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Serial Experiments Lain is an
anime series about a
young
girl named Lain Iwakura. The original idea of the series was produced
by
production 2nd, story was written by
Chiaki J. Konaka, and the original character design was done by
Yoshitoshi ABe.
Summary
The series takes place in
suburban
Japan. It (mostly) follows a young girl named Lain Iwakura through her
transition from normal
schoolgirl to
omnipresent being on the
Internet and collective unconsciousness.
Serial Experements Lain raises questions about
God, the
collective unconscious, the internet, and many other themes common in
cyberpunk
literature.
Fans of the series generally believe that it is a good example of how
anime can require a lot of thought to enjoy. It raises two new questions
for each one it answers. At the end you're left with several possible
explanations to choose from, or you can formulate your own.
Publications
The series ran for 13 episodes of one half
hour each, between
July 6 and
September 28,
1998, on
TV Tokyo.
There are several
art
books available.
- Omnipresence In The Wired - hardbound, is 128
pages, 96 color (A possible binary reference) with Japanese text. It
features a chapter for each layer (episode) and concept sketches. It
also features a short color
manga titled "The Nightmare of Fabrication". It was published in
1998 by Triangle Staff/SR-12W/Pioneer LDC. (ISBN
4-789713431)
- Visual Experements Lain - paperback, is 80
full-color pages with Japanese text. It has details on the creation,
design, and storyline of the series. It was published in 1998 by
Triangle Staff/Pioneer LDC. (ISBN
4-789713423)
Soundtracks:
- Serial Experiments Lain Soundtrack - The
first
OST featuring music by Nakaido "Chabo" Reichi. It features the
opening and closing theme songs and a number of tracks inspired by the
television series.
- Serial Experiments Lain Soundtrack: Cyberia Mix
- A second
OST featuring a number of
electronica songs inspired by the television series, including a
remix of the opening theme song.
- lain BOOTLEG - 1 CD, Soundtrack, 45 tracks, limited
edition. Contains ambient music from the series and, ironically, is
often confused with the Sonmay bootleg of itself. Released by Pioneer
Records (Item# ASIN: B00005FXU7).
The franchise also has spawned a
video game and an
open source
operating system project,
LainOS, was created as an homage to the operating system of Lain's
Navi in the series.
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