Serial Experiments Lain

say -v whisper "weird: layer: zero: one" # if running OS X, type this into the terminal

Many anime series might be called "weird" or "interesting", but Serial Experiments Lain stands a cut above even them.

SEL is the story of a young girl, Lain Iwakura, who along with her classmates, receives an email claiming to be from a fellow student who recently committed suicide. The email invites her to enter the Wired - the series' incarnation of the Internet - and discover the secrets within.

The series is notable for being packed with references to obscure technical trivia, including the Roswell scientists and the history of the Apple Macintosh. Programming code (C, Lisp, assembly) can be found; viewers are advised to consult a full list of references for more detail.

Status

Anime: complete. (13 episodes, subbed.)

Thoughts

It's a bit like my attempt to read William Gibson's Neuromancer. Lots of potentially interesting world building, but very, very lacking in plot and character development.

Philosophical questions asked in this series can be profound, but are never addressed with proper depth. At times, the series seems to be trying too hard, aiming to be a masterpiece of its generation, while substituting obscure technical trivia in place of proper plot and character development.

Some say that true art is incomprehensible. If that's true, SEL may be about as close to "true art" as you'll ever find in anime. But damned if that automatically makes it any good.