Ueda Yasuyuki

Ueda Yasuyuki (上田 耕行) is the producer of Serial Experiments Lain. He stylizes his name as yasuyuki ueda and is sometimes credited as Production 2nd. In the game credits, the one credited as dango is probably him as well. He came up with the original concept and story for the game and the anime and enlisted the aid of other staff members, Chiaki Konaka, Nakamura Ryuutarou, and Yoshitoshi ABe.

Lain blog

Ueda kept a promotional blog during the time Lain was being restored in 2009-2010 for Pioneer's Bluray Box|RESTORE.

Archive link: [1]

The Infamous Interview

In a 1999 Animerica Magazine interview of Ueda, Konaka, and Nakamura, he made some ambiguous and controversial statements regarding the anime. The introductory paragraph of the article states, "While all three agree on certain points of Lain's production and design, each are beholden to different interpretations of the show's philosophy and what it means to them individually... Producer Yasuyuki Ueda states that Lain is an attack against American values."

However, reading the interview questions and Ueda's responses quickly reveals that the previous quote takes great liberties with paraphrasing, resulting in a misrepresentation of his statements. In the interview, he gives two responses that deal directly with the interpretation or meaning of Lain:

Q: How would you describe the concept of Lain? What is the story you're trying to tell?

Ueda: As I said before, it's not like I wanted to communicate something. It's more like a private work. It's more like an experiment about the relationships between one individual self and the masses.

And later:

Q: Does the series have a "message"?

Ueda: The message is, Things are simple.

Note that neither of these responses have anything to do with American values.

He makes two responses that have to do with his expectations for American viewers' reception of the show:

Q: What do you think American viewers will think of the series? Do you think they will have the same reactions as Japanese audiences?

Ueda: They won't understand this. I don't want them to understand this. This work is based on the sensitivity and values of the Japanese people. America is different from Japan. This work itself is a sort of cultural war against American culture and the American sense of values we adopted after WW II. So I want American people to react to this work.
(...)
Q: Do you have any special message for American fans of the series?

Ueda: Are there any American fans? I really can't imagine there is one. If there are any, I can't imagine why they think it's good. But if there were one, I'm a little happy.

Note that both of these responses were prompted by questions concerning American audiences, and not questions concerning the meaning of Lain. They seem to be more about Ueda's perception of American entertainment than his interpretation of Lain. In no other interview does he mention subversion of American entertainment values as part of the show's purpose or meaning.

The article can be viewed here. More interviews of Ueda and other creators are here