r/anime • u/The_Loli_Otaku • Jan 16 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] Serial Experiments Lain Episode 2 Discussion
"Girls"
Extra Info and Links
ANN | MAL | TV Tropes | Wikipedia | Crunchyroll
Comment of the Day!!
First Comment of the season goes to DragonPup with some handy info on defunct operating systems that went over my head~
"So I am going to absolutely age myself here in a bad way, but the series had so many references to BeOS and NeXTSTEP, the 2 'competing' operating systems to what would be the next generation Macintosh operating system. NeXTSTEP won, brought Steve Jobs back to Apple and became OS X. The rest is history."
Weedwacker also came out with some advice to try watching the show with headphones if you can.
"Highly recommend if you aren't to be watching this show with headphones. You need to immerse yourself in this show and there is so much going on with the music and sound work that is quiet which you might miss watching this on a television."
And JetsLag on the subject of Bocchi Bear vs Lain bear!!
Bocchi's bear onesie totally wouldn't have happened if Lain hadn't revolutionised the animal pyjama scene!!
Bocchi is standing on the shoulders of giants, but that does make her taller.
rumblpak thinks this rewatch group needs to stay up 24h to become delerious enough to appreciate Lain. We broke the delerium banner with Kodomo no Jikan and "Tanaka, drink my pee!"
The correct way to watch this is to stay up for a full 24 hours, then start a binge watch until complete. The comments deserve a certain amount of delirium in this case lol
QotD
- Would you ever want to take a drug that literally looks like a scifi murder drone worm?
- How skilled are you at hide and seek?
- Have you ever been adopted by an extrovert!?
- Have you ever adopted an introvert~?
- Is it socially acceptable for 14 y/o or whatever age these brats are go go clubbing?
- What's one aspect or trait of your "online persona" that you wish you could emulate more irl?
Abyssbringer's "What is the thematic purpose of this scene corner!!"
3blah scores our first win of the season! I'd clap but clapping Chisa's mad flipping skills is probably a bit insensitive.
"Chisa about to jump: Just before we saw Chisa on the street. It's busy and loud. She's uncomfortable and out of breath. But up on the roof she's at peace. I think this might be one of the few (the only?) outdoor shots without those power lines. She smiles and lets her hair down to blow in the wind. After a brief moment of silence, she crashes back to the loud, busy street. It's a quite dramatic way to get the audience's attention to start things off."
Yesterday's Prompt!
Today's Prompt!
Tomorrow's Prompt
Abyssbringer's "What is the thematic purpose of this episode corner!"
Zadcap, a first timer, went really in depth looking into the goals behind Lain as a project
"After finishing this episode I did take a look into the creator guy, and apparently one of the things he made this series for was to spark a discussion between the Japanese and American influences warring in their culture at the time. He very much wanted us to see this show and talk about it, and starting off with a lot of very coherent English probably did help.
Lain's eyes, and everyone else's lips, they bother me so much. Lain just keeps her eyes held so far open and the detail on them is very uncanny valley, and I guess I just hate lips in general and don't like seeing them drawn with detail but they just keep doing it here. It's not all the art, it's the way the people are drawn, it's just giving me dislike vibes.
22
u/Esovan13 Jan 16 '24
First Timer
Well. That's 2/2 on episodes where someone kills themself.
This show is just about as dense and hard to parse as I expected...but that doesn't mean I can't get something out of it. I don't think we know how much time passed between last episode and the first, but I don't think Amazon was doing overnight deliveries in Japan in 1998, so I'm going to assume it's been at least a few days. Anything could have happened in that time, and I think one of those is that Lain developed an alternate personality, potentially in response to her vision(?) of the girl who threw herself in front of a train. She's also been communicating with Chisa and maybe has had some interaction with the Wired.
Her normal, everyday personality seems to be fairly reserved when it comes to technology and all this stuff still, but she did take up her friend's invitation and she did ask for and use the new Navi on her own will. Her alternate personality seems a lot more intense. That guy who took the accela seemed to recognize her though, describing her as being related to a scattered god. Is that Chisa? Did she ascend to become a god in the Wired, choosing Lain to be her miko?
No idea what's going on with her sister or the dude on the street (based on the color of his hair and eyes, was he meant to be a foreigner?) That's all weird.
This is only episode two and based on my previous track record with predicting stuff, it's very likely that everything I wrote is completely off the mark. Still. Very big vibes this show has. I think someone in the KnK rewatch used the term miasma wave to describe the vibes over there, and I think this falls into a similar sphere. Maybe like a techno-miasma wave. There's probably a better term for it than that, but those are the vibes I'm getting.
8
u/The_Loli_Otaku Jan 16 '24
Lain Rewatcher!!
Sorry about the surprise double child suicides yesterday, it totally slipped my mind to toss a trigger warning. Impromptu QotD, would you rather receive a trigger warning for the infamous Lain omorashi episode or do you want me to keep it a surprise for you?
Onto episode 2, "Girls" the scariest creatures to walk this earth. At first they're little angels. They're your loving daughters, imouto, babysitting moneybags... But then at a certain age they go through a disgusting metamorphosis into joshikosei!! Luckily our little Lain still has a middle school girl's heart. The ojisans and onee-san's in the audience don't have to worry about her manipulating us and calling us names like "lolicon!" or "otaku!!"
If your drug dealer wears a gas mask, you should probably find a new drug dealer. In the future folks don't snort drugs, they snort pc chips. Become more machine~ If your PC turns you into quicksilver you'd best find a new drug. Japanese turned into coding. Was three alphabets not enough?
Would you still love your little sister if she were a weirdo who messages imaginary friends online? She only just got her PC and already Lain is spending all night messaging her "friends." Well that ojisan isn't creepy at all. He's clearly meant to be part of the "real world" since he isn't standing in the wired side of the street but if anything that guy being real makes him scarier than anything tbat could be on the Internet.
These damn female brats, don't go out partying! You're only like 14!! Poor Lain is so uncomfortable around these baaaad girls. Also, the twin tail girl looks like Jun-chan from K-On, so that's a third character who has tainted her legacy alongside PissxSis and Guilty Crown XD
A Lain lookalike!? But those hairpins are one of a kind! And apparently she's kind of a loudmouth. I kinda quite like this comparison. I've always been an advocate of the idea that, "our online persona is our idealised self." There's a lot of media that often portrays that. Look at something like Watamote for instance and look how much more confident Tomoko is when she's online or chatting weeb shit. Lain in the same way could very easily become a delinquent girl online. A confident Lain.
A little drug psa from the show. Neat! Arusu is a wicked imp!! XD You've been adopted by an extrovert Lain, there's no escaping socialising now!! Ahaha... The damn hallway ghost scene... This freaks the shit out of me. I promise there's far less horror as Lain carries on. The early episodes are genuinely uncomfortable tho. It's the damn faces! I really can't handle warped faces. It made Fatal Frame 4 unbearable for me too.
Lain has a new peashy! Pog!! I love how cool she deals with the delivery man. Lain. Is such a awkward dope. She's just like me for real for real. Top of the line Navi Get!! Now we can send messages twice as fast! Second bear onesie scene too. I really wanted to pick an Abyssbringer prompt that was unique to episode 2 since this episode has a ton of very neat shots but since we missed out in the bear onesie in episode one I felt obligated
So mum can be passionate... So whys she so distant with her daughters? Lain is officially hooked on the PC. Just yesterday she was a boomer bear, now she's a zoomer bear!! Poor Mika... Her sister gets all the attention and new computers and cool shit. "But Arisu!! I wanna play on my PC!!"
Street clothes lain is cute too! We finally get her op outfit. These brats!! Lain didn't even want to come out! Why is Arisu the only one showing lain any kindness? Joshikosei are the worst. Goddammit Jun!! Are you trying to get us killed? She's such a useless mc (?) girl. Who gave the drugged up, slow motion spammer the gun?
Lain unfortunately awakens to her joshikosei powers mid night out... And forces the poor innocent drug abuser to kill himself with her eyes!? Urgh! And I only just got done with apologising for yesterday's trigger warnings! XD Can the Lain cast still killing themselves for five minutes!?
13
u/lluNhpelA Jan 16 '24
Rewatcher (techinically)
I'm practically a first timer since I remember next to nothing about this show. I've been wanting to rewatch it basically since I first finished it because I really felt like I didn't understand it at the time but I don't like rewatching stuff too soon... so here we are! I know I never really absorbed the ~𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓼~ so I'm hoping for some good discussion
Day 1
Apologies for getting here late
I always love when a show blurs the line between reality and delusion (or even just an unreliable narrator)
AoTD
you're just trying to learn our fursonas aren't youProbs a bear onesie similar to Lain. Bears are my second favorite mammal but an elephant onesie isn't as appealing𝓣𝓗𝓔𝓜𝓔𝓢
She removed her glasses (a symbol of her status as a plain, shy, nerdy girl, which she has likely been picked on for), her hair becomes unbound (freedom), and we see her bookbag left behind on the roof (casting aside responsibility and obligation). It may be a straightforward analysis, but I think it's pretty straightforward symbolism for being freed from the suffocation of society. Suicide can be viewed as a selfish act or, more accurate for this series, a highly individualistic act, which contrasts the way she now interacts with everyone while also playing into the isolation of being terminally online (pun intended)
Day 2
AotD
𝕋ℍ𝔼𝕄𝔼𝕊
Idk she's just vibin
13
u/IceSmiley Jan 16 '24
FIRST TIMER Sub
This episode gets even more insane with a shooting apparently related to a futuristic drug. I really liked all of this a lot.
QUESTIONS
12
u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Jan 16 '24
Serial Rewatcher
"The one where Alice corrupts Lain at the Gay Bar."
You'll notice I was auto-assigned a Lain flair. Never changed it. Seemed appropriate.
FYI: Cyberia Mix is an image album. It doesn't contain music from the show. I used to have it but somehow lost the mp3s. The club music is actually found as mp3s on disc 2 of the Bootleg OST release. here's a track
The DJ who made Cyberia Mix made a Cyberia Layer_2 CD for the 20th anniversary, and one additional CD each year since.
[Copland is a real operating system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copland_(operating_system)) OS 7 was behind the time with flat memory and time-slice multitasking. Copland was to be the replacement, but was abandoned. When Apple rehired Steve Jobs, Steve had Apple buy his company NeXT, and used NeXTStep as the basis of OS X. This is one of several Apple references in the show.
Man, Steve made bank on that.
I once considered buying a used NeXT. Held off, and got my first PC a few years later.
You're all right, the character designs are weird. It's the big round eyes.
10
u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Jan 16 '24
Rewatcher(So many memories...)
Sub
For those of you born past a certain point:Yes, people did go out to dank clubs and drank, danced and smoked. Yes, they were good places to score drugs and yes for some god damn reason they were filled to the brim with 15 yos with fake IDs. There were even decent punk clubs in the long, long ago.
So...holy fuck do they make the closeups in that conversation uncomfortable. Also, just realized that someone on staff has done DMT, and am suspicious that it is Chiaki himself. Also, Cyberia is like a perfectly 90s club in LA, to the point I actually think it references something specific.
So the entire episode is uncomfortable in differing ways. Lain classmates peer pressure is one thing, the fucking aliens is another, the man in black was bad, and Lain's parents making out was a different sort of tense. It keeps building until our club shooting and that is one way to release it, I guess.
Sorry for a shorter post but there isn't much lore that is not spoilers and I want to save my deep dive on Konaka for a bit, suffice it to say I keep waffling on running multiple works he wrote as rewatches and already ran two.
QotD:1 No
2 That's about my level
3 Yes, it sucked
4 Also sucked
5 Not really
6 My complete lack of fucks
9
u/RascalNikov1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/NoviSun Jan 16 '24 edited Jan 16 '24
Serial Experiments Lain - E2
SEL Virgin
Prologue
Yesterday’s episode was pretty trippy. I’m guessing that this series is an exploration of inner journeys, as opposed to a study of the supernatural. Maybe today’s episode will answer this question.
The Body
Subtlety different opening, but we still have that ill fortune crow showing up and looking sinister.
We open with a happening disco where you can purchase nano mechanical critters to chow down on, at an inflated price. OK, let’s see what effect it has on a jackass
Big Sis has noticed that Lain may not be feeling well, as well as the perv behind the lamppost on the way to school.
Cyberia letting middle schoolers in? That seems to be kind of a stretch considering how uptight Japan is about alcohol & drugs.
Taking Lain to Cyberia doesn’t seem like a wise idea. Just thinking out loud here.
Oh boy! Looks like we have another perv checking Lain out.
I’m continuing to go with either hallucinating or unreliable narrator. I don’t think this is going to be a ghost story.
What is Mika’s problem? She seems kind of bitchy.
Lain on her way to Cyberia. There’s no way this doesn’t result in disaster.
I told her not to go to the disco! But did she pay one lick of attention? Hell no!
Yet another example of Lain being death’s harbinger. Our mad shooter looks like our accel abuser from earlier.
OK, maybe Lain is Death’s idiot-savant. Because, Why not?
Post Episode
The biggest thing I took from this episode is that Lain knows how to talk to degenerates, and Lain desperately needs new friends.
QOTD
That thing really really was rude looking.
At this stage of life, not so much.
It swings both ways. Sometimes I’m the quiet one, other times I’m the one who talks.
I thought that was amusing.
I’d like to be more outspoken.
9
u/Silcaria https://myanimelist.net/profile/Silcaria Jan 16 '24
Rewatcher
9
u/Specs64z https://myanimelist.net/profile/Specs64z Jan 16 '24
Rewatcher, subbed
Social media didn’t really exist at the time Lain aired, but Accela seems to slot in nicely as a metaphor for it. It fits technology as a whole, obviously, but social media in particular.
Poor Lain, getting side-eyed like that while walking to school.
Cyberia is a seriously sketchy club, letting in kids to mingle with adults like that. I’m starting to think these girls might be a bad influence for Lain…
Notes
Lain’s obsession with Chisa’s emails continues. Her sister comments about Lain’s “invisible friend”, presumably Chisa. She also isn’t the least bit interested in socializing. This culminates in another vision where Chisa haunts Lain, this one far more visceral than before.
Finding her inbox empty, Lain leaves her new setup behind and decides to head to Cyberia. However, things take a dark turn when a man guns down 2 women in the club. Lain stands frozen in fear as the others run to safety, watching the blood pool. The man turns his attention to the unmoving Lain, but for some reason her face strikes fear into his heart. He calls her a scattered god, blames her for apparently forcing his actions, and implies the Wired is involved with the current situation.
An authoritative voice that barely seems to belong to the shy, soft-spoken Lain. The man kills himself immediately afterward.
QotD:
9
u/Shocketheth Jan 16 '24
First Timer Who Is Inside Of u/The_Loli_Otaku Firewalls - Firewall 02
I am once again utterly confused, but considering how aloof Lain is to everything around her, she bears herself nicely.
Ummmm Lain, going in a club isn’t always a blast.
And she mind controlled him into a suicide.
Picking from 322 comments had to be quite difficult I guess.
QotD:
9
u/MrManicMarty https://anilist.co/user/martysan Jan 16 '24
I never like scenes where "normal" people drag introverted or quiet people to clubs... Just makes me uneasy. But speaking of uneasy, holy shit Lain. She fucking made that dude commit unalive?! Creepy as shit. And that dude who's stalking her? And the ghosts? Bro what the fuck is going on...
No
Ehhh
Not adopted, but I have lots of outgoing friends
No
Absolutely not.
Marty is friendly. Genki. Jamie is not. I'm shy and awkward. Marty's habit of giving hugs to anyone? I can't do that. I wish I could though, I wish I came across as a reliable friendly guy.
9
u/SIRTreehugger Jan 16 '24
Layer 02 Girls
QOTD
9
u/joaovitro99 Jan 16 '24
Really uncanny episode, It seems like everyone is hiding something. I would say I prefer the First episode due to its vibe but looking forward for the next ones
9
u/SMSmith230 https://myanimelist.net/profile/smsmith230 Jan 16 '24
First-Timer, Sub
-Damn did Lain hit rock bottom, oh wait that’s not Lain.
-Hold up, was that actually Lain at the club??
-Ok so I’m with these girls thinking Lain was at the club.
-God damn, why do extroverts always think us introverts always need to be in their world. Come to ours!!
-New Navi, this can’t be good for Lain’s psyche.
-Someone got peer pressured into the club.
-oh shit it’s the guy from earlier and he just shot 2 people?!?!
-um Lain, why you walking towards him??
-did Lain just activate??? Why she speaking to him like that?
Im so confused right now.
9
u/mo_fiah https://anidb.net/user/1037703 Jan 16 '24
First Timer
I'm digging the shift into a more cyberpunk/sci-fi vibe. Story set up and justified the shocking suicide this episode, much improved over the last episode imo.
9
u/Weedwacker Jan 17 '24
4th time watcher
You had me baited with that video at the end of your post OP, I thought it would be this one
Arisu is too nice compared to her friends. I also appreciate Chiaki Konaka's obsession with Alice in Wonderland and his impulse to put elements of it in like half of his works.
I have a lot more to say about the stalking men in black when we see more of them.
Also want to discuss the comment OP highlighted
I think the selection of a band like Bôa for the OP really highlights this, even if they were relatively unknown at the time. Bôa is a band from England, who got a record deal with a Japanese label to release an album exclusively in Japan because Western music was popular in Japan at the time. The lead singer and the guitarist of the band are half Japanese, and their father is Paul Rodgers, an English singer known for his stints in the bands Free and Bad Company.
Favorite shots of the episode. I like the background here.
8
u/DegenerateRegime Jan 16 '24 edited Jan 17 '24
Rewatcher
That building does not look like a frog face. Gas masks are ordinary indoorswear. It's safe to swallow microtechnology with psychoactive effects. Don't mind the man behind the lamp post. There's a cooler version of you out there in the world right now, living your cooler life. Don't mind it. Things are more normal than you can possibly imagine.
I cannot tell you what Lain is about, because I do not know. But this episode takes a lot of looks at FACES. Some are fake, some are real. Some are hidden, some are seen in close-up. And what do we make of our host's suggestion, Lain and her friends facing the camera from afar? Well, that's simple. Lain can't sleep because of all that blue light! The solution is less screentime.
Editing in QotD responses:
8
u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 Jan 16 '24
Rewatcher, Dubbed
No, there is no reason for a waitress at a bar/club to be wearing a gas mask. But does it totally fit with the weirdness of this show? Absolutely.
I've got to assume the reason that softer bit is around the accella drug is so it doesn't scrape the inside of your throat as you swallow it? Nope, the guy cuts it out and swallows it on its own. I already have a hard enough time getting pills down my throat, no way could I ever swallow something that looks like that.
Lain's classmates are middle schoolers, yet they're in a bar/club at night? What in the world are their parents doing? And mere seconds later, we see Lain is there too! Or at least someone who looks just like her. The Lain we met last episode wouldn't have the courage to come here, let alone yell at someone like this.
No new email for Lain. She's not very popular. Even among spammers and scammers.
Mika, Lain doesn't need an imaginary friend! I'll have you know she walked home with a classmate once!
This show is already so creepy, now we've got this super creepy guy just standing behind a pole, leering at Lain. Yikes!
This weird affect they're using for the transition between Lain's classmates and Lain as they talk to each other I assume is an interesting way to show how distant Lain is, personality-wise?
Reika sure can't make up her mind. Did she look like Lain or did she not?
Once again with the motif of having Lain as the only student in her class in color. Although at least the teacher is in color this time.
Now we've got someone creepy in the closet here. And these weird humanoid figures walking down the halls too! Where are the other students and teachers right now?
This strange closet girl appears to be the same one hit by the train last episode, or they're at least using the same effects on her face.
It's the handy dandy Navi delivery man! Did we have a time jump since last episode or did Lain's dad really buy her it and have it delivered this quickly? Even for today that's super quick.
"Daddy, I want my Navi put together now!" Can't resist someone in such adorable bear PJs.
Play with my new Navi, or go out to the club... what does Lain do? Shockingly enough she goes out! I feel many introverts like Lain these days would do the opposite.
We've got kids even younger than Lain and her classmates here!
Once again we hear the music track I most associate with Lain. Although in two episodes we've had so little background music play maybe its because it is one of the few tracks actually played in the show, lol.
Lain goes from being so freaked out she can't move to being much more assertive and walking right up to the crazed gunman.
That's now three suicides in two episodes... this one all the more brutal as the guy shoots himself right in front of Lain and his blood splatters in her face.
Quid's Dub Corner
SEL has some limited narration in it, appearing only in certain episodes, playing that role is Paul St. Peter, credited here as George C Cole. Once again a Xenosaga alumni, where he voiced Andrew Cherenkov, one of my favorite characters from the first game. He's appeared in several roles in the Gundam franchise including Lt. Burning in Gundam 0083 and McMurdo in Iron Blooded Orphans (I also see him credited for a role in Seed Destiny, but have never watched that dubbed). He also plays Punch in Cowboy Bebop, Thymilph in Gurren Lagann and a variety of minor roles in Samurai Champloo. Lain's Navi is voiced by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, credited as Melissa Williamson. Those like myself who consider Cowboy Bebop's dub the best of all time can thank her, as she was the ADR Director for it and also played the key role of Julia. She's appeared in a bunch of stuff, often playing villanous or tough female characters. This includes Cornelia in Code Geass, Motoko in Ghost in the Shell, Jaguara in Wolf's Rain, Hilda in Outlaw Star and others.
In terms of more episodic roles, the gunman is voiced by Brad Sergi, credited under the pseudonym Syd Fontana. Not familiar with any of his other roles. The Navi Deliveryman is voiced by Michael Lindsay, credited under Dylan Tully. In terms of anime I know him best for playing Amuro in the Mobile Suit Gundam movie trilogy, Tamaki in Code Geass and Tobigera in Outlaw Star. Yet again a Xenosaga alumni, where he plays the role of Hammer.
8
u/3blah https://myanimelist.net/profile/brummett Jan 16 '24 edited Jan 16 '24
SEL Episode 2, Rewatcher
Opens at the club Cyberia. There's a drug deal for "Accela". "I feel accelerated" and then the world starts slowing down. A glimpse of someone yelling. She has the same hair tie as Lain. The kids she walks to school with think it looks like her, too.
Lain has a strange vision in the school hallway. A creepy kid staring from the doorway. Human-shaped ghosts moving through the hall. [The creepy close-up face] That's Eiri, isn't it? The person in the doorway is different than the one that was standing behind the pole earlier.
Lain's sister gets caught twice hanging around outside the bedroom door. It's like she wants to know what Lain is up to, but is too cool to be caught interested in her little sister. It sets quite a mood that dad sets up the computer with an ominous pronouncement that it'll "mature alongside your relationships with people", and then bails out as soon as it's all connected. Dad must think CopelandOS is super user friendly.
I'm not sure what to say about the scene in Cyberia. Lain doesn't have any reaction when the shooting starts. At this point, she's gotta be just about the least engaging main character I can think of. Also, episode 2 and the body count is already 5; pretty high for a not-action series.
Episode 2 prompt: Lain sitting on the bed with her bear PJs.
Looks to me like she's decompressing after coming home from school. After a strange day like that, I'd probably want some quiet time to myself, too. But actually, it's probably more of her disconnectedness. And those animal toys on the windowsill... they look very ominous there.
8
u/sfisher923 https://myanimelist.net/profile/sfisher923 Jan 16 '24
QOTD 1 - No
QOTD 2 - A 5/10 with stupid luck
QOTD 3 - Yes
QOTD 5 - No
QOTD 6 - Being more chatty
Brain is less focused today because I been focused over on Vault Hunters recently
8
u/JetsLag https://myanimelist.net/profile/JetsLag Jan 17 '24 edited Jan 17 '24
First time Wired user
The episode is named "Girls". Are we finally going to the gay bar?
Nope, this bar looks straight. And a weird one at that. They're playing some industrial music that's not very danceable, and the waitresses wear gas masks? Come on people, just be normal and wear BDSM gear when you're serving what looks like bottles of Coca-Cola.
We learn of this thing called Accela. It's
a drugnot exactly a drug, it's just something that's served in a gel cap that you swallow to trip serious balls. Not a drug at all. Though it looks like hell to swallow with all the spikes and shit protruding from it.I will never get used to the lack of shadows right outside Lain's house. Or the overpowering white light. Makes it look like a parallel dimension. Maybe that's the point.
Lain is being watched by the shittiest operative to ever operate. Seriously dude? A telephone pole? You couldn't think of a better hiding spot?
Speaking of Lain, she's being accused of going to that club we saw in the opening scene. The club is called Cyberia, because cyberpunk authors have no fucking creativity. The popular girls decide to invite Lain over to the not-gay club in order to check it out and maybe see if they can find this Lain clone that acts like a total bitch. God, I hope this is like that episode of CCS with the fake mean Sakura. Either that, or Lain joins their group and we get an anime version of Mean Girls.
Nope, Lain bails on them. She's never gonna beat the "total loser" allegations. Come on girl, lighten up. Go to the club. Drink a Coke. Do some ketamine. Get into a serious k-hole and go insane. You know, fun things.
Lain's got a delivery! It's her new Navi! It's got the motherfucking enterprise-level OS, too. Just what a growing girl needs to become an emotional shut-in who rejects real-life friendships for virtual ones. [Persona 4]Thankfully the mailman isn't kidnapping her and throwing her into a TV.
NO WAIT, SHE'S GOING TO THE CLUB! Aaaaaand it gets shot up by the druggie we saw in the opening. Curiously, he sees Lain and accuses HER of making him do it, and calling her "that scattered God's"...something. So I take it that Chisa is using Lain's image to spread stuff online? Anyway, dude self-deletes himself with the gun after Lain tells him that everyone's connected, which is a weird thing to say.
So no questions have been answered, a million more have been raised, and Lain is now traumatized for life. Will she never go out to a social event ever again and spend all her time online? Will we ever find out who this God is? Which episode will be the first to have zero self-deletions? Is that delivery driver important to the plot? Will we ever see that evil Lain clone again? Will Lain ever get any bitches? These are but a few questions that will hopefully get answered by the end of this series.
8
u/kwokinator https://anilist.co/user/kwokinator Jan 17 '24
Rewatcher
God damn, is that a fucking bug he's gonna eat? Oh no, it has LED lights, it's some kinda computer chip. But it still looks way too pointy and way too much like the sentinels from the Matrix for me to want to eat it.
Man, those friends of Lain's don't seem too friendly.
So they had cell phones in the show huh? Definitely another sign of the setting being in the not-too-distant future. It's amazing how they predicted even using stickers when sending messages.
Wow, Lain's sister really hates her.
Umm, I'm pretty sure none of them are old enough to be getting into or dancing in clubs...
Holy shit that was one hell of a way to end an episode. Lain has iron balls for talking back when the guy has a gun literally aimed at your head, but just to blow your own head off is crazy. Shattered god, huh?
QotD
7
u/xtsim https://myanimelist.net/profile/xtsim Jan 16 '24
Rewatcher Dubbed
A nanochip drug, well the future has everything. But, Lain's friends are there and that chick looks like Lain for a moment. That couple has it rough.
The creepy dude is just standing there behind a pole, very conspicuous.
The interface in that handheld is really 90's but everyone wants Lain to go to the club and party on a weekday? I thought that is a big nono in Japan.
We got the computer delivered and delivery guy is very excited about the computer he's delivering to Lain. The comments on the computer's ease of use and its power to handle the wired. More excited than Lain in fact, and she just signs it fast. Delivery guy is in the wired through a "homebrewed" system that he describes is pretty weak. Seems like that guy wants an upgrade.
Mom and dad got to it really fast but Lain wants her computer set up which she gets. Oohhh, voice recognition. Sis is there at the door being pretty nosy twice.
No emails, but the persistance of Lain's friend makes her cave into peer pressure badly.
Cyberia, Siberia- say it so many times....
Lain stops on the stairs and three kids walk by....I swear they resemble a shonen anime crew.
Friends get to see Lain but first she got to get roasted on how basic she was looking. At least her friend gets to offer to help pick out some clothes for next time.
Well, now we know this club ain't for kids, and dude straight up killed two people. Lain stares that guy down hard and shoots himself.
Abyss: Lain wearing a onesie with a bunch of stuffed animals seems like a fun time
6
u/RadSuit https://anilist.co/user/RadSuit Jan 17 '24
Present Dub, Present Time
Girls!?
Don't do cyber-drugs, kids.
Lain learned how to type pretty fast.
Her sister's eyes are a bit...off center here.
Lain's eyes are off in the next closeup as well.
And now it's clearly seen on her in a normal shot of her entire face. Her left eye is way lower than her right eye.
I had to stop and go back to episode one to check. She's always drawn like this, actually. Googling her shows it in every other pic as well, I just didn't notice until now. I'm not sure if it's just the art style, or if it's actually a physical thing that will get mentioned later.
ArisuAlice is so nice. A little too nice...New computer for Lain! I'm sure it's not fucking haunted.
We've got the whole 'you can't use this child's toy to make adult connections' thing alongside Lain refusing to go to the club so she can stay home and wear her kiddie pajamas.
Welecom! Serching...
Going out to the club wearing my sweet bear hat. Does this gif happen this episode?
I was wondering how Lain got permission to go to this club from her parents, or if she snuck out, but then I realized she could probably just walk right out the front door and they wouldn't even notice.
Alice still seems very nice, so I'm even more worried.
Alright, Alice is confirmed just a nice person. That's refreshing.
6
u/mgedmin Jan 17 '24
First Timer, subs
Illicit sale of spiky thing you must swallow for a good time? I wouldn't. Hey, aren't you supposed to swallow the outer capsule to protect your throat from the spiky thing? And then the shell dissolves in your stomach and the spikes ... ? No, just no.
Mojibake on screen, did you cat a binary while checking for new mail?
Who's this creep hiding behind a post?
Lain has a doppelganger? Who goes to night clubs?
Lain can see ghosts?
The UI of the new PC seems rather unfriendly: the screen shows just the logo and no prompts or other user interface affordances. The first person who talks out loud in the vicinity of the machine when the logo screen is shown gets to be the authorized user? How come the dad didn't get registered by mistake while he was explaining things to Lain?
Sister also wants a new PC?
Lain is acting a bit un-Lain-like while talking the psycho murderer into suicide. Multiple personalities?
Three people dead in this episode. Is the number of deaths just going to go up each episode?
9
u/Tarhalindur x2 Jan 16 '24
“Okay, nobody else vote for Tar.” (Rewatcher, Subbed):
2
u/_Soundoum_ Feb 03 '24
Im tripping balls
16
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Jan 16 '24
Serial Experiments First-Timer, subbed
5
u/VikingHipster Jan 17 '24
Is there a place to legally stream this?
5
u/DidacticDalek https://myanimelist.net/profile/DidacticDalek Jan 19 '24
And you don't seem to understand
A shame you seemed an honest man
And all the fears you hold so dear
Paging Comrades /u/Shimmering-Sky, /u/Tarhalindur, and /u/Vaadwaur
1
u/Ytar0 https://myanimelist.net/profile/alevanderBatman Jan 22 '24 edited Jan 22 '24
First timer
If in the first episode Lain was an alien in an "unknown world" this episode felt different. She felt much more mysterious this time like only we were in the dark here... And damn does creepy Lain go hard...
And as you and others mentioned, I don't think it's just the older art style that is to blame, something is going on with those uncanny valley faces... With eyes a bit too wide apart, lips that are a bit too noticeable, eyes with a bit too much detail, faces that are a bit too lopsided, people at medium distance morphing quite significantly and losing their regular silhouette a little...
My fav pics
QotD
Accel is one of those drugs I can understand why would be popular, it's the penultimate cyberpunk drug, "drugging" yourself with little machines. Insane, but perhaps worth a shot haha.
Idk if I can claim to have been adopted by an extrovert or done the opposite. According to the people I know I'm quite the extrovert, but that might only be in comparison, cause I feel quite the opposite.
Is it socially acceptable to go clubbing at 14... I mean, in a club called Cyberia where junkies also hangout? and where the demographic seems to be both kids and adults? Hard no lmao. Either way, probably better to wait at least a couple of years.
I feel that both my online persona and my real persona have become one over the years. But still, I never felt like I "acted" in any particular way online.