Got Game?
After much internal debate, I have concluded that there are three kinds of anime, with lots of overlap: the ones you like, the ones you don't like and the ones you don't understand. ‘Lain’ wires technology
with mysteryBy Wilma Jandoc
wjandoc@starbulletin.comAnd over the course of watching it, "Serial Experiments Lain" moves into all three.
A quiet teenage girl, Lain, is the main character in this 13-episode anime. A day after her classmate Chisa commits suicide, students begin getting e-mail supposedly from the dead girl saying, "I am still here."
Lain in turn receives the e-mail and is pushed to investigate. She stumbles on a secret society called the Knights whose motives are unknown and seem to have a great deal of interest in Lain.
The disjointed story line makes it difficult to sum up much else about it, other than how technology, psychology and metaphysical elements have their place in the tale.
The anime takes place in a society that seems far removed from any other, with its sharp animation giving commonplace aspects an added mysterious touch.
It even has its own tech names: Computers are Navis, and its version of the Internet is called the Wired.
"Lain" has a fascination with simple, everyday things and takes it to the limit. In no other anime will you see so many shots of humming power lines and be made to feel like those scenes should convey some deep meaning.
Another big part of "Lain" seems to be still, close-up shots of people's eyes. Perhaps this is an ironic symbolism of people's lack of inner sight?
Many plot threads are left hanging, among them the purpose of the disappearance of Lain's sister, Mika; the role of a computer game popular among teens; and why exactly Lain is the target of so many efforts and what those efforts are supposed to achieve.
But fear not, potential viewers: "Lain" does start to make a glimmer of sense halfway through the series, although I highly recommend you not let more than a day lapse between watching episodes.
Even then, be prepared for a roller-coaster ride between sense and senselessness.
And yet, despite the fact that it confuses the bejeezus out of you, "Lain" is one of those things that burrows under your skin and drives you to find out all you can to enlighten your lack of understanding about it.
One good Web site to visit for this purpose is www.cyberia-anime.com, which has a section called "Psyche" that explains some of the anime's mysteries.
A mix of "The Matrix" and "Men in Black," "Lain" calls out to Generation X and beyond with its techno-club atmosphere while injecting a dose of the 1960s with its psychedelic presentation that might have come straight from the mind of a flower child on a drug high.
Now, technology -- and the information that flows because of it -- are the drugs of the new generation, and those who control its output are the ones in power.
"Lain" evolves into a questioning of existence and identity, musing of blurring lines between reality and the Wired. People's memories are presented as simply electrical impulses that can be altered by one with the ability to do so -- a so-called "god" of information.
Longtime Internet users will certainly relate to the concept of "other selves," as the near anonymity of the 'Net makes it easy to create personalities that are completely different from our "real-world" personas.
While its message may not be original, "Lain" presents that theme in a uniquely distorted way that makes it worth watching. Don't we all wish we could start life over again with the simple push of a "reset" button?
Wilma Jandoc covers the universe
of video games and anime for the
Star-Bulletin. She can be emailed at
wjandoc@starbulletin.com