Serial Experiments Lain

a fansite/shrine by ethan :0

Chances are, you've probably heard of Lain before, in some place or time. (You're browsing neocities, and I feel as if that says enough about you for me to make that assumption :P )

Serial Experiments Lain is a psychological science fiction anime. It was released in Japan on July 6th, 1998, and was first distrubuted to North America via DVD by Pioneer Entertainment.

It centers around Lain Iwakura, a 14 year old girl living in a world similar to ours. Her life is thrown into a state of turmoil after she recieves an email from a student at her school who had committed suicide weeks prior.

The series utilizes obscure imagery and symbolism to tell a story that weaves together themes of identity, technology, adolescence, and the nature of the world we live in, and it really means a lot to me.

why should you care?

I can't really say you *should* care, since it's just a show, and doesn't exactly have an impact beyond what you make of it, but it's something that resonated with me deeply, and I feel like it deserves more praise.

I've always felt a little bit distant from the world around me. I struggled a lot in school, and always felt like I was on the outside. My peers all just seemed to have some fundamental understanding of the world that I didn't, and it felt like they knew something was wrong with me.

That feeling of disconnect was reflected right back at me when I first watched Lain, and I was kind of taken aback by how much I saw myself in the series. When living in a world that relies so heavily on digital spaces, it can feel a little like you don't exist if you're on the outside, but once you do engage, it can feel like you've lost yourself.

It's almost grounding, I guess. Seeing that vague and suffocating feeling I've never quite been able to describe play out in such an articulate and artistic way was kind of theraputic.

Sometimes, you feel alone, you feel empty, but hell, you aren't the first to feel this way. You aren't even the last. And even if it doesn't feel like it, you're not alone.

I feel a little silly rambling here like this, as I don't really have an end point to this section. It's really more of a diary entry, if I'm being honest. Either way, I might find some way to articulate this someday, and hell, even if I don't, maybe somebody'll find some value in my little tangent. :-)