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| Oh, man. This was definitely something special. But like many others said, you need to go through this series a second time, just to be able to connect some of the pieces. But even after a second watch… there will be questions. I’m sure of it. I’ve been reading the comments here and I see various interpretations. Most people agree on certain key points, but other parts of the story remain ambiguous. And this was done because the creators wanted the series to be open to interpretation. I think this is one of its stronger points (but others may see this as a weakness): it makes you think and come to your own conclusions. About our identity, about the internet, about the way we connect to each other, about the digital age, about the world of information, about the “collective unconscious” – about “godhood” and the omnipotence of “being everywhere” inside this vast, endless cyberspace. Essentially what Lain was. But here come the questions on my part… Ok, Lain is a personification of the Wired’s infinitude, probably the true God of the digital cyberspace. But we come to know and care about her through her physical incarnation. And she herself grows attached to this part of hers – it becomes real not only to her, but her closest friend, Arisu, as well (not to mention all the other characters in the series). So Lain exists in both planes simultaneously: as an infinite, godly presence in the Wired and as a teenage girl (who may, or may not, have a “past” – but she certainly exists in the “now” of the series). In the end, she chooses to erase the memories of her existence, so that the world will return to its former, peaceful state. BUT here comes the question: what was Lain's actual role in all those terrible events that we saw unfold – how does erasing the memories of herself make everything normal? We saw the Wired infringing on the domain of the real world and providing a substitute, in many ways. We saw Eiri having a huge role in this and the Knights making a crusade of sorts, part of a “total assimilation” quest. But what of Lain, herself? Was she the key that triggered all these events to happen? Was she used by Eiri or the Knights? We saw reality being distorted and Lain being the one manipulating the world of information at certain parts of the story… but it still leaves many other parts unanswered. Someone back in the comments wrote about the Human Instrumentality Project in NGE and I liked this reference – yes, we can see many resemblances here and many questions concerning the “collective unconscious” and humanity’s “merging” through the Wired are answered. But I’m not sure about Lain’s role in all of this. She’s definitely more than a symbol – she triggers events, she makes things happen. But how can erasing her memory in others manage to reset everything? Even in the final episode, she keeps searching for the answers herself! Is it perhaps that she can't go "back" to being "herself" in the memory of others, because she now knows who she is? (so it won't be the same to her?) And she clings to her physical being – we have to take a note of this. She enjoys being “human”, living a life, having a close friend. She has emotions and feels the need to love and be loved. Not so a “digital-god”, more like a “human-ascending-to-godhood” figure. Or a god becoming human. Yes, the ending was bittersweet, as others mentioned… But I think it’s a good ending for Lain. Everyone is ok. And even if everyone lost their memory of hers, she can still appear to them – and create new memories and bonds. That’s what happens with Arisu: Lain wanted a friend and she can still make one. So, our beloved digital god is not alone – she can be still everywhere, watch over her friends… and become real to them, if she decides to. Life goes on, in a way. But what of her father? Was he the “real” creator? God, that is? That’s what I thought by seeing this final scene. And what of Eiri’s actual human self in the end? Did we see him before he got entangled with the whole Wired idea? So he DID have a body, afterall? (let us remember that in episode 9 Lain fights him by declaring the importance of physicality over digital omnipotence: “a body doesn’t mean anything to you, right?” – I think this is a very important point). Lain returns to her physical form and meets Arisu once again. She knows that living a life and having feelings involves physicality, actual presence: a heart that beats, as she and Arisu say in episode 9 (the sweetest moment in the series). So… Lain has to be “something more” than just a manifestation of the Wired. And that’s exactly why we care for her: she loves life, she wants to be absorbed by life – in contrast to Eiri, who doesn’t give a shit about physicality and only cares about obtaining power in the cyberspace. It’s the humanity in Lain that we love, and this perhaps was one of the points the creators of the show wanted to make. Overall, I loved it. I’d prefer if there were a couple more episodes, just to make things a little more clear. Still, it’s definitely one of the anime series’ I’ll never forget and definitely re-watch in the future. Final point: the Japanese, back in the 90s, were really concerned about the internet and the world of cyber information… It’s a theme that appeared first in cyberpunk novels (like the Neuromancer), but certain japanese anime and manga in the 90s truly brought this to another level… This series is a perfect mirror of its age, while its themes are more than relevant nowadays. |
Lethal_RabbitFeb 6, 1:29 PM
Reply to Lethal_Rabbit
Oh, man. This was definitely something special. But like many others said, you need to go through this series a second time, just to be able to connect some of the pieces. But even after a second watch… there will be questions. I’m sure of it. I’ve been reading the comments here and I see various interpretations. Most people agree on certain key points, but other parts of the story remain ambiguous.
And this was done because the creators wanted the series to be open to interpretation. I think this is one of its stronger points (but others may see this as a weakness): it makes you think and come to your own conclusions. About our identity, about the internet, about the way we connect to each other, about the digital age, about the world of information, about the “collective unconscious” – about “godhood” and the omnipotence of “being everywhere” inside this vast, endless cyberspace. Essentially what Lain was.
But here come the questions on my part… Ok, Lain is a personification of the Wired’s infinitude, probably the true God of the digital cyberspace. But we come to know and care about her through her physical incarnation. And she herself grows attached to this part of hers – it becomes real not only to her, but her closest friend, Arisu, as well (not to mention all the other characters in the series). So Lain exists in both planes simultaneously: as an infinite, godly presence in the Wired and as a teenage girl (who may, or may not, have a “past” – but she certainly exists in the “now” of the series).
In the end, she chooses to erase the memories of her existence, so that the world will return to its former, peaceful state. BUT here comes the question: what was Lain's actual role in all those terrible events that we saw unfold – how does erasing the memories of herself make everything normal? We saw the Wired infringing on the domain of the real world and providing a substitute, in many ways. We saw Eiri having a huge role in this and the Knights making a crusade of sorts, part of a “total assimilation” quest. But what of Lain, herself? Was she the key that triggered all these events to happen? Was she used by Eiri or the Knights? We saw reality being distorted and Lain being the one manipulating the world of information at certain parts of the story… but it still leaves many other parts unanswered.
Someone back in the comments wrote about the Human Instrumentality Project in NGE and I liked this reference – yes, we can see many resemblances here and many questions concerning the “collective unconscious” and humanity’s “merging” through the Wired are answered. But I’m not sure about Lain’s role in all of this. She’s definitely more than a symbol – she triggers events, she makes things happen. But how can erasing her memory in others manage to reset everything? Even in the final episode, she keeps searching for the answers herself!
Is it perhaps that she can't go "back" to being "herself" in the memory of others, because she now knows who she is? (so it won't be the same to her?)
And she clings to her physical being – we have to take a note of this. She enjoys being “human”, living a life, having a close friend. She has emotions and feels the need to love and be loved. Not so a “digital-god”, more like a “human-ascending-to-godhood” figure. Or a god becoming human.
Yes, the ending was bittersweet, as others mentioned… But I think it’s a good ending for Lain. Everyone is ok. And even if everyone lost their memory of hers, she can still appear to them – and create new memories and bonds. That’s what happens with Arisu: Lain wanted a friend and she can still make one. So, our beloved digital god is not alone – she can be still everywhere, watch over her friends… and become real to them, if she decides to. Life goes on, in a way.
But what of her father? Was he the “real” creator? God, that is? That’s what I thought by seeing this final scene. And what of Eiri’s actual human self in the end? Did we see him before he got entangled with the whole Wired idea? So he DID have a body, afterall? (let us remember that in episode 9 Lain fights him by declaring the importance of physicality over digital omnipotence: “a body doesn’t mean anything to you, right?” – I think this is a very important point).
Lain returns to her physical form and meets Arisu once again. She knows that living a life and having feelings involves physicality, actual presence: a heart that beats, as she and Arisu say in episode 9 (the sweetest moment in the series). So… Lain has to be “something more” than just a manifestation of the Wired. And that’s exactly why we care for her: she loves life, she wants to be absorbed by life – in contrast to Eiri, who doesn’t give a shit about physicality and only cares about obtaining power in the cyberspace.
It’s the humanity in Lain that we love, and this perhaps was one of the points the creators of the show wanted to make.
Overall, I loved it. I’d prefer if there were a couple more episodes, just to make things a little more clear. Still, it’s definitely one of the anime series’ I’ll never forget and definitely re-watch in the future.
Final point: the Japanese, back in the 90s, were really concerned about the internet and the world of cyber information… It’s a theme that appeared first in cyberpunk novels (like the Neuromancer), but certain japanese anime and manga in the 90s truly brought this to another level… This series is a perfect mirror of its age, while its themes are more than relevant nowadays.
And this was done because the creators wanted the series to be open to interpretation. I think this is one of its stronger points (but others may see this as a weakness): it makes you think and come to your own conclusions. About our identity, about the internet, about the way we connect to each other, about the digital age, about the world of information, about the “collective unconscious” – about “godhood” and the omnipotence of “being everywhere” inside this vast, endless cyberspace. Essentially what Lain was.
But here come the questions on my part… Ok, Lain is a personification of the Wired’s infinitude, probably the true God of the digital cyberspace. But we come to know and care about her through her physical incarnation. And she herself grows attached to this part of hers – it becomes real not only to her, but her closest friend, Arisu, as well (not to mention all the other characters in the series). So Lain exists in both planes simultaneously: as an infinite, godly presence in the Wired and as a teenage girl (who may, or may not, have a “past” – but she certainly exists in the “now” of the series).
In the end, she chooses to erase the memories of her existence, so that the world will return to its former, peaceful state. BUT here comes the question: what was Lain's actual role in all those terrible events that we saw unfold – how does erasing the memories of herself make everything normal? We saw the Wired infringing on the domain of the real world and providing a substitute, in many ways. We saw Eiri having a huge role in this and the Knights making a crusade of sorts, part of a “total assimilation” quest. But what of Lain, herself? Was she the key that triggered all these events to happen? Was she used by Eiri or the Knights? We saw reality being distorted and Lain being the one manipulating the world of information at certain parts of the story… but it still leaves many other parts unanswered.
Someone back in the comments wrote about the Human Instrumentality Project in NGE and I liked this reference – yes, we can see many resemblances here and many questions concerning the “collective unconscious” and humanity’s “merging” through the Wired are answered. But I’m not sure about Lain’s role in all of this. She’s definitely more than a symbol – she triggers events, she makes things happen. But how can erasing her memory in others manage to reset everything? Even in the final episode, she keeps searching for the answers herself!
Is it perhaps that she can't go "back" to being "herself" in the memory of others, because she now knows who she is? (so it won't be the same to her?)
And she clings to her physical being – we have to take a note of this. She enjoys being “human”, living a life, having a close friend. She has emotions and feels the need to love and be loved. Not so a “digital-god”, more like a “human-ascending-to-godhood” figure. Or a god becoming human.
Yes, the ending was bittersweet, as others mentioned… But I think it’s a good ending for Lain. Everyone is ok. And even if everyone lost their memory of hers, she can still appear to them – and create new memories and bonds. That’s what happens with Arisu: Lain wanted a friend and she can still make one. So, our beloved digital god is not alone – she can be still everywhere, watch over her friends… and become real to them, if she decides to. Life goes on, in a way.
But what of her father? Was he the “real” creator? God, that is? That’s what I thought by seeing this final scene. And what of Eiri’s actual human self in the end? Did we see him before he got entangled with the whole Wired idea? So he DID have a body, afterall? (let us remember that in episode 9 Lain fights him by declaring the importance of physicality over digital omnipotence: “a body doesn’t mean anything to you, right?” – I think this is a very important point).
Lain returns to her physical form and meets Arisu once again. She knows that living a life and having feelings involves physicality, actual presence: a heart that beats, as she and Arisu say in episode 9 (the sweetest moment in the series). So… Lain has to be “something more” than just a manifestation of the Wired. And that’s exactly why we care for her: she loves life, she wants to be absorbed by life – in contrast to Eiri, who doesn’t give a shit about physicality and only cares about obtaining power in the cyberspace.
It’s the humanity in Lain that we love, and this perhaps was one of the points the creators of the show wanted to make.
Overall, I loved it. I’d prefer if there were a couple more episodes, just to make things a little more clear. Still, it’s definitely one of the anime series’ I’ll never forget and definitely re-watch in the future.
Final point: the Japanese, back in the 90s, were really concerned about the internet and the world of cyber information… It’s a theme that appeared first in cyberpunk novels (like the Neuromancer), but certain japanese anime and manga in the 90s truly brought this to another level… This series is a perfect mirror of its age, while its themes are more than relevant nowadays.
| @Lethal_Rabbit Read https://myanimelist.net/manga/5461/Serial_Experiments_Lain__The_Nightmare_of_Fabrication next You can also check the Lain "game" here https://laingame.net/ PS The father in the final is probably not the same human father of Lain we saw previously and simply uses his appearance. There is a neat reference to Proust at the end btw. |
Reply to JoeChip
@Lethal_Rabbit
Read https://myanimelist.net/manga/5461/Serial_Experiments_Lain__The_Nightmare_of_Fabrication next
You can also check the Lain "game" here https://laingame.net/
PS The father in the final is probably not the same human father of Lain we saw previously and simply uses his appearance. There is a neat reference to Proust at the end btw.
Read https://myanimelist.net/manga/5461/Serial_Experiments_Lain__The_Nightmare_of_Fabrication next
You can also check the Lain "game" here https://laingame.net/
PS The father in the final is probably not the same human father of Lain we saw previously and simply uses his appearance. There is a neat reference to Proust at the end btw.
| @JoeChip Ah, yes, I'll definitely check these out! Thanks once again. As for the Proust reference... it's the tea and madeleines, right? A great allusion to a book concerning (among other things) the relativity of time - this only adds to the series' overall charm and depth. Time is relative, Lain is beyond time herself - so her experiences and relationships (like her friendship with Arisu) may be experienced anew. In her own words: "we can see each other anytime". :) |
| @The-Demiurge Shouldnt it be more easy to pay attention when something is slow paced your logic is backwards |
| " I only exist inside those people who are aware of my existence " goes so hard |
No matter who much you regret or wish, if you couldn't do something in life, you can't do it after death, either. - Hanako |
| So Lain deleted herself from everyone's memories and became a peter pan, while everyone is grown up now. Honestly i tried giving this story a chance but it just didn't make sense to me at all. Lain is not human yet she bleeds but she's also an Ai ? and has friends but also she's not the only lain, there's a second lain an evil one ? also she has super powers ? also the knights are watching her ? also her family isn't her real family ? okay i'm sorry but this is a bunch of concepts glued together and none of them stick. But hey at least the op and the artstyle are fantastic. Maybe one day i'll be able to understand this story better but for now it's not giving. |
Reply to pickyotaku
So Lain deleted herself from everyone's memories and became a peter pan, while everyone is grown up now.
Honestly i tried giving this story a chance but it just didn't make sense to me at all. Lain is not human yet she bleeds but she's also an Ai ? and has friends but also she's not the only lain, there's a second lain an evil one ? also she has super powers ? also the knights are watching her ? also her family isn't her real family ? okay i'm sorry but this is a bunch of concepts glued together and none of them stick. But hey at least the op and the artstyle are fantastic.
Maybe one day i'll be able to understand this story better but for now it's not giving.
Honestly i tried giving this story a chance but it just didn't make sense to me at all. Lain is not human yet she bleeds but she's also an Ai ? and has friends but also she's not the only lain, there's a second lain an evil one ? also she has super powers ? also the knights are watching her ? also her family isn't her real family ? okay i'm sorry but this is a bunch of concepts glued together and none of them stick. But hey at least the op and the artstyle are fantastic.
Maybe one day i'll be able to understand this story better but for now it's not giving.
| @pickyotaku Just admit the anime went over your head, as expected... PS There are three Lains, not two, for more there are plenty of websites explaining Lain, considering you are actually interested, and not lazy. |
| No "Present Day, Present Time, Aahhahaah" to start this episode. So after all that happened last episode, Arisu just decided it was enough for her, and was traumatized by Eiri's "body". So Lain made one big sacrifice for her: she made everyone forget about her, and with that she erased her existence from the real world. With nothing to remember, Arisu can continue living peacefuly. Not only that, without Lain, it seems life continues as normal as it was before. Even Eiri is still alive in this new timeline. And Chisa didn't commit suicide either. But that left Lain, all alone, in the Wired. She could never be in the real world anymore, like she wanted to, alongside with Arisu. Her "family" is now living confortably, but her "Dad" still comes to talk to her (over the Wired I suppose). The difference is that now Lain isn't in the real world to make both worlds collide. Her moment with her dad was actually sweet, and we can see how painful that decision was for Lain, even she had a lot of doubts about that (like we see the other Lain talking about it). I really liked how they showed scenes from the first episode, but now without Lain. In the end, we see a grown-up Arisu, that spots Lain and recognized her as someone familiar to her. This shows that Arisu really liked Lain. However, Lain introduces herself as if they never met each other, to protect Arisu's new life. Lain then says she can meet her anytime she wants, and then cuts to Lain being all alone. This final scene really hints at the fact that all of that was a simulation done by Lain herself, but I'm not sure if it's that or she can just spawn in the real world anytime she wants now. And with this the anime ends. Honestly, I was expecting more. While it is true that many questions were answered in these last few episodes, so many more were left unanswered. For example, what was up with the KIDS program, and what was created by it? Was it really Lain? And more important than anything else, what really is Lain? Is she some kind of AI that gained counscience of herself? Calling herself as a software indicates that's about it, but it just begs the question, how did she ended up in the real world? Was it really Eiri that did that? And who created her in the 1st place? What was the thing with her mother and sister? Why at the end, her father and mother left Lain and her sister behind? How does Lain not existing anymore make Chisa not killing herself? Is it because Wired's God really was Lain, or is it because without Lain in the real world, and therefore the barrier between the Real World and the Wired maintains intact, so Chisa wouldn't be tempted by the people behind the Wired to give up of her real body? Talking about that, Lain says something along the lines of "Now there isn't the spread of the information of dead people", when talking about the end of the Wired like we were used in the past episodes. But what did she mean with "dead people"? And there are many things about the 1st episodes that still don't make a lot of sense. While I do like that animes leave that door open to interpretation, the problem I have with this anime is that the WHOLE ANIME is left to interpretation, and it ends up being hard to relate to the characters and story. With these 13 episodes, if we only squeeze the information that the anime told us, the story we get is of an AI (?) that is Lain, that is created to destroy the barrier between the Wired and the Real World, so that everyone can be connected at the same time, and all this was a plan of someone for some reason. Lain is then brought to the real World in human form, and as the anime develops, she ends up questioning who she really is, as she starts to understand that she isn't really human. This internal battle is aided by The Knights, that just want her to do her job and destroy this barrier between the Real World and the Wired, and do a bunch of stuff in order for Lain to be pushed to her limit. When everything goes wrong, Lain wants so badly to be loved and to be human that she does indeed break this barrier, bringing only demise to those that she loved, especially Arisu, that later makes her realize that even if Lain wasn't "human", Arisu still wanted to be her friend. And then Lain just deletes herself from the Real World, and the timeline completely changes. I was expecting a more solid story honestly. This way, I feel like the best part of the anime is actually some ideas it portrays about the Internet, and how it spots on the many problems it brought, even if the anime was from 1998. I'm sure I will be watching and reading other people's theories about this anime, but I end up this episode with the feeling of wanting a more compelling story. The anime lost itself a bit in wanting us to discover ourselves the story along the way, but I feel like many episodes they just threw us sand in our eyes, and made us think of things that weren't the real story either way. The story ended up being much more Sci-fi that phylosofical in my opinion, and I wasn't expecting that from the first few episodes. I'm not sure what score I'm giving this anime. Will need to sleep about the matter. I might also edit this post or make a new one when I have clearer thoughts about the anime. Overall, it's for sure an interesting ride, I haven't seen any anime like this, and it approached topics that are oddly relevant to today's day, while in a very unique way. |
| It's like The Matrix X that film with Johnny Depp that nobody remembers the name of. |
 .[We Are The Ocean]. - "Nothing Good Has Happened Yet" |
Ethercruiser said: This Lain chick is either: The dumbest, lamest god in anime history or the craziest chick in the psych ward. Either way, this is the most pretentious, elitist, pompous tween/teen emo garbage I've seen in a while. Anyone that says that s/he "likes it" is either lying & pretending & grifting & trying to fit in & trying to get laid. Or a complete moron. I can imagine the person behind this project ROFL all the way to the Bank back in 98/99/00/01/02 thanks to the royalties s/he was getting. And if s/he is still getting any royalties to this day (probably not, but who knows) every time s/he opens that envelope they ROFL for a couple of hours, maybe for a full day. She only had two choices: Accept her fate of godhood by accepting the wired to merge with the outside reality thus being able to control it however she want (which would still be chaotic given that she is a multifaceted program) or disconnect herself from the real outside reality and forever live only on the wired, which would erase her existence in the real world, preserving people as they are and reality but without her ever existing there before. She chose the second after coming to terms with her ultimate existential state of loneliness and solitude. Also it is possible that both realities merged and she just rewrote herself off of reality in a new reality she created after the merging, which is more likely, but at the end she definitely did cut off the mixing of both realities. Lain is a wired moderator program and her body self in reality is an homunculus, she is essentially a bridge between the wired (virtual reality) and the real reality, the whole anime is about her realizing it and coming to terms with it (through the schumann resonance that bridge through her was possible). The other lains are parts of her exclusive to the virtual wired that were eventually also messing up with reality as it is gradually as everything merged, while the main lain (the one we watch during the anime, a homunculi) doesnt know about it, also they have different personalities so it adds up to her state of confusion that makes her even more tormented. Not to mention that the state of awareness she felt was extremely disorienting and overwhelming the more the reality of her situation came crashing and mixing up with her previously monotone life, which was a lie to begin with. She essentially goes against the plan of her creator at the end and denies his main goal when he made her up after disliking what the outcome of it would be. So it is no wonder that she freaked out a ton during the anime, she isnt even human though she developed human feelings in her short ignorant time as just a quiet school girl. She isnt dumb, she did what she could given her situation and chose to preserve the beauty of a reality without all that stuff, just without her. She now only lives in the wired, everywhere and all knowing (esentially all of internet and digital world encompass her), but out of reach of ever actually living as a human being but only as a virtual entity. I dont blame those that find it pretentious, but fortunately it is an anime that indeed does have a clear plot with progression, terms and elements that come together and wrap up well as a story, so the experimental approach does make sense in the end. It is not as messy and nonsensical as it is often regarded to be |
INoLuvJun 17, 7:49 AM
| I loved the anime except for this last episode. It was sad but didnt really server much purpose since a reset is an easy way out. I suppose Lain just couldnt exist in the world and just watches over it now, happy with the memories of the life she had. |
DrHouse said: I was a little afraid to start this anime because I thought it might be similar to NGE but it was nothing like that trainwreck of a show. This anime did ten times as much character developement with half the number of episodes. Everything also worked together to give this anime a surreal atmosphere that, far from detracting from the coherence of the story, actually made it easier to understand. Definite 10/10 I personally found the ending to be anticlimactic and somewhat depressing but it did fit in better with the rest of the anime than any I would have come up with. There were also a few things that I still felt were unresolved but I think it was just because I missed something. I'll have to rewatch it later. I totally agree with you, I thought i didnt like 90s anime thanks to Evangelion and its awful pacing but now I learned that you can do a great story and you can do it with 13 episodes even with the slower static pacing of this eras anime. The ending felt a bit odd but yeah it wasnt terrible, just i wanted more than a reset. |
| A reset button ending then. That is one of the two typical ways this sort of apocalyptic virtual convergence of "worlds" could end, and definitely the more upbeat of the two. One of Chiaki's more abstruse series, but not to the point where its chronology can't be followed. |
  ｲ乇刀乇乃尺ﾑ乇 ╔⏤═⏤╝   ╚⏤═⏤╗☽ Shaded Horizon ☾ |
| Oh, man. This was definitely something special. Like many others have pointed out, "Serial Experiments Lain" almost demands a second viewing—not just to catch what you missed, but to even begin connecting its cryptic pieces. And even after that second watch… questions still remain. I'm certain of it. I've been going through the comments, and it's clear that while some interpretations converge around key ideas, much of the series remains purposefully ambiguous. And that's the point, isn’t it? The creators intended this. They wanted it to stay open to interpretation. And for me, that’s one of the show’s greatest strengths (though I get why others might see it as a weakness). It forces you to think—about identity, the internet, human connection, the digital age, the collective unconscious, even godhood—and how being “everywhere” in the endless expanse of cyberspace alters what it means to “be” at all. That’s essentially what Lain becomes. But then the questions start to creep in... So, Lain is the personification of the Wired’s infinite potential—maybe even its true god. But what makes her compelling isn’t just her omnipresence in cyberspace. It’s her physical incarnation, the teenage girl we come to care about. And it’s not one-sided—she herself clings to that part of her identity. It becomes real. Tangible. Not just for her, but for her friend Arisu, and arguably for everyone else who interacts with her. Lain seems to exist in two planes at once: the omnipotent presence in the Wired and the deeply human girl living in the now. In the end, she chooses to erase herself from everyone’s memories so the world can return to peace. But how does that really work? What was Lain’s actual role in all those surreal, often disturbing events? Was she simply the spark, or the entire mechanism? Did she trigger these changes, or was she used—by Eiri, the Knights, or something else entirely? Eiri had a major hand in shaping the Wired’s intrusion into reality, and the Knights clearly had their own agenda of total assimilation. But where does Lain fit in? We saw her bend the rules of reality. She was capable of altering the informational fabric of the world. So… was she complicit? Or merely awakening to what she always was? The Human Instrumentality reference someone made in the comments really stuck with me—because yes, there are echoes of Evangelion here. This notion of merging, of a collective unconscious, of transcending individuality. But still, Lain’s role in all this isn’t entirely clear. She’s more than a symbol—she acts, she chooses, she changes things. So how does removing herself from memory actually “reset” the world? Is it because the world itself was destabilized by awareness of her? Maybe it’s this: once you’ve known who you truly are, you can’t unknow it. Maybe that’s why Lain can’t go back to being the same person—because she remembers, even if no one else does. And maybe she doesn’t want to forget. Because even as a god, she loved her human life. She cherished having a friend. She felt the need to be loved, to belong. She’s not just a digital god—she’s more like a human ascending to godhood, or maybe a god choosing to be human. That ending… yeah, bittersweet, like many people said. But I think it’s fitting. Everyone’s okay. The world moves on. And even if everyone forgot her, Lain still has the power to reach out, to create new connections, new memories. She’s not alone. She still watches over her friends, still exists—everywhere. If she chooses to. And then… there’s her father. Was he her “real” creator? A god figure of sorts? That final scene definitely gave off that vibe. And what about Eiri—was that his true self we saw in the end? He did have a body, at some point, right? That moment in episode 9 where Lain challenges him—“a body doesn’t mean anything to you, right?”—that line hit hard. It reminded us that presence, physicality, mattering in someone’s tangible world—that still means something. Lain returns to her physical form. She meets Arisu again. She remembers that life, with all its flaws and joys, is worth clinging to. That love and friendship require more than just data—they require presence, a beating heart. That’s why we care about her. Because she isn’t cold omniscience. She chooses to be human. She wants to be part of the world. And in doing so, she shows us something profoundly beautiful. That’s the point, maybe. That humanity in Lain—the part that refuses to vanish—is why this show lingers so long after it ends. I do wish there were maybe a couple more episodes to flesh some things out, offer a bit more clarity. But maybe that would ruin it. Maybe it’s supposed to be unfinished. Mysterious. Haunting. This is definitely one of those anime I’ll never forget—and one I’ll absolutely revisit in the future. Score: 8/10 on MAL. Finished on 3rd August 2025 at 11:54 Hrs IST.  |
Ricky16Aug 3, 2:33 AM
| Damn recap was jarring. Good vibes overall. Fun temporal symbolism structure. Liberal McGuffin. Sister never explained. Girls love crushed. |
| I didn't expect the ending to be this... wholesome? Arisu x teacher, yuck. Also, that little girl who tormented the man a while back was the Cyberia shooter's sister, which implied he murdered her before the shooting, talk about recontextualizing. I already talked about it in the previous thread but the show did resonate with me on a personal level, simply because I grew up chronically online. Actually understood it to an extent because it mirror my worldview in a lot of ways, even thought of some of these things before watching it, like the memories of the dead remaining through the internet. I DIE for this show's aesthetic. Some things are still unclear to me, like... whatever happened to Lain's sister? Would definetely rewatch it in the future. 10/10. |
 |
| I don't really get this series. What is it trying to say? That life is what you make of it? I guess that's true but Lain just kind of rewrites reality. You can't just make your life whatever you want. You have to take advantage of what it is for what it is. Maybe it means when you look inward you can rewrite it to be however you want, but that doesn't really make sense either. I really don't understand the ending. Why is Alice suddenly the same age as her teacher? I thought he was like a pedophile. And what kind of ending is this for Lain, she just goes on without any human connection to anyone? She wiped everyone's memories of her. What is Lain going to do now? How has any of her distress been solved if she's still all alone? How did rewriting everyone's memories actually make anyone's life better? I think it was trying to say that isn't a solution, but then what is? What is the alternative? The line at the end, "Maybe we'll see each other again" could mean you should just hope for a better future, which I think is a good first step but is an incomplete on its own. You can't just hope for a better future you also have to take some of the opportunity life throws at you. If you never take any opportunity, then it doesn't matter how much you hope your life will all just stay the same. I don't think it was really doing this so I'm not sure what it was trying to say. |
| This is Deepy, Signing off! |
| Very cool series! Last episode was a bit slower than I expected. There's some stuff about Akashic Records, self-actualization, religion, technology, belief, and memory. She changed how she is remembered instead of removing all of the memories. |
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