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Serial Experiments Lain. Let's talk about it.


Nono

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Holy chit! This series was ridiculously outside the box and weird and badass all at the same time. 

I kinda just stumbled onto this when I was looking to buy something on ebay, it was in the related section.

What stood out to me was the name. The words serial and experiments caught my attention and from there, I immediately went to youtube to see if it was available, it was.

I watched the first four episodes, and although it was a little strange at first and raised so many questions, it had something in it that kept me hooked. Luckily, from episode five forward, the show starts to make more sense and some of the questions start getting answered, and that's when I was like, "yeah, this is awesome".

I finished watching the last seven episodes in a row last night and I just want to say, Wow! This series was ahead of it's time for sure. 

This is a 13 episode series, and only the first two eps are dubbed, it's all subtitles after that, but well worth the reading. I was actually about halfway into the third episode before I even realized that the english was gone. Lolz.

I don't even know how to describe this show. Computers, alternate reality, god. That's all I got.

If you haven't seen this, I highly recommend it, and if you have seen it, what are your thoughts? 

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2 hours ago, Shift said:

I watched this a little while back and it was very confusing but I some what understood it by the end. I liked it but some people I've recommended it to have said it was a too slow and boring.

It starts a little slow I'll admit, but it's far from boring. It's not for everybody I guess, we all have different tastes.

What has two thumbs and thinks this show was entertaining, This Guy!

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Really great series, one of my favs. Sometimes I like to list it as one of my top 5s, sometimes I don't - I really have a hard time getting a permanent list of favorite anime (or really any list of that kind) together though...

It one of the series that have a high rewatch value, as there is a lot to miss on the first or second watch and the show pretty open to interpret. I've seen people interpreting from a religious POV, from different philosophical angles, or as a critque/praise of internet and technology. I can understand when people say that its boring, since not a lot seems to happen, however, I think there definitly is a lot going on in all eps. But not everyone has to like it, and its not a show for everyone which is fine, and different people like/dislike it for different reasons... One thing i like that not many series have is the tone and the mood - SEL gives this feeling of creeping alienation which I haven't had in another anime yet.

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I have heard the name pop up a few times in my searches for new series lately though admittedly I have yet to check it out. Though I'd say this review of it is more then enough motivation to hop on it, and make it a priority for my watch list. :)

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1 hour ago, ArchieKun said:

I have heard the name pop up a few times in my searches for new series lately though admittedly I have yet to check it out. Though I'd say this review of it is more then enough motivation to hop on it, and make it a priority for my watch list. :)

Let us know what you think. I hope you like it.

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11 hours ago, Nono said:

It starts a little slow I'll admit, but it's far from boring. It's not for everybody I guess, we all have different tastes.

What has two thumbs and thinks this show was entertaining, This Guy!

Well if you like this style of anime you may like Paranoia Agent which I watched recently. I'm not very good at describing anime so I'm sure you could read about it on MAL or something.

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7 hours ago, Shift said:

Well if you like this style of anime you may like Paranoia Agent which I watched recently. I'm not very good at describing anime so I'm sure you could read about it on MAL or something.

Thanks. I'm in the middle of Ergo Proxy right now, but when I finish that , I'll check out PA.

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Also, if you like SEL and/or Ergo Proxy I'd also recommend Texhnolyze, which is criminally underrated, has some similar themes to SEL and gives you similar vibes, yet is different and unique enough. And you'll probably also enjoy Perfect Blue, a movie by the same director who made Paranoia Agent, if you liked these anime.

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1 hour ago, Nono said:

Thanks. I'm in the middle of Ergo Proxy right now, but when I finish that , I'll check out PA.

Nice, I also liked ergo proxy hope you enjoy it.

1 hour ago, leinwandname said:

Also, if you like SEL and/or Ergo Proxy I'd also recommend Texhnolyze, which is criminally underrated, has some similar themes to SEL and gives you similar vibes, yet is different and unique enough. And you'll probably also enjoy Perfect Blue, a movie by the same director who made Paranoia Agent, if you liked these anime.

That is something I plan to watch soon.

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One of my favorite anime's overall, I absolutely love Serial Experiments Lain. It's got a great atmosphere, great music and the story isn't told in a conventional manner and people are still dissecting the story to this day. It felt like David Lynch decided to make an anime - it's a strange show that likes to get in your head and mess with you. That's why I love it.

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  • 1 month later...
4 minutes ago, baejoohyun said:

One of the most boring anime series I've seen. I didn't understand anything. Maybe now when I'm older I would, but I don't have concentration for slow things. 

How old were you when you first saw it?

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7 hours ago, baejoohyun said:

Prolly 14 or 15. 

 

I'm not pretending to know you, but I wouldn't imagine a fourteen year old would be able to understand that show. And even if one could understand it at that age, I don't think you'd be able to truly appreciate the message(s) that are explored throughout.

Or maybe, you were a genius at fourteen, and just plain didn't like it. That too is an option.

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11 hours ago, baejoohyun said:

One of the most boring anime series I've seen. I didn't understand anything. Maybe now when I'm older I would, but I don't have concentration for slow things. 

I think this is just one of those series where you need to watch it more then once to fully understand it. Although I only watched it once, I watched some videos explaining it.

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10 hours ago, Nono said:

 

I'm not pretending to know you, but I wouldn't imagine a fourteen year old would be able to understand that show. And even if one could understand it at that age, I don't think you'd be able to truly appreciate the message(s) that are explored throughout.

Or maybe, you were a genius at fourteen, and just plain didn't like it. That too is an option.

I was just too young for it.

6 hours ago, Shift said:

I think this is just one of those series where you need to watch it more then once to fully understand it. Although I only watched it once, I watched some videos explaining it.

Well if I ever rewatch the series, I'm going to do so

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I've seen this way back, heck, right around the time I saw Haibane Renme and Texhnolyze. Yoshitoshi Abe and his colleague (I believe) are behind those series and more. They all have that dark messed up concept to which relate to the ugly truths of humanity. I mean there's a lot more, but that's the huge concept of those animes. Now, Lain was not my favorite of the bunch. Like I loved the OP song, 'Duvet'...if I recall. But, I felt like it was as most stated, slow. Not only that, I could have been because I was too young to understand. Yet, I did understand the others better. I can't fully recall how this series goes. My p.o.v. might change. 

 

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2 hours ago, Persona said:

I've seen this way back, heck, right around the time I saw Haibane Renme and Texhnolyze. Yoshitoshi Abe and his colleague (I believe) are behind those series and more. They all have that dark messed up concept to which relate to the ugly truths of humanity. I mean there's a lot more, but that's the huge concept of those animes. Now, Lain was not my favorite of the bunch. Like I loved the OP song, 'Duvet'...if I recall. But, I felt like it was as most stated, slow. Not only that, I could have been because I was too young to understand. Yet, I did understand the others better. I can't fully recall how this series goes. My p.o.v. might change. 

 

It was strange for sure, but I really liked it. It has a very "timeless" feel to it, like if it was to be released today, it would still make as much sense in today's society as it did twenty years ago. That opening song is pretty good too. The guitar notes at the end are nice.

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8 minutes ago, Nono said:

It was strange for sure, but I really liked it. It has a very "timeless" feel to it, like if it was to be released today, it would still make as much sense in today's society as it did twenty years ago. That opening song is pretty good too. The guitar notes at the end are nice.

I can agree with that statement. Even if Serial Experiments Lain was not a favorite of mine; it still had an impacting storyline that remains timeless. I'm starting to recall a bit on a particular reason on why I didn't like it so much. That was the way it transitioned with the random (yet meaningful) scenes and cuts to the next scene. To me back then it felt too random. Like the show was slow, yet had those random subliminal messages. Sorry if I'm rambling so much. Just recalling bits and pieces here. 

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42 minutes ago, Persona said:

I can agree with that statement. Even if Serial Experiments Lain was not a favorite of mine; it still had an impacting storyline that remains timeless. I'm starting to recall a bit on a particular reason on why I didn't like it so much. That was the way it transitioned with the random (yet meaningful) scenes and cuts to the next scene. To me back then it felt too random. Like the show was slow, yet had those random subliminal messages. Sorry if I'm rambling so much. Just recalling bits and pieces here. 

No need to apologize, rambling makes for some good reading, for me anyways. I'm much more of a listener than a talker. 

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On 11/7/2018 at 11:18 PM, Persona said:

I've seen this way back, heck, right around the time I saw Haibane Renme and Texhnolyze. Yoshitoshi Abe and his colleague (I believe) are behind those series and more. They all have that dark messed up concept to which relate to the ugly truths of humanity. I mean there's a lot more, but that's the huge concept of those animes. Now, Lain was not my favorite of the bunch. Like I loved the OP song, 'Duvet'...if I recall. But, I felt like it was as most stated, slow. Not only that, I could have been because I was too young to understand. Yet, I did understand the others better. I can't fully recall how this series goes. My p.o.v. might change. 

 

SEL is more .... abstract? ... than HR and Tex. While all three have metaphors, similes and hidden meaning, SEL just takes it a different level where objects and people and actions can mean a lot of things. I think its because of this that people think HR and Tex. are easier to understand and more approachable. All three still have discussions going on about what means what but SEL is the one with the most and most diverse theories, (from more pragmatic ones, to philosophical and even religious ones) I think.

What I sometimes feel is odd, is, that some people seem to think that they have to like these shows ...

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Quote

SEL is more .... abstract? ... than HR and Tex. While all three have metaphors, similes and hidden meaning, SEL just takes it a different level where objects and people and actions can mean a lot of things. I think its because of this that people think HR and Tex. are easier to understand and more approachable. All three still have discussions going on about what means what but SEL is the one with the most and most diverse theories, (from more pragmatic ones, to philosophical and even religious ones) I think.

I love how everything I typed originally was erased by a coding malfunction. 

Take 2.

Like I stated, all three shows had that ugly truth of the world in common. But SEL was agreeably abstract, just not the type of anime I was into at that age. I'm sure if I were to re-watch this show (which I plan to in the future) I would like it a lot more. 

Quote

What I sometimes feel is odd, is, that some people seem to think that they have to like these shows ...

That is how our world works. There will always be an opposing party to your ideas/opinions/thought/etc. 

Edited by Persona
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1 hour ago, Persona said:

 

That is how our world works. There will always be an opposing party to your ideas/opinions/thought/etc. 

Word. But at the same time, if everyone agreed on everything, we'd be like the above ground people on Texhnolyze, and that doesn't look fun.

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