Review of Serial Experiments Lain: Vol. 2

Introduction

Serial Experiments Lain is the groundbreaking anime that introduced Yoshitoshi ABe to Western audiences. It takes place in a world where the Internet has become even more ubiquitous than in our own. Communication, friendships and relationships are defined by links created in the Wired as well as the real world. Lain Iwakura is a schoolgirl who isn`t as tech savvy as her friends, but a tragic event leads her into a fantastic world that has her questioning the nature of reality itself. This second volume contains three more episodes of Serial Experiments Lain.

Layer 05: Distortion
Lain`s sister takes centre stage, as a chance encounter in the city begins to alter her reality. When Mika is handed a piece of tissue with the message, "The other side is overcrowded, the dead have nowhere to go" written on it, after which she sees her sister`s face projected on an advertising screen, reality begins to unravel. Meanwhile Lain is getting an education in the nature of reality from digital projections of her nearest and dearest.

Layer 06: Kids
15 years ago, an experiment in Psi went tragically wrong, costing the lives of several children. Now it appears that someone is repeating the same experiments, this time using the Wired as a test tube, as well as to cover their tracks. Lain goes into the Wired to find Professor Hodgeson, the man who initially conducted the tests. Perhaps he holds the answers. Meanwhile, Lain`s image appears in the sky over the city.

Layer 07: Society
People from all walks of life are looking for the Knights, the mysterious hacker group that many suspect to be behind the recent events on the Wired. Lain is chief among them. There is even a misfit who dons a VR suit to remain in the Wired day and night, just to seek the Knights. Meanwhile the Men In Black parked outside Lain`s door pick her up to speak to their employer. He`s trying to figure out Lain`s part in all this, but when he presses her with questions about her family, Lain of the Wired makes an appearance. The boundaries between the real world and the Wired are crumbling.

Video

Serial Experiments Lain is presented in the original 4:3 format. The image is sharp and the colours are strong. Unlike the first disc, there are no compression artefacts on this disc. The animation itself is breathtaking. In keeping with the reality warping storyline, there are several styles of animation, mixed with real word footage. Occasionally stark images contrast monitor style footage to keep the viewer confused as to what is real and what is surreal. The characters are traditional anime, but how they perceive the world offers a melange of styles that keeps the viewer guessing.

Audio

You get a choice of DD 2.0 English and the original DD 2.0 Japanese. The dialogue is clear throughout and optional translated subtitles are provided (Japanese text is translated with burnt in subtitles captions). As usual I went with the original Japanese as opposed to the English dub. This being a relatively dialogue light programme, the dub is pretty good as well. The stereo is remarkably effective in setting up an unsettling atmosphere. Even something simple like the sound of chalk on a blackboard is used to provide a claustrophobic feel. The sound design is certainly successful in this regard, muffled voices, the oppressive hum of power cables, the tangible impression of heat haze, the visuals go hand in hand with the sound. The stereo track when output through Dolby Surround is excellent in making the most of the sound design. Serial Experiments Lain does stand out in terms of music though. The soundtrack is something special, with a selection of haunting tunes that uplift the story.

Features

You get Navi style menus for the disc, and there is the usual MVM Jacket picture. The extras are limited to 18 stills of concept art, brief trailers for the TV series, DVD, soundtrack CD and Playstation game, and finally a 10-second clip merely titled Weird. Is it an enigma, a clue, a random image? You figure it out.

Each episode is followed by Device, a brief clip of live action footage featuring Kaori Shimizu, the actress who voices Lain, and who also served as inspiration for the character`s design.

Conclusion

If you want a quick anime fix, some eye-candy and action then you are in the wrong place. Serial Experiments Lain is one anime that requires that you watch all 13 episodes to get to grips with what is going on, and it will make you work for the answers at that. But putting some effort into this story is ultimately rewarding, as it is one of the most provocative and challenging anime available today. It combines a variety of animation styles, and presents striking imagery that tells a story in a way that takes the genre into new territory. It is deceptively slow paced. It takes its time to reveal its secrets, and you feel that you have time to assimilate what you see. The pacing adds to the atmosphere of the story most certainly, but repeated viewing is essential, as you realise that even the quieter moments are laden with symbolism that resonates through the episodes. I`m watching it for the second time now, and uncovering details that I had missed the first time around.

The story deals with the nature of reality and the way that we perceive it. Lain`s perceptions are at the centre of it, she is a teenage girl who already sees the world in a skewed way, and the design of the anime merely heightens that. The shadows in this world border on alive, the sky is always a blinding white, and the oppressive hum of power cables dominates the outside. In this volume, Lain gets deeper into the Wired, typified by this previously tech illiterate girl`s conversion into computer wizard. Her room becomes a computer centre dominated by servers and elaborate cooling mechanisms. Her disconnection from reality continues apace, as she spends more time in the Wired. Her dysfunctional family react in different ways. Her sister Mika takes centre stage in the `Distortion`, when the line separating the real world and the Wired blurs. Lain`s parents have difficulty communicating with her, and this intensifies throughout the episodes on this disc, leading to the revelations in `Society`.

The mysteries and conspiracies merely deepen on this disc, with more questions remaining unanswered than otherwise. But as the pieces of the puzzle keep being introduced in these episodes, something resembling a picture begins to form. The story is layered with symbolism and enigma, and will keep the wheels of the mind whirring long after the end credits have rolled.

That said, Lain doesn`t exactly tell an original story, its blend of X-Files and Cyberpunk musings on the meaning of life, reality and everything is comfortingly familiar to this sci-fi fan, but the viewpoint of a teenaged girl is certainly something new. Lain also benefits from brilliant character design. The interactions between characters show a thoughtfulness and depth of writing that is a cut above other anime. Entertaining and intelligent, Serial Experiments Lain is a stunning anime series, but to make the most out of it, you`ll have to meet it half way.