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I just finished watching this on recommendation from my good friend Livingtrope, and wanted to discuss some stuff. Unmarked spoilers, I guess. I knew very little about the show before watching it, the only things I knew really was that there was this girl who is really good at using computers and the creator then did the weird season of Digimon. The biggest thing I took away from the show was how despite being from 1998, the series didn't feel dated at all. The shows depiction of internet culture and technology felt really modern. Every episode makes sure to remind you that it takes place in the Present Day, and other than all the CRTs, I'd believe it. The final episode got me pretty good. As the other Lain said, no one will ever hate Lain again, but on the flip side, no one will love her either. It seems like a really painful existence. What was the deal with the Lain that appeared in the club? Lain worked out that was the only place she could appear, but how could she appear at all? What was she even trying to do? And what was the PS1 game like? I heard it was being made at the same time as the anime.
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Feb 1, 2015 20:38
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Also, I thought the character design was excellent, especially in the little ways they diverged from the anime norms. Visually, the show was excellent altogether, and I was surprised by the very small amount of cheesy CG.
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Feb 1, 2015 20:41
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Club Lain was a fake created by Toru on the knight's orders, it's explained when they hang out in Lain's room. The PS1 game was a different story then the show but had similar themes. The ending is even more depressing if you can believe that. Or at least it seems like it, I've only seen fan-subs of some scenes from it.
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Feb 1, 2015 20:50
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I think my favorite bit of visual design from it was the way that bubble patterns were placed over areas of shadow in the environment, like in your screen there. I know I must have seen it in other productions but I always associate it with Lain specifically.
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Feb 1, 2015 20:52
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forbidden lesbian posted:Club Lain was a fake created by Toru on the knight's orders, it's explained when they hang out in Lain's room. Ah, that makes sense. From what I read, the PS1 game is kind of like a weird visual novel, I.E., very minimal gameplay wise. Is anything of it worth looking up?
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Feb 1, 2015 20:54
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Sharkopath posted:I think my favorite bit of visual design from it was the way that bubble patterns were placed over areas of shadow in the environment, like in your screen there. The bubbles were really striking the first time they showed up, like there was something very menacing and dark underneath everything. The way they combined this with the blinding whiteness of the backgrounds during daytime sequences was really, really cool.
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Feb 1, 2015 20:57
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Yeah, visual novel is a good way of describing it. There are a few things on youtube but it sporadic who has what, you have to look for it. And it's nowhere near having the complete thing up lol. someone a very long time ago linked me to this http://ain-and-lain.tumblr.com/ which has a translation of the game in it but it's a whole lot to take in. I think if you just watched it that might be a bit much to go through. Be prepared for how different looking Game Lain is from show Lain. I would at least watch the Ending video because despite no translation being in the vid it's pretty clear what's going on.
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Feb 1, 2015 21:08
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Seshoho Cian posted:The bubbles were really striking the first time they showed up, like there was something very menacing and dark underneath everything. The way they combined this with the blinding whiteness of the backgrounds during daytime sequences was really, really cool. Psst, did I ever tell ya that scene in the beginning where Lain walks out of her house and down the street is one of my favorite scenes because of how well it uses the visual and soundwork to set a mood.
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Feb 1, 2015 21:10
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Who is Lain? I remember this series got to me as a kid because it made day time look and sound so loving intimidating, if that makes sense. It blew my mind.
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Feb 1, 2015 21:15
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I think SEL was one of my third "Serious" animes which I probably had no understanding what happened at the time. Will I understand it better rewatching it or is there a blog somewhere that explains everything?
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Feb 1, 2015 21:24
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Raenir Salazar posted:I think SEL was one of my third "Serious" animes which I probably had no understanding what happened at the time. Will I understand it better rewatching it or is there a blog somewhere that explains everything? Lain is pretty straightforward once you get the premise (online world is leaking into the real one, moderately autistic girl is somehow involved in this), and eerily prescient considering when it was made.
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Feb 1, 2015 22:07
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forbidden lesbian posted:Club Lain was a fake created by Toru on the knight's orders, it's explained when they hang out in Lain's room. The PS1 game, the show and the three chapter manga included in the Japanese art book are supposed to be the same story told in three different ways.
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Feb 1, 2015 22:11
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I very much did not enjoy Lain, overall. The theme resonated with me pretty well, but the pacing was really bad. I would've been fine with the whole slow, atmospheric, surreal thing they were going for at the start if they hadn't just taken a big steaming poopy all over it by having the third to last or so episode have like fifteen minutes of narrated exposition about What's Actually Going On. There has to have been a better way to handle that. That one episode where her sister goes nuts was pretty good though
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Feb 14, 2015 09:55
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HMS Boromir posted:I very much did not enjoy Lain, overall. The theme resonated with me pretty well, but the pacing was really bad. I would've been fine with the whole slow, atmospheric, surreal thing they were going for at the start if they hadn't just taken a big steaming poopy all over it by having the third to last or so episode have like fifteen minutes of narrated exposition about What's Actually Going On. There has to have been a better way to handle that. You mean the one where they give you an explanation on how the internet came to be because that's the best episode in the series and it has my favorite character
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Feb 14, 2015 10:46
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That sequence also has great music and reminds me of a Neal Stephenson infodump, only shorter.
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Feb 14, 2015 10:58
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I will always love Lain, because of Present Day heh Present Time HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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Feb 14, 2015 10:59
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HMS Boromir posted:I very much did not enjoy Lain, overall.
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Feb 14, 2015 11:39
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Let's all be more or less okay with Lain. Lol @ the idea of some people not 'getting' it even after the show literally tells you what's going on in plain language though. Did everyone who calls it vague and confusing on the internet stop watching before that part?
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Feb 14, 2015 11:42
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I watched this a long time ago and I don't really remember it. Well I remember a guy hid his consciousness in the internet protocol after he died and somehow became a god. And then lain killed him somehow. I remember them explaining that guy in detail but I didn't understand what the hell else was going on. Or maybe I did and I forgot? People acted really really weirdly around lain, it was hard to tell if that was actually going on or not.
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Feb 14, 2015 12:23
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HMS Boromir posted:Let's all be more or less okay with Lain. I watched it when I was 12. Show was too weird for me to pay adequate attention.
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Feb 14, 2015 18:19
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I watched about half of this before giving up because I had no ide what was going on. How do I correctly watch this?
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Feb 14, 2015 19:37
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HMS Boromir posted:Let's all be more or less okay with Lain. yes Butt Ghost posted:I watched about half of this before giving up because I had no ide what was going on. How do I correctly watch this?
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Feb 14, 2015 19:57
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So some point after episode 7, it explains everything that's been going on? Is this one of those things you watch twice, since you'll have a clear understanding the second time?
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Feb 14, 2015 20:08
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Butt Ghost posted:So some point after episode 7, it explains everything that's been going on? Is this one of those things you watch twice, since you'll have a clear understanding the second time? Pretty much, but you don't really need to watch it a second time because by the time the mystery is revealed the stuff in the the first half starts to make more sense.
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Feb 14, 2015 20:19
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Oh cool, I might pick it up on blu ray and try again then.
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Feb 14, 2015 20:20
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This show has a shoutout to "motherfucker" marcel proust when lain is worried about being remembered. It's the best literary allusion ive seen in an anime, suck it Oshii
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Feb 14, 2015 20:20
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Butt Frosted Cake posted:This show has a shoutout to "motherfucker" marcel proust when lain is worried about being remembered. It's the best literary allusion ive seen in an anime, suck it Oshii I liked the Majestic 12 reference
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Feb 14, 2015 20:44
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I think I watched this a decade ago so I think I'm due for a rewatch. I remember a bit more of Texhnolyze which was done by the same people (although I probably remember more of the English dub outtakes/joke clip show).
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Feb 14, 2015 21:24
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Tezhnolyze had a good sound track iirc
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Feb 14, 2015 21:38
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I think the show would have been better without the "aliens did it" explanation halfway through. It would have been better to leave the origins of the network a mystery, possibly hinting at the aliens without spelling it out.
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Feb 15, 2015 07:19
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Sharkopath posted:I think my favorite bit of visual design from it was the way that bubble patterns were placed over areas of shadow in the environment, like in your screen there.
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Feb 15, 2015 07:46
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Butt Ghost posted:So some point after episode 7, it explains everything that's been going on? Is this one of those things you watch twice, since you'll have a clear understanding the second time? And you don't seem to understand
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Feb 15, 2015 08:24
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Argue posted:And you don't seem to understand
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Feb 15, 2015 08:28
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dpbjinc posted:I think the show would have been better without the "aliens did it" explanation halfway through. It would have been better to leave the origins of the network a mystery, possibly hinting at the aliens without spelling it out. I never really interpreted it as aliens created the wired. As a general explanation for the creation of the Internet, I think that it's implying it, and the alien Lain sees is a figment of her imagination. I do think the implied explanation for why the Internet was seeping into real life (the number of people in earth had reached the number of cells in a brain and the Internet linked them) was really cool though
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Feb 15, 2015 09:55
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There's certainly something alien being created by the wired and most people just think of aliens as the ayy lmao kind
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Feb 15, 2015 20:28
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Feb 16, 2015 00:53
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I know a guy that legitimate had that rig going and almost burned his house down because his computer ran too hot. I liked the point where Lain's setup just has water on the floor that was cool
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Feb 16, 2015 04:49
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Lain: actually a show about electrical safety. Don't stick a wire up your nose, kids.
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Feb 16, 2015 04:57
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the progression of lain's room is my favorite thing in the show
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Feb 16, 2015 05:20
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dpbjinc posted:I think the show would have been better without the "aliens did it" explanation halfway through. It would have been better to leave the origins of the network a mystery, possibly hinting at the aliens without spelling it out. Wasn't it something conceptually like Persona 2 rumors where no one was quite sure of the origin of the network, so then the speculation became aliens, and regardless of the fact of whether it was aliens in the first place or not, the moment it became the common theory in the wired, that reflected back into reality as aliens? Sort of like how whenever a false rumor perpetuates itself across the internet, it becomes this almost assumed fact even though all the facts say otherwise.
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Feb 16, 2015 05:56
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