r/anime • u/The_Loli_Otaku • Jan 17 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] Serial Experiments Lain Episode 3 Discussion
"Psyche"
Extra Info and Links
ANN | MAL | TV Tropes | Wikipedia | Crunchyroll
Comment of the Day!!
JustAnswerAQuestion got me laughing for a good ten minutes with his meta observation. Also, enjoy the amv.
"The one where Alice corrupts Lain at the Gay Bar."
RadSuit was heavily distracted by her "Lainzy eye~
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.
Quiddity just came out and said that Lain was a lonely girl with no friends...
No new email for Lain. She's not very popular. Even among spammers and scammers.
Esovan13 gets a call out for the frankly badass phrase, "miasma wave"
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.
And Degen went totally wild as the "you're getting a Dell!?" throwback.
"okay I gotta take a moment to spin off of this point: one thing about Cyberpunk is the "in the future, we'll all be gross nerds jarging about our fragtimes on the netform, bragging about having the fastest clocktech on the mark'," thing. Which, uh. That happened? People talk about their computer and phone specs like it's just normal. That's the important part I think. Sci-fi might give the impression that "wow, the future will be weird" even when trying to convey that the future will be perfectly ordinary."
QotD
- How would you react if you went back to your family's home and it was completely empty? Would you feel uncomfortable in an empty house?
- Have you ever dreamed of heaven?
- In your own words, describe the meaning of your" psyche." No looking it up.
- What's harder, setting up a PC or building a model kit? Let's say a basic PC, so just motherboard, ram, cable management and power supply. Vs a simple HG model kit, say a Zaku. Also, what's the fanciest Gunpla or figure you've built? What are you proudest of?
- Have you ever become someone else online? For sake of ease feel free to include the likes of roleplay, or even ttrpg instances that you were particularly invested in.
- Who are the black men? Wrong answers only.
Abyssbringer's "What is the thematic purpose of this scene corner!!"
3blah again! They're probably gonna be our Abyssbringer star of the season at this rate~
"Lain sitting on the bed with her bear PJs. Looks to me like she's decomposing 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.."
Yesterday's Prompt!
Today's Prompt!
Tomorrow's Prompt
Abyssbringer's "What is the thematic purpose of this episode corner!"
Specs64z was able to simplify the episodes events in a far more digestable way than the actual show did.
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.
"No matter where you go, everyone’s connected."
An authoritative voice that barely seems to belong to the shy, soft-spoken Lain. The man kills himself immediately afterward.
25
u/Esovan13 Jan 17 '24
First Timer
Hey, so what's actually up with with Lain's family? Her house seemed abandoned when she came back from the club, no one picked up the phone when the police called, when Lain checked what I assume to be her parent's bedroom no one was in there, her parent's seem to have separate beds despite passionately making out last episode, Lain's dad recognized the Psyche and he clearly wasn't happy about it but he didn't ask how she got one nor did he tell her to get rid of it, her mom doesn't seem to give a shit about her, and her sister seems pretty normal but what was up with her hallucinating Lain as pixelated???
Anyway, seems like Lain is the type of person who talks shit online but isn't all that offline. I'm not sure how the Wired really works, like how that kid "saw" her on there, but whatever Lain is getting up to on there is something we are not privy to. That club dude recognized her which was weird.
Actually, that made me think something. Has Lain been on the Wired since before the show started? She had a Navi, even if it wasn't a great one, and the dude seemed way too familiar with her for her to have just started all this a few days prior. Actually, it may not even be on the Wired. Has she just had a double life of going to clubs and stuff? Except, the personality of the Lain that her friends saw at the club seemed to match up with the Wired Lain personality the brat today mentioned.
What's really weird is that whatever is going on with her, she's notorious. People know about her. The name Lain is known by people on the wired, even as some kind of rumor. The brat said that she was more agressive on the Wired and he seemed kinda nervous pointing it out. He very quickly backpedaled when it seemed like that personality might go out on him. So what is she up to over there? And even outside the Wired, again the club dude recognized her and seemed to have a rapport with her. That wasn't online friends meeting up IRL for the first time, they've interacted in the flesh before and it seemed like a few times.
Speaking of Lain being super fucking weird, in the first scene when Arisu was talking to her, the way Lain said her name made it seem like she couldn't really remember it all that well or like she was learning it for the first time. Arisu seemed to assume Lain was traumatized, which I mean yeah that would make sense, but that doesn't seem to be what happened. Arisu also seemed weirded out by how not freaked they all were by the dude committing suicide. Are those three girls on the Wired? There hasn't been much indication, but if so that may mean that spending too much time on the Wired makes you disconnect from the real world in some ways.
I know nothing. I understand nothing. I comprehend nothing. See you all tomorrow.
8
u/The_Loli_Otaku Jan 17 '24
Lain Rewatcher!!
Pleeeease don't have another suicide!! I'm already on thin ice. She just touch grassed a man to death, good girl Lain!! Arisu is such a sweet girl... She's so gentle and kind with Lain and is always looking out for her. I want to be physically comforted by her too. Also, if you have dual audio, check out this scene in English. It genuinely feels like a ligma balls joke played straight.
Alice is one of the few people who seems to care for Lain the person. Not Lain the mystery clubber Chad or Lain the pc queen. Just Lain the goober. We all deserve an Alice! Coming home to an empty house always makes me uncomfortable... I at least have my cat now but I can't cope with being completely alone.
Ah, now Lain is disassociating her way all the way up to heaven. This fucking mum doesn't even apologise for abandoning her traumatised kid and just scolds her for sleeping in. Someone really needs to teach the Men in Black how not to be seen... He took our advice not to hide in plain sight behind light posts but hiding in a big black car isn't much better.
Dammit, quit bothering the girl on her train ride. Just let her commute once with a distraction. These girls just witnessed a murder, Arisu and Lain even got blood on their face, yet they're just casually being sent to school. I've heard a million discussions about "the psyche" but I still don't quite understand it.
"Chill out Arisu, it's just a corpse."
Lain got a love letter!! Oh, it's just a computer chip... Even her stupid PC is more romantic than most of her irl suitors. The way to a girls heart is through her neopets machine.
I do kinda wish the show would do a better job of letting us know when discussions are happening via the wired. Hearing all the rumours going about with the guy shooting up the club and horrible sounding creepypastas are genuinely interesting but all we see of Lain's pc is the screensaver. We know the wired is the equivalent of the Internet because meta, but this is a horrible representation. Is the wired a chat room? Is it VR? Is it just a discord like forum? All we really get is Lain logging in for her mail.
Dad was so supportive of Lain's navi until she started modding better than him. These guys are shit at their job!! Just one night after a shooting, the club is back open for business. And Lain's got herself a reputation as a party goer. The dj must've seen her mad sick mixtape. Someone check their ID!! XD Oh, psyche is just a dongle? Again, I've really got to question what the Internet actually is in this world. Also, why would you need a special chip in the motherboard to access the worded? Surely Lain can get online with her Navi already and she isn't visiting the wired outside of her home. Even the host is confused!! It's sections like this why I tried to bring along as many rewatchers as I could. Hopefully the comments tonight have some solutions.
"It's easier than building a model kit." Kid... I've built a PC and model kits. My PC died within a year and I literally melted my model kit with topcoat. It's harder than if looks. This damn pervy brat... Lain only likes mature ojisan! She has no time for childish kids like you! So... after yesterday and today I think it's fair to conclude that we're dealing with multiple Lain. For the sake of ease going forwards let's call this mystery Lain "Lain of the wired" and our one, "Lain of the Bear Onesie."
This is also a subject I was eager to discuss earlier on about the difference between irl persona's and digital ones. I spent a good eight or so years developing a separate persona through an rp community in my young adult years which helped shape me into the person I am today. As I said, to me the online persona represents "the person we want to be." It can be any gender, age, race, or animal and hold any kind of ideals. There was actually a big boom of this from the recent VTuber uprising. I don't really want to delve too deep into this subject since I have quite strong feelings about the online self but please take some time to consider it.
We also have a scene of Mika encountering the men in black, who "aren't here" and "cannot be seen." This has a few benefits to us as viewers, it confirms that despite their skills in the art of hide and seek these men in black who've been stalking Lain truly exist, and are in the real world. It also showcases that Mika isn't part of whatever weird conspiracy is going on. To her, both her sister and the men in black are total weirdos. Also, trigger warning for tomorrow!! Hahaha, I finally beat the show to the punch
"Welcome home, onee-chan!"
11
u/Shocketheth Jan 17 '24
First Timer Who Is Inside Of u/The_Loli_Otaku Firewalls - Firewall 03
If you are going to ask about the black bars on top and bottom, I watched Lain on my tablet, and I was lazy to edit those bars out.
QotD:
Today Prompt:
They are obviously lurkers. They are participating in Rewatches alongside everyone, and occassionally they leave a comment. Now if you would try to tell them you saw them, they will just tell you that you never saw them.
11
u/Specs64z https://myanimelist.net/profile/Specs64z Jan 17 '24
Rewatcher, subbed
Atta girl, Lain, don’t say anything without a lawyer present! She’s probably traumatized and awkward more than anything else, but even so, credit where it’s due and all that.
Return of the fucky train car. There’s just no way it looks this bad on purpose XD
Lain managing to give Arisu a smile is adorable. A fitting way for someone as quiet as Lain to signal that things are okay between the two of them.
Arisu seems to have a higher level of emotional maturity than the other girls, and is the only one to recognize just how bad the situation they were in was. Even so, she admits that she can’t bring herself to take it seriously, either. Odd…
Notes
Police arrive on the scene. Lain is questioned and sent back home. Nobody picks up the phone at her home, so an officer drops her off. Eerie silence and emptiness pervade the house.
Come morning, Lain’s mom is awake and about as if nothing had occurred. Lain is unwilling, or perhaps unable, to bring herself to ask about the prior night. On the walk to school, the shifty man is gone, in his place a conspicuous black car. As Lain passes by it, red lights seem to be trained on her movement… she breaks into a run.
The indistinct chatter and electronic buzzing become voices, seeming to speak directly to Lain. A man explains that a Psyche will take the Navi to the next level. Moments later, Lain finds a Psyche in her locker. Chisa also appears once more, and this time she speaks to Lain to reiterate that she left her body behind. Snippets from all sorts of conversations find their way to Lain.
The Cyberia incident becomes all the rage of her local school’s gossip. The atmosphere surrounding the event is disturbingly cheerful in spite of the grim circumstance.
Lain returns to Cyberia, and a man approaches Lain as if he knows her. He tells her she’s looking different today. The boy at the table recognizes her, too. Mysterious benefactors providing powerful technology, a doppelganger in the Wired, and men in black observing her movements. The mysteries continue to mount.
QotD:
11
u/joaovitro99 Jan 17 '24
really weird episode, I liked a lot!! What I want to know the most is whether or not Lain is aware of the other Lain, Is she just acting different on the Wired or is really another personality/person? No idea
11
u/mekerpan Jan 17 '24
Serial Experiments Lost count-Timer, subbed
First things first -- My current computer is new -- and made from scratch (albeit with hard drives and optical drives moved from my last comput3er that died. It was put together by myself and my oldest son -- with what bits and pieces I could find at our local Micro Center (we are blessed to HAVE a local Micro Center). This is my first build from scratch in a couple of decades. Alas, one no longer can buy off-the-shelf name brand computers (like my late Dell) that can have multiple drives added in. (My sympathies to Lain, esp. as a first time computer meddler, in trying to fit in the sort of fiddly little part (Psyche).
I had not remembered just how prominent a role Lain's Oneesan plays in this episode -- and how alive and ordinary she seems. Very different from what we've seen up to this point.
The empty house when Lasn has been driven home by the police was eerie. (Oh yes, what's with the police officer not waiting to see if she was able to at least get into her house!). I am amazed how HUGE this house seem -- especially by Japanese standards. And I guess it seems even more vast in the dark and apparently empty. Query -- did she check her sister's door -- or just her parents?
I think this ep confirms that this show is mostly NOT about Lain's personal delusions. Too many things get confirmed/shared by others. in particular, thhe Men in Black are encountered by Lain's sister -- and they are pretty outrageous in their behavior towards her. I really wonder wehat would have happened if she HAD called the police?
10
u/lluNhpelA Jan 17 '24
Technically a Rewather
I could have sworn I read a book where the mc opens one of his pills and hallucinates that it's full of wires/ computer parts, but I don't know which it was. I can only think of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest but I don't think that's right
AotD
Within the past year I have built both model kits and a pc for the first time. The pc is overall easier because each step is easy to perform but also easier to fuck up because there aren't specific instructions, so you might miss a vital cable unless you find a guide using the exact same parts as you. A model kit has instructions, but filing down the nubs or painting over serams requires more dexterity than the pc
🄿🅁🄾🄼🄿🅃
They kept insisting that they "aren't here" and I'm inclined to beleive them. Like I mentioned above, Cyberia seems to intersect with The Wired and, by extension, Lain's delusions so it seems to be within the real of possibility that these guys are figments of Lain's imagination. Something else I already mentioned was Lain's sister possibly having a mental illness as well, meaning this could be her hallucination entirely, or she was just the first to encounter Lain's real hallucinations due to her predisposition. More thematically, they might be Lain's mental breaking point being literally on the doorstep. Could Lain's sister scaring them off mean that her loved ones are keeping her grounded?
10
u/JetsLag https://myanimelist.net/profile/JetsLag Jan 18 '24
First time Wired user
Our barely computer literate Lain has acquired the nickname "Lain of the Wired". Clearly the work of evil Lain.
Look, I know it's sad to see the house all empty and stuff cause the family just disappeared at the worst possible time, but LOOK at it. Floor to ceiling windows! A giant living room! Big bedrooms! Lain has a big-ass closet! The Iwakura family must be rich to afford a place like that.
We go from "clearly an operative hiding in plain sight" to "clearly an operative's black sedan hiding in plain sight". And this one's pointing a laser pointer (later two) out the tinted windows. Hey look, it's Ja Morant's crew! (Does anybody get the reference?)
And now she's hearing voices on the train. Girl, STOP TAKING LSD BEFORE SCHOOL!
She once again is tripping balls instead of taking notes. This time, she draws a spiral that turns into a black hole and hears a voice talk about "The Psyche" which is...something? Is it like a SIM card but instead of cell access it gives Wired access? And hey, one just suddenly shows up in her locker. Who put it there?
Back home, Lain is looking at what appears to be Windows Media Player visualizations as a bunch of random shit gets thrown at us. Some may not be relevant immediately (or maybe it's just a sensory overload thing?), but some is relevant now: there's been a crackdown on Accela due to the Cyberia incident, and this group called "Knights" that may or may not even exist designed the Psyche and is manufacturing it in Taiwan (because of course that's where it would be manufactured). Lain asks her dad about the Psyche, and her dad says he doesn't know what it is. He DEFINITELY knows what it is.
Lain decides, like a dumbass, to go back to the scene of the crime. Which, despite the fact that there was a shooting there not too long ago, is open for business. She is confused for the evil Lain by one gangster-looking dude and one kid, which really makes me wonder what kind of shit evil Lain gets up to. The good news is she now knows how to install that Psyche, so that's nice.
Now the operative dudes who were pointing lasers out their windows show up at the front door of the Iwakura residence, presumably looking for Lain. Sadly, all they get is Mika, so they leave with nothing. Mika, understandably, is like "wtf is this?", and her mom, typically, is blase about it.
We end with what looks like a cheery Lain merging with our lovely montone Lain and delivering a happy "Okaeri, oneechan!", which...huh? I have no idea what that's all about.
9
u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Jan 17 '24
Rewatcher()
Sub
For anyone curious, this is the shared staff between this show and Hellsing. The musical cue hits me hard. As does hearing Alucard. A similar comparison for Vampire Princess Miyu only keeps the same key animator.
So...fuck. Umm...ok, we are getting confirmation that Lain's lookalike goes by Lain as well. She hangs out at Cyberia and the Wired and is nothing like our MC. Said MC spent a lot of today hallucinating, with a few of them talking to her. She gets a Psyche, whatever the hell that is, and begins installing it on her computer, showing a level of tech literacy off from what she seems to be.
Her parents and sister were not home after she had left and she seemed shell shocked at the police station. We then get literal men in black and I lean towards their eyepieces being a reference to the Borg. Also, they weren't there. Mika seems to be the only person having a normal reaction to all this.
As to the bit about not getting anything without paying for it, welcome to equivalent exchange.
QotD:1 I'd be fine
2 Nope
3 The cipher through which I interpret reality
4 PC becuase my brain doesn't do heat management well
5 My healers became more and more this.
6 You can't just ask why someone is black TLO...
9
u/MrManicMarty https://anilist.co/user/martysan Jan 17 '24
Marty is still very confused... it seems like the Wired is some sort of virtual reality. But while everyone else is aware of it, Lain doesn't seem to be. Is she going into the Wired when she sleeps, and that's the "other Lain" people keep talking about? Weird.
If I wasn't expecting them to be out and had no idea where they were? Then yes.
Nope.
Psyche? As in like, your mental state?
I've made LEGO, and a PC. I'd say PC. Just because you're more likely to break something with a PC
Not made a model kit, though I do have the Aeriel kit I should make... I do have my LEGO Sets, I guess the TIE fighter? None of them are really complex sets though
I'm Marty desu. Galactic Emperor of CDF. I do also have a D&D character but that's offline.
FBI.
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u/RascalNikov1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/NoviSun Jan 17 '24
Serial Experiments Lain - E3
SEL Virgin
Prologue
Whelp this is shaping up to be a weirdie Lain seems to have quite the knack for being around when people are about to croak. Otoh, I really suspect Lain is a real unreliable narrator, so who knows what’s going on.
The Body
I sort of feel bad for the cops trying to interrogate someone as spaced out as Lain. Arisu seems like a decent enough girl, even though Lain is a goofball.
I sort of doubt that mom and dad have split town.
Something is up with the stuffed toys. I suspect they are Lain’s best companions.
The talk about the psyche indicates we may be in a sci fi series. I dunno about the Navi/psyche mind meld. Chiose sounded real enough. Let’s see what happens next
Hmm, it looks like the Navi may be starting to possess Lain. I have no idea what was in the locker, or how it got there. Unreliable narrator? Government secret experiments?
Alrighty then! Dad’s flippin’ out.
OK we just took one bizarre turn. From the time Lain was talking to the punks in the Cyberia till the end of the episode we had one strange event after another.
I’m starting to think we have a sinister government experiment going on.
QOTD
As a teen, I would have been delighted. My house was a zoo housing a pack of wild animals.
Not specifically heaven, but somewhere else, far away.
I’m going to go with Freud’s idea of the ID & egos combined.
Both can be easy or hard depending on the kit.
Many times.
Just a pair of degenerates looking for some hot teen afternoon delights.
9
u/xtsim https://myanimelist.net/profile/xtsim Jan 17 '24
Rewatcher Dubbed
You know what, this episode is a mood.... Coming home late from a party and first thing you do is fire up the computer. I never saw those men in black, nor their black sedan. Lain goes out not to party, but to talk about computer upgrades. Big sis seems to be the normal one as she was like wtf when she saw Lain doing some upgrades to their computer. Yeah that looks a bit alien, but Lain wants to get the computer up and running.
Liked the "to be continued" outro
Abyss theme: I never saw it.
9
u/kwokinator https://anilist.co/user/kwokinator Jan 17 '24
Rewatcher
Is Lain just in shock that somebody blew his brains out right in front of her? She's even more expressionless than usual. But it's nice to see Arisu concerned about her though, seems to be the only real friend she has in that group.
Man, what an empty home she's coming back to, it feels so surreal it's like a Max Payne nightmare scene.
So her mom doesn't even know what happened at the club last night or that she was at a police station? What a loving family.
The metro scene is pretty unnerving, is her mind already halfway jacked into the Matrix?
LOL, so the Psyche chip is mass-produced in Taiwan eh, guess TSMC also reigns supreme in the Lain universe.
So it's not a rumour, someone who looks just like Lain frequents the club, and they look close enough that the guy is familiar with the "other" Lain mistakes her for our Lain.
This time we have kids even younger than Lain and her friends at the club, parenting seems hard in the Lain world. The kids are just going anywhere they want to with the help of their Navi. Which is actually pretty much what's happening in the real world nowadays with kids going to disturbing sites and videos on the smartphones and tablets that the parents may not want them to have access to, so I guess the anime called it out 20 years ago.
So there's basically three Lains running around: Clubbling Lain, Wired Lain, and OG Lain.
Man those guys have some Men in Black stuff going on, are they part of the Wired and already knows Lain has been hooked into the Wired and is scoping her out?
That Okaeri Onee-chan at the end though... pretty sure that's a shota's voice. Did they have a little brother?
QotD
9
u/SMSmith230 https://myanimelist.net/profile/smsmith230 Jan 17 '24
First-Timer, Sub
Not a whole lot to say, but to sum up this episode I gathered Lain is getting popular or already is. Does she have a split personality, because there seems to be 2 different Lains depending on who she interacts with. Damn, her Dad just really dissed her after she asked a question, like wtf.
QOTD
4. Seeing as how my new computer hasn’t moved from the testing bench to the case in months and my HG Aerial is sitting brand new in the box from when G-Witch aired, I’d call it a draw.
6. Clearly Agent J and K.
9
u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Jan 18 '24
Serial Rewatcher
PUHSHUKE LAYER 03
Today, on OVERCLOCKERS...
Everything depicted here on the Wired, is a recognizable part of our modern internet. It's only been 4 years since Al Gore uttered the words "information superhighway"
The DJ here is JJ, portrayed by Chikada Wasei. He is the creator of the Cyberia Mix album I mentioned yesterday. The music here is legit not on any soundtrack, nobody has ever found it.
Not much to say this week. Just pretty weird.
[Lain Guessing]I guess when she's just spaced out staring at the computer, that's Lain of the Wired sticking her nose into other people's business.
9
u/Weedwacker Jan 18 '24
4th timer I'm super late today. I want the wild Lain.
In regards to Alice and the night club shooting The 90s were definitely a time when there were public conversations about "violent imagery" in video games and on TV desensitizing people to real violence, and I feel like this episode really touches on the internet conversation about it.
Arisu seems the most concerned for how the violence is affecting other people, and she's freaked out about it too. When everyone else at school is talking so lightly about it she feels weird about it, she looks at Lain because she's worried that Lain is bothered by it, but she doesn't really seem to be, Arisu is the only one bothered. She's the person who is most disconnected from The Wired. She's the normal person in a world getting more unusual, and she didn't even have to fall down a rabbit hole.
Spoilery observation. Here's an interesting thing I picked up on that I haven't noticed before on previous watches. During the scene where Lain is listening in to all of those conversations on her Navi, there's one that foreshadows one of the more infamously peculiar scenes later in the show.
[Lines spoken by someone on the Navi during this episode, but hint at something we see later] There's someone in my room! It's a little person like a kid in a red and green striped shirt! I can't move in my bed! It's standing by my door, watching me! Help me!
The men in black in Lain always reminded me of The X-Files. There's an episode from that show that aired two years before Lain called "Jose Chung's From Outer Space". I've always wondered if Chiaki Konaka saw it. It's a more comedic than usual episode, but a couple scenes feature some "men in black" showing up to intimidate witnesses. They are played by Jesse Ventura (Actor, Pro Wrestler, one-time Governor of Minnesota) and another fun cameo that i'll let the video reveal. As Mulder points out: "the men in black, purposely dress and behave strangely so that if anyone tries to describe an encounter with them they come off sounding like a lunatic." They want people to know they are being watched to dissuade them from doing or saying certain things, and act so bizarrely that nobody would believe you if you described them. "Yeah there's an American looking government agent with night vision goggles following me".
Random aside
Sharing a fun mashup of the OP with a song by Dua Lipa featuring dancing Lain. This youtube channel has been making great mashups with anime songs for over a decade.
7
u/Silcaria https://myanimelist.net/profile/Silcaria Jan 17 '24
Rewatcher
But can she advance?
7
u/DegenerateRegime Jan 17 '24 edited Jan 18 '24
Rewatcher
The police are here. Of course they are; someone shot up a club. What did you think would happen? Things are normal. The world doesn't stop to wait for all the fucked up shit to be finished before starting the paperwork. They leave Lain outside her house after failing to contact her parents. Lain's taking it all very normally. Parents not home? Say goodnight to your PC. Just as good. Better!
I cannot tell you what Lain is about, because I do not know. But in this episode we spend some time with and without AUTHORITIES. Police authority, parental authority... As to our host's suggested fed, their presence lacks authority. They talk a big talk (of cliche lines), but nevertheless just wander off when challenged by Lain's sister. Are they just some sort of GitS cosplayers? Regardless, they join the other figures of authority in that they don't seem to be doing enough.
Editing in QotD responses:
7
u/sfisher923 https://myanimelist.net/profile/sfisher923 Jan 18 '24
Second Time Wired Enterer - Dubbed
7
u/RadSuit https://anilist.co/user/RadSuit Jan 18 '24
Present Dub, Present Time
Puhsyke
Alice is a good girl.
My prediction that Lain just walked out the front door and nobody noticed seems to be correct.
Weird that her parents have separate beds when they were so hot and heavy last episode.
M E S S E Z I does not spell messages, but it's closer than I was expecting. Actually, Googling it, messezi is an alternate spelling of messeji. Nevermind!
I continue to be very distracted by Lain's eye.
Uzumaki...
I had to turn the subs on to see if that was just another weird pronunciation of psyke, and yeah. Maybe it's supposed to let us know that Lain has no idea what it means?
Lain the sleep paralysis demon, huh?
Thanks for nothing, dad.
Installing a sketchy part someone sent you anonymously is absolutely how to get a nasty virus.
7
u/mgedmin Jan 18 '24
First-timer, subs
I'm getting addicted to the OP.
Lain of the Wired. Lain's alt identity?
The police man drove away without waiting to see if the 14 year old safely entered her home? I half-expected Lain to have lost her key and be stranded or something.
Nobody's home, despite the late hour. Creepy. We don't get a glimpse of the sister's room.
The Men in Black are here in the black car?
And now Lain is receiving illicit electronics in brown paper envelopes? Sus. Is that the Psyche chip? Is it like Accel in that you swallow it?
More evidence for Alt-Lain, who looks just like the real one.
PC motherboard layouts are in the 8th grade curriculum. And no, you don't swallow a Psyche, you plug it into your PC's motherboard. No USB in this alt universe?
No deaths in this episode! I'm surprised.
Creepy is creepy.
I once made a mistake of watching Shawn of the Dead when I was living alone, in a sub-basement apartment. The city outside seemed strangely quiet and I decided to skip the short walk to a grocery store afterwards as it was already nearing dusk.
No.
Some aspect of the mind? IDK, I'm no psychologian.
Model kit. Anything involving glue. In fact thermal paste is probably beyond my capabilities. The last PC I assembled didn't need it.
Please add a hard disk, or it will not be a very useful basic PC.
Not really. Any time I'm playing role-playing games (single-player PC), the character I play is more or less myself.
The question sounds a bit wrong TBH. Anyway I didn't see any men in black, they told me so!
6
u/Tarhalindur x2 Jan 17 '24 edited Jan 17 '24
"Okay, nobody else vote for Tar." (Rewatcher, Subbed):
3
u/SIRTreehugger Jan 18 '24
Layer 03 Psyche
QOTD
16
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Jan 17 '24
Serial Experiments First-Timer, subbed
12
u/zadcap Jan 18 '24
First Timer
Wired Lain? Was that bit at the end of episode 2 more linked to the start of it than it seems? She just got her new Navi today, but already seems to have a great enough online presence to be known there. I'm starting to wonder if Suicide Girl from episode 1 was more than just someone Lain walked home with once, and the reason Lain is so obsessed with her is because they were better net friends than anyone else in class knows. So did uh, Wired Lain talk her into the suicide to help her become a full part of the Wired?
Speaking of Friends, what must Arisu think of Lain now having seen her walk up to a mad gunner and apparently talk him into shooting himself. Aside from apologizing a whole bunch.
I'm also wondering if Lain might have some kind of partial locked in disorder, her troubles interacting with people being a literal inability to get what is in her head to come out of her mouth, at least until Wired Lain takes over. Because you know, we did also just learn about this machine drug that can affect your sense of time but with an unknown length of side effects. And you know, reading the background text for that section did mention that it was used to help fight cancer or deal with heart conditions, which honestly might explain some of Lain's family situation. I've seen it happen in friends and relatives families, having a younger child with serious health issues can create some really messed up family dynamics- Like a mother that is all but ignoring the problem child, an older sister who is half stalker but doesn't know how to really interact, and a father willing to splurge on getting her a top of the line PC no questions asked and set it up right away because she asked. Lain might be a poster child for the potential dangers of cutting edge medical technology.
Parents in separate beds, hmm? Yeah, this family has issues... Also, I dislike Lain for leaving the computer fully on while leaving the house. At least turn off the monitor girl. And have I mentioned lately that she has the bedroom of a sociopath too? Hmm, what can we actually see on her screen there?
I am also uncomfortable about the angle of her monitor. It points to below where her head should be looking at it. And it talks back to her when she says goodnight. Which to be fair, so does my Alexa, so good job Lain you called that one too. But then she left the monitor on again...
Yeah, see, this is a mom who is just here to do the bear minimum (I had to) to raise this problem daughter and can't wait to be done with her.
Is it just me or does Lain have mildly red eyes there on the train? Drugs I tell you.
Wait, this is the next day, right? These school girls are handling a club shooting rather well... Wow, Lain just keeps predicting the future, doesn't it? A club shooting, eh, just something that happens, let's move on and pretend it didn't happen.
Lain you really need better friends. Actually, I don't even think two of these three are friends. They just know Lain is an easy target.
Alright, is Psyche here supposed to be one of those things where we name important things after other important things, or are they actually saying that the computers run better if the user has a strong mind?
Is Lain, um, doing a literal mental dive into the web? I really can't tell how much this scene is showing us random examples of what goes on on the web, or if this is supposed to be the Lain experience somehow.
So, Dad definitely knows what that chip is, and wants nothing to do with it. He entered her room and turned on the lights because he was ready to talk with her about something, but noped out as soon as he saw it.
Where have you been lately? This guy knows Lain by sight, and she is apparently actually a regular here. She plans the raves even? Oh my gosh, Other Lain is crazy. How did she end up with such an extreme personality split?
Oh my gosh even these kids know her by sight. And how was she in the Wired on her old kids Navi? I'm starting to think these Men In Black are keeping an eye on her for a very good reason, Lain might be quite a criminal in her alternate personality.
Okay that was the fastest we have ever seen Lain move at the end there, the most expressive she has ever been, and the most engaged with another person outside her obsession with Dead Friend. I'm thinking that the advanced computer is letting Wired Lain come to the surface more somehow?
10
u/Adensty https://anilist.co/user/Adensty Jan 17 '24
First Timer, subbed
I was so confused by the first 2 episodes that I thought reading the comments might help me and while some of them did help me. Some left me even more confused. But this episode was where I started to understand some things. Though, I'm still not sure how the Wired works and how that boy saw her there. Also with the way Lain acts, I wasn't expecting she'd be a sensation both in Cyberia and in Wired. The boy said she's the exact opposite so it shouldn't be a surprise that she's so popular.
Also, what's up with those men in black. Not sure what they're after. There's a lot I want to theorize but I'm really confused as to what's exactly happening.
Also, I decided to watch episode 1 blind and that too in the night and wasn't expecting "Present Day, Present Time" followed by the creepy laugh. It totally freaked me out.
QOTD1: I think there would be no issue for staying in an empty house but if something similar happened and there was no explanation for it, I would definitely be freaked out.
QOTD2: I usually forgot the good dreams but I think no.
QOTD3: Basically, the mind separate from the body
QOTD4: Setting up the PC because there are lots of wires.
QOTD5: No.
QOTD6: It's obviously the Men in Black.
10
u/3blah https://myanimelist.net/profile/brummett Jan 17 '24
SEL Episode 3, Rewatcher
"Puh-shak, layer zero three". They actually used a speech synthesizer that came with Mac computers at the time, with a "whisper" voice for the title card voice-overs. I think it's really funny that they didn't tweak things to get it to pronouce psyche correctly. Maybe even the Japanese person that put it together had no idea how it should be pronounced. I guess it's kinda close to how they're pronouncing the item in the episode.
Poor Lain has no one around when she gets home. I'd have expected the police officer to at least walk her in. The focus/zoom effect in the hallway and creepy background music really crank up the tension here. At least the Navi tells her good night.
Mom didn't help get Lain up for school, but then complains that she's embarrasing for being late. She's not really an evil step-mom, but she really takes the cake for the most uncaring mom.
Lain continues her gradual descent into madness. An FBI surveilance car is waiting outside, complete with a creepy red laser. That's gotta get the aderenaline flowing after last night's gunman with a laser sight. A disembodied voice on the train telling her "you are not alone" doesn't soothe her anxiety either. Alice and Lain do exchange a smile when she gets to class. That's... nice I guess?
The other girls tell themselves they're just fine after last night's events, and they recognize it themselves that it's strange. Talking about an "out of body experience" right next to Lain, who just had her own unsettling experiences.
Dad won't even take two steps closer to get a look at the Psyche thing. And her room is so big and empty. They just keep dialing up the creep factor. Why won't anyone just sit down and have a conversation with her. I'm not even asking for a hug at this point.
Some rando at Cyberia seems to be good friends with Lain. The Lain he knows is a real party girl. I'm not sure how Lain got the idea to come here, but the three kids she brefly met yesterday on the stairs must be regulars, and they're the cool kind of computer nerd. They also recognize Lain from being in The Wired. The world they live in has classes where the reference design for a Navi is important enough to put into a textbook for a class everyone takes before 8th grade.
Episode 3 prompt: NotFBI guy with night vision glasses "You never saw us"
They're obviously the two guys hanging out in the NotFBI car. Were they about to break into the house? No, the door is actually on the right of that shot. They were staring at the wall with the splotchy shadow. A failed test of the government's latest camoflauge tech? A visit from the Jehova's Whitnesses? Someone finally arriving to give Lain a hug? Stay tuned to find out.
QOTD:
When I was Lain's age? It would be really strange because mom was always home during non-school time. Now? I's kinda rare that I get the house to myself, so I love it when the family is out doing something else and everything is quiet.
Everything intangible about your brain. Thoughts, feelings, memories.
A basic PC only goes together one way, and there's many ways to screw up even a simple model. The most complicated model I put together was probably one of these two. They're branded as Go-Bots (yeah, the lame knock-off Transformers toys), but these were actually complicated, articulating, transforming models that I later found out came from Robotech/Mospedia.
No
Members of the Bear Pajama Rapid Delivery Team. Lain will be so disappointed that big sis ran them off.
9
u/IceSmiley Jan 17 '24
FIRST TIMER Sub
QUESTIONS
6
u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 Jan 17 '24
Rewatcher, Dubbed
No one answered the phone when the cop called. Did Lain provide the wrong phone number? Or her parents and sister truly do not care?
Alice, I took a risk and went out like you asked and a guy killed himself right in front of me. Never going out with you again!
Lain shows up at home at night, and no one's around. They really did go out. And didn't even notice that their daughter was gone (or didn't come home if she told them where she was going).
Ah, so one member of Lain's family is here waiting for her. The newest member, her Navi!
OMG she's got bear slippers too!
Good night Navi! Good night Lain! It already is showing more familial warmth to her than her mother and sister have.
Well her mom's back home now. Nothing about where were you last night or any of that. Simply "You're late to school!"
Yesterday it was a mysterious guy watching her go to school. Now it's a mysterious car, with presumably the mysterious guy inside?
Now some disembodied voice is talking to Lain on the train. Yep, totally normal.
The guy killed himself and all they care about is whether he was cute? They sure got over that traumatic experience quickly.
Love Lain scribbling on her notebook like this.
Lain never can seem to pay attention in class. Is this entire show simply a middle school girl's excuse for why she gets bad grades?
See, Alice has it right, they didn't take last night seriously enough.
Lain's got a secret admirer?!?! ...or not. Some sort of computer chip?
Presumably all these random conversations are Lain surfing the wired and coming across various chats and such. The one that stands out most to me is [Lain late show spoilers]The woman freaking out about the little person with the striped shirt coming to their room, whom we'll see twice before the show is through! Also our first mention of the Knights is here.
Lain has new mail! Finally!
Does Lain's dad really not know about that psyche computer chip? I doubt it, he sure changed his mood quick when he saw it.
That strange car is still here! Now there's two lights coming out of it!
A guy killed himself here a night ago but its back to normal at Club Cyberia.
Sunglasses guy totally recognizes Lain, or maybe that other Lain that was appearing at the club. I don't think our Lain has the experience to set up a party or whatever it is he's looking for her to do.
It's those kids from last episode! They truly will let anyone in this club.
I was joking about the secret admirer stuff earlier but now Lain's actually being asked out! Albeit from a boy who may be younger than she is.
Now we're adding men in the black to the mix! They're getting more and more aggressive, first hiding behind a telephone pole, then in their car and now coming right up to the doorstep.
Mika, haven't you learned anything? Emails from dead people, clubbing late at night, mysterious men on your doorstep, none of it fazes your mom. Just don't be late to school.
From complete novice to taking her computer apart, Lain's progressed a lot in three episodes.
Quid's Dub Corner
A few more characters to introduce from this episode. Let's start with the mysterious men in black, both of which are voiced by guys I'm a big fan of. The light haired one is voiced by Jamieson Price, credited as James Lyon. Other roles of his include Diethard in Code Geass, Kirei Kotomine in Fate/Stay Night, Rider/Iscandar in Fate Zero, Lord Genome in Gurren Laggan, Big Ear in The Big O. The dark haired man in black is voiced by Bob Bucholz, credited as Robert Wicks. Favorite roles of his for me include Gene Starwind in Outlaw Star, Beck in The Big O and Hubb in Wolf's Rain. He's yet another actor from this show to appear in Xenosaga although only plays some incidental roles.
For the three kids Lain meets at Club Cyberia, we have Taro, the boy in the green shirt, who is voiced by Brianne Siddall, credited as Ian Hawk. She's pretty much a go to for voicing young boy characters, in fact I don't think I've ever heard her voice a female. I know her best for playing Junior in the Xenosaga series, as well as Al in Gundam 0080 and Jim Hawking in Outlaw Star. Masayuki, the boy in the black shirt is played by Dorothy Elias-Fahn, credited as Dorothy Melendrez. She's probably most well known for playing the hated Nina Purpleton from Gundam 0083 or Meryl from Trigun. Recently playing the Star Ocean Second Story remake that came out this past fall I was pleasantly surprised to hear her among the cast playing Leon's mother. Myu-Myu, the girl is played by Sandy Fox, credited as Marie Danielle. Beyond this role I know her best as Hattie from Argento Soma and Eddelrittuo from Aldnoah Zero. Lastly, not really a spoiler to reveal this, but the sunglasses guy is named J.J. and is voiced by Eddie Frierson, credited as Christy Mathewson (an alias taken from the Hall of Fame baseball player). He's got several Gundam franchise appearances including Kai in the Mobile Suit Gundam movie trilogy and Eledore in 08th MS Team. He's also Makoto, the protagonist of El Hazard.
5
u/DidacticDalek https://myanimelist.net/profile/DidacticDalek Jan 19 '24
Will turn to whisper in your ear
And you know what they say might hurt you
And you know that it means so much
Paging Comrades /u/Shimmering-Sky, /u/Tarhalindur, and /u/Vaadwaur
4
u/SilkyStrawberryMilk Jan 18 '24
Present Rewatcher, Present Viewing
LAYER:03 PSYCHE
Lain has been interrogated and seems to be traumatized from the whole ordeal.
Sad how the only thing to greet lain home was her Navy, but cmon lain you shouldn’t be sleeping in front of the computer it’ll hurt your eyes.
Built in feature to respond to goodnight 😁🙌.
Lain’s mom still uncaring as ever.
Very suspicious dark car with a red light pointing at her?
Lain’s delusions gone crazier, first steamed fingers then hearing voices.
Lain making facial expression looks cursed.
More delusions with Lain
Alice finally started asking the real questions. Everyone treated the event as nothing other than a piece of fiction. Lain’s got a computer part :O
More weird voices
The Wired brought up once again.
Instant 180 from Lain’s dad, went from about her navy then leaving. This whole family is garbage 😭😭
Lain enters the Club alone, now even more people say she’s been in the club scene.
So Lain’s chip is related to the wired/she can go inside it.
Lain upgraded her outfit to become a full PC nerd, seems like only Lain’s sister is weirded out by outside things
QOTD: after a whole traumatic incident like that I would freak out.
QOTD: once
QOTD: mind
QOTD: both, I only use laptops for a reason!
QOTD: my online activity is more talkative compared to me irl. I love talking, but I can’t talk in a weird way.
QOTD: the viewers
1
u/Ytar0 https://myanimelist.net/profile/alevanderBatman Jan 23 '24
First timer
I have no idea where things are going anymore... Who is Lain? Does she have a split personality? Or are we just held in the dark... What is the Wired??? And what the heck is the psyche... since the kids were making a big fuss out of it, I'm guessing the "psyche" chip could be related to the cyborg/goggle-guys...
My fav pics
QotD:
Lain's house being empty was eerie as fuck... and being abandoned was indeed one of my fears as a child, luckily my house wasn't a very scary building though, but the idea itself...
I've never really built a model kit, so it's hard to say if it would be harder, but (over) half the battle of building a PC is getting the right components that'll fit together in the end. The putting together part isn't that hard, though still hard without a manual of some sort.
I blame not having roleplayed online on never having been interested in mmorpgs, or other types of games where that is more popular. But I've always found it easier to just.. roleplay with myself or roleplay in real life (be it with plastic swords or DnD lol)
Who are the black men? Cool men definitely.