Rating: 
Summary: We are all connected...
Review: A very different Anime. If you're expecting big robots, massive gun battles and some hillariously shoddy dialogue, look somewhere else. Lain will make you think. Mostly, 'what is going on?' you'll either love it or hate it. I won't go into the plot, doesn't matter what you read, you need to see it to understand. Or atleast to decide for yourself. If you want to see something different, beautifully animated and thought provoking get this now. Its the best original anime in a long while.
Rating: 
Summary: Not your average anime...
Review: I gave this series 4 stars simply because it contains certain features that will not be liked by all age and genre groups. With that said, the series is recommended for 16 and up, I don't believe violence or language plays a roll, but more so the complexity of the series.If your interested in getting in involved in a series that lacks action, but uses visuals and sound fx to get inside your head, then this is definately a movie I recommend for you. There may be a drawback to this series, since the creators intend to use visuals to get you through the series rather than with spoken explantion, the voice acting is sub-par . However the excellent art direction makes up for this. Certain backgrounds seem odd and bland, but you soon realize that one object stands out and is so well designed its utterly amazing. The art direction and the visuals add so much depth to this series its almost impossible to not sit back and watch in awe. As for the story and the plot, thats something else to contend with, I definately would not recommend this to those who are impatient with a progressing story or to action junkies or to little kiddies. I like the concept that they are trying to portray though. They set-up the begining with a suicide, eventually everyone of this persons classmates receives an e-mail, Lain(the main character) decides to respond. Basically what you can assume is the suicide victim is living in the internet. Subtle hints, through the visual and sound fx, seem to depict life brewing within the power lines. In the episode "Girls" your introduced to a techno drug that messes with the brain. Also, you'll notice Lain, who in the begining despises computers, seems to be drawn to them as the series continues. Thats all I'll give you, as I dont want to give too much away. Bottomline, if you find odd and bizarre directed movies, like "Lost Highway" amusing, then this is the series for you.
Rating:
Summary: As layer 01 implies: Weird
Review: This is just one of those animes that leaves you sitting there going "Oookaaaaay..." I just suppose that watching this at 2:oo am was a baaaad idea... I didn't sleep the rest of the night cause I was too busy trying to figure out what the HECK just happened. 'Lain' follows the young girl of the same name in her dabbling with the world known as the 'wired'. Her curiosity really begins after she recieves an e-mail from Chisa Yomoda, a girl who commited suicide only two days earlier. What? Not weird enough you say? As the story continues Lain begins to see strange children getting run over by trains, appearing out of walls, and disappearing in to thin air. In layer 02: Girls, Lain finds out that there is another version of herself running around (hmmm...wereLain?) and in Layer 03: Psyche, Lain becomes involved in a game called Phantoma that allows people to fight in the 'wired' without limitations 'cept there are still a few bugs in the system. Last, in Layer 04: Religion, Lain finds out about a group of people called the KNIGHTS who may prove to be a tad problematic. If you love technobabble and solving puzzles then this is probably the title for you. It walks on the darker side with no comedy relief and a lot of suicide, homicide, and a little bit of drug use. The blood and death are handled quite tastefully so the only real reason that an older audience should watch this is for the material covered in it. I really recommend that you don't miss out on this title. The best thing is Toonami can't mess it up!
Rating: 
Summary: Serial Experiments - Lain - the strangest series of all time
Review: Even after just a few minutes of watching this series I was already completely and utterly lost. The plot is so strange and hard to follow I couldn't watch more than 30 minutes. This is about a girl who commits suicide and somehow her consciousness is able to pass through the internet. Her friend somehow communicates with her through her computer. I do not recommend this to anyone. Whoever can understand this crazy plot is undoubtedly crazy themselves.
Rating:
Summary: Thrilling Cyberpunk Mystery
Review: Lain is an introverted 13-year-old girl with few friends and a dull life. That is, until a girl at her school commits suicide and a week later her classmates receive e-mails from her. Lain soon receives the startling e-mail herself: "I still live here, I just abandoned my body." Lain now wonders just if the real world and the Wired world inside the computers are really that different, or is there some connection? This DVD contains the first four episodes of the series. You'll constantly find yourself asking "What the heck's going on?!" but it only deepens the mystery. This contains both english and japanese dialogue with optional subtitles and a few extras, and is well worth the price. Be forewarned though; this DVD has been rated 16+ due to some disturbing images (suicide, murdering, drug-related scene) and is definitely not for kids, or people who don't like to think while watching their anime. Still, I suggest checking it out. It may hook you.
Rating:
Summary: Help! Weird Glitch!
Review: I know this is not exactly the place, but so far Pioneer has left me on hold. I don't if it is on purpose, but the animation seems to have some glitches, only when people are moving, I've tried the DVD on my DV computer and on my DVD player. The dvd player is zone 4, but I changed the code to zone 1, a procedure that had never gone wrong. Both have the glitch, even tough the computer is more discrete. I don't know what's ging on, but I feel ripped of as I paid 60 dolars taxes to get the DVD out of customs and no one is going to reemburse me on that. Thanks for your time!
Rating:
Summary: A feast for the mind
Review: Where to start! This anime got inside of me and has not let go. I have seen a lot of anime (I'm 40) and Lain has a massive grip on me. It does move slow but it's kind of like it sneaks up behind you and squeezes you brain. When the story kicks in the slowness drifts away and you find yourself in another dimension. You have to be a patient viewer with an open mind, and if you are you will be very rewarded. After the first DVD I ran out to get the rest! The music is gently awesome! Very much like Brian Eno's early stuff, very strange and disturbing and compliments the visuals perfectly. I love a flick that you can't understand right away. It is like X Files only if X Files were on acid. There is no need for drugs when you see a masterpiece like this. The train wreck scene with the stange music was to me hypnotic. I have waited for a combination of Vertigo Sandman-esque storys and off center music together for a long time. Not for the average anime viewer I have found. Some people just won't get it. I thank the people responsable for making it and bringing it to the US with all my heart! Stuff like this is a once in a long while meal to be savored. Like the first time I saw X Files or read a Sandman comic.
Rating:
Summary: Slow but Addictive
Review: Ok, one thing you might have heard is that this series moves at a slow pace...and that is very true. I just recieved the first volume today and by the end of the first episode, I just thought "what the?! Thats it?! Its over?! NOTHING HAPPENED!!!" but keep watching. After the second I was already wrapped in the story, or better...completely lost in what the heck was going on. How could something which goes by soooooo slowly suddenly have such a weird, twisted plot? I have no idea, but one things for sure when I got to the end of the 4th episode what I thought was "...I gotta watch the other volumes..." So if you're willing to check it out even though the warnings on the pace, I really recommend it. Also, the animation quality is excellent...OVA like (or is it OAV? i never got that right...) and it goes very well with the mood, I really like the animation sequence in the opening title part. The music is good, theres not much of it but it seems good. But once again, when i got this anime, despite the warnings, I didn't think it would be this slow or artsy, but its really good (it might sound like I'm contradicting myself though). But if you liked the animated movie "Perfect Blue" I'm pretty sure you'll also really like this one.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting tone, deliberate pace....
Review: Lain Serial Experiments 1-4 is only the 3rd Japanese anime I have seen (Princess Mononoke, Ghost in the Shell). While not quite on a par with those films, Lain is still good and quite unique. The protagonist is a young school-age girl. She is quite introverted, shy, tentative. I found her to be quite a sympathetic, if not strong, character. The plot deserves mentioning. Similar to Ghost in an exploration of the blurred line between the 'real' world and the 'wired' world, it is quite different in it's pace, which is slow and deliberate. Things happen quite slowly, and I think this is by design. For the strength of the movie is not one of "plot", but one of "tone". The movie has an eerie sense about it. And in this aspect, the movie is quite excellent. Also excellent are the sound effects and music. I give it 4 stars, a smidgen below Princess Mononoke and Ghost in the Shell.
Rating:
Summary: love it
Review: Lain is a mind show. I like it for many reasons. I like everyone who likes anime should see this movie. well enjoy. And the music is really good. "Why? Why won't you come?" The Beging of lain
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