Changes

Let us begin by drawing the two axes. Draw a sideways T, making the vertical axis the G-I axis, and the horizontal axis the B-E axis. We will call the intersection of the B-E and the G-I axes “Normality”. Let us start the plot at Normality.

Let us begin by drawing the two axes. Draw a sideways T, making the vertical axis the G-I axis, and the horizontal axis the B-E axis. We will call the intersection of the B-E and the G-I axes “Normality”. Let us start the plot at Normality.

Let us define “good” and “ill fortune” as those of Lain<ref>Inquisitive readers (spoiler alert!) might ask which version of Lain we are using. This is a completely reasonable question to ask, as a big part of the series focuses on the complex interplay between the different personalities of Lain. But since we are expected to view the world from her perspective, we will use the timid “real-world” Lain.</ref>. And let us define happiness as inherently implying “good fortune”<ref>It naturally follows that its loss, or the danger of its loss, is “ill fortune”. Also, the converse is not necessarily true. For that reason, the first few minutes of Layer 1 (depicting Chisa’s suicide) do not matter for our purposes, as Lain is not immediately revealed or known to the audience at that point.</ref>.  

Let us define “good” and “ill fortune” as those of [[Lain Iwakura|Lain]]<ref>Inquisitive readers (spoiler alert!) might ask which version of Lain we are using. This is a completely reasonable question to ask, as a big part of the series focuses on the complex interplay between the different personalities of Lain. But since we are expected to view the world from her perspective, we will use the timid “real-world” Lain.</ref>. And let us define happiness as inherently implying “good fortune”<ref>It naturally follows that its loss, or the danger of its loss, is “ill fortune”. Also, the converse is not necessarily true. For that reason, the first few minutes of Layer 1 (depicting Chisa’s suicide) do not matter for our purposes, as Lain is not immediately revealed or known to the audience at that point.</ref>.  

We first see Lain walking to school (on strange ground!), taking the train<ref>The train suddenly stops; this will be important later.</ref>, and arriving at school. Her only friend, Alice, tells her about Chisa’s suicide, and berates her about not checking her email regularly<ref>Is getting to know the Wired good or bad for Lain? This is a manifestation of the philosophical question “was civilization an improvement for mankind?”—one that is a main theme of the series. I suppose we shall have to act on the definition that happiness is always good (even if it is only in the short run) and plot it according to that.</ref>.

We first see Lain walking to school (on strange ground!), taking the train<ref>The train suddenly stops; this will be important later.</ref>, and arriving at school. Her only friend, Alice, tells her about Chisa’s suicide, and berates her about not checking her email regularly<ref>Is getting to know the Wired good or bad for Lain? This is a manifestation of the philosophical question “was civilization an improvement for mankind?”—one that is a main theme of the series. I suppose we shall have to act on the definition that happiness is always good (even if it is only in the short run) and plot it according to that.</ref>.

Lain goes outside. She looks up, and sees Eiri Masami, the God of the Wired, in the flesh. He has been stitched together with tape<ref>Why should he need to be stitched up if he is dead and has assumed the form of a disembodied spirit visible only to Lain? This is not unique to this particular scene: many times, incorporeal people or things assume the attributes and limitations of their corporeal cousins. Is this a commentary on how the human mind is incapable of truly perceiving supernatural things, without putting them under a human mold?</ref>, because he committed suicide by lying on a railway track, and letting a train run over him. Eiri claims that objectively there is no god, but anyone who can affect the Wired and has believers is a god in the Wired<ref>The author of this work agrees with him in this respect. A god without believers is simply a demon to be feared and fought against. But this inherently unstable equilibrium will be resolved either by people believing in the unbelieved-in god or creating a new god out of whole cloth to oppose the demon. Like human tyrants who oppress their citizens under the guise of fighting evil, this new god might set all manner of catastrophes upon its believers, and the believers would still remain unfazed, simply because they believe. The best example is, of course, the Old Testament Jews, who (or at least whose literate prophets and priests) viewed every catastrophe their God failed to protect them from as either as a test of their faith or as a punishment for falling away from it, an attitude still held by many fundamentalists today.</ref>

Lain goes outside. She looks up, and sees Eiri Masami, the God of the Wired, in the flesh. He has been stitched together with tape<ref>Why should he need to be stitched up if he is dead and has assumed the form of a disembodied spirit visible only to Lain? This is not unique to this particular scene: many times, incorporeal people or things assume the attributes and limitations of their corporeal cousins. Is this a commentary on how the human mind is incapable of truly perceiving supernatural things, without putting them under a human mold?</ref>, because he committed suicide by lying on a railway track, and letting a train run over him. Eiri claims that objectively there is no god, but anyone who can affect the Wired and has believers is a god in the Wired<ref>The author of this work agrees with him in this respect. A god without believers is simply a demon to be feared and fought against. But this inherently unstable equilibrium will be resolved either by people believing in the unbelieved-in god or creating a new god out of whole cloth to oppose the demon. Like human tyrants who oppress their citizens under the guise of fighting evil, this new god might set all manner of catastrophes upon its believers, and the believers would still remain unfazed, simply because they believe. The best example is, of course, the Old Testament Jews, who (or at least whose literate prophets and priests) viewed every catastrophe their God failed to protect them from as either as a test of their faith or as a punishment for falling away from it, an attitude still held by many fundamentalists today.</ref>

   

   

Lain goes to school, where her teacher orders them to stand up and bow<ref>So China took ''this'' from Japan as well?</ref>. But there is no chair or desk in her place, and when the teacher passes out the test she passes it straight through her. Lain is surprised<ref>Wasn’t she surprised when she passed right through the door? Or, if she opened the door, weren’t her other classmates surprised when the door appeared to move by itself?</ref>.  Alice turns and whispers to her, “the real world doesn’t need you.” Lower the plot. Lain is saddened. When she gets home, her family is gone. Her father comes in and all but reveals the fact that he was not her real father. Bidding her farewell and wishing her good luck in the Wired, he departs. ''Lower the plot''.

Lain goes to school, where her teacher orders them to stand up and bow<ref>So China took ''this'' from Japan as well?</ref>. But there is no chair or desk in her place, and when the teacher passes out the test she passes it straight through her. Lain is surprised<ref>Wasn’t she surprised when she passed right through the door? Or, if she opened the door, weren’t her other classmates surprised when the door appeared to move by itself?</ref>.  Alice turns and whispers to her, “the real world doesn’t need you.” ''Lower the plot''. Lain is saddened. When she gets home, her family is gone. Her father comes in and all but reveals the fact that he was not her real father. Bidding her farewell and wishing her good luck in the Wired, he departs. ''Lower the plot''.

Outside, the sky is multicolored and crisscrossed with wires. Voices emanate from the sky, all addressed to Lain. ''Raise the plot''. The Wired (represented by the wires) is her oyster. In an empty Cyberia, (presumably busted by a police raid because of controlled substances) Lain somehow releases the information of all members of the Knights, and they are purged on the orders of an unknown employer, two of whose agents are the men in black. The men in black pay a visit to Lain. They do not kill her, both because they believe she is under the protection of God, and because they love Lain<ref>Illogically, all that contact with the Wired has not led them to subscribe to any of the beliefs held by Wired citizens. Like O’Brien in 1984, they shut their mind to it either for professional reasons, or because it simply does not matter to their opportunistic selves. They do not believe in God; they spare Lain because they fear the supernatural.</ref>.  ''Raise the plot (somewhat)''.

Outside, the sky is multicolored and crisscrossed with wires. Voices emanate from the sky, all addressed to Lain. ''Raise the plot''. The Wired (represented by the wires) is her oyster. In an empty Cyberia, (presumably busted by a police raid because of controlled substances) Lain somehow releases the information of all members of the Knights, and they are purged on the orders of an unknown employer, two of whose agents are the men in black. The men in black pay a visit to Lain. They do not kill her, both because they believe she is under the protection of God, and because they love Lain<ref>Illogically, all that contact with the Wired has not led them to subscribe to any of the beliefs held by Wired citizens. Like O’Brien in 1984, they shut their mind to it either for professional reasons, or because it simply does not matter to their opportunistic selves. They do not believe in God; they spare Lain because they fear the supernatural.</ref>.  ''Raise the plot (somewhat)''.

How can the plot we have drawn be best described? It does not neatly conform to any of the eight standard shapes of stories, befitting its status as an avant-garde anime. At the beginning it resembles the “Man in Hole” shape, while later it starts to seem like the “Cinderella” shape. By the end we have drastic changes in Good- and Ill-Fortune<ref>Consequently, we also obtain another definition for the “plot arc”: The derivative of a story plotted on the B-E/G-I axes. That is, when the plot arc is high, change in Good- and Ill-Fortune are also high. Due to insufficient time and skills, the actual production of the graph is left as an exercise to the reader.</ref>

How can the plot we have drawn be best described? It does not neatly conform to any of the eight standard shapes of stories, befitting its status as an avant-garde anime. At the beginning it resembles the “Man in Hole” shape, while later it starts to seem like the “Cinderella” shape. By the end we have drastic changes in Good- and Ill-Fortune<ref>Consequently, we also obtain another definition for the “plot arc”: The derivative of a story plotted on the B-E/G-I axes. That is, when the plot arc is high, change in Good- and Ill-Fortune are also high. Due to insufficient time and skills, the actual production of the graph is left as an exercise to the reader.</ref>