Rating: 
Summary: Come to the Wired...
Review: We're all connected... Come to the "Wired" as soon as you can... Why won't you come? ...Why won't you come...? Serial Experiments Lain is deep, very deep. As an anime almost indescribable, it will stick will you for life as it haunts you with its silent mysteries. Never have I seen an anime anything like this one. I remember the nights where Lain just stood in my head, as I wondered how the true secrets would eventually uncover from their cloaked darkness. The artwork that was shown in this raging series was that of which reminded me of something from a basic MTV cartoon. Of course this isn't awful at any bit, it's just a different style with a nice appeal of eye candy and detailed but somewhat creepy designs. The unique computer (or according to this anime title, "Navi") and electrical designs/styles were done very beautifully and caught my eye every time. I curiously noted much of the Navi features and I thought about the terrific effort that was placed into animating each little part of the visually pleasing features. If you look hard enough at Serial Experiments Lain's art, you'll spot marvelous examples of well-done (and not to mention talented) Japanese animation creations. So, although the visual artwork can be a tad strange every once and awhile, it is fine non-the less and is something oddly different. A major part of Serial Experiments Lain to me was the puzzling, tragic, and disturbing story to it. I was almost completely lost during the first and second volumes, but then once you hit a little further into the series, everything starts to slowly pile together and make sense. Lain is fourteen years old, regular amount of friends, quiet and un-social, but lately Lain seems to be different. What is happening to her the life around her... her world... what is it? After getting an unknown e-mail from a girl in Lain's class who has killed herself, everything starts becoming different... but why? "The Wired" (or this anime's version of something very similar to the internet) is the popular thing to the many kids (are they really kids...?) around her. Everyone's on it. What's so good about it? Could it be holding some sort of lethal secret that Lain is to find out? But... why Lain? What is this "Wired?" Is the "Wired" the reasoning for all of the ghostly events that have been happening recently?! Could a world of some sort be slowly dripping into our own..... We're all connected... Come to the "Wired" as soon as you can... Why won't you come? ...Why won't you come...? The seiyuu went marvelously well with the characters they played. Although the Japanese voice actors selected for Lain were none of which seemed too, too popular and well known, I still enjoyed listening to their smooth voices. Even Lain's seiyuu had special inside scenes (called "Devices") at the end of each DVD where you could see a part of the body interact and be described unusually by her. I found this very interesting. The seiyuu picked for Serial Experiments Lain were = Shimizu Kaori as Iwakura Lain, Igarashi Rei as Iwakura Miho, Kawazumi Ayako as Iwakura Mika, Obayashi Ryuunosuke as Iwakura Yasuo, Asada Yoko as Mizuki Arisu, Chiba Shigeru as Nezumi, Mizuno Manabi as Katou Juri, Morizumi Ari as JJ, Muto Kotomi as Yomoda Chisa, Neya Michiko as Yoshii Keiko, and Tezuka Chiharu as Yamamoto Reika. Quite an interestingly and nicely picked selection, I truly believe. There wasn't very much music of any type played throughout the series. I recall seldom hearing background music, but the background music that was played fit well with the actually incident that was occurring at the time. The outstanding and catchy "Duvet" opening song (which in either type of version of Lain you view) is in English. Actually to tell you the truth, when I first heard the song, I thought it was sung by one of my favorite songwriters of all time - Alanis Morissette (which of course, is a good thing). In fact, the female who does sing the song, strangely does remind me of an Asian-type Alanis. I must also compliment on the ending song, which had more of a rock theme to it, unlike the pop opening. So, definitely a high score for the music. Be warned before you even think about purchasing this splendid anime series, that it is horror-filled anime that may seriously disturb children under thirteen years of age due to the highly mature themes, mysterious and creepy aspects of life, emotional unbalance, strong language, uneven occult-action, and wondrous themes such as the ones I have already listed! ^^ But definitely don't miss Lain if you're looking for a different emotionally haunting anime that will make you reflect on your life and what could be awaiting in your future. I remember first watching Lain and asking myself, "What is this life...?" Serial Experiments Lain will amaze you at how it leeches your open mind and makes you think about... the unknown... We're all connected... Come to the "Wired" as soon as you can... Why won't you come? ...Why won't you come...?
Rating:
Summary: wow, this is also so cute
Review: i love lain in her little bear outfit. made me wish i had one of my own. my advise is if you want a movie that has everything from suicide to little girls running around in catholic uniforms this is the anime to buy. the take you into the world of neglectful parents and how our world is being run by computers. modern tecnology will be the fall of our world and Lain shows it. the wire is a little confusing if you dont devote your full attention to it. but over all lain is a kick ass movie that will make you buy the who set because if you dont, you dont seem to understand.
Rating: 
Summary: Psychedelicious
Review: Great - in terms of abstract feel.
Lain is a great example of how extreme Japanese anime can be. The plot does make some sense, but very obscure. Times to times you will feel that the creator cheats on you by giving you incomprehensible explanation that maybe even himself does not understand. However, in term of artistic view, I must give Lain 5/5. The creativity in this anime is truly amazing, the grayish tone colors are beautiful and sound effects are great.
If you're looking for visual and aural satisfactions, Lain is truly a must see.
Rating:
Summary: Existence is Not Decided by the Will of God, but of Own
Review: Lain is something that truly engrosses the viewer, steals there mind, throws it into the washing machine, gives it to the dog as a chew toy then, shoots it back into their head for the three point shot of absolute confusion. This series is for anyone willing to take a deeper look into someone elses views on life, relationships, reality, and existence. When you first watch this show you'll completely have no idea of what's going on, but that's the point in my opinion. Every detail in the first few episodes is later either explained or provides as a reason for what may currently be going on in the series at that moment. Also it holds an important view about communication and understanding others. After finishing this show you'll possibly feel the need to cry without knowing why. More so the desire to know and understand the meaning of this series will have you pondering for hours if you didn't get it all the first time - I know I did -. Also if you pay attention the age old proverb of too much knowledge leads to sorrow may come into play.
When it comes to the animation of this story it is simply beautiful. The characters are purely amazing and so true to life. -My personal favorite is Alice who seems to pose the classic portrayl of Ophelia, and someone you can truly connect with- Also the evolution of Lains expanding interest in the wired ( internet ) is profound. I only wathced the dubbed version , but the voice acting is really good. The music for this show is perhaps one of the best parts of this show. It gives one a psycadelic feeling as well as a homey and warm one.
There's so much more I can say about this show, but in all honesty it is up to the viewer her/himself to decipher the meaning of this tale, and establish their own ideas of the two worlds and what it means to connect without devices. If you're looking to be spellbound beyond belief then you should get Serial Experiments Lain, it's one that will never leave the depths of your psyche.
Hope this review was helpful.
Rating: 
Summary: Hated It!
Review: I suppose that technically Lain is "shojo" (Japanese for "girl"), but to use such a restrictive term to describe a work as profound as this seems tragically dishonest. Lain is NOT Sailor Moon, and in truth occupies a very different genre, at least in my mind. Most importantly, Lain does not seem aimed at kids at all. Most kids, boys or girls, probably don't want to know the answers to the questions Lain asks. At least, not just yet. Some even classify Lain as "horror", which is not a stretch -- some disturbing themes and imagery are blended into the work.
Sure, Lain is cute, could be thought of as a typical "magic girl" so common in anime and she is definitely beautifully drawn (Lain screencaps are some of the best art I own), but it is her incredibly complex personality that will steal your heart, not her oversized eyes and undersized mouth. Beautiful female anime characters are a dime a dozen, but in a world full of them, Lain is truly unique.
Just as anime for boys can be about more than the bang-pow glorification of metamorphosizing robots, superheroes with giant swords and marketing toys and video games, anime for girls can transcend the cloying sentimentalism of general teen angst, the jocular cruelty of childhood society and the joyous heartbreak of young romance, which is what Lain most assuredly does. Lain is shojo in name only.
Indeed, to think of Lain as being about a young Japanese schoolgirl is to confuse the story with its backdrop. Lain is not like other girls. While this is hardly unusual -- stories about girls invariably paint their heroines as unique and special, as every girl ultimately is -- in the case of Lain, it's the understatement of the century. As best can be determined, Lain is not human at all. But we can't really know, and the way this uncertainty is maintained adds to Lain's durability as a mainstay of my anime collection.
Serial Experiments: Lain would stand up quite nicely as the core of a college philosophy class at either the undergraduate or graduate level. It's that deep. I can also say, without a moment's hesitation, that Lain presents one of the most intriguing and engaging examinations of epistemology and cognition I have ever seen in any medium, whether anime, movie, television or even print.
As others have pointed out, the seminal themes of Lain are not necessarily new to anime, or to storytelling in general. Any meaningful work of art addresses them in some way or another, and I would hazard to say that much of what we think of as making art meaningful derives from how well we think it has addressed these themes.
Ultimately, Lain is Lain. To even hope to understand more than that, it is necessary to come to the Wired.
Or perhaps I should say: (0|\/|3 70 7|-|3 \/\/1®3Ð.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but over rated.
Review: I watched the whole series in one day and even though it has some great ideas I just couldn't get into the series and at the end I was left wondering what the hell happened and was there any point to anything that came before the final episode and it has some of the most lifeless characters I have ever seen on a TV screen.
A lot of people compare this anime to Boogipepop Phantom but personally I would recomend that over this anime every time.
Overall good but very over rated.
Rating:
Summary: HORRIBLE
Review: This anime has to be the worst peice of crap, I have ever seen. Talk about snooze fest. With all the thinking and psychological process of trying to figure out what's going on, it gave me a headache and a hatred for this series. It was soo boring. It was like a chore watching the whole thing.But I did it because I recieved this as a gift. Now I'm stuck with this peice of crap anime sitting in my closet collecting dust.
Halfyway through it my friend and I had come to the conclusion that the moral of the story is, kill yourself because then you'll live in a better world with all your cyber geek friends. Seriously this anime was a joke. Don't even waste your time.
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