Do you remember what you did the first time you accessed the Internet at home? Most likely you were online all night, surfing around at random, and eventually stumbled out of your bedroom glassy-eyed and dazed. You may have had a cramped back and a few disks full of downloads as evidence that you'd been online, but other than that much of your online experience was probably a blur.
Serial Experiments Lain is a recent anime series directed by Ryutaro Nakamura that probes the online world's affect on those who use it. Both familiar and disturbing, much of the hi-tech series will appeal to those who are already involved with the Internet but maintain a healthy skepticism. Ironically, given the timeliness of Serial Experiments Lain, it's unlikely to achieve more than a cult following. It lacks the sex appeal, random bursts of slapstick comedy, and mechanical warriors that seem to be mandatory for an anime series to become truly popular in the United States. This is a shame. Like both Akira and Ghost in the Shell, Serial Experiments Lain is realistically drawn, written and plotted, and does a great job of examining the ramifications of new technology upon humanity.
Despite the initial episode and a pervasively creepy mood, Serial Experiments Lain isn't a Stephen King-style frightfest. Nor is it a techno-based thriller like The Net. Nor does it take a melodramatic movie-of-the-week approach to Internet-styled addiction. There is simply no other visual storytelling around that is comparable to Serial Experiments Lain. On a literary level, Serial Experiments Lain owes a huge debt to both Franz Kafka's The Trial and Mark Twain's The Stranger, especially as the story progresses and it becomes difficult to determine truth from fantasy. I can't recommend the series enough, but I also recognize that some of its flaws will especially annoy younger or more casual anime fans.
Lain is an eighth-grade Japanese schoolgirl with few friends, and a chillingly dysfunctional family. She's ordinary-looking and normal in practically every way, save for her emotions. Her depression is sketched quite well in the first couple episodes, and her gradual submersion into cyberculture likely parallels that of many people you know. The "online" version of Lain is strikingly different than the Lain that exists in the real world, and soon enough Lain (and her friends) can no longer distinguish the two. In the first episode, one of Lain's schoolmates commits suicide, and soon afterwards all of Lain's classmates receive an e-mail from the dead girl. Although not close friends with the girl, Lain finds herself drawn into both an underground nightspot called Cyberia and a sinister online service called "the Wired."
You can insert your favorite AOL or Microsoft joke at this point. In fact, I wished that the director had, because Serial Experiments Lain takes itself far too seriously. While this is a refreshing change of pace from most animated series in both Japan and the USA, over the course of several episodes the total lack of humor makes viewing the series rather difficult. The X-Files-influenced detour in the last third of the series seems totally incongruous, save for underscoring Lain's paranoia and disassociation. One grim scene follows another and while this creates a relentless mood, I'd suggest you avoid watching more than two episodes in a row. From the beginning, it's apparant that Serial Experiments Lain is a cautionary tale about the dangers inherent in allowing a technology to dominate society; it can quickly become heavy-handed due to its almost monomaniacal emphasis on Lain's descent into an Internet-fueled addiction. While I wouldn't have advocated including anything like cartoony penguins or the sexy, perpetually drunk Misato from Neon Genesis Evangelion, some levity is badly needed.
Surprisingly, given that Serial Experiments Lain features some of the most literally drawn characters and settings in recent anime (there are no pastel hair colors or goggle-eyes), the artwork in the series is stunningly beautiful. From the contrasty neon of the cityscapes at night, to the subdued flat spaces of Lain's suburban home, the graphics in the film never disappoint. Indeed, the power these visuals pack is amazing, especially considering that director Nakamura doesn't use colorful mecha or other overt science-fiction visuals, save for some surrealism in the final episodes. Over and over, we return to Lain's glazed eyes and the barbed-wire-like power lines that connect the homes of her landscape, and the repeated use of these motifs is both chilling and gorgeous. Serial Experiments Lain may present a dehumanized world view, but its a morally decaying world with a lot of aesthetic appeal. Yes, it lacks the superheroics of CLAMP's X:The Movie, (which is one of my favorite recent animated features) but it contains plenty of visual charm.
The series contains some mildly graphic scenes of violence and drug use, but nothing beyond what you might find on prime-time television. However, given the psychological nature of the story and its low emphasis on external action, I doubt any children will be interested in it. Kids under fourteen would probably find Serial Experiments Lain either boring or confusing. Adults, however, may enjoy the series if they don't mind a cerebral game of cat-and-mouse. Anime series that aren't aimed squarely at preteens have become a rarity in the States after Pokemon's success, and those anime that aren't created for that market are often either based on fighting games or hentai. I, for one, was happy to see Pioneer distribute Serial Experiments Lain in North America, and I hope that Pioneer continues to make other thought provoking anime available.
Like Barefoot Gen and Akira, Serial Experiments Lain will probably be trotted out by future film critics as evidence that anime can be an artform. Hopefully, the series will not simply be a name to evoked as a fetish by those trying to justify watching the latest Japanese blockbuster based on a video game. This is a series that deserves your attention over a few nights consecutive viewing, and it's likely to become a series you will want to see more than once. You'll probably be confused by sections of it at first, but you'll find it a rewarding and challenging experience. Don't rent it; buy it.
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Other Anime Reviews Dragonball Z:The Movie Review* Fushigi Yuugi Review* Galaxy Express 999:Eternal Fantasy Review* My Neighbor Totoro Review* Neon Genesis Evangelion Review |
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