Chibi Chibi Lain

Chibi Chibi Lain: The Empire Strikes Back (ちびちびレイン　帝国の逆襲）is a series of six (five? there are definitely six - see below) humorous 4-panel comic strips by Yoshitoshi ABe. They feature a chibified Lain in ridiculous situations, generally acting cute and/or vulnerable. They are published in the original An Omnipresence in Wired and in the original Restore booklets packaged with Geneon Universal's 2010 Japanese release of Serial Experiments Lain Blu-ray BOX|RESTORE.

The comics were originally published on the liners of the VHS and LD releases of the anime, one strip with each release. However, since the series was split up into five recordings, one of the six strips originally went unpublished, and that was the second one. The third strip says in parentheses, その２は欠番です、meaning "number two was skipped," but it's easy to misinterpret this as meaning that number two does not exist. Scans currently existing on the internet are probably from the VHS or LD liners themselves, which is why scans of the second strip have never been circulated on the web.

A translation of the strips (minus number two) can be found on misceLAINeous, along with another comic called "Gekikara! A Sales Promo Ad By Dame-Dame Lain," which is included at the end of the same Restore booklet mentioned above as well as both versions of Omnipresence.

See Also

• Weather Break - other humorous sketches by ABe featuring chibified Lain.
• The artist known as Gomennasai has written some similar 4-panel comic strips which may have been inspired by ABe's Chibi Chibi Lain. Refer to Fanworks.