Why do people like this anime?

You have shows like Real Drive and Ghost in the Shell SAC that have ACTUAL SUBSTANCE by putting thought into their scifi concepts and explaining them clearly as opposed to being confusing in order to be thought provoking. I doubt any of you have actually learned anything from pondering the thought provoking questions of Lain.

You people are actually bothering to argue with a baiting edgy troll...

I loved the visuals and overall aesthetic of the show. Plot didn't hit home completely, but i felt it was decent enough.

There is an argument to be made for it being slightly overrated tho.

P.S. Insane opening.

I completely agree. It’s super boring and confusing. Could have been condensed into a 90 minute movie and would have been better. If you watch it back for a second time, everything makes sense, but it’s so boring no one wants to sit through that again

Yeah i never understood the hype dispite liking philosophical and dark animes. It was an absolute snooze fest for me but the intro made it worth while. Different folks different strokes ig

the anime was actually kinda good but the ugly ahh art style coupled with the bad animation just distracted me all the time

you just don't understand it's point

I'm gonna say it's got nothing to do with the show. I think it has to do with the fact that it took you an entire year to watch 13 episodes.

if we're being honest right now. The majority of the fans you see on other platforms like TikTok haven't seen the anime.

I would expect nothing less from someone who kikes platinum end

Boo hoo every one has a opinion. Go back to watching Battle Shonen slop or Sloputo! Found out you gave Mirai Nikki an 8 so your opinion is invalid! I even found you gave Taboo Tattoo a higher score mind you it's a very hated anime for most good reasons.

@SOEMasterAgent are you challenged? I literally gave taboo tattoo a 5/10 rating 💀💀💀

@ririsdollyeyes I like the strange and unusual? I like philosophy and deep thinking as well? The Anime is literally just bad

I'm five episodes in, and every episode has just been silent panning shots to save on money, the same questions about existentialism and it's relation to the web that's already been repeated in the series about twenty times already with nothing new added, and characters seeing weird crap but then just ignoring it the very next scene as though it never happened.

All five episodes that I've watched, could have very easily been compressed into less than a single episode if you removed the padding.
The philosophical questions have no insight, and are as repetitive and meaningless as the copypasta you see on Facebook.
Lastly, the plot is almost impossible to follow since you can't tell if anything is real or if it's just the characters that are all poorly written. (Hopefully the latter, because if everything we're seeing is in their head, then it's not 50% padding per episode, but actually 80% padding.)

Tell me... does the show get better?
I kept watching despite the slow start, because I thought it was going to go somewhere. But I've gotten to the point where it really doesn't seem like it's going to go anywhere with its ideas and themes. It certainly hasn't expanded upon them. And with eight episodes left to go, I just don't see the point in sticking around hoping for it to actually say something meaningful, when I can spend that time watching something that actually DOES have something to say.

(Looking at the comments, it seems like you have to be really into computers and the early internet to get this show... which means I should be in love with it. I'm probably more into computers both old and new than Lain. I can make them sing and dance. Hmm... maybe that's why I'm bouncing off it?)

@JackOfDeath Bold comment by the guy who gave stuff like God of Highschool, Platinum End and Domestic na Kanojo a 10/10, maybe you're not exactly the best person to be questioning why people liked some highly praised anime that you didn't.

Not everything is for everyone, you might just have different taste and it's okay. This anime unanimously considered as one of most influential anime to many, you are not just one of them. That's it nothing more nothing less.

You have shows like Real Drive and Ghost in the Shell SAC that have ACTUAL SUBSTANCE by putting thought into their scifi concepts and explaining them clearly as opposed to being confusing in order to be thought provoking. I doubt any of you have actually learned anything from pondering the thought provoking questions of Lain.

I'm gonna say it's got nothing to do with the show. I think it has to do with the fact that it took you an entire year to watch 13 episodes.

@Recynon So I'm in the minority of those who have truly studied and researched in depth every tiny particle of information that was addressed in this anime; it's a masterpiece and will always be my all-time favorite until my last breath.

@ReMightyRon
Oh really then? let's hear your master's thesis on how deep this anime is.

@Recynon However ironic you may be being, even if I put everything I have about Lain in my physical and digital notes, it wouldn't be enough to convince you unless you were right in front of me in person. Then yes, I could talk about SEL for hours if I wanted to, but on the internet I can't prove anything to you. On the internet it's easy to judge other people by what they feel or like, but I'd like to see if you'd maintain that pose after meeting me in real life, knowing who I am, and then listening for hours to everything I know about this anime until exhaustion. Well, it's not like I have the intention, disposition, or energy to meet people like that, since when you judge other people's knowledge, you should be prepared to be judged in the same way.

@ReMightyRon

Your long post mainly consists of plot summary and praise from other critics. The only actual substance in it is some brief descriptions of the themes, most of which are superficial. I will address what little there is.

Yes, communication is a theme. What about it? What does the series actually say about the relationship between the self and the world?

Lain is lonely. Ok, where is the substance?

The split personality disorder thing is badly executed. Split personality disorder still involves repressed personality traits that are still part of the person to begin with. With Lain, we don't see any psychological basis for things like her wanting to spread rumors about Alice. Because Lain is such a thinly written character, there is no rhyme or reason to any of her three personalities and how they arose. Yes, we show different sides of ourselves on the internet but the show doesn't explain how the internet does this for Lain.

The reality thing is stupid. We may be able to change what we perceive, but the noumenal world does not care about what we think. We can perceive something differently because our brains are being controlled by something else but if we walk into a speeding car we will die and cease to perceive anything. This analysis and the show's attempts to merge reality with the Wired show a lack of understanding of basic logic, let alone any type of philosophy.

Lain is a God-like figure. Ok, where is the substance relating to religion?

The stuff the critics say is superficial because it's not elaborated on. The rest is just summary, stuff about the production, or references to things in real life, which are cool, but that doesn't further the substance of the show.

I can't be directly in front of you in person unless you're from New York, but I will be down for a discord call, which is just as good. And if you want to put your money where your mouth is then you should take that offer instead of running away under the guise of "I don't have time for you". I've had extensive discussions about anime with other people over voice call on the internet where we exhaustively debate each other, so I have no problem being heavily judged. And I'd have no problem changing my judgment if I'm proven wrong because that's happened before. And btw I don't care what SEL did for you subjectively. I only care about whether or not it has actual substance.

@Recynon I wouldn't mind talking to you, whether in person in New York, by video call, or any other way (even though I don't use Discord anymore), and I could also answer you at length until my fingers got tired from typing so much. But honestly, having read everything you've said in this thread, and especially this answer you just gave me, I can only conclude that you don't understand "suspension of disbelief." Because, following your logic, if everything in any work—anime, manga, books, movies, games—has to be explained that way, then you'll never be able to like about 80% of almost everything that exists.

I don't know if you're only looking to watch things that are concrete, objective, without plot holes and things like that. For example, Lain has multiple personalities, and I also agree that it wasn't very clear why the personalities are active both in the Wired and in real life. But unfortunately, I can't invent explanations without any basis. Lain being this way is simply part of the character; it's a device the authors use not intentionally to make her a unique and indescribable character, but rather to always guide her down the path already proposed by the story. She was manipulated by Masami Eiri with all these experiments precisely so that his plan could be completed. Looking at it that way, it's not that different from thousands of other anime out there.

Lain truly becomes a divine being, but again, this isn't something that's explicitly stated; on the contrary, it leaves you with many questions, such as: through the experiments, did she become a creation superior to her creator? Or was she already such an existence from the beginning? However, that's where the interesting part for fans of this type of work lies: you draw your own conclusions about the story. The authors filled the anime with philosophy, conspiracy theories, aliens, pop culture references, post-humanism, and transhumanism.

Knowing all this, you can't try to argue. that you wanted something with more substance or a more solid and well-structured framework. This is avant-garde science fiction, and no matter what form it takes, it doesn't make sense to try to push ethical and realistic values ​​and a groundbreaking story. The genre itself and the anime's name already tell you what to expect before you even watch it, because even seinen works don't have such a realistic structure, despite the genre being considered for an adult audience.

Finally, to watch an anime like SEL, escapism is necessary; you have to take a path far from real life. Even I, as a fan, agree about the strangeness of the mix of the supernatural with sci-fi and a bunch of other things that make everything even more confusing. Anyway, I love this whole complex thing, and it will always be a thousand times better to rewatch Lain than half a dozen tropes and soulless Isekai or romantic comedies that are released every year in every season (not to mention other genres). I love this work precisely because it breaks the mold and gives me a unique immersion, not to seem smarter because I know how to explain things and others don't.

@ReMightyRon

I don't know how you can answer me at length when you've already admitted that the stuff I'm asking doesn't have an explanation. And I don't think it's too much to ask for BASIC plot details to be explained, which, more than 80% of anime already do. And furthermore, even if the plot isn't a big deal, the series needs to explain certain things if it is to have any claim to substance. If the series has any claim to being relevant by making some commentary about the interaction of technology and man, then it would follow that that interaction has to make sense. This doesn't mean I'm looking for things without ANY plot holes, which is an assumption on your part, but Lain's plot is swiss cheese.

Sure you can say things happen just because the author says it is so, like Lain's personality split, but then you can't say this has much significance towards mental health. If she's "indescribable" then she can't be said to be well written.

If you think it's a masterpiece just because you get to come up with your own interpretations of the story, then sure, we just have different tastes. But what I would note is that the questions you're pondering are not interesting to me because 1) they're not meaningful because of how detached the series is from both our reality and any semblance of internal logic within the work itself and 2) there's no rhyme or reason to what's happening in the first place so it's not like there's some intricate explanation to everything behind the confusion. No it's just a bunch of haphazardly cobbled together ideas so there is no satisfying solution. In a better work, you would have basis to come up with an explanation because the pieces are still there so it feels satisfying to put the pieces together with a snug fit. In order to come to a conclusion in Lain, even an alternate one among many other possible ones, you'd have to fabricate your own pieces to fill in the gaps rather than working with what's already there. And let's say Lain was superior to her creator. Cool. So what?

I can't try to argue that a story should make sense? Yes I very well can in regards to themes and substance, especially because 99% of anime, including seinen, doesn't fail to account for basic plot points like Lain does. I'm not asking for a work to be 100% realistic and not require me to suspend my disbelief. But when stories work with unrealistic elements, they usually present you with clear premises that you need to suspend your disbelief for, such as superpowers, and then clearly explain what the rules are and stay within those rules. When people get brainwashed in other shows, we know that there is an established mechanism by which the brainwashing happens, like having a cyberbrain capable to being hacked, in Ghost in the Shell. Cyberbrains don't exist, but it is clear that we are to suspend our disbelief for this element. In Lain, they are just brainwashed without any sort of explanation and we're left to assume it's some vague supernatural phenomena, like when Lain's sister goes catatonic despite not integrating herself with technology. Lastly, even if the events in some anime don't make sense or aren't explained, the characters usually are. Both the plot and characters in Lain are underwritten because as you said, Lain is indescribable.

There are reasons why you would want to not explain things in order to be weird and thus immerse the audience. There is merit to being able offer such an experience to the viewer. And if that experience is what makes it a masterpiece to you, fine. All I was saying in the comment that you were originally responding to was that the show doesn't have much substance.

Lain is relatively unique among anime. But there are many other shows that also break the mold, like the shows I mentioned, that do the themes much much better.

@Recynon I neither agree nor disagree; I remain neutral regarding all of this. As you yourself said, we have different opinions and values, so there's no point in trying to argue almost endlessly if the conclusion will always be the same in the end.

Besides, expecting an avant-garde work to have substance and address themes in a way that provides all the necessary pieces to give explanations to the viewer is the same as expecting a Hentai to have world-building and character development, that will literally never happen.

The genre exists to be intentionally made that way, to seem strange, confusing, and always with missing pieces, so that you, the viewer, can enjoy this mental game of drawing your own conclusions, explanations, and interpretations. Perfect Blue, Tenshi no Tamago, Boogiepop Phantom, and Paranoia Agent are other examples of the Avant-Garde genre that do exactly that, and as a curiosity, they are all among my favorite Anime, That alone proves our opposing tastes.

@ReMightyRon

Except Perfect Blue and Paranoia Agent have substance. As does Utena. Perfect Blue uses the confusion in a precise way to illustrate the effect that the pressure of the idol/acting industry has on its main character and calls out the problematic obsession some fans have with their idols. Paranoia Agent has character studies in each episode, like for example actually executing split personality disorder well by having a woman who has repressed her sexually adventurous side. It calls out a specific psychological phenomenon where people avoid blame by treating themselves as victims and wherein people gravitate towards moe because it helps them forget their problems rather than facing them. You can't say anything this specific and well reasoned in Lain nor in Angel's Egg. At best in Lain, the psychology is that Lain is isolated so she looks towards the internet to escape, but we don't understand what is so appealing to her about the internet and why she thinks the internet is nicer compared to real life when she literally has a diehard friend in Alice in real life. We don't see the process by which the internet sucks her in other than curiosity, but this doesn't explain the emotional appeal.

You may be able to draw your own conclusions about Perfect Blue and Paranoia Agent but they do offer at least one very convincing, very fitting, and very solid interpretation. Their messages are clear and any supernatural stuff that isn't explained still makes sense thematically. For example, all the blurring of reality in Perfect Blue can be chalked up to the MC's mind being twisted and us viewing it from that perspective. The appearance of shounen bat in Paranoia Agent may not be realistic but it is understood to be the anime trying to embody the psychological issues of a collective unconscious.