Serial experiments lain op digital animation
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Serial Experiments Lain (1998), directed by Ryutaro Nakamura, is available on Blu-Ray from Funimation and has been relesed by MVM Entertainment within the UK.Serial Experiments Lain tells the story of Lain Iwakura, a 14-year old girl living in a Japanese suburb with her apathetic sister, cold mother, and computer-obsessed father, and her adventures in the Wired, the Japanese equivalent of the Internet. Ubiquitous technology can teach one of the implications of a maximum interconnectivity, but ultimately for Lain, learning to overcome loneliness is a human endeavour. With references to strange theories and events in real life- Schumann resonances, Carl Jung’s collective unconscious, and even the Roswell UFO incident-the Wired’s essence begins to seep out of all screens.īeneath strange twists and theological undertones, the transformations witnessed in Serial Experiments Lain tells a coming-of-age story for any adolescent girl. Lain’s story is told in ‘layers’ instead of episodes, and atmospheres instead of linear plot lines. As she learns of herself through the Wired, her identity begins to warp and reality becomes ambiguous in the face of it. It has a cinematography of slow shots and lense flares, with abstract colours and Godardian uses of texts to communicate the strange depths of a virtual world. Visually, Serial Experiments Lain stands out with a sense of beauty unseen in most commercial anime. While winning prizes at Japanese media festivals, Serial Experiments Lain has an immense cult following with academic texts written until today. Even a hardcore-techno soundtrack- relating to ‘Cyberia’, a nightclub Lain visits named after Douglas Rushkoff’s novel-connects themes and unusual velocities beyond its own fourth wall. Originally conceived as a multi-media project, Lain’s story is pieced together through various other fragments, including manga by Yoshitoshi ABe and an enigmatic Playstation game. Serial Experiments Lain had a strange omnipresence.
Addressing late night viewers with cyberpunk themes, philosophical subjects, and conspiracy theories, the project was destined to be unique from the start. Iconic characters and other designs were created by his close collaborator Yoshitoshi ABe, an unconventional illustrator whose hyper-realism observes the world around him rather than taking inspiration from previous examples.
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The story is by Chiaki Konaka, a writer known for developing series like Digimon or Ultraman Gaia, while also harbouring dark Lovecraftian elements in his other works.
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Claiming that her soul is still alive in the Wired, it reads, ‘God is here.’Īs one of the most ambitious animes to ever exist in history, Serial Experiments Lain was initially deemed ‘an enormous risk’ before being broadcast on TV Tokyo. Lain’s own everyday life is irreversibly upturned after a cryptic email arrives from her dead classmate. Yet, amongst people, telephone wires, and machines, the unconscious overlaps with reality and the surreal seeps into the everyday. At first, protagonist Iwakura Lain, an awkward and isolated high-school girl, does not yet recognise the vast network lying beneath her daily life, having never opened her computer. Within the Wired, thoughts float at maximum freedom.
But Serial Experiments Lain, a single anime series running that year on late-night TV, introduced an extraordinary depiction of all human communication within the realm of ‘the Wired.’ Widespread Internet use was still in its early stages in 1998.