Episode 12

2:33 – So now Lain herself is speaking in that “come join us” prologue bit, and it seems she might be a little drunk on world-hacking power

3:36 – Oh man, this is so tragic. In order to save her one legitimate connection, she’s come around to the viewpoint that the real world is just more information to be altered and rewritten at your convenience. So good!

I was enjoying this show before, but this is actually some classic, awesomely illustrated material here. I guess I just really prefer human stories, and as this show has gone on, it has shifted from being more fully concerned with its mysteries and ideas to really illustrating the relatable human desires at the core of Lain’s actions

3:53 – “People only have substance within the memory of others.” Jeez, that sounds a whole lot like “Gods can only exist if they are worshiped,” doesn’t it?

6:44 – So a “person” is actually just the accumulation of information that happens to be housed inside an organic machine, huh? Good news, Lain, you’re human after all!

8:39 – Masami Eiri isn’t dead… whether he had a body or not never mattered. Hm… who do we know that doesn’t have a body, but seems to be both alive and have a strong interest in Lain?

10:40 – Oshit, so it WAS a third party all along, just using the G-Men. The Knights were just competition for control of Lain that needed to be removed… so Eiri could take control, right? Hm…

16:57 – Just realized Lain’s ensemble is a crown of wires

18:37 – Man, why’s this guy gotta be such a dick

20:06 – Okay, here’s the confirmation. He inserted the code; he’s Eiri.

And Done

Wow, that was some extremely crafty work by Lain. Did she just use his obvious ridiculous ego to trick him into manifesting in a physical form, so she could bury him in a place where his consciousness wouldn’t be scattered through the Wired? But how can she avoid having him re-integrate? Well, they haven’t really explained how people integrate in the first place, so maybe that’s coming

Episode 13

2:33 – “Who is the me that is speaking?” Transposing classic philosophical questions on the definition of self against the complicating factor of internet personas and the questionable “eternal life” pure information (and by proxy the creators or holders of that information) is granted therein is a great idea, and this show definitely succeeds in making the connection between those two explorations so complete as to be seamless. I do wonder if they plan on actually taking a stand, though, or if they’re just interested in raising questions

4:18 – A nice image. All the trappings of her Wired identity compressed in a corner as Eiri’s gravestone – Lain clinging to the one person who matters.

4:50 – ALL RESET. Goddamnit Lain you are terrible at fixing things

7:20 – I like this jaunty pop song undercutting the tragedy of Lain erasing herself from history for the sake of a friend who never really understood her anyway

10:23 – Hah, that’s great. Like with the Knights, the reality of Eiri is just some disgruntled, muttering salaryman.

11:22 – “What isn’t remembered never happened. Memory is merely a record. You just need to reqrite that record.” Somehow I don’t think the show actually believes that. Could it possibly be because every prior attempt to change the record has resulted in unforeseen tragedy? Hmmm

12:03 – Bringing up the intro static Lain and downtown lights halfway through. This is so awesome. I love how this show worked so hard to establish various “chapter marks” and visual ticks with specific significance, and so it can now use the assumptions the viewer has vested in those markers to play with the narrative – it’s built its own vocabulary to abuse. That trick is so smart, and has so many potential applications, that I feel like I should write… it… down…

13:27 – “Dead people’s information isn’t leaking out of the Wired anymore.” Well, it’s always nice to receive direct confirmation of a prediction from ten episodes ago…

16:15 – “It’d be so much easier to be God. Much easier than being a person.” Don’t listen to her, Shinji!

17:25 – Alright, just gotta make sure this is clear in my head. Lain really did exist as information, and however knowledge of her spread, her own influence and ability to perceive spread. So for her, existence really was based on “memories of her,” or information of her in the Wired (which was why she was so much more powerful there), or etc – and now that she’s willfully removed all data on herself, her perception has shrunk to nothing. Right?

19:32 – Oh hey, isn’t that her OP outfit/bridge? Hmmm

It’s also nice to see a show where the visual design is distinctive enough that characters are recognizable even if they’re much older (like Arisu here) or completely shifted in wardrobe, hair, and temperament (like Eiri)

21:10 – So what’s the message here – that legacy doesn’t have to be a catalog of memories of you, and your life can matter even if the people you help don’t know it was you?

And Done

Whew! I liked that escape route of an ending. It cleared up a lot of narrative loose ends (though outside of “a program designed to integrate the two worlds,” Lain’s original identity was never outright stated), and actually followed through on the show’s ideas to arrive at a specific perspective and opinion on identity and the Wired. I’m not really sure where the show ultimately fell on how Lain’s identity is constructed – she clearly rejected the idea that you only exist in the reflection of others, but I can’t articulate exactly what she replaced it with – obviously that scene with Arisu indicates she still has the power to manifest physically, and she seems pretty much as powerful as ever, but… hm…

Okay, so between that and the scene with her “father,” I’m guessing it was the love they both expressed for a Lain that did once exist in their memory that helped her maintain ego (or just gave her the confidence to believe she should still exist) in the aftermath of the hard reset. Which is a nice bit of contradiction as well, since whenever a character expressed their love for her in the series, it was pretty much by way of apology – “I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything for you, but I want you to know that I loved you.” And yet, in the end, those expressions of affection seem to be what made “life” worth continuing or perceiving for her. And that scene with her “father” would in that case be an expression of her mental realization that she reciprocates that love, and that feeling means she exists (kinda paralleling the scene where she listens to Arisu’s heartbeat, which was what broke her away from Eiri’s philosophy in the first place). If this interpretation is correct, I think all the pieces fit.

Whew. Final set.

End of a brief, exhausting era. These two weeks have conclusively proven that this many writeups is too goddamn many, but Lain was definitely a fun ride. Lez do it.

Episode 10

2:24 – No voice to start at all this time, huh?

3:53 – “You’re dead, aren’t you? A dead human has no need for a body.” Alright, let it all out, show

4:27 – And it seems like Lain is speaking from “God’s” body now

6:18 – So was she having a conversation with herself? With a representative of her conception of the God either she or Lain of the Wired might represent? Bleh, I’ll just let it play, it’s making its own choices now

9:43 – So is the very first assumption I had to make to inform any hypothesis – that the physical world wasn’t just another construction – the one they’re now saying is false? Or are we still in Lain’s head. Or are we always

10:42 – Wait, what does her sister represent? Eh, again, I’m sure it will explain itself soon enough

12:16 – Aw, that was a great little scene. Some nice lines by the actor formally known as Lain’s father, and the bittersweet idea that a being born to have mastery of Wired connection desperately craves the smallest hint of real, physical connection

13:25 – “The Wired’s God is a God because he has worshipers.” They keep bringing up this concept, and it’s pretty interesting. Are they saying that the information of the Wired has no value in the abstract, and that it is only through observation that such things become tangible and powerful? It seems linked to the idea of informationcontrol as being the indicator of power within the Wired – which doesn’t seem to fall in line with singularity ideas, and instead promotes the idea of the various personas of the Wired as still maintaining agency and individuality even when fully integrated into the information – the replacement of one world with another that isn’t quite as different as I suspected

14:28 – Welp, there’s final confirmation that woman was a Knight… and I guess maybe confirmation that the Knights exist in physical form

15:27 – A nice parallel and actual truth here, where the only thing that gave Knights actual power was the exclusive knowledge of themselves – when that information’s exclusivity is lost, their Wired invulnerability becomes tied to their physical fragility. Fuck ’em up, Lain

19:37 – “We still haven’t figured out what you are… but I love you.” Both her official fake-father and her shadowy caretaker express real emotion for her. Interesting to see the forces designed to maintain the illegitimacy and artificial nature of the Wired all ending up feeling a genuine and undeniable emotional connection to a being naturally designed for the Wired

And Done

Welp, still not sure of this God, but everything else seems pretty clear. It was a little abrupt, but I’m glad the Knights got handled in a thematically satisfying way – all the conspiracy stuff is kind of secondary to the questions the show is now dwelling on. This was a very good episode.

Episode 11

2:30 – Ojeez, integrating Lain’s crazy new apparatus with the standard opening shots. It’s weird, she’s more and more dedicated to maintaining a physical connection even as she more fully connects her terminal to the Wired

3:20 – And the light turns green. That can’t be good!

11:47 – Well that was… half an episode. Hm. Once again, the show takes something carefully implied (how important Arisu and specifically her physical contact with Lain are) and makes it explicit so nobody’s left behind, but I guess that’s kind of necessary in a show like this. Not sure what else that whole sequence was really doing – the only contrast of scenes that seemed meaningful was Lain’s disappearance from the classroom being contrasted against her strangling of Lain of the Wired, which maybe implied that Lain of the Wired actually did take over her terminal, and she killed her own connection with the world. But I don’t think it actually was implying that (the show seems to constantly waver on how tangible Lain is at a given moment), so I dunno

The times when this show takes a step back and basically explains everything that’s been happening to the audience make me wonder if I’d be the absolute worst person to actually write a show. The balancing acts smart anime have to perform to entertain a wider audience seems like a really tough thing to learn and maintain – shows like OreGairu and Gargantia have to appeal on multiple levels at almost all times, and shows that simply give mainstream audiences the finger (like Shinsekai Yori) tend to pay for it dearly

13:45 – “Lain, you’re basically software.” This guy is one smooth operator

19:25 – So is Lain better at manifesting in the Wired than she is at sending another manifestation into the real world, and that’s why she shows up all bizarre and half-alien? Or is there more truth to this portrayal than that?

There’s also another one of the many great, deliberate contradictions these last few episodes have been creating in Lain forcing herself to become more attuned to the Wired so she can gain the power to salvage her physical life

22:20 – Hah, the “Be” floats in before “To _ Continued.” You’re adorable, Lain

And Done

Damn! Even with the first half being a sort of random memory clip show (that I guess represented her full download, but I don’t know what it actually did other than that), that was still another great episode. I really like the ways this world works when pretty much everything is out in the open – the finale with Lain’s family, the Knights, and the G-Men last episode, and now Lain’s desperate, self-destructive attempts to save her friendship with Arisu. Great, great stuff

Episode 9

2:15 – “If you want to be free of suffering, you should believe in God.” – Yeeeeeeeeeeeep. Either live in the divided pain of the real world, or join the sea of free information

2:47 – “A strange craft…” Wait, aliens? ALIENS??? [RES ignored duplicate image]

4:40 – Seriously, aliens, you guys. You guys, aliens. [RES ignored duplicate image]

5:54 – “Named as a member of this secret organization blah blah” This episode is doing SERIOUS DAMAGE to my thesis

7:27 – “If a being is remembered, that proves it’s part of a record” – how can I even articulate how lines support my interpretation of how identity works on the Wired when they just introduced ALIENS? [RES ignored duplicate image]

9:16 – Oshit the chip’s got the Knights symbol shit gonna get craaaaay

10:02 – Why am I watching a slideshow about dolphins WHAT IS THIS SHOW DOING

11:17 – The funny thing is, I find the interwoven stuff where Lain’s actively trying to fight her way out from Lain of the Wired’s shadow fascinating. That disconnect between very good thriller and very clumsy philosophical lecture is coming up again

12:28 – “I don’t know if there are other Lains in there… but I’m the only one with a body in the real world.” Yesss, Lain. Fight it! Fight!

12:58 – Hm. They say the other Lain has only appeared in the club, but what about Lain in the intersection? What about Lain in the sky? Were all those just in our Lain’s head?

15:51 – “Fighting to make the only truth there is into reality.” Because it’s not like there’s any way to manipulate information or “truth” on the internet. So yeah, nice try, Seele

17:13 – It is kind of weird to hear them discussing the internet as something that had to be painstakingly constructed one breakthrough at a time. It feels pretty goddamn indestructible and ever-present to me right now…

19:00 – Finally a little information about Lain’s backstory. So it looks like the G-Men did indeed set up this situation to basically quarantine her – why her “father” destroyed that quarantine by introducing the Wired into her life, I can’t say

And Done

So is that the Wired remnant of the guy who was attempting to add some kind of singularity protocol to the 7th generation?

Anyway. This episode had a ton of exposition that I frankly could have done without – the show itself has explained basically everything that is relevant to either Lain’s story or the themes, and it’s not like talking about the history of the internet makes the sci-fi elements of this show any more tangible. I honestly don’t know what value any of that history lesson really provided… personally, I’m far more interested in Lain’s process of defining her own personality almost in opposition to Lain of the Wired, as well as the actual experiment that resulted in Lain being who she is. Also, they brought up aliens, and then an alien appeared in her room, and then they never mentioned it again. Weird.

That said, the stuff that was actually relevant to the story in this episode was great, as were the two previous ones – I’m very impressed with how well they’re maintaining a coherent thriller storyline despite the ambiguity of everything we’re being shown. And I actually like Lain as a character now, whereas I felt she was more of a prop working in service of the ideas earlier on. So I’m excited to see this one through.

Episode 8

2:00 – Just realized that between the physical Lain, the crows, and Lain of the Wired here, this OP could basically be the story of the show – whether that pause at the end means Lain has become god (singularity) or rejected the merge, I dunno

2:15 – “If you want to feel pain, don’t look away.” That’s right, Shinji. What did the real world ever do for you?

3:34 – And now Wired/non-Wired Lain are working together, with that persona actually representing her will. So maybe she actually did control the persona switches earlier

6:38 – “They asked if you were my real parents. Don’t people say the funniest things?” Welp, she’s not looking away, and this seems pretty damn painful!

7:23 – Arisu touches her shoulder. They keep indicating the reality of this connection with that physical contact she can find nowhere else

8:20 – And Lain immediately tears up at being threatened by the one person who matters to her. SAVE HER ARISUUU

8:54 – That statue has a tiny head

11:30 – “God makes his grand entrance,” eh? And claims that he is her? And that her real world self is a hologram? I’m guessing this is more meddling by the Knights, but at this point, if he says he’s god and god is her, it could very well be true

12:17 – Wait, whaaat? Why is the class all staring at her – what is she actually doing? Or has she not even gotten back to the physical world? Or… bleh, not worth hypothesizing, shit’s just happening

13:15 – So at this point, I’m guessing everyone knows her as whatever Lain of the Wired just did. So obviously she has to find the one person who believes in the value of Lain outside of the Wired

16:35 – THE BORDERS OF HER EGO ARE BREAKING DOWN. Man, if ever there were a post-Evangelion show…

Not that that’s a bad thing – Eva’s my favorite show, after all. But dem parallels be crazy

17:00 – Looks like Lain’s isolation and trauma have jumpstarted her merge, and now she can speak with Lain of the Wired directly

18:56 – “As long as I’m aware of myself, my true self is inside me.” Well that’s just, like, your opinion, man

19:47 – “Deleting.” Oh god Lain what have you done

And Done

What? Did she go too deep, and have her physical terminal permanently stolen by Lain of the Wired? Her AT Field’s looking pretty ragged at the moment…

I swear, starting with our next show I’m just gonna be posting reaction gifs. I need a vacation.

Episode 7

2:32 – “Society.” Damnit, I should probably have been noting the episode titles, I’m sure they’re relevant too. Ah well

2:37 – This shot kind of made overt the fact that her house sits at a crossroads/intersection. There’s been a great deal of imagery related to that, mainly in the constant pedestrian crossing stuff (which has ended with both Lain and her sister sitting in the middle of the crossing) but also recently in Lain’s Wired representations, where she was lit up at the center of a white X crossing. This could be relevant to either the gateway of information flow she seems to represent (like the walk/don’t walk sign), or even thematically to the fact that her choices here will decide the future course of the Wired and physical world

3:03 – Apparently the reports of her room’s explosion were greatly exaggerated?

3:15 – “The me in the Wired is becoming less and less like me.” Alright, so that seems close enough to confirmation that separate personas have their own will within the Wired – or at least that Lain specifically has a representation with its own goals

6:46 – Are these various characters Knights, and the program they’re looking at their next target for cross-integration? Not enough info, but it seems more likely than them adding a new element seven episodes in

7:10 – “Lately you’ve been slipping again.” As in the last few days, or from some time ago?

8:20 – Very nice scene. From the perspective of “the real world isn’t real at all,” to her immediate, surprising fear at offending her one real-world friend, to the elation of maintaining that connection, capstoned by the physical contact the Wired can’t replicate. Maybe the real world isn’t so bad.

Arisu might have just set Lain’s assumption of divinity back quick some time

8:45 – Information Bureau announcement is complimented with scrolling red banners, making me think that’s the organization the red-eyed G-Men represent – and their goal would be represented by the red “don’t walk” sign, a cordoning of the information flow with the hope of preventing the merge

12:10 – FINALLY the G-Men actually talk to her. You’d think they’d have tried that before the Knights had already spent weeks on their crazy-ass integration projects…

12:17 – “We have no intention to harm you physically” – I appreciate the specificity of that line

13:34 – This guy’s desperation to join the Knights makes me think the Knights are all actually personas, and have no presence in the physical world anymore. Also I like how his VR ensemble has an umbrella sticking out of it

15:28 – Hah. “Can you fix my computer for me?” A very cute riff on the “We must test the potential hero to see if they are the one from prophecy” trope. Also, another sideways allusion to how the youth are the first to merge

17:47 – Okay, so it seems like there might just be the one additional Wired Lain (sneering, extroverted), and then there’s the differences between physical Lain’s own natural and assumed personas – timid and unsure, sunny and inquisitive.

19:42 – “Are your parents your real parents?” Yeeep. Here we are

It’s interesting that her sister at least was recently replaced, though. And I’m not sure who set up Lain’s little clockwork world

20:15 – Yep, and here’s the primary Wired persona jumping onboard

10:55 – “We believe this to be dangerous… you’re what’s dangerous.” So yep, they’re the faction trying to maintain borders, and Lain’s own tampering/affinity for the Wired is accelerating things. Check check check

21:06 – “Something interesting is happening. We should just watch from the sidelines.” – IT’S A GOOD THING THAT’S YOUR FUCKING SPECIALTY, G-MEN

And Done

Wow, the Knights didn’t accept VR dude? Who could have seen that coming?!?

But yeah, this episode made explicit a bunch of what I was assuming at this point, though it didn’t really answer my last couple questions – they still haven’t confirmed Lain’s origins (though the fabricated nature of her home life was something I was glad to have confirmed, and I’m fairly certain she’s the end result of the experiment from 15 years ago – a living bridge with one foot in each world) or if Deus is what both the Knights intentionally and Lain naturally are moving towards becoming (though this also seems extremely likely). I’m surprised the G-Men took such a laid-back stance here, though I guess they can’t really do anything to contain Lain of the Wired – if they imprison corporeal Lain, Wired Lain will just not check in at the terminal for a while.

It would appear that the housewife actually is one of the Knights, and that their new game has just been released. I guess we’ll have to wait until next… oh wait, we don’t have to wait for shit.

Episode 6

1:58 – A question just occurred to me – is there someone the audience is supposed to “root for” in this series? Does it have a “protagonist” in the traditional sense? The original Lain is a cypher – she’s curious and lonely, but exhibits only the slightest traces of personality. The other Lains have more personality, but they seem like intruders, since the original Lain doesn’t seem aware or in control of them. Is the amalgamation of these various personas supposed to amount to a single person/identity we can empathize with? It seems difficult, since the personas seem so willfully constructed – normally, you empathize with characters because you understand them, and how their experiences led to them being the person they are. In this case, those personas seem fabricated to serve various purposes, and not honest reflections of anyone’s actual experiences

Outside of Lain’s continuous sinking into the Wired, the narrative here is also pretty loose as well – last episode this was taken to an extreme, but often the events on-screen seem to exist in service of the underlying ideas. And even earlier on, before this show’s philosophy was overtly established, it was more of a mood piece than a strict narrative, both because of the pacing and because of Lain’s minimal presence as the central character. It’s honestly normally not my kind of thing (character and storytelling generally take precedence over theme or aesthetic for me, though if the characters are the theme  we’re really getting somewhere), but I’d like to think I can appreciate any well-articulated piece of art, and I’m enjoying this so far

Anyway

3:43 – He steps into her room and show actual concern for her sinking. So it seems like her father is still here, at least

5:30 – All hail our wire overlords!

6:26 – “Everybody comes to see me… no, that’s not right, maybe I go to see them.” A cute allusion to the line getting blurrier here

8:20 – Unsurprising that it’s the younger kids who are first to adopt the new reality

9:53 – Thrilling discourse between zombie mom and zombie sis

10:20 – Another cute extrapolation of the themes – her Navi is secured by voice recognition, but that really doesn’t mean much when it comes to Lain

10:58 – Okay, so this talking mouth confirms my suspicions from last episode – those figures that appeared in her room (the mask, the doll) were almost certainly Wired avatars

13:47 – “Experiment data from fifteen years ago.” Oh man, are they giving me the final piece? All I needed before was Lain’s personal significance, and this is looking promising

15:11 – In case you’re wondering, yes, I repeatedly paused the episode to read that scrolling text. Most of it was just experiment jargon, but it mentioned recording a variety of “utterances” across several months using the phone lines. So, basically just noise. I regret nothing

16:24 – Our collected mental energies forming an energy independent of our bodies, eh? Hm…

17:14 – “That’s all you can think about? What about those children?” “Talk about self-centered.” You’re contradicting yourself, Lain! He’s thinking about the information – about our collective self. You’re the one bringing self-generated values and empathy into the equation!

17:50 – “The rogues that run this simulation.” You’ve been running with a tough crowd, Lain. I think you just figured out why those Knights are all so nice to you

20:24 – Ohey, just realized the red of their tracers is the same as the red of the “Don’t Walk” sign. I’m sure that’s just a coincidence

And Done

Whew! I was worried for a second there, when she was accusing them of being the Knights, that my whole understanding of the series was about to come crumbling down. But no, Lain’s silly, obviously they’re a separate group working against the Knight’s plans for singularity or interconnectedness or general mayhem

I think that’s enough chaos, guys. The Knights. An experiment from 15 years ago that led to many children being subsumed into one unit. Lain, a girl of about 15 years of age who seems to contain multitudes, and be strangely fluent in manipulating the Wired. The power of thought to form a kind of energy, which could then be used to affect the real world. Yes… [RES ignored duplicate image] Yesss… [RES ignored duplicate image] YESSSS

Ahem. Anyway. There are still details to iron out (whether this “God” is a fabrication of Lain, the Knights, the children, or its own thing, who specifically was responsible for Lain’s sister’s lobotomy, who the G-Men represent, etc), but we’re getting there.

Oh right. What I thought of these episodes.

Pretty good! I think when it wants to be atmospheric, it can be incredibly atmospheric. I really liked the stuff with her sister, as well as the ways the show portrays Lain interacting with the Wired. I like that it actually has a coherent central story now, and isn’t too wedded to its ideas to maintain a valid mystery. I like the various ways it plays with the pedestrian traffic motif, and I liked some of the questions about what defines something as substantive or real in the information age

On the negative side, I think the show has a few issues with pacing, and one fairly large one with exposition. Most of the time, its themes and ideas are being continuously portrayed visually and through the pieces of the mystery that are handed out to us – I wasn’t a fan of the moments when the show sat Lain down and talked to her directly about what the Wired might represent. I mean, we’re all watching the same show here – it exists as a narrative exploration of those ideas, it doesn’t have to outline and underline them on top of that. Those segments also worked against the pacing and mood of one of the show’s best sequences so far – her sister being broken down by the Wired – which was a shame. This show’s philosophical elements and sci-fi thriller elements are both strong, but I think at that moment they were working at cross purposes

Aside from that, I don’t really have any complaints – it’s a very enjoyable show with a great aesthetic, some interesting ideas, and a generally keen understanding of how to pace a mystery/thriller. Any other complaints I might lob (that it’s impersonal/lacking in character, for instance) are basically wishing it was a different kind of show entirely, which is not a fair complaint. This show is quite good at doing what it is trying to do.

Episode 5

2:19 – “If you can hear it, it is speaking to you. And if you can see it, it is your…” Implying the Wired is willfully choosing specific people to bridge the gap with?

2:37 – “Mankind is a creature that no longer evolves, is it not?” Boom, we’re into the singularity-speak.

3:50 – “We can escape that existence… I am God.” Yep, singularity. On the one hand, hey, go me, all my assumptions were more or less correct. On the other hand, well, where does the show go from here?

4:19 – Not sure of the significance of the pedestrian walk sign yet. I mean, I could invent some, if you’d like… like how it’s a symbol of the way electronic systems already control and direct the flow of humanity, or maybe how it’s a metaphor for all of humanity waiting for the signal from a monitor screen to rush forth in a new tide, or yada yada bullshit bullshit Deep Thinking.

5:32 – Oh man, is this a flashback to pre-lobotomy Lain? It seems like she was aware of these ghosts at a pretty young age…

6:25 – Ooh, I like this. Robotics;Notes dealt with this a bit, too, though it wasn’t all that graceful – the ways our interactions with the modern world are already mediated by technology, and our powerlessness when we’ve lost control of that technology, both physically and intellectually. I really like this “events come into existence as soon as they are prophesied” bit contrasted against it – in an age where information is king, and all information is mediated by the internet, the internet essentially has the power to define truth however it wishes

8:04 – “The other side is crowded. The dead will have no place to go.” When hell is full the dead will walk the earth? Is that the explanation for the ghosts – that the Wired is overcrowded? Seems a little odd

9:43 – “History is not merely a linear set of points that we pass through on a timeline.” Man, they are just throwingeverything at the wall here, aren’t they? So now, for all we know socialite Lain could have appeared at that club just because we live in a big ball of timey-wimey stuff where anything can happen any time

10:44 – Okay, we’re back to Lain #1. And it looks like the various personas aren’t aware of each other’s activities – or at least blank slate Lain isn’t

13:14 – “The real world is nothing but a hologram, a visual representation of elements of the Wired.” So now we’re in the Matrix, too.

Her mother appearing as one of these persona ghosts might mean something, but this episode is just throwing way too many ideas together to really propose any coherent point. The pacing is also dragged down by how esoteric all these monologues are, as well – I’m not a fan of how fully we’ve been detached from an actual narrative. It comes off like a series of philosophical lectures – and I don’t want to have a bunch of interesting ideas exposited at me, I want to follow a story that through its telling provokes interesting ideas. Granted, this show does that successfully most of the time, but this episode in particular is not very graceful

13:43 – “Are you really my mom?” Finally a question I actually want answered, and she freaking evaporates on us. Goddamnit ghost mom

14:16 – I like how every meal scene just has Lain spinning her soup in purposeful circles

14:46 – Lines of visibility and eye contact seem pretty important in this show. Characters so often look away when speaking to each other, or have their connection blocked by some outside element – her father’s monitors, the parent’s hands

16:05 – I like the idea of this episode, where you’re getting a view of Lain’s rise into Godhood or whatever through the eyes of her sister, who’s basically getting hit by constant shrapnel of this merging process. Sure makes for a weird-ass narrative structure, though, since we don’t know how real anything is

19:32 – Interesting idea. If the Wired is a world created of information, what defines one thing there as real and another as unreal? Currently, it’s our ability to verify from own world – but if our own world is being replaced, then an electronic God of pure information has every right to exist

These sermons still aren’t doing that much for me, though. The show is basically telling me all the things it’s been about the whole time – it’s already shown me these concepts in action, it doesn’t need to explain them as well

The fact that both parents are here lecturing, and that that is contrasted against the sister basically being witch-hunted by the Wired, is very interesting, though. Have they already both been replaced by personas (or just lost their agency into the Wired) the way Lain sometimes seems to be? And is the Wired now attempting to do the same to Lain’s sister – to remove another of the pillars of empathy still remaining to her in her original world?

21:15 – OSHIT IT’S TRUE. THEY’VE REPLACED HER WHOLE GODDAMN FAMILY WITH LOBOTIMIZED WIRED DOPPELGANGERS

21:50 – And her sister fades away. So those ghosts are the original personalities, now consumed by the Wired? Fuuuuuuu

And Done

HOT DAMN that ending was crazy. The plot’s definitely coming into focus here, I think. I still don’t know what makes Lain valuable, but it seems like the God of the Wired is determined to have her, and is trying (successfully) to isolate her in order to achieve that goal. The stuff with her sister was incredibly intense and very well done – I thought the lecture stuff on Lain’s side was a lot less graceful, and the episode was weirdly paced as a result (with scenes of high tension undercut by scenes of Lain being philosophized at by a series of ghosts), but honestly the sister stuff was so great that overall I’m fine with it. Maybe this show felt it was necessary to explain itself a little more – maybe it’s not wrong. Either way, it appears that Lain is now living in a house of corpses, being occasionally overtaken by the will of a handful of hostile personas. That’s a pretty sticky situation!

All thriller no filler this time. Let’s get right to it.

Episode 4

2:22 – “I don’t need parents. Humans are all alone. They’re not connected to anyone at all.” I guess we’re starting to drag the elements of the real world towards their thematic point here

2:36 – Oh how I missed you, wires and hum

3:33 – What does her father know? Was he always aware she’d begin to enter this world? He seems to treat her almost like an experiment to be kept at arm’s length – and her mother wants nothing to do with her at all. They know something

Also, is the clear/opaque thing with his glasses meaningful as well? Goddamnit, I’m pretty sure everything is meaningful, but that means everything could basically mean anything – there’s too much goddamn room for interpretation right now

4:47 – Okay, so we get a moment of concern from all three other family members here. Perhaps everyone in this family is just super weird and pensive and reticent, but aside from Lain they all actually are ordinary people

6:02 – Goddamnit, how… do… KEYS WORK?!?!

Having a lot of trouble there. So is this guy being haunted by another ghost of the Wired?

7:13 – Lots more info. So it seems people are giving up their bodies both willingly and unwillingly at this point. Also, Lain’s personality has definitely shifted

7:54 – “You’ve changed… but I can’t put my finger on it.” Gee, could it be her entirely new personality?

9:29 – Aaand now ghost girl appears as a “real” person. And Lain is using her newly acquired personality to successfully interact in the “real” world as well. And I have no idea what anything means anymore

I have suspicions, though – my current one being that the Wired world is beginning to overlap with the real world in more ways now – through personas appearing in person (the little girl) and through Lain adopting her (I assume) online persona as her current real one

But who knows

9:45 – Where did she get all this hardware?

10:41 – I like how the invention of terms like “Wired” and “Navi” keep this show from being dated – they’re just meant to be catch-alls for terminals and connections, things that are relevant regardless of the platform

11:15 – Lain asking the DJ a question without being there – more evidence for the overlap theory. It also sounded like she was using a third persona here – I assume the one that the Cyberia patrons know her by

16:07 – Dem corridors. I’m getting Goldeneye flashbacks

This whole sequence also seemed to explain a lot about the sci-fi stuff going on – though it’s interesting that he seemed to actually kill that girl with the weapon from his game. I figured everyone else had just run down a corridor that happened to correlate to running off a building in the real world – but it seems like you can actually kill people by killing their persona using the tools of the Wired. And then her body actually appeared in the sheet? Or her persona’s body did?

Either way, just seems like there are a few loose ends to clear up there. The real mystery we have remaining is Lain herself

Also, that sequence employed some nice visual tricks, and I really liked the effect of the invisible gun – but we’ve covered how visually interesting this show is

18:19 – “Don’t worry. I’m still me.” What does that even mean, Lain?

So her and her father are basically outlining everything we’ve figured out so far (“It’s not real” “The lines aren’t actually that clear – and I’ll enter it soon”). Meaning the show wants everyone to be up to the same page… meaning the show probably has a lot more to say, since we’re only a third of the way in. Exciting stuff

19:33 – “The Knights are a religion that is spreading through the wired.” And they’re the ones responsible for bridging the games – more shades of singularity here, or at least full interconnectedness, and the distinction between the two is pretty precarious 

And Done

Shit! Lain #2 doesn’t give a fuck about the G-Men – she’ll get so pissed off she’ll hack their tracers with a stern voice alone.

So, whatever she used to be (well, that’s my current guess), she’s becoming it again. My current theory – Lain at some point suffered some kind of persona lobotomy, resulting in the character we see for the first three episodes. However, upon reconnecting to the Wired, her personas are returning to her – because they never really died, they were just living separately from her as data in the Wired (which can itself take material form now – thus the alternate Lain at Cyberia). Why she has these powers, and why she’s so prone to having her actual body jump between personas, I don’t think we have the evidence to guess at yet

Structurally, the show’s plan seems to be to shift from psychological horror/mystery to sci-fi thriller, which it handled quite well this episode. Good stuff