Who are you, Lain?When it comes to storyline, this has got to be the most intelligent anime I've come across. Serial Experiments Lain is a 13 part series that combines awesome patch graphics with psychological horror and postmodern disintegration. For those into the doe-eyed cuteness of lolicons, stay away. I guarantee Lain will be a total disappointment. If you're a geeky wannabe philosopher with an intense passion for dualism, go get yourself a copy. You'll be amazed at just how much the WIRED has in store...
The story begins with the life of Lain Iwakura, a quiet and shy highschooler who enters into the world of the WIRED the moment her classmate commits suicide and begins to correspond with her online. Acquiring new powers and a darker personality, Lain becomes the central figure in a conflict between Tachibana Labs, who plan to keep the WIRED as a medium for information transfer and the Knights, a loose group of operatives involved in the transformation of WIRED into another reality. The WIRED physically refers to the Internet, but it is also the site where meaning or consciousness is produced. Thus, given that our sense of 'self' is the sum of our experiences, does that mean that our perceptions online are real too? It's an enquiry into the theory of Dualism (Cogito ergo sum), but the director leaves enough open ends for the viewer to discover the answers. Anyway, here are my findings, which of course can be subjected to your own interpretation ;)
1.Green-Red dichotomy
The opening scene of every episode except the finale feature a green atmosphere of a mobile crowd followed by a red-man on a traffic light. Fitting into the theme, it becomes a distinct cinematic device that exemplifies an aberration or pause in the flow of information. The momentum of life is disrupted because of Lain's interference. Yet, her thought processes probe deeper into the source: Where does the 'flow' of reality start, and where does it end?
2.Psyche processor
In a visit to Cyberia, Lain acquires the Psyche which is a chip that enhances the power of computers, negating the use of external devices such as mice or keyboards. As a metaphor, the psyche refers to the core of humanity, or the essence of the soul. When Lain integrates the Psyche into her system, she breaks the barrier between the digital and the organic, allowing her consciousness and her entire thought-processes to travel freely between the two platforms.
3.Two Lains
As Lain roams through the WIRED, she realises the existence of a second self. The other Lain carries a darker and more disturbed persona, who exploits the information/memories online to humiliate Lain's closest friend, Arisu. The latter who is fragile, emotional yet loyal becomes a humanistic contrast to Lain's detachment and mental instability from the 'real world'. The dialogue between the two Lains becomes a constant in the series, as her dissociation is evidently catalysed by her increased attachment to the WIRED.
4. Multiple realities
At the end, the plot takes on a postmodern twist which confounds even the most hardcore of sci-fi scholars. With the creation of negative memories in the WIRED and their intrusion into the 'real world', Lain eventually decides to delete them, thereby erasing her existence from the primary reality. However, the question of multiple realities, or alternate universes is introduced. It's no longer a basic differentiation of virtual and real, but rather a cascade or even a 'skyscraper' of realities where the perception of information takes on different routes of evolution. It is to such a future that Lain goes to, to meet her friend Arisu, who feels an affinity for the girl without any recollection of the past.
