Rating: 
Summary: great anime
Review: Lain is a great anime, it has great animation and a very good storyline. The storyline may be a little confusing to some but its very good. If your an anime fan you must get this anime.
Rating:
Summary: Close the world, txen eht nepO
Review: One girl, two worlds. Lain doesn't start out as an internet freak, but she has more to do with it than anyone else in the world.The Wired, the advanced version of the internet they have, is capable of supporting life thanks to Protocol 7, and people are beginning to realize it. What's the result? Peaceful co-existence? Thought not. Some human beings prefer to live in the Wired, and so believe they don't need their physical forms. If you don't need your body, why have it anyways? What follows is mass suicide. Lain doesn't know it, but what she decides to do with her new knowledge of the Wired and the story of how she came to be will decide the fate of us all. If you're over 16, there's no need to miss this. Disturbingly realistic, yet fictional. See if you can catch the undercurrent the director put in about Japan-U.S.A. relations.
Rating: 
Summary: Conflicted...
Review: This is rather hard to explain. I've never before seen an anime that so mercilessly BORED ME TO TEARS, yet at the same exact time, I CANNOT WAIT to see how it ends. I've seen (rented, mind you) the first three DVDs and am gonna see the fourth one as soon as possible. It's weird...it's like the show teases you with the promise of getting really good, only it never quite does. Every episode contains at least one scene where I found myself thinking "Woah, that was cool! Now I think I know where this is going!" The next thing I know, it's ten minutes later and nothing has happened. That's how it gets you. You sit through the entire series just so you can figure out what the (EXPLETIVE) is going on! The series is worth a rental, at least. If you don't understand what's going on, don't feel too bad, because I don't think you're supposed to. Just make sure you eat a lot of sugar beforehand and turn all the lights on, lest you drowse off halfway through. If nothing else, you can tell your friends that you sat through a "deep, thoughtful anime" for once. Evangelion doesn't count, because no matter how spiritual it was, it still had huge fighting monsters. :)
Rating:
Summary: Two Words: Man this is deep!
Review: This has got to be the deepest series I have ever seen. With the progress of Internet improvements, the nature of mankind has changed. Lain captures the essence of truth to be had of mankinds future. I can practically see these massive improvements in the Internet as I look at my imac. If a technical marvel like this has been created, we must be close to transcending our physical forms. It's like a vast globalized projection of self upon the world! Only in this rare form can we become a one being that may stand united as a single entity. Lain is the first series that has captured all this, yet it remains accessible to us who choose not to smoke pot.
Rating: 
Summary: well.......
Review: This series is for serious anime fans, and people capable of deep thought... i mean deep thought.. ( unlike myself ) This series has similar ideas and thoughts similar to that of the last episode of evangelion. If you did not like the last episode of eva, then you might not like this series. The animation is superb, but the story line is not appealing to everyone, watching it a few times might help also.. overall.. not bad.. but not that great either..
Rating:
Summary: Excellent - Aronofskyesque
Review: Let me start off by saying that I'm not a big fan of "traditional" anime, such as Dragonball and Ramna. I just could never get into a story paired with that style of animation. I did however take an active interest in not-so-traditional anime after Cowboy Bebop hit the shelves. SEL is the second series I've had the utmost pleasure in viewing. I bought the whole series in two days after viewing the first 4 layers.
*possible minor spoilers* I have to say that SEL is every bit as good as Bebop, despite the fact that they are polar opposites tied off at their sci-fi roots. Throughout the series I was surprised by the amount of questions it brought up. For instance, what is the significance of the body in the internet era (or maybe 5-10 years from now)? When you go online, you leave an electronic trail of your thoughts and opinions that you would otherwise keep to yourself in a real world environment. You create a sort of doppleganger of yourself that has it's own memories and alternate personality that reacts differently towards others. Your body becomes nothing more than a vessel for these memories. It's like installing a piece of software on the computer. After you do, you no longer need the medium - the vessel - on which the software was originally stored. It exists only in electronic form, vulnerible to manipulation. Lain dares us to answer these questions and more. It is truly remarkable in that sense.
As for the animation style, I've already mentioned I haven't watched a lot of anime series'. Of course I've seen movies like Akira and Ghost in the Shell, but you can't really expect a TV series to live up to those standards. I can say that the look of Lain is terrific, and fits the mood of the show perfectly, meaning it doesn't detract from the story.
I haven't not listened to the English dub yet, but I'm sure someone else has commented about it. I can say that the original Japanese voice acting is superb, as is the usual case.
I'd highly recommened Serial Experiments: Lain to everyone, especially fans of Darron Aronofsky's "Pi". And if you haven't seen Pi, but liked Lain, well, my recommendation goes both ways. In fact, I would love to see Aronofsky adapt this into a live action film if that whole Batman thing doesn't work out.
Rating:
Summary: Different, but not that Good
Review: I have always felt that the true charm of anime is its strong story telling and solid sci-fi plots. Lain is an attempt to produce this in a very pure form. If you like action or comedic gags, take a look at some of the shallower offerings like "Slayers." If you are like me, however, and enjoy a strong story, you might get steered this way. In many ways, Lain is similar to "Key the Metal Idol" which is possibly the greatest series ever made. (Take me seriously when I say that, I have a collection of 600 anime tapes that I have been assembling since 1984!). However, having finished it, I must say I was disappointed. I have two problems with this series. The first three episodes are REALLY slow. Like watching paint peel. If you make it through that, it does get interesting, even facinating, and the remainder of the series is very entertaining. Except for the other problem. The show raises all kinds of questions and virtually none of them are answered at the end of the series. I know the Japanese are fond of ambiguous endings but this doesn't even meet that standard. I was left staring at the TV, saying "that it?" to myself. So little was answered or explained that it makes the body of the story devoid of meaning. If you want to see a series with a tremendous story, get "Key." This one might be worth a rent but I would not recommend buying it.
Rating:
Summary: Not slow
Review: Lain is truly a perfect anime. Voices are wonderful, and the art is magnificent. The first four episodes aren't slow, they are psycological. The end of the series will stop you from blinking for hours (in the good way). After watching the series, you will want to watch it again just to see everything that you may have missed. This is going up in the classics along with Neon Genesis Evangelion, Mononoke Hime and Bebop. For now, -sumogrip
Rating:
Summary: Weird and Wonderful
Review: I don't know quite how to review this series. I love it. I love the complexity of it. I like the animation. I like the characters. Somehow it manages to be slow and deliberate without seeming to drag. The use of background noise is incredible. The show can build tension with no movement, no dialogue, no sound effects, just the background hum of electricity behind a static character. AHA! That's it! Every single thing in this show: the art, the sound, the dialogue, the characters, the music, the backgrounds, seems to have been carefully selected and placed. There is nothing present which is extraneous to the story.
Rating:
Summary: Lain
Review: Heck, i'm completely astounded by what i've experienced with this anime. I had low expectations about this anime personally, because i had not really heard much about this. I bought the first tape, and i was hooked. I was 100% shocked by the quality of the animation. The storyline was incredible for an anime (atleast for the anime i've seen), and the voice acting was incredible. There is nothing wrong with this series at all. A definate 5 star review for Lain. If only those tapes werent so blasting expensive. I payed $30 for a video. I think thats a rip-off, but i payed it anyway.....because i had to watch. Its that addictive.
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