Almost twenty years later, and Serial Experiments Lain still hasn't been topped

Almost twenty years later, and Serial Experiments Lain still hasn't been topped.

How can it be?

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dropped that trash. Things just happen, there is no plot

Lain always has been shit, though. Just another bad anime overrated by nostalgia fags, pretty much the same case as Bebop.

>Bebop is bad meme
Reddit pls go and stay go

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>How can it be?

>underage plebeians

Go rewatch Lain until you get it, retards.

>If you didn't like it it was just 2deep4u
Nice. Why don't you go ahead and explain it for us plebs?

Fuck this shit

Despera when?

Started watching it a month ago and dropped it after 4 episodes. To be honest it's pretty bad. Maybe 20 years ago people thought it was cool because computers and Internet, but it's just normal shit happening with some slightly weird stuff.

NEVER

>Almost twenty years later, and Serial Experiments Lain still hasn't been topped.
>How can it be?

In order to be "topped" there has to be another series about a cute girl dealing with the computerized world right now like big data, social media, general interconnection among peeps and their effects on society

Stuff found in Lain is a bit outdated

Wake me up when it's Despera time already.

>implying it's a meme
>implying it's not leddit's nr. 1 show to begin with
>implying it's not garbage

>Stuff found in Lain is a bit outdated
it's really not though. in fact, it's more important than ever these days.

The 90s were the pinnacle of anime as an artform, now all that's left is moeshit

>Lain
>outdated
The primary theme of the show is showing a society where everything is being increasingly connected by networks and how this affects how people act and think.
Someone's virtual identity is increasingly connected to their real self, to the point where they're indistinguishable.
Information is manipulated, only the things people remember are truly real, and to be forgotten is to have never existed at all.

Lain is more relevant now that it ever was.

It was very Sup Forums related with a bit of /x/ thrown into it. How can you not like cyberpunk psychological horror? Lain is legit one of the few anime you can honestly call deep.

Close, but no cigar OP

ONISHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Either Lain or Utena is the best anime of all time and both are actual works of art.
The reason neither has been topped is because it can't be because 10/10 is the maximum score.
The fact that nothing hasn't even come close is sort of sad though.

>cyberpunk psychological horror

Stop

Kill yourself, this show was a piece of trash save the surface episodes.

Part of the charm of lain was the futuristic tech, and you can't really get that feeling if you're watching it today. When it was released virtual reality was a combination of inconceivable and magic, and that really added to the show. The ideas presented are indeed more relevant today, but the way that the show can be perceived has changed drastically.

It was cyberpunk and it also was a psychological horror. What else would you call it.

holy shit I have never seen the hipster so strong before...

Go be a contrarian somewhere else

The surface episodes were amazing but the whole show was very strong,

Nice argument, you retarded imbecile.

Cancer thread.

>The primary theme of the show is showing a society where everything is being increasingly connected by networks and how this affects how people act and think
You've taken it way too literally.
The 'technology' in Lain is an analogy of the human mind and 'the wired' is 'culture'. Lain is about the separation between a human and a person; a genetic being and their memetic 'self'. Lain struggles with the idea that her 'personality' is the real her and her actual physical body is just an obsolete vessel, meanwhile other people's impressions of her create alternate "Lains" who are manifestations of the understanding her friends have of who she really is etc etc.

Like, the computers are just analogues for the sake of storytelling.
It's a posthumanist masterpiece and is a product of the whole cyberpunk thing, but it's not actually about computers, they're metaphors for human culture.

I dropped this on episode 10
when did it start getting good

Episode 11. I'm totally serious

K-On topped it pretty decisively.

Not even close user.

What I said and what you said aren't mutually exclusive.
"Network" doesn't just mean computer network. The analogy made between "computers -> Internet" and "social networks -> society/culture/collective unconscious" is pretty clearly made.

The technology aspect is still relevant because in SEL, as in real life, technology is an agent of networking fare greater than anything that came before it. It allows you to be always connected to every network you are a part of, and make more connections faster than ever before.
This networking has become intertwined with our society and our consciousness so deeply that it is possible for new concepts, ideas, and even individuals that had never existed in reality to take on a life of their own and become "real" solely by the power of the networks they are entangled in, by the perception and input of the people who make them real.

It's good, but not that good.

Sadly there are only Sup Forumsermin newfags in the threads nowadays and you are clearly one of them.

"deep" moeshit for mature anime fags who think they are above moeshit.

just finished it. There's something I didn't understand: what did the guy in charge of making the new protocol want exactly? Why did he implode in the end? Was Lain really just a program of his? Was he God, or just trying to become God? Or did he want Lain to become God?

sick buzzwords you got there.

>what did the guy in charge of making the new protocol want exactly?
he was a disgruntled engineer with a god complex and wanted to merge with Lain who he thought he created. he imploded because he tried to "merge" with the real world and turned into a horrible monster. Lain is God, the guy was a false prophet

yup

Ah, yeah true. My apologies for writing in such a dickish tone.

Plus, social networks and the 'information super-highway' has proved to be an actual misinformation super-highway thanks to people's inherent laziness and entitlement when faced with a technology that offers convenience.
We've seen the definitions of terms like 'meme' and 'art' get completely rewritten since the birth of facebook and its serving as a gateway for silly-willies to come along and proliferate nonsense.

And of course, the presence of these jerks is visible even here with the whole shitposting phenomenon and Sup Forums's board-culture in general, as well as all the stupid terms that magically appeared like 'artstyle' and so on that actually don't make any sense...

Cool, Lain's pretty good, yeah.

In order:
become God
dunno
yes
second
no

Ok. And what about the first apparition of "Cool&sexy" Lain at Cyberia? Was that just the first instance of the wired merging with reality? And that other Lain was just her online persona?

Not gonna tell you that.
Just watch it again, remember that there's at least 4 different Lains.

Whenever Lain enters the Wired, the rest of the world has a reaction to her. That reaction is a new copy that is unleashed to the public. Since the Wired and the real world are becoming increasingly connected, people see a cool/resourceful Lain or an evil/mischievous Lain and think it's the real Lain, when it's basically an avatar online. The only "real" Lain is autist Lain.

I already deleted the files
>there's at least 4 different Lains
Wait what

Pay attention.
You might not notice because they all look like Lain.

He was a strong, male influence; such as a teacher or a father or an older, cooler boyfriend. I'm not a girl, but these figures can be quite imposing and influential on a young woman's psyche.
He tried to make her do bad things- nothing is specified because it's all symbolism and whatever, but it could be drugs or sex, he could be a pimp trying to make her one of those school-girl prostitutes. It's that sort of thing. You can reimagine it in numerous ways, but that's the idea.

She essentially tells him to fuck off. She ends up knowing who she is and is self-assured (I think, it's been a while).

Erm, I'm not sure about the very end scene and the secret society lads, but everything else can be simplified to:
Teen girl dealing with who she is, who people think she is/rumours and so on.

Ok i guess i'll just rewatch it. Thanks lads

this. the whole thing is a Jesus of Nazareth allegory, only instead of transubstantiation, Lain able to control the Wired.

Why was he different from the women? He was the only one who acted like a parent towards Lain.

Because Lain created him that way.

>mimimimimimi
what did she mean by this?

any questions?

>memetic
Have memes gone too far?

base Lain, the shy autist
new Lain, the outgoing/assertive personality she assumes in the Wired
troll Lain, or "Lain of the Wired", the rouge personality that just fucks with everyone

It's a basic Freudian trinity of personalities.
I don't know what that user's talking about with a 4th Lain though

Hold off, if you haven't watched Perfect Blue yet (or other things with similar themes) then watch them first. If you just rewatch it straight out you'll end up having a repeat experience.
I'd also recommend (not anime) "Zelig", "Air Doll", "Mulholland Drive", "Synechdoche, New York", "Talking Head" (directed by Oshii) and "Persona" (Bergman) is you actually want to get into it - not all of them, obviously, unless this is like your primary field of study or something.
.. Or read some post-modern fiction like Murakami or Abe. The Box Man is sort of similar thematically and it inspired Metal Gear Solid, if you play games (I haven't played it myself).

Hope that isn't useless information.

Maybe the striped sweater Lain, but that was a literal red herring so I don't know why you'd count it.

There's five total.
the Layyyyn lmao is obviously the red herring.
the knight's lain

it was 1/10 trash though

i thought assertive Lain was just character development after she became tired of everyone's bs.

Perfect Blue is in my backlog, but I've never heard about the others. I'll check them out, thanks.

memes dies long ago
What we have are El Hijo del Memes: Memes' illegitimate, luchador son
Poor Mr. Dawkins, the only cool idea he ever had became a frog on a unicycle.

"Real" Lain does get character development to become more confident as the series goes on, like how she goes from being afraid of the MiB to telling them to fuck off, but when she's using the Wired she's completely dominant and forward, far more than she ever is in reality.

As we have seen in the present, this behavior is similar to pretty much everyone else on the internet.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_disinhibition_effect

This desu.

...

Yes

What's behind this 20 year old joke?

In order to fully understand that part you have to understand a thing or two about japanese gods. They have a shit ton. Basically believing something has power gives it the properties you believe it has. If enough people believe the same thing then the god becomes real and powerful. This is seen as a fairly common theme in Eastern mythos and in early Western. If everyone stops believing in the god then it had no power. This is mentioned multiple times in the anime.

The God of the Wired was created because people believed he existed; thus he existed. He wasn't a true 'omnipowerful' god as he was killed by lain expressing her own immense power. He was a god created through the will of others. His use of the wired was because he was created from within it. Lain, figured this out and became the God of the Wired. However Lain is the true god. She wipes all trances of herself from the wired and the real world. Even Alice forgets her. Yet, in the end, Lain is really there; watching. Thus she became a true god; one that does not need believers to exist.

Lain existed all along and didn't become revealed until the Wired was invented; everything was trying to will her to their side. In the end she removed both sides and created a world where the Wired didn't exist: just the Internet.

>4th
Probably the one she is speaking with in the end. Or is it just the second one?

He could be referring to the Game. That Lain was a psychopath.

ＬＥＴ＇Ｓ ＡＬＬ ＬＯＶＥ ＬＡＩＮ

it all makes sense now

L-L-L-L-LAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIN

That's what it is in the world of the show, but it's not what it actually means and why it happens in the show.

You need to add and these guys to your thesis and not read things exclusively on a surface level.

But you at least understand the show better than 90% of people in the thread. Good job.

This

And this

You are correct. What I said didn't apply any theme or lens to the show. I find in order to fully grasp a theme, aka the need of a strong father figure (which is expressed far more precisely in the game), when a new viewer is still having a hard time what the surface meant. I find most people can see the themes and apply modernist ideas to the show but they often don't know what the ending means from the shows perspective.

Telling someone they didn't get the ending because of a lens isn't 100% correct. sometimes they need to know the reasoning behind the actual events to fully understand the fatherhood theme.

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For what it's worth, the bait was tasty.
I bet you hate anything that gets widespread popularity. Shitty things tend to get popular but being popular isn't what makes them bad.

ayy ur rite

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HE DIED?!!?!?

DESPERA NEVER EVER

I have more.

Why is Lain so moé?

I rewatched it with my wife (who had never seen it) a couple of weeks ago. I understood it a lot better now that I'm older. breddy gud animu

>can't accept that something might be too deep for them to comprehend
>gets defensive and claims the problem is the medium not themselves

This is the very definition of stubborn ignorance. next you'll tell me that blacks and whites shouldn't mix because if it was meant to be they'd be the same color and not even remotely consider that you might not be right just because you can't stand to be wrong.

Subscribed

Don't worry, the cool [new] thing on Sup Forums is coming into threads to call something you know nothing about shit.
It's mostly Sup Forumsirgins getting lost on their way to their JoJo threads.

>series about a cute girl dealing with the computerized world right now like big data, social media, general interconnection among peeps and their effects on society
That's also Corrector Yui though.

The entire plot was basically just gnosticism

>the cool [new] thing on Sup Forums is coming into threads to call something you know nothing about shit
>new

>[new]
Do you not know what square brackets are? It's become a way more common thing recently, that's why it's 'cool new', because its more common/en vogue. Come on, lad.

>Do you not know what square brackets are?
I would have accepted the sentence as sarcasm in a vacuum but the smugness afterward acting like this isn't something that every board is guilty of made me reply.

>It's become a way more common thing recently
Complaining about shit you don't watch is universal behavior that Sup Forums especially has always been filled with

>lad
please stop memeing in Lain threads

Stop replying to him.
People that dumb aren't worthy of Lain.
He's the one missing out.

>lad
I'm Irish, that's how I speak. Just because you have no knowledge of other cultures doesn't mean I'm 'memeing'.

Plus, this sort of thing was never as rampant as it's been recently, at least from my experience. Maybe I'd just been lucky up until the last month or two. I dunno, no need to be a weird asshole and make a big deal out of it.

No idea what you're on about, I've written a thesis on Lain and I'm sure I understand it a lot better than you do.
You can see my posts above, they're the ones that are right.

Now that's not even an argument. "You just don't understand that you don't understand. That's why you think you understood it as well as any of these other guesses but still didn't like it. Because you know less about what you think than I do."

Look buddy, when you grow up a little and realise the world's not obliged to share your shitty taste any more than anyone else's, you'll understand that people not liking pretentious postmodern bullshit is no different than people not liking vacuous shonen bullshit. And the fact remains that you still can't explain the plot of SEL, and no one ever does when challenged to, and instead resorts to the playground-level "I do know buh-but I'm t-testing you to make sure you do too!" Just admit you like it because its incomprehensible trippy semi-metaphors with a computer aesthetic that suits your personal tastes, stop pretending that those tastes are in any way better for being less common, and maybe one day you'll be able to actually talk about things instead of having fights on the internet about them.

>you remember his Secretary