood… wellll.. it seems another person decided to kill themselves.

Obviously stunned by what she saw Lain’s now walking through the crowded streets, oblivious to everyone until she’s in front of some train tracks. Mist covers the area, and she suddenly spots a girl, and hears a train nearby. The unknown girl walks onto the train tracks, and Lain yells something to her as the train zooms along the tracks, but it’s too late, and the girl’s hit. Just as the train impacts, we’re snapped to Lain in the classroom, snapping out of a daydream. (As if what just happened wasn’t real, which makes it kinda confusing when you’re trying to figure out if it did or did not happen.) She’s in English language class, and the teacher is calling her name, telling her as Lain sees her blank notebook, that she’ll need the notes. Lain, however, doesn’t seem to care, and stares at the board, where a message that I Chiyaro sent her, echoes in her mind: “Try to come to the Wired as soon as you can.”

The episode finally ends when Lain is walking home, and she comes face to face with Chiyaro, who does nothing but stare as Lain asks where she is, before disappearing.

 

~

As I said before, this animé trudges along at a slow and carefree (though carefree doesn’t fit the mood at all of the show) with no apparent need to hurry, even if it only lasts thirteen episodes.

 

 

In fact, the first episode has a very slow pacing and I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone who can’t handle such pacing. Being an avid Slice of Life watcher when given the chance, I can stand watching such slow episodes, but not everything here interested me. Not to say I didn’t enjoy watching it. I enjoyed quite a few parts of it – especially the Internet message where it asked what dieing felt like.

 

Quote: “What does dying feel like?”

It really hurts. ;)

 

That sole emoticon alone could’ve mad this episode worthwhile in and of itself, since emoticons happen to be somewhat of a joke for me. Hopefully next episode will be, at least, a little more interesting. I’m looking forward to how this show ends.