The Unique Fandom Of Serial Experiments Lain

Serial Experiments Lain is a Japanese Anime series from 1998 that tells a deep and dark story about both the real world and the internet. A very unique following and fanbase has stemmed because of Lain which has led to multiple creative projects being made since it's release.

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Links

0:00 Intro
2:02 Lain’s Influence
5:38 PS Game
7:20 Echochamber Album
9:12 Wired Sounds For Wired People
12:12 Conclusion

[fauux]

So strange to see your own work be talked about. I laughed out loud when you said the login screen takes you to a weird rat site haha

[fedor]

My favorite scene is in the end when Lain says "Maybe the real serial experiment was the friends we made along the way"

[SWTCHBLXDE]

This anime really feels ahead of its time, almost like it applies more today than it did when it was originally released. And as technology grows more and more powerful and influential that’ll only ring more true. Just look at things like the metaverse, people are growing more and more disconnected with reality and more in touch with technology, much like Lain and the Wired. The Wired almost feels like it predicted the metaverse.

Rambling aside, great video Rich, would love to see videos on passion projects for other anime.

PS. Lain opening = best anime opening ever imo

[anipred]

i love when lain said its wiring time and wired all the knights

[AlexYT]

Funny thing is, the Wired Website is what actually got me into the anime, and not the other way around.

[unrealisticdiversity]

ive been obsessed with lain for like 3 years and i even cut my hair like hers


lets all love lain

[facade]

in my opinion too many people are caught up in the aesthetics of the show and they end up missing the point of it entirely

Lain is about our relationships with other humans, how the person we see ourselves as doesn't exist and instead we actually exist only as ideas in other people's heads, and the difference of how we express our identities and make relationships online as opposed to in real life

[chrismuratore]

I used to watch this series every day. As soon as I would finish it, I would start it over. It always made me feel not alone. Its painfully relatable how isolating life can be sometimes.

[YakuiMeido]

As an older anime fan who really liked Lain back in the 2000s, I'm honestly a bit perplexed by it's recent resurgence. The show is so old that the future it predicted seems dated at this point. It's like 2015 with chunkier tech. There's a lot of dead air and still frames where you're just meant to soak up the atmosphere and form your own opinions about what's going on, which seems really antithetical to the way media is presented today. The info dump at the end about MK Ultra and John C. Lily was really mind-blowing back in the day, because "Holy shit wow the government really did that?!" but it's kinda common knowledge today.
Either way, I'm really happy you all love Lain.

[feduwtc]

Lain is my favorite fictional media of all time, it's incredible, weird but beautiful, old but still very present

[shumanbeans]

2 things I want to add to this topic:

The composer of Cyberia mix album has been hosting VR Lain-themed music sessions, where he mixes "regular" music, OST from the show and his own pieces (also inspired by the show).

I'm not that much into either community but I have noticed there is an overlap between the Lain and breakcore music fandom. I'm specially new to breakcore so I don't know if the history of the genre had something to do with the anime.

[RogueBeatsARG]

Lain will always be remembered because its one of those anime that can pull your deepest strings, specially if you were born in the early internet era. and the fan base its one of the best out there

[wildercerrate]

Every little bit of creative choice that went into this show are done so well. It actually feels like art house anime and almost like a cyber version of a Yorgos Lanthimos movie mixed with some David lynch

[malum-inse]

If you know Lain...then you know. There's nothing truly like it and its fanbase are not the casual consumer of anime, but consists of artists, philosophers, and people who know real darkness inside.

[bunildaa]

For anyone who likes lain, I highly recommend watching another one of Yoshitoshi Abe's works, Haibane Renmei. It came a bit after SEL but it's beautiful and tells a great story. It's a bit slow like Lain but not as confusing for a first time watch, in my opinion. Anyone who's watched it please comment and let me know what you thought of it!

[youngrootv]

This is one of my favorite anime that I can’t recommend to anyone to watch because I watched it when I wasn’t in a great place in life and I felt like that’s why it clicked so much with me. The best way I can describe it is dark, eerily deep and philosophical, especially for it’s time. It’s a tough watch for a casual anime watcher for sure, but gah damn that opening and the soundtrack overall is incredible!!

[WildArtistsl]

Yep, I love the series. The episode when Lain goes into the internet for the first time? The visuals are just wow some animes today could never. I also enjoyed the side characters and how many interpretations it has. For me, Lain is about puberty or rather a young child discovering the internet and just spiraling down. But there are so many ways to see it. It kinda gives me FLCL vibes but more scifi and so much ahead of its time I can´t. No matter when you watch it fits in any period. it's such a timeless classic

[justnojustn]

Woman goes on 4chan for the first time

The series

[moxxibekk]

watched this as a teen shortly after it was dubbed in the early 00s. The theme song SLAPS and I still have it on Spotify. I love anime themes that don't scream anime (like Edan of the east using an oasis song for its first episode)
I've watched this series several times over the years, and feel like I get something new each time, as I see it through different phases of my life, and different cultural lens. I will say, the spiritual successor, Texhnolyze, is similar in its "different perspectives based on time and age" that one is DEPRESSING. like, so much so the dub cast makes fun of it in the bloopers.

[jKherty]

Oh yes, we're a pretty unique fanbase, I'm glad to be a fan of SEL, and I'm kinda happy about the fandom. Especially compared to other fandoms...!