Anime 339 Serial Experiments Lain Reviews Filter Check 2

I'll just cut to the chase. I don't recommend this anime. I'll start out with the good things. The art is superb and very atmospheric. It's drawn in a unique style and it might be worth watching an episode or two for just this fact alone. If I were ever to direct an existentialist anime, I would definitely turn to this series for some major inspiration. The opening theme is well chosen and the sound effects are fairly good.

Now for the bad-- everything else. Serial Experiments Lain tries to tackle the problem of existence and identity ... but it completely fails. The parts that are supposed to be creepy are unconvincing and incoherent, and the attempt to create tension instead collapses into unbearably slow pacing in the storyline. Dialogue is much too short and yet drawn out. Entire scenes go by that neither attempt to interest the viewer nor advance the plot. Each episode except maybe the first one could have easily been cut in half without losing any content. The series could've been much better as a result.

The typical theme of weakening of identity as technology advances was handled very clumsily in the series, as if the writers thought that bringing up the issue alone was sufficient to be profound. It's not. The theme is nothing new in modern media.

Some reviews (not here) by mainstream critics claim that the series asks "deep" questions about contemporary life and the nature of reality, but this really is not true. The questions are old and the answers given are nonsensical and shallow. We are presented with several common plot devices in cyberpunk-- the near omnipotent digital entity that wants Lain (the protagonist) to abandon the flesh and become one with the cyber world, the use of dissociative identity disorder to symbolize Lain's mental fracture due to virtualization, the embodiment of humanity's collective unconscious made possible due to the new internet, etc. This stuff isn't new, which would be fine if at least SEL executed these things to perfection, but it doesn't. Instead the directors plod slowly onwards and resolve the philosophical dilemmas with absurd, silly conclusions about what Lain really is. It's just like they reduced everything down to magic.

Don't get me wrong, I really wanted to like this series. I enjoy cyberpunk and philosophy and wanted to look for a well done series that incorporated the two. I had heard many good things about this anime, but it just did not meet almost any of the most basic expectations I have for either anime or cyberpunk.

If you are interested in cyberpunk, Ghost in the Shell is very much the superior choice in all aspects, except possibly the art, though it's no sloucher there either. If you are interested in a coming of age story for children in a virtual world, Dennou Coil is better. For those just interested in really crazy, genuinely weird stuff-- that still makes actual sense-- try Paranoia Agent or Paprika.

That isn't to say you, the reader, might not like Serial Experiments Lain. If you have no prior exposure to cyberpunk or the philosophical issues raised within, or if you have very high tolerance to long scenes in which absolutely nothing advances the plot, or if enjoyment of the artistic merits of a series is sufficient for you, this just might do it. But it's not really enough for me.

Serial Experiments Lain is a psychological horror, sci-fi, cyberpunk drama anime written by Konaka Chiaki and developed by Triangle Staff. On one hand, I've seen enough things claim to be psychological with virtually no psychological content that I'm a bit skeptical. However, I've also seen plenty of anime with legitimate psychological horror elements foremost among them being the absolutely stellar Perfect Blue. This will be the only anime produced by Triangle Staff that I've seen so I can't provide an educated hypothesis based on that. I will say that I've seen some other anime that Konaka Chiaki was involved with, though not the head writer ... for most of them, and he does have a promising track record.

Story:

Our tale opens with a young girl jumping off of a tall building. Naturally, she does not survive. Things get strange when other students at her school start receiving e-mail from her. Our protagonist, Lain receives such an e-mail. That's when she starts noticing other strange things around her and starts becoming obsessed with technology. Even though she barely knew how to work a computer before.

Now, I will give the series credit on several counts. First off, it's very good at keeping the viewer's attention. It continually gives you hints about what exactly is going on but it keeps them really vague. When it outright reveals the answer, you'll probably have a good idea of what some elements of that are going to be and be surprised by others. The series is also good at mixing its surreal elements with the more realistic elements, giving the narrative a feel that's unique in a way that works.

Now, let's look at where the series falls short. The ending is the big one. I don't want to give any details away, but it's a deus ex ending. There are also some elements that are introduced, but never handled in a meaningful or sensical way. The biggest example is that there's a teacher, having an affair with an 8th grade student. In spite of the student body knowing what he's up to and rumours running rampant, he is allowed to keep his job and, somehow, doesn't get arrested or even investigated as far as you see. Yeah, I'm almost certain that would never happen. The worst part is that this nasty little sub-plot, along with being very poorly handled, ultimately has very little impact on the actual narrative. It could have been easily cut and another story device could have served the same purpose without any problems. You might wonder why I'm talking about it so much if it's pretty meaningless. Well, when I see a “psychological” series set in the “present day, present time” I expect to have that psychology grounded in reality, even if the series itself does feature surreal and sci-fi elements. A story element like this just brings you out of the story and makes you notice that this does not happen. The horror elements are another issue. They're largely just kind of weird, but not frightening or scary in any way.

Characters:

The characters in this do have complexity and depth, for the most part. There are exceptions like the teachers, both their classroom teacher and the one fooling around with a student, who are basically non-entities. They, mostly, react realistically to the strange things happening around them. Except for a few notable cases where they react in reality-defiant ways that make no sense. They also have some interesting interactions and their relationships change in ways that make sense. That being said, there is one very significant issue with the characters. There are conversations where a character will make a statement and contradict it in the very next sentence. The person they're talking to will not respond to this sudden shift at all or will respond by contradicting the last thing they said in order to still be disagreeing with the person they were talking to. Which makes no sense.

Art:

The background art in this is really good. It's got a lot of nice details and the surreal elements do look very nice. There are a couple issues with it, however. The first is that some of the surreal elements, though impressive looking, don't actually tie into the narrative. To give an example, there's a scene where they show a faceless androgynous figure dancing in fishnets. It's a strange image, but you could replace it with anything else and the scene would work just as well and the imagery really should be reflective of the narrative in some way. The second issue is the way they draw the actual characters. They're kind of generic and the default facial expression for them is dull surprise. Regardless of what emotion the actor is actually conveying.

Sound:

The actors are decent in this. You get some strong performances, but also some weaker ones. Shimizu Kaori delivers a very strong performance as our young heroine. Asada Yoko also gives a good performance. Igarashi Rei plays one of those characters without much complexity or depth and it does show in a rather mediocre performance. Hayami Show plays an antagonist who is really too over the top for a series that's trying to employ subtle psychological elements. The music is good. It doesn't really stand out much, but it's primarily used as a part of the atmosphere and it works in that capacity.

Ho-yay:

The ho-yay factor is a 3/10. There are some moments between Lain and Arisu that strongly indicate that Lain has feelings for her.

Final Thoughts:

Serial Experiments Lain definitely has some things to recommend it. The setup is good. The narrative is compelling. The major characters are complex. The backgrounds look great. Unfortunately, it's held back by several significant problems. The deus ex ending. The story elements where the execution just renders them nonsensical. The scenes where characters contradict themselves and consequently come across as being poorly characterised. The surreal images with no relevance that are just thrown in for the sake of looking surreal. In the end, I would say that the positive factors do outweigh the negative ones, but not by a whole lot. My final rating is going to be a 6/10. It's a decent series, but not quite good. Next week, Rainbow: Nisha Rokubo no Shichinin.

Serial Experiments Lain is a difficult anime to grade on a scale. While the philosophical ideas that the series focuses on- instrumentality, cybernetic integration, loss of identity through prolonged interaction with the digital world- are thoroughly thought provoking and interesting, the execution of these ideas are inconsistent. This is a case of a series being a bit too ambitious for it's own good. The concepts to make the series work are all in place but it lacks a solid foundation to give it that push into the realm of excellence. It is a series that seems to constantly present fascinating ideas only to have their ... potential squandered by poor storytelling, downright ugly artwork and and a lack of all but a couple interesting characters.
Serial Experiments Lain has gained a distinct following and reputation for being a true mind-screw and an underrated prophetic gem of 90's anime. If there is one thing that everyone seems to agree on, it is that Lain is "weird". It is extremely difficult to understand and follow on the first view- almost impossible in fact. This is due mostly to the fact that nothing is ever really clearly explained. The dialogue that moves the story along is extremely limited and what is said seems to constantly dodge the questions that the viewer is desperately seeking the answers to. I realize that this style of storytelling can be very effective. Some of my favorite stories work the same way. However, in these stories there is something else driving the story and keeping me interested while the questions keep me guessing. Lain has no such other drawing force to speak of. Aside from untangling the convoluted plot, there is no real aspect of the series to get any enjoyment of fulfillment from.
Despite being a relatively short series (13 eps), it crawls along at a snails pace and seems to take forever to get through. This would not be so bad if by the time the end had come, you didn't feel like the same story could have been told just as effectively in half the time. There is just so much empty space in the story. Large sections which seems to be dedicated to creating a specific atmosphere and subtly describing the character of Lain are drawn out too long with no real payoff at the end. The best parts of the series come when the speed of things picks up and we get to see some truly bizarre spectacles. Specifically, the more horror-oriented scenes are really great and will make you chuckle at the freakiness of it all. However, when the story slows back down, you'll end up scratching your head at the stilted and uninformative dialogue waiting for the next bit of surreal immersion.
Aside from the awkward delivery of the story and poor pacing, the biggest problem with Lain is the art. Technically speaking, this is probably some of the worst animation I have ever seen. In fact, there were times when I struggled to even classify it as animation at all. There is very little actual character movement to speak of. When characters are in motion, their motions are extremely limited and stiff. There is absolutely no style or flare to the animation and it just comes off as either lazy or budget/time-restricted. The actual art style has a bit more style than the animation and there are certainly some moments of brilliance when the muted palette and recurring theme of droning electronic equipment create a sense of self-inflicted isolation. Once again, the idea is solid and interesting. Yet due to uneven follow through, the whole thing becomes a mess. The character designs are not appealing and do not have a very distinct look aside from Lain herself. It is very difficult to enjoy an anime series when you are almost constantly wishing that things were not so damn ugly. Music is sparse and minimalistic. It is usually not even noticeable although it does work very well for a few specific scenes near the end.
I really have no problem with the plot of Lain, when all is said and done. There are some fascinating and valid ideas being presented and the overarching plot has plenty of relevance to the modern world and science-fiction validity. If executed more masterfully, this series could have been great. It really seems unfinished in a lot of ways. There was plenty of room to flesh out concepts that were just hinted and develop actual characters that have purpose. What Lain fails to do is follow through with it's seemingly vast possibilities and intentions. A lot of times a series will set out to accomplish something simple and succeed admirably by not putting too much on it's plate. Lain is the opposite of this, where is series is so desperate to get across a myriad of themes, ideas and concepts that it misses the mark by a long shot and ends up the territory of incoherent curiosity.

I don’t get it. Maybe this is just a relic from a time before we talked about the Singularity and before the internet.

The anime clearly strives for something. It has a lot of philosophical quotes. Characters say things like “what isn’t remembered never happened”. There is typography on the screen, references to Roswell and Jung and the theme of ‘identity’ (Why do I always roll eyes when I see this?).

Now, it’s not just a collection of anime-style drawings stuck together in a pretentious and unbearable form. Lain doesn’t just copy the form of ‘intelligent’ storytelling. There is always a drive behind it. It feels more ... like the writers have a lot to ask and to say. They’re so excited by it that they will use all these techniques with hope of transmitting it to the viewer.

Too bad it never really gels. It asks questions about identity, but how? How is having different versions of Lain automatically question the theme of ‘identity’? Couldn’t they think of a less predictable and perhaps more meaningful way to do it?

It’s almost as if the themes are expressed and name-dropped, but not actually demonstrated. Having people mention God and omniscience doesn’t mean you explore the theme of theology. You need to show how it affects characters’ lives and perception of reality. You need to show what effects such a God would have if it existed.

It’s not enough to just have characters with multiple identities. You need this to blend into the story. You need this to be a meaningful story element first of all. Themes shouldn’t just be talked about. You need moments that demonstrate the effect of these ideas. Only complete morons think philosophy is solely for discussions. We constantly act on our philosophies.

This attitude towards philosophy is perhaps what fuels the anime, and what ruins it. It’s a shame because there’s more drive than pretense, more desire to explore than to look smart. Lain never feels like more than an armchair exercise, a ‘what if?’ thought experiment that has profound words but lacking conclusions.

Often, there are moments that point to a brilliant anime. The anime isn’t a monochrome grimdark piece of crap. Even if the mood is generally gloomy, it’s not afraid of showing the sun or the occasional smile. Its setting is believable enough psychologically. It also has a clear aesthetics and knows how to express it. Still shots of wires appear often, but ever enough to become distracting. They add some atmosphere and go away. Artificial light also gets a lot of focus, but never too much. Plenty of times, it’s just another element in the show. Unlike its little brother Texhnolyze, the anime’s scenes always have more than one purpose.

Its sense of style saves what could’ve been hilariously bad scenes. There are almost whole episodes dedicated to info dumps about certain topics. They’re entertaining though. The combination of imagery with the electronic soundtrack fits the mood. Since exchanging information is a big theme, this technique of info dumps actually fits themetically too.

This sort of ‘experimental narrative’ isn’t too original if you watched a film like Pi or Eraserhead, but the creators know it’s not enough. You need to do more than just rip off the conventional story structure. So by replacing it with odd imagery that’s always loaded, the anime is amusing enough. It never just tells you how it intelligent it is. It tries to make you involved in the imagery, in its meaning and emotional implication.

All this effort is wasted, though. In the end, the story is too divorced from reality. It gets lost in its experimental narrative and weird imagery. It’s as if I was too busy figuring out what’s going on, what it expresses. It was too distant. It was too experimental, as if I’m busy figuring out the anime rather than thinking about the themes. I’m not interested in pounding my head to understand a cryptic philosophical quote. I want a statement so profound I could connect it logically to a hundred subjects. Crypticness isn’t profound. A wide-eyed approach is.

I can imagine this story working if only the creators scaled back a bit. Have a little more dialogue. Have a little more exposition. Tone down the weird imagery a little. Focus on asking whether the ideas are clear, and less on weirding the audience out. Think, first of all, why theology and identity and communication matters. Only then set out to explore them. If you can’t convince me the theme is important in the first place, I’m not interested in thinking about it.

Of course, I’m not writing it off as just a bunch of pretentious dudes patting themselves on the back. It’s a, well, failed experiment. It kept me curious enough that I enjoyed it even while being utterly confused. It does have a conclusion that ties it together. It has a purpose, but I wasn’t sure what it is. Hopefully someday I’ll know.

It’s better than Texhnolyze, at least.

Post-Script: This review has been written a long time ago and I’ve been wary of publishing it. The anime isn’t confusing in the traditional, ‘I don’t know what’s happening so it’s good!’ way. It’s too stylish for me to write it off as pretentious doodle, but it’s too abstract to explore its themes in a satisfying manner.

I’m reminded of abstract stories like Paranoia Agent and Pi. These stories relied more on meaningful scenes than coherent storytelling, but exploring their ideas was their primary focus. They never get unnecessarily weird. It’s easy to follow the abstract parts because the themes are established and followed. Lain dives headfirst into the surrealism with so much conviction, it’s as if the excitement over being experimental overtakes the desire to explore ideas.

I consider this my most inconclusive review so far. I’ll need to watch this again soon to determine whether it’s just pretentious doohicky or if it really went over my head.

3 boxes of cereal out of 5

Serial Experiments Lain was anime series that I had wanted to see for a long time. It was touted by many as one of the most intelligent and strange anime series ever created. While I will say that this show had a lot in the way of strangeness, it unfortunately had significantly less in the way of intelligent storytelling. Sure, it plays around with a few interesting ideas (e.g. identity, the collective unconscious, man's relationship to burgeoning information technology, God, ect...) but these ideas are never explored in any real depth and mostly relegated to the role of window dressing. This was the most disappointing ... part of the show for me because, when all was said and done, you could have a more trippy and thought-provoking experience by reading the introductory chapters in a book on metaphysics than through watching the entirety of Serial Experiments Lain.

As a lover of weird and abstract cinema, I really wanted to like this show. Unfortunately, this show mishandled almost everything it had going for it and spent way too much time on the relationship between the bland character of Lain and her equally bland friend Alice. In fact, every single character in Serial Experiments Lain was bland and wholly lacking in any depth or nuance. This show has nothing to offer aside from a few interesting ideas and visually engaging sequences. Your time would likely be better spent reading some of Carl Jung's work on archetypes and the collective unconscious or watching Terence McKenna's lectures on man in the age of intelligent machines than it would be watching this show. If anything, the experience would likely prove to be much more intellectually stimulating and engaging. When it comes to this show, I think it is safe to say that the universal praise lavished on Serial Experiments Lain is a case of the Emperor new clothes.

Story
If the purpose of Serial Experiments Lain is to get your mind whirling, it succeeds. If its purpose is to get you thinking, not so much. This anime is a hit-or-miss philosophical cesspool that could either captivate or disgust. It’s like swallowing a series of shots that burn your throat and make you either drunkenly euphoric or nauseous.

At the time, Serial Experiments Lain was covering ground few had covered before, and people were hailing the work as the turn-of-the-21st-century version of 1984. Now, more than ten years later, one could look at Lain and call it even more relevant. As it ponders the consequences of ... over-stimulation and over-connectedness, we ourselves have to ponder if being connected is the only way to assert our identity. In this way the anime is worthy of praise. It uses an innovative, pertinent medium to ask an age-old question.

Is it possible, though, for subject matter like this to come in such an unsavory form? The anime’s highly experimental and impressionistic style ends up blurring much of what it wants to say. In ingesting the Lain pill, the viewer becomes desensitized instead of enlightened, and eventually he gets lost and stops paying attention.

For all the effort it takes to watch the thing, it leaves one with a diaphanous general idea and little satisfaction. There have been arguments that Lain does this purposefully so that we can make our own conclusions, but the storytelling isn’t engrossing enough for us to even want to make our own conclusions. The anime burrows under a smothering blanket of metaphors, leading us on and then giving us a paltry return for how much we invested. We will follow the mystery as if by masochistic impulsion, stomach the nearly indigestible, and then emerge at the end with our mind whirling but not made any better.


Animation
The animation does its job. And it’s an important job.

Rarely does one come across an anime whose central tenets are linked so closely to how they are drawn. The dark red splotches on the pavement hints at a shadowy world that lurks just beneath the real one; solid gray figures sit inertly at their desks and on the train, unable to connect to the world around them; connected power lines loom against a garish yellow sky, ready to entangle those who walk in their midst – they’re all symbols. It is a visual style so abstract it could be called meaningful, a style so distasteful it could be called artistic. A cruel beauty, if you will.


Sound
The sound, or rather the lack of sound, suits the anime well, and eerie minimalist electronic music quietly adds to the unsettlement. Personally, I would have replaced the ill-fitting alternative-rock riffs for some Berg or Kurtag. Rock is just too down-to-earth for this business.


Characters
Lain is not a girl I would want to take up in my arms and cuddle. Her vacant expression and porcelain-glass eyes incite more unease than empathy. However, the identity crisis she undergoes in the latter half provides all that is needed for the story to jump-start. Lain’s efforts to fill her empty life with worth becomes mildly arresting, if not frustrating. As she continues to ask herself the same questions and uncovers no answers, her journey to self-discovery teeters between suspense and stagnancy. Things do come to a head at the end, but I have to wonder if it's worth the hours of waiting.

Meanwhile, the other characters fit into Lain’s story a bit like incorrect puzzle pieces. Some of them, like Lain’s sister and father, are good ideas that lack the punch to make an impact. Others, like her friend Alice and the mysterious men who spy on Lain outside her house, appear again and again, meant to be manifestations of Lain's internal struggles but instead flickering out as uninspired motifs that the viewer would likely deem not important enough to figure out.


Overall
The beginning of the last episode opens with Lain saying, “I’m confused again.” I agree. To me Serial Experiments Lain resembles those books one reads in high school English class that are supposed to be eye-opening but actually just sweep past the brain and go out the other ear. There is no denying that the anime is a groundbreaking and creative work, but it seems to have remained in anime history not so much for what it says as for what it represents. While the ideas are there, it has stumbled a little over its convoluted wording.

An adventurous and abstract anime about a middle-school girl with extreme split personalities who can make or break the world is portrayed in the style of postmodernism and avant-garde.

Released in 1998, directed by Nakamura Ryutaro, the person who brought us Kino’s Journey, Serial Experiments Lain is labelled as dementia, in the same category as "Agitated Screams of Maggots". This series has a unique philosophical take on communication’s impact in the modern era, as well as one's self-awareness. Its biggest selling point is delivering mysteries episode after episode and submitting subtle hints enough to puzzle together the whole picture for the keened eyed in a ... rewarding fashion, but not so much that you can gain such delight by watching it half-asked.

A middle-school girl isn’t the most exciting choice for a protagonist; but when this girl has a similar power to Suzumiya Haruhi, the setting suddenly turns into one of a surreal reality. Lain’s world is very similar to our own but with a superior virtual communication network known as The Wired, developed by Tachibana Labs. A group of hackers known as The Knights, very much like the infamous Anonymous made the system its playground, causing chaos and conspiracy across the globe. Some even worshipped them but nobody knows of their true identities, or their goals. It is up to Suzumiya Lain to stop them and restore peace. Or, would she make matters worse by adopting Haruhi’s personality?

If the series was not directed by someone who enjoys testing the waters and rape minds, Serial Experiments Lain might have been a landmark in its genre. Unfortunately, despite Nakamura’s claim of him not being influenced by Neon Genesis Evangelion, his work left just as many question marks, leaving many viewers confused and frustrated.

Lain is bizarre. She has three personalities: the shy and timid that we see most of the time, the bold and more mature version in The Wired, and the evil Lain who harms not only her reputation but also her friends’ well-beings. Our protagonist found her life changed in the most dramatic way possible after a voice mail from the dead hinted her very own existence and that of the world she lived in were expendable. She was unrealistically calm and was even entertained by the idea of this parallel world in “The Wired” and its prospects. Throughout the 13 episodes, she fights against her other personalities to realise what is real and what is right. Not much character interaction is in display because the series consists of heavy monologue and the protagonist talking to a computer or an imaginary friend. Her family is mostly indifferent and never gets to do things together on screen. But her character’s transformation from the beginning to the end is big enough to warrant a phenomenal development. Lain’s best friend, Alice is also given an interesting character progression, thanks to her curiosity. However, it was the 11 year-old Taro, a supporting character, whom appeared to be the most normal individual in this show that I wanted to see more of.

Little animation exhibition because there are many still pictures and the art is not detailed enough for elaborate movements, but the dark and moody atmosphere is well portrayed and draws you in. There is a punk soundtrack on the lines of Cyberpunk but most of the time we hear only static background noise or silence. The opening song is in English; it’s quite soothing and is written by a British indie band called Boa. The English voice actors did a fine job but the “antagonist” sounds like an onii-chan in the Japanese dub.

Serial Experiments Lain could be improved with a faster pace for it didn’t do much deciphering but more on showing us the protagonist staring at our face through a screen. The concept was fascinating but could have been better executed. Serial Experiments Lain is for those who enjoy a complicated plotline that focuses more on atmosphere than the story. Call it philosophical, thought-provoking, or creepy; “The Wired” is a more convincing playground than The Matrix.

If you like this, you might like Ergo Proxy.


(Thanks to Vis4Vanity for recommending this series)

I tried to love this anime. I wanted to love this anime. So many glowing reviews surrounded this anime, and it took every drop of my fading enthusiasm to finish SEL to the end, hoping it would mean something to me.

(Light/Unintentional Spoilers present)

Lets start with the source of my problem with the series - Lain. Lain doesn't really have many friends, and she doesn't seem to be passionate about anything at all. It seems like her down time is just her chilling in her room at home in bear pajamas. One day she gets a message from a classmate that committed suicide. This somehow sparks ... her to ask her dad for a more powerful computer. Right there was my problem with Lain. She lacks personality or apparent motivation for anything. She doesn't seem to enjoy making her computer more powerful even though apparently it's amazing. Her personality changes from episode to episode. I can't understand Lain. What makes her tick? Why does she care about anything? Does she care about anything? Why is Lain so important in the Wired? Does Lain really have an opinion about anything?

It boils down to her actions meaning nothing to me because they lack any sort of background character development. Lain starts as a blank slate and doesn't grow from there.

The rules of SEL's universe are beyond ill defined. They're downright mystical. They take computers from being a communication and data network to being a conglomeration of people's consciousnesses. Or something like that. As I said, it's not really defined.

Somehow the wired can manipulate matter beyond people's thoughts. (Wires being explained as connecting people through some phenomenon.) This was the killing blow, honestly. It's the god mode for the authors to do whatever they wanted and override plot holes.

Overall I couldn't enjoy the show (despite really really wanting to) because Lain was inconsistent and poorly developed. Its ending meant very little to me because they all could have died and I wouldn't have shed a single tear. The show failed to let me suspend disbelief, develop Lain as a character, present the philosophical aspects, or make me care. It gets a five because I watched it, and anything less than a five, I drop.

The art, atmosphere, symbolism, and concepts presented are great. But then there's everything else...

The characters were the most shallow out of any anime that I've seen, having no depth in most cases. It feels like the story was written and the characters were sprinkled in at the end, instead of them having their own lives and ideas and personalities. Other than a character's appearance, you can't really get more attached or involved, since there's almost nothing else to them.

The story was by far its weakest point, and here is where the mixed feelings come into play.
This story taking place within the context of a ... girl with several mental issues, mainly schizophrenia, is great. It makes a lot of the chaos make sense, the random jumps and hallucinations, everything adds up. If you were to watch this anime and tell yourself from the beginning that this is a story about a mentally ill girl that spent a whole lot of time on her computer and got disillusioned from reality, then started having serious hallucinations of real-life events related to friends, family, and the content she was exposed to, this would be an enjoyable series and it would make sense.
The problem however, is that the anime tries to create its own story, without coming to the conclusion that this was all happening inside of her head. The logic that they present about the universe where it all takes place is very frail. Most of the facts that they bring up about the context of everything aren't even compatible with each other. There is no real narrative, it feels like a budget AI generation of random turns of events, that were cluelessly tied together. The anime tries to convey that everything is deep, and mysterious, but in the end it just comes off as illogical, random, and badly written.

The art, scenes, atmosphere, sound effects, opening, design, symbolism, everything of that sort is great.

I feel like if you want to enjoy this, you need to go into it with an idea of what you want it to be. You need to establish your own context for the plot to make sense, because everything in the anime is illogical and mostly open to interpretation. Nothing is properly explained or put into a narrative, so if you start watching with a pre-established concept, then things will make sense within your own framing.

This anime truly changed my life. It is a masterpiece and if you think otherwise than I guess you are kinda dumb and have a small brain.

Jokes aside, I can understand why many people hold this series so highly as a work of art challenging notions of identity and individuality through the modern world of the world wide web (wired). It falls well within the same surrealistic tropes of its time such as Ghost in the Shell, Evangelion, Ergo Proxy Etc... however there wasn't anything in particular that was outstanding for me hence my score of 5/10.

The concept the anime tackled aged spectacularly, ... seeing how closely the world around us today in 2022 has shaped compared to the speculations of online personas in SE Lain made me think about my own layers of facades hidden behind different interfaces of our time. However, as an adult well past the age of self-discovery, many of the issues this anime wanted me to think about felt a bit outdated or out of touch.

Who am I? what am I doing? Where am I going? am I real?
You can keep asking yourself these questions all you want and go nowhere, or you can just grow up and take life one step at a time. all these deep philosophical questions can be disarmed with ironically another philosophical question. Does it matter?

With this said, the concepts this show brings up are quite intriguing, yet the execution of these concepts ended up becoming so convoluted and sloppy that it actually redacted from my overall experience to the point where towards the latter half of the anime I kept questioning why it was made as an anime over other modes of media

There are many aspects to this anime which are either poorly made and in bad taste or if you overthink it they would seem ingenious. This is what I suspect many of this shows reviewers have fallen for. Since many may not understand it, they are behaviorally inclined in to finding the out to the convolution and thus over-glamorize the authors intentions forgetting the mediocre production. Essentially if the voice acting, soundtrack, narrative, treatment, theme of an anime was INTENTIONALLY flawed does that make it any better?

Its almost 2 am, I could write more but I'm tired now. Congrats if you caught on to the tonal switches I threw in each paragraph, maybe that made reading this review a bit more enjoyable and validate it as the superior review that gets a 10/10 on mal reviews ratings similar to the anime this is reviewing.

There may be some spoilers here. Sorry.

Serial Experiments Lain tells the story of Lain Iwakura, a fourteen-year old girl from a suburban place in Japan. She becomes interested in the Wired after one of her school mates that committed suicide messages her saying that she is ‘not actually’ dead, but has simply left her physical body.

Afterwards, she investigated the Wired, was drawn into it, and discovers her true identity.

(This probably is the first time I’ve watched an anime of this genre, so please bear with my ignorance. Also, SEL is pretty hard to review. T.T)

Story: (7/10)
Serial Experiments Lain is a psychological anime that tackles ... the subject matters of communication and solitude, which is naturally a crucial part of a person’s existence. They are majorly demonstrated throughout the series.

With the involvement of the Wired, a communication network, this anime shows the effect of the Internet to a person: socially, emotionally, psychologically and mentally.

Now, apparently, a lot of people think SEL has an amazing story. It’s a yes and a no. The ‘Yes’ part is that this brilliantly executed the things I stated above. This also shows the significance of friends (and other people) on that age group, mainly their support and influence.

The story, when you come down to it, goes like this: girl lives normally, girl becomes addicted to communication network (and all about computers), computer-obsessed father tolerates her, girl centers on the network, girl meets a lot of people, girl meets creator of network, girl becomes confused of her identity, girl hallucinates, girl hallucinates even more, some of girl’s hallucinations are actually true, girl understands her existence, girl meets friend In the future.

What’s the ‘No’ part? SEL presented a lot more stuff between this and that, which made the story during midpoint unclear, and gave viewers some unrelated impressions that this may be connected to this part, or this may be connected to the other.

Although, it’s part of its mystery. So, that ACTUALLY is ITS point. Still, that should not be necessary, as the anime is considered also a psychological horror, and should focus more on developing the main character and her psychological aspects, not too much on providing unnecessary scenarios that, again, would give viewers disparate impressions.

Art: (3/10)
I can understand that this is a 1998 anime.

On the other hand, Detective Conan (Case Closed) is a 1996 anime. So as Dragon Ball Z, which was from year 1989.

The character designs were great though. For me, it’d be a terrific idea to represent this into a more modern stylization.

Sound: (6/10)
If you’re looking for a soundtrack, forget about it. SEL consists of only a few compositions, inclusive of the opening and ending theme.

The opening was cool though.

Traffic, footsteps, and a few more, plus fitting voices made me rate its sound more than half.

Character: (7/10)
The only normal person in SEL was Mika Iwakura, Lain’s older sister. I liked her.

Most of the characters were annoying. Even Lain. But, at least they had participation at the right moments. Also, Serial Experiments Lain introduced a few characters. That made it less confusing on who a person is and what is his/her significance in the story. You would better understand the story if you focus more on the characters.

Enjoyment: (8/10)
It was surprisingly enjoyable. It’s like you’re eating a strawberry cupcake, and tasted chocolate. Believe me. Chocolate’s that of a big deal for me.

Overall: (6/10)
Overall, Serial Experiments Lain is a good anime, in an unusual way.

The anime had a very good start, and then it just continued, well differently. I watched this anime because so many "anime elitists" called it peak anime and I liked its aesthetic however, I don't understand why people like this show so much. All it has is an aesthetic and that's it. I mean, it does have a story, but the issue with the storytelling is that there could be nothing going on for 10 episodes. It's mostly just Lain walking down a street with loud electricity buzzing coming from utility poles. The nothingness is interrupted every 2 episodes by the narrator giving you an ... information overload for 5 minutes straight, quickly explaining how the world works by using a lot of scientific terms and "science" that 90% of viewers won't understand. I know that it's supposed to be more "art" than entertaining but the storytelling is so messed up. It's like the show is clogged, and when it gets unclogged, all the things that may have or may not have been revealed get explained in a short period with some weird background, such as some digital dolphins swimming and idk man. The best way to describe it is watching paint dry and it being interrupted randomly by a YouTube shorts video that tries to put the entire history of mankind into 3 minutes. Too harsh? maybe, but no.
I told my mom about this show and said how it seemed "very art" and she decided that she wanted to watch it. I am so glad that she forgot about it, because of some weird scenes with Lain's older sister that aren't very appropriate. It's a common thing in such media, but it was unnecessary. It's not an important thing to mention but it has to be said if you are planning on watching this with or recommending it to a family member.

Conclusion: this is one of those animes that you just have to push through to finish it. Overrated.

I have always considered myself an appreciator of the avant-garde. I seek that which is novel, experimental, and paradigm-altering. Anything that fits comfortably into a category – and fulfills every expectation the label connotes – usually fills me with an elitist sense of ennui. I take solace in my own elastic and ever-expanding expectations that I long for to be broken. It is the anarchic jubilation of FLCL, the esoteric symbolism of NGE, and the psychologically-charged thrillers of Satoshi Kon that find themselves awarded my sparing 9’s and 10’s. As such, I was quite intrigued by another anime that ostensibly belonged to the same grouping ... – Serial Experiments Lain.

A cursory scan of the Wikipedia article tells me that Serial Experiments Lain “demonstrates influences embracing philosophy, computer history, cyberpunk literature, and conspiracy theory, and it was made the subject of several academic articles.” Doubtless, then, it was an anime of intellectual proportions, intended to titillate the mind as well as the heart (for it is more often than not the heart that anime reaches, an art-form that seems geared towards the warming of our inner-being through the evocation of a colourful, dream-tinged world of wide-eyed youth). I sat down, hungover, on a Tuesday evening, and prepared for a real tour de force.

The first episode conjures up a universe that is unnervingly dark. The ominousness of Lain is almost viscerally transmitted by the artwork and soundtrack. The OP is truly haunting – a wistful, creepy paean to the show itself. Lain herself initially appears as the archetypal shy schoolgirl who just wants to make a few friends – as if Shinobu from Love Hina was randomly transported to a bleak, sinister world of impending doom, where instead of a well-intentioned but goofy landlord to find comfort in, she has a new supercomputer.

The premise for a discussion about the validity of making friends in the virtual realm is thus opened: are they as real as friends that exist in the three-dimensional world, and if so what actually distinguishes “The Wired” (what the internet is referred to as in the show) from “the real world”? Lain does have some sort of friends at her school, and they do make the effort to build some bridges with her. The most prominent member of this group – Arisu – says, “I’m sure there’s a really social girl just waiting to get out of that shell of yours” to Lain after an invitation is extended to go jiving at a nightclub. Thus a very believable and endearing relationship is constructed – the seemingly more-sure-of-herself Arisu tries to befriend and ingratiate herself with the socially anxious Lain, and this acts as quite an emotionally impactful subplot.

All is well, then?

Alas, the only empathetic moments of the show are created by this relationship. This is because there is something tangible to hold onto – we’re willingly pulled into the Good Samaritan play of Arisu, and root for the formation of her friendship with Lain – when everything else starts getting confusedly deconstructed. Lain’s relationships with her family and other cast members are not sufficiently grounded, and when the going gets weird, one just doesn’t care.

For the going certainly does get weird. Samuel Taylor Colebridge famously said that the “suspension of disbelief” was a necessary pre-requisite for one to experience a story in its full intensity. In Serial Experiments Lain’s case, the disbelief not merely has to be suspended but completely annihilated before one can even begin to fathom what is going on. Whereas Neon Genesis Evangelion - an anime that often betokens comparisons - established its characters, setting, and plot before the psychedelic hammer started smashing the framework to pieces, Lain befuddles and perplexes by the end of the second episode. From there on the show essentially functions as a mystery, drawing the viewer into an endless guessing game whilst cryptically vomiting up documentary-like segments about various renowned scientist-philosophers and their strange, kooky ideas before delving back into the story (if it can even be called such).

Many of the ideas contained therein - both in the documentary-like segments and the actual dialogue - are indeed very interesting. A lot of ground is covered. The trouble is, it feels hurriedly spewed out, and sometimes has a very tenuous connection to the overall show (for instance, an interlude about John C. Lily’s mind-expansion practices). One is unsure whether to try and forge some sort of link out of these expressed ideas in order to come to some sort of grand understanding, or if they’re just there to add to the heady atmosphere.

In spite of the lack of anchorage the show affords, the atmosphere is maintained throughout. The artwork, music, and directing act as robust pillars holding-up a watery and incoherent world. Even if I was unsure of what exactly was happening - I began to blame an inability to concentrate, assuming I’d missed something, but upon closer inspection realized that I was just dazed by the constant non-sequiturs - emotions were still communicated to me, and I was struck by fear and paranoia without quite knowing why. It has been said that some things are meant to be experienced rather than understood, and the basic, stripped-back experience of Lain is at times profound - but one can tell that the show is trying really hard to push a point, and the rapid structural degeneration makes the didactic attempts seem feeble.

Serial Experiments Lain is certainly avant-garde. It is a veritable whirlwind of ideas, rouged-up in the cosmetics of a spine-tingling thriller. But it is, for all intents and purposes, a mess. One day, perhaps, another anime will come along, perched upon the shoulders of Lein, and take the original impetus that drove its creation and deliver it, this time, fully-packaged and sealed. Until then, we’ll just have to content ourselves with this curious melee of madness

An anime about the internet during the era when the internet was still filled with so many unknowns… the possibilities. What relatively small Studio Triangle Staff (Macross Plus) and a pretty much unknown director in Ryūtarō Nakamura could do was ground-breaking. Most notably is the use of sound in this anime, in which Nakamura would become known for.

Serial Experiments Lain (SEL) focuses around an adolescent introverted school girl by the name of Lain. One day, a classmate of her dies and then mysteriously sends an e-mail over ‘TheWired’ which is basically the internet with forms of virtual reality. For some reason, the non-tech caring Lain ... opens the message and then starts to follow cryptic clues and messages within The Wired experiencing various mysteries and questions regarding if giving up your physical body for the digital world is the better option.

This is a cryptic philosophical anime to say the least. What is great about SEL are the uses of sound in setting tone, atmosphere, and unsteadiness for start to finish. Even the visuals are very unique leading to many future anime using it for inspiration. However, when it came to pacing, plot explanation, character development, or basically anything else, SEL with every next episodes strays from the path it starts on and creates too many questions without any answers. Sure, some could really enjoy breaking things down and trying to figure it out for themselves, such as Lain’s slow identity disorder and he personality cracking, but there is a point where some answers should be explained to keep the viewer on the right path. Pacing issues, dragging dialogue, uninteresting scenes with little to no advancement in the plot are just some other problems SEL just does wrong. Only occasionally with the plot progress and give the viewer something to look forward to, but this usually only occurs at the end of an episode, but not before experiencing utter confusion until then.

Summing up this cyberpunk philosophy internet adventure, Serial Experiments Lain is artistically and audibly unique. However, due to terrible writing and boring advancement in what could be a plot, this makes for the anime as whole, average. Philosophy alone doesn’t make for a good media unless it keeps the viewer entertained. No it isn’t the greatest anime ever, nor is it bad. SEL is just average in the end.

If technology progressed far enough for someone to upload their entire, independently thinking self to the electrical world, what would they be capable of? Would Time even exist to them and to what extent can they influence on the physical world? These are but a few sane, deep and thoughtful questions you find asking yourself while watching this anime.

The story of SE Lain could not be any more mind melting in the fact of, unless its watched all the way through, it continues to make less sense with each episode. The final couple of episodes seem to be the only ones that make a sane ... person not tear their brains apart in confusion, while piecing together and making sense of the mess that was the previous 10 episodes. So much is thrown in, not much is answered and then it orders it in a way that makes little sense but doesn't make things dis-interesting.

Art is very unique in the way of light sources are often exaggerated and shadows are a bit abstract in their portrayal. The outside world is displayed as a very early 21st century neighborhood but electronics and any electrical device are shown as a few decades beyond its seemingly given timeline. Many scenes are reused and hardly in flashback which is easy to pick out. Faces seem to be the one thing in the animation art that was given the least attention to detail as many characters lack a lot of expression and the "Thousand Yard Stare" they give of so often is sometimes unnerving. Animation at some points is jumpy and at other is so incredibly smooth it deserves enough credit to have the scene played back two or three times.

Now... Sound. Possibly the one thing that gives this anime its biggest impact. Seldom is music played that isn't at a club or some other music device. Mostly the ambient sound are single tone noises that are supposedly simulating the buzz or hum of electricity, moving about the abundance of wires in the world. It almost enough to send a weak minded person insane. Music to set the "mood" of a scene? Doesn't exist outside the club and some times even the ambient monotone sounds will cut for a number of reasons leaving the scene dead silent. The biggest downfall is apart from when dealing with the "Wired" as its called, the voice actors seemed to have lacked in their emotional input and the animation of what little emotion characters have, is often ruined by an un-wavered voice.

The toughest assessment topic for this anime is Character. Development development for anyone other than the main character seems non existent, and if there was any for others, It doesn't exist in the end. The main characters development only goes forward. No incite on past or what lead them to make some decisions, it just rolls from the start and leaves us to believe people gain a second personality when accessing the wired. What we are not told about the main character and their self in the wired, is eventually explained but then disappears without a true explanation as to what happened.

Despite all the timeline spaghetti that is the story, character development and what seems like a bad voice actor budget, Serial Experiments Lain really does manage to make the best out of what it has. A lot seems like it could have been done better but for a psychological anime, it seems very well played out. It's to the point where no matter how confusing it may get a times, you enjoy it enough to want to watch another episode. And another. And another. But you will realize to yourself this is an anime that need to be taken or watched in moderation to preserve your sanity.

Okay, like many other people have already said, I feel like this was an incredibly pretentious piece of media that tried too hard to be philosophical and existential to the point of being completely incomprehensible to any average human being. It is as if someone took the same concept of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five, put it into a cyberpunk world and doused it in acid. I don't know if it's just me but me and my pea brain enjoy shows that have actual solid plot that can be followed. I don't mind complex narratives! I welcome it in fact! But the truth is that this ... show was a thirteen part dissociative episode. Needless to say, I did not enjoy it that much when they built up all those twelve long and boring and convoluted jumbles of computer noises and silence that they pose as episodes just for the ending to be a complete "eff you" to the plot. Like, really?

What I really did enjoy however were the art style, music and Lain's indisputable lesbian love for Arisu..

I had to drop this show halfway through. This is a review on a show that is nearly twenty years old right now. I can tell you it hasn't aged well, and that's my opinion. There are some interesting things about this though, from it's eclectic soundtrack to its abnormal artistic expression. I write this but I don't know if Japan has had any psychedelic culture; I however viewed this as a strange trip addled with Y2K fears and a mix of supernatural paranoia.

Since this anime is from 1998, I won't try to deter you nor recommend you this show. To be honest I ... found it a little creepy, unnerving and sometimes dreary. I knew if I've seen this show before The Matrix hit theaters I would view the Matrix as an optimistic tale of Neo and the gang. This show belongs in a museum, and I understand why connoisseurs enjoy this anime. It was early, it had philosophical undertones, attempted mind boggling plots, and carried the mood equivalent of 1990's Seattle in the US.

I was drawn to watching Serial Experiments Lain by the promise of a show that was unique and thought-provoking, and in that respect, I got exactly what I came for. That being said, I can't really say I walked away from this show with much enjoyment. While it's no small task to analyze or criticize a show anywhere near as cryptic as this one (especially when most of Lain's key 'faults' stem from a conceptual level), I'm going to try to express the reasons this show didn't really hit home for me.


Even from early episodes, one issue was clear to me: the show gave me ... absolutely zero solid ground to stand on. This feels like an intentional stylistic choice; Serial Experiments Lain wants me to question every single detail that occurs in it. However, there's also a flip side: this makes it hard to get invested in practically anything in the show, as there aren't even any clear answers to start from. Most of the show is spent watching scenes that feel tedious and confusing, attempting to figure out one of the five symbolic points being made with one of the ten overlying threads at the time.


Nothing is defined, not even the titular and main character, Lain herself. Even beyond the obvious question that can't even begin to be explained without significant spoilers (who/what is Lain?), there are several unique Lains in the context of the show, some of which may or may not exist at once. There is of course loads of surrealism and symbolism at play here -- a representation of the split between reality and an online persona, or others' memories and perceptions being separate from the person themselves, as some examples. There are countless possible interpretations, and many of them are likely true at once.


This brings me to another issue; Serial Experiments Lain tries to say a lot in a very short amount of time, which is further aggravated by a lot of the ambient shots. Every episode begins/contains about a minute dedicated to shots set in a bustling downtown metropolis at night, with loud yet indecipherable chattering in the background, some looks at billboards or traffic lights or people walking, and some vague commentary that even more vaguely relates to an episodes. Every episode spends at least 10 second looking at... power lines, complete with a humming sound. Every episode has to do some uncanny closeup on Lain's face or eye(s). Individual episodes also have many more little things like these, and while they definitely create an eerie vibe (and also end up being very memorable/charming), it furthers the show feeling slow despite a lot also happening quickly, and makes the show often provide 'major' information in a very quick, subtle fashion that can make it hard to distinguish from any of the other 'noise'.


There's also a lot that feels like it should be focused on; even beyond Lain's deeply convoluted storyline, well over double digits of the supporting cast has their own plotline going on in the background. Between these things and the show's extremely cryptic, symbolic, and surreal nature, it's inevitable that any viewer will only understand a small fraction of what happens within the confines of Serial Experiments Lain. After all, very little in this show can be taken on a purely literal level (or even a literal level at all).


Essentially, I feel as if I could watch the show many times over, yet still not have many of the answers.
This is also clearly an intentional choice, but it's one I fundamentally disagree with, especially as it feels like I get relatively little out of watching the show compared to the time spent watching it (most of which is spent not getting anything, for the record). I simply don't agree that I should have to watch a show more than once to understand most of what it wants to tell me. (Oddly enough I got spoiled on several plot points, and this may have actually made me enjoy the show more, as instead of having 95% no idea of what was going on, I had 90%.)


To put it in as blunt of an example as possible, there were multiple times I considered showing friends some excerpts of this show to explain how little sense it made, but I decided they would probably make more sense with assumed missing context than the absolute lack of context the show gives you. One episode we'll have the abridged history of alien conspiracy, the next we'll have cyber drugs, the one after that we'll have a video game murder mystery. None of these things do anything before or after the episode, of course, and I'm still not quite sure how they tie into anything. Even after the conclusion, most of the show won't make any more sense.


I do feel obliged to give Lain kudos for its sound and art; I wasn't mind-blown by either, but they did a very good job creating a unique, unsettling atmosphere that felt very enticing, even if they were a bit dated (the show itself and the technology/philosophy towards technology involved definitely both feel significantly more dated, however).


Overall, I think watching Serial Experiments Lain is a tedious experience, but not without its perks. Some may find the payoff of analyzing and interpreting it to be worth the effort; many probably won't. It's an unabashed work of art that certainly has a lot of depth to be explored, if you're willing to try. Fans of this show might dismiss many of my issues with it as "That's the whole point!", and I can't really disagree (though I'd still argue said point isn't very interesting). Just be warned that being confused and disinterested for the majority of viewing time is precisely what Serial Experiments Lain intends.

Something I believe alot of lain haters and fans forget is that a piece of media can be pretentious and somewhat bad and you can still enjoy it. This show shouldnt be judged like other anime bc it’s more of an art piece than anything else, and that’s how it needs to be judged, like art. I’ve taken too much time out of my life to try and understand this show and why people like it and this is what I’ve realized:
It tries to talk about too many complex topics and issues all at once and it’s gets confusing. It tells you more than ... shows you which is why I feel like this show was so bad at being deep and isn’t really “good art”. It can be confusing not because the viewer is too dumb to understand but because the show was doing too much. To FULLY understand the themes of this show you would have to have somewhat of an understanding of existential philosophy (specifically Jung and Laing) and even some quantum physics etc. Being existential isn’t that deep or thought provoking in my opinion especially when it’s handled like this. It isn’t very abstract it’s just pretentious and tries too hard to be mysterious and smart. For the time it was released this may have been wayyy deeper but in the 21st century where computers are more understood not really. Actually watching the show is a whole other conversation because it can get very slow and boring. The first time I tried watching this I actually fell asleep on the first or second episode.
I feel like most people who enjoy the show dont fully understand what’s going on but they can appreciate the aesthetic, lain as a character or the fact it made them think. For anybody who’s suffered from mental illness or grew up shy or quiet they can definitely relate to lain. That’s the main reason I feel like so many love the show. That or they think it makes them feel smart and was their first introduction to existentialism. Because I KNOW anime watchers don’t love this show for the slow and boring storyline.
I haven’t actually played the game but from what I’ve seen of it it seems a little more interesting and understandable than the show, but in Lain fashion isn’t fun to actually play. Lain is good and absolutely horrible all at once.

Serial Experiments Lain is difficult to rate. On one hand, the anime as a whole is enjoyable. On the other hand, it's very confusing, incoherent at times, some episodes are a bore to watch, and it just is obtuse overall. There's a lot going on here: questions of identity, what it means to be human, the progression of technology, and human evolution. While these are typical elements of cyberpunk anime, SEL doesn't handle these concepts in the best way compared to other similar anime. Additionally, there are scenes packed full of information that amounts to confusing filler as it really has nothing to do with ... progressing the narrative. And that's my overall issue with this anime: I just came away with an uneasy, unsettling feeling that nothing was really resolved in any meaningful way (especially the last episode). In conclusion, SEL is a thinking person's cyberpunk: if you don't want to have your brain warped for you, steer clear of this - it's definitely not for everyone. While I enjoyed some bits of the anime, by the end of the ride I was exhausted and unsatisfied with the obtuse ending and scatterbrained nature of the action.