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''Lain'' is influenced by philosophical subjects such as [[reality]], [[identity]], and [[communication]]. The series focuses on [[Iwakura Lain]], an adolescent girl living in suburban Japan, and her introduction to [[the Wired]], a global communications network similar to the Internet. Lain lives with her middle class family, which consists of her inexpressive older sister [[Iwakura Mika]], her cold mother [[Iwakura Miho]], and her computer-obsessed father [[Iwakura Yasuo]]. The first ripple on the pond of Lain's lonely life appears when she learns that girls from her school have received an [[e-mail]] from [[Chisa Yomoda]], a schoolmate who committed [[suicide]]. When Lain receives the message at home, Chisa tells her (in real time) that she is not dead, but has just "abandoned the flesh", and has found [[God]] in the Wired. From then on, Lain is bound to a quest which will take her ever deeper into both the network and her own thoughts.
''Lain'' is influenced by philosophical subjects such as [[reality]], [[identity]], and [[communication]]. The series focuses on [[Iwakura Lain]], an adolescent girl living in suburban Japan, and her introduction to [[the Wired]], a global communications network similar to the Internet. Lain lives with her middle class family, which consists of her inexpressive older sister [[Iwakura Mika]], her cold mother [[Iwakura Miho]], and her computer-obsessed father [[Iwakura Yasuo]]. The first ripple on the pond of Lain's lonely life appears when she learns that girls from her school have received an [[e-mail]] from [[Chisa Yomoda]], a schoolmate who committed [[suicide]]. When Lain receives the message at home, Chisa tells her (in real time) that she is not dead, but has just "abandoned the flesh", and has found [[God]] in the Wired. From then on, Lain is bound to a quest which will take her ever deeper into both the network and her own thoughts.
The anime series is licensed in North America by Funimation since 2010. Before that, it was licensed bye Geneon(previously Pioneer Entertainment) who released the series on VHS, LaserDisc, and DVD, as well as a restored BluRay edition. It was also released in Singapore by Odex. The [[Serial Experiments Lain (game)|video game]], which shares only the themes and protagonist with the series, was never released outside Japan.
The anime series is licensed in North America by Funimation since 2010. Before that, it was licensed bye Geneon(previously Pioneer Entertainment) who released the series on VHS, LaserDisc, and DVD, as well as a restored BluRay edition. It was also released in Singapore by Odex. The video game, which shares only the themes and protagonist with the series, was never released outside Japan.
A remastered Blu-ray box set was released in Japan in 2009, and the US in 2012. It features the show redigitized to a 4:3 1080p format, with many CG sequences (such as the PRESENT DAY PRESENT TIME opening) re-rendered in higher quality.
A remastered Blu-ray box set was released in Japan in 2009, and the US in 2012. It features the show redigitized to a 4:3 1080p format, with many CG sequences (such as the PRESENT DAY PRESENT TIME opening) re-rendered in higher quality.
In the end, the viewer sees Lain realizing, after much introspection, that she has absolute power over everyone's mind and over reality itself. Her dialogue with different versions of herself show how she feels shunned from the material world, and how she is afraid to live in the Wired, where she has the possibilities and responsibilities of a goddess. The last scenes feature her erasing everything connected to herself from everyone’s memories. She is last seen unchanged - re-encountering her old friend [[Alice]], who is now married. Lain promises herself to look after Alice.
In the end, the viewer sees Lain realizing, after much introspection, that she has absolute power over everyone's mind and over reality itself. Her dialogue with different versions of herself show how she feels shunned from the material world, and how she is afraid to live in the Wired, where she has the possibilities and responsibilities of a goddess. The last scenes feature her erasing everything connected to herself from everyone’s memories. She is last seen unchanged - re-encountering her old friend [[Alice]], who is now married. Lain promises herself to look after Alice.
==Development==
===Production===
Serial Experiments Lain was conceived, as a series, to be original to the point of it being considered "an enormous risk" by its producer [[Ueda Yasuyuki|Yasuyuki Ueda]]. He explained he created Lain with a set of values he took as distinctly Japanese; he hoped Americans would not understand the series as the Japanese would. This would lead to a "war of ideas" over the meaning of the anime, hopefully culminating in new communication between the two cultures. Later, when he discovered that the American audience held the same views on the series as the Japanese, he was disappointed.
The Lain franchise was originally conceived to connect across forms of media (anime, video games, manga). Producer Yasuyuki Ueda said in an interview, "the approach I took for this project was to communicate the essence of the work by the total sum of many media products". The scenario for the video game was written first, and the video game was produced at the same time as the anime series, though the series was released first. A dōjinshi titled "[[The Nightmare of Fabrication]]" was produced by Yoshitoshi ABe and released in Japanese in the artbook [[Omnipresence in Wired|An Omnipresence in Wired]]. Ueda and Konaka declared in an interview that the idea of a multimedia project was not unusual in Japan, as opposed to the contents of Lain, and the way they are exposed.
In 2009, Yoshitoshi ABe announced a spiritual sequel to Serial Experiments Lain called [[Despera]] who will reunited many of the staff who worked on Serial Experiments Lain, including Chiaki J Konaka and Ryūtarō Nakamura.
==Reception==
==Reception==
