JohnnyoftheWell: Serial Experiments Lain

JohnnyoftheWell 12.20.18	List is albums that give me Lain vibes, almost all of which are conveniently fantastic
artiswar 12.20.18	Lain is a rough watch for me. The second episode was so damn good, I was pretty hooked on the show but it kind of goes off the rails for me. Opening theme is excellent though
Asdfp277 12.20.18	and u don't seem to understand
rodrigo90 12.20.18	I am. The anime is basically Evangelion but waaay more realistic and way more philosophical. I did a list with fear factory albums which I found a common storyline between them.
J() Alexander 12.20.18	"way more philosophical" Lol. Lain is pretty good btw.
Djang0 12.20.18	Love this show
Space Jester 12.20.18	I’ve been wanting to watch this for a long time. Might just go ahead and do it
rodrigo90 12.20.18	"way more philosophical" Lol. Ok way more existentialist. Happy?
J() Alexander 12.20.18	No. That's still wrong.
Asdfp277 12.20.18	are u the homophobe or is that the other user that starts with an A
J() Alexander 12.20.18	Ask chuck.
TheCharmingMan 12.20.18	it good but i dunno y
platnum 12.20.18	Alex just thinks lgbtq people are unnatural Then he met me and he doesn't know how he could live with himself if the fascists murdered me
J() Alexander 12.20.18	platnum is cool, yeah.
Mabbitt 12.20.18	I liked it but I eventually fell off because of schoolwork and couldn't remember wtf was going on when I started back up and quit. I should try it again.
StallionMang 12.20.18	im 3 eps in, it's almost painfully slow so far but visually and thematically it's tight
JohnnyoftheWell 12.20.18	Fuck episode 5 was disturbing
Flugmorph 12.20.18	LETS ALL LOVE LAIN (where is ovrot)
Flugmorph 12.20.18	present day, present time
Winesburgohio 12.20.18	I AM FALLING I AM FADING I HAVE LOST IT ALL
oltnabrick 12.20.18	Fav anime
JohnnyoftheWell 12.21.18	Anyone got any good similar shows to recommend?
artiswar 12.21.18	paranoia agent
Deathconscious 12.21.18	never seen it but seeing it compared to Evangelion and Paranoia Agent makes me highly interested.
artiswar 12.21.18	It's pretty out there. A lot more convoluted than Eva imo, I totally lost the plot towards the end. But it's considered a classic so.
J() Alexander 12.21.18	It isn't any harder to follow than NGE, lol, Lain doesn't have those last two episodes or EoE. But yeah, it's pretty damn good, better than Paranoia Agent btw. Out of all those cool animes with philosophical themes and stuff, it is the most realistic.
artiswar 12.21.18	I never really got the confusion over the last 2 eps of EVA since there's a detailed disclaimer in front of the episodes that explains everything that transpires before it even happens. The only confusing part really is why the show suddenly devolves into a series of flash cards (answer = broadcaster pulled the budget when they finally realized what Anno was making, same thing happened to Kare Kano).
J() Alexander 12.21.18	It isn't about following the plot, those two episodes are confusing because of all the ideas, there's barely any plot. If you didn't have any problem with NGE I don't know how you could have problems with Lain tbh.
IntriguingSergei 12.21.18	I struggle to see how anyone can complain online about Lain's comprehensibility given its thematic relevance and astute commentary on the medium we are currently using.
IntriguingSergei 12.21.18	One could almost call it...prophetic.
J() Alexander 12.21.18	Lain basically predicted how we use the Internet, yeah.
IntriguingSergei 12.21.18	One of the few worthwhile studies that this site can be drawn upon for data is the degree to which Lain predicted our contemporary useage of the internet vs. the degree to which that prediction shaped that usage.
J() Alexander 12.21.18	I'd say it was the former. Lain wasn't the most popular series out there, was it? I doubt it had much to do with shaping how people use the Internet.
IntriguingSergei 12.21.18	If you contain the scope of the question to Lain itself, that is largely correct. The crux of it, however, is drawn from tracing the history of that predication externally to Lain; what inspired its creation and who has since mapped the online landscape?
J() Alexander 12.21.18	Yeah, that makes sense, Lain could have been inspiration for the people who "mapped the online landscape". Like how a pretty much unknown artist makes an innovative work but it doesn't have a lot of impact until someone more popular takes inspiration from it.
artiswar 12.21.18	Lain was pretty damn prophetic, yeah. I'm not following you at all though Alex, what do you mean there was no plot at the end? The thing they were saying all series would happen, happened and we saw the results from an internal character perspective rather than an external one like in the film. It was beyond genius and probably the most uncomfortable experience I've ever had watching TV
theYearis1999 12.21.18	Amazing show that made me look into anime further
J() Alexander 12.21.18	Let me explain myself a bit better: by "there's barely any plot" I meant that there's almost no action, not in the sense of explosions and bla bla bla, just in the sense of characters doing something; it's all mostly dialogue, the viewer isn't following the actions of characters just their thoughts. The way I say it is this: episodes 25 and 26 are the dialogue, the ideas but not a lot of practice, while EoE has more action, more "practice", but less ideas; both complement each other.
artiswar 12.21.18	Right, but if you think about it that's utterly perfect because the whole show is about the Hedgehog's Dilemma and how all the characters fail each other on a deeply personally level. The ending is all about stripping away all their self-imposed barriers (the AT Field) and they're forced to finally come to terms with themselves, their lives and each other. It's a perfect ending, throwing in extra robot fights would not have made it more satisfying.
J() Alexander 12.21.18	Uh, maybe I'm wrong, but when you say "if you think about it" and "extra robot fights would not have made it more satisfying" (even after I mentioned that I wasn't referring to that when I said action) it looks like you think I'm complaining about the series ending like that, well, if you think that, I'm not, lol. 10/10 series.
artiswar 12.21.18	They were all orange Kool Aid by the third-to-last episode. I think most people who complain about the show's ending in the way you are just didn't really get it. Which I can't blame you for tbh, it's a really bizarre story especially by the end.
J() Alexander 12.21.18	... But I'm not complaining...
artiswar 12.21.18	YES YOU ARE ADMIT IT lol I know you love it, 10/10 series. I got that part, I was just trying to clarify your comments a bit.
J() Alexander 12.21.18	Lol, alright.
StallionMang 12.21.18	how did i know this thread would somehow turn into an argument about evangelion
Flugmorph 12.21.18	cause eva is anime and anime is eva
GhandhiLion 12.21.18	I recall seeing You, Flug, in the comments section of a GoatJesus vid.
Flugmorph 12.21.18	fuck goatjesus
GhandhiLion 12.21.18	That would be gay
StallionMang 12.30.18	dang so this got good
JohnnyoftheWell 12.30.18	Hell yes
solrage 02.27.19	Anyone who loves Lain should check out Ueda/ABe's other projects, namely Texhnolyze and Haibane Renmei. Together they form a loose Divine Comedy trilogy, with Lain being Purgatory, Tex being Inferno, and HR being Paradise. I actually slightly prefer Tex and HR to Lain, but all three are great.
sixdegrees 02.27.19	I need to finish haibane renmei actually
JohnnyoftheWell 02.27.19	Same actually, I don't think I've ever seen a show less bingeable (in a mostly good way; I've been saving episodes for when I feel like something slow and wholesome)
Zig 02.27.19	Gonna try the first episode.
NOTINTHEFACE 02.27.19	It's all right imo. It's been a few years since I've seen it, so some of the details are slipping away. There's definitely nothing else quite like it, and it's got a really interesting take on technology as it relates to humanity. I remember finding the ending less than satisfying, but can't remember any details about it at all. I would say it's worth watching for any hardcore anime fan for its influence alone. Plus I really like the art style; it's so minimalistic yet atmospheric.
solrage 02.27.19	Haibane Renmei is the Ozu-film of anime. Very zen, but also very wistful and often quite bittersweet. Very mono no aware in Japanese terms.
NOTINTHEFACE 02.27.19	Also re:Eva. It is perfect and terrible all at once and if Ano ever gives it a satisfying ending I will die happy. Not holding out hope though; movie 3 of the reboot was terrible imo.
NOTINTHEFACE 02.27.19	ah dammit didn't realize this was a necro thread.
solrage 02.27.19	I'm beyond fine with NGE's ending (film + TV) and together really think they form anime's artistic pinnacle. I wrote a 5k-word analysis of it years ago where I really went into all the motifs/themes and how they're interwoven in both. Fair warning that I'm a pretty big Evageek. And zombies love necrothreads. Think of the zombies.
StallionMang 02.27.19	3.0 wasn't horrible as long as u disregard the fact that a) it's plot hole city and b) kaworu is p much the biggest nothing character in the whole franchise except for mari
NOTINTHEFACE 02.27.19	Tbh Kaworu was the only really great part of 3.0, imo. The middle was so great. It was just the nonsensical beginning and end that killed the reboot hype train for me. And yeah Mari is just a figure commercial.
solrage 02.27.19	I've only seen 3.0 once. Don't remember it too well, tbh. I'm really waiting for 4 to come out so I can (re)watch all of them. Until then I'm reserving judgment. As for plotholes, ep. 24 has the biggest plothole in the entire franchise. If you can tell me what the hell Kaworu is doing with Seele and what each's plans are I'll send you a cookie. Kaworu was a pretty important character in terms of wrecking Shinji's psychology. I also thought it was pretty ingenious to have the last Angel be a "human" that befriends Shinji... as if Shinji wasn't anxious enough about killing Angels already.
JohnnyoftheWell 02.28.19	Just finished the first season of Code Geass and am temporarily through with anime
GhandhiLion 02.28.19	Code Geass is trash, don't give up on anime - still some lesser known good stuff.
JohnnyoftheWell 02.28.19	Hahaha what I meant was that I'm timing out until I watch R2/finish Haibane. No giving up.
GhandhiLion 02.28.19	ahh ok. Just gonna post the best anime https://youtu.be/Qcn4ndi4Gcw
ramon. 02.28.19	the lack of Ov in this thread is upsetting lain is cool and yea idk if I've ever seen an anime thread centred around even semi-complex shows that don't devolve into eva arguments at some point. kinda unfortunate really
GhandhiLion 02.28.19	Legit though, I'm perplexed by Code Geass' popularity on places like MAL . One of the most poorly written stories I have ever seen. Generic trope anime characters and doesn't shy away from fan service either.
JohnnyoftheWell 02.28.19	I find it hard to disagree tbh, found the first 2 episodes laugh-out-loud convincing but then got hooked and went along with it. Plot is all over the place but I was v much there for the alter-ego cat and mouse games; reminded me of Death Note
GhandhiLion 02.28.19	If you just deep breath "shut your brain off" it should be "fun" yeah.
ramon. 02.28.19	I like the abridged code geass, couldn't really care less for the actual show
GhandhiLion 02.28.19	^ye show always had the meme potential, as dated as they seem now. https://youtu.be/_NXvnWT0Yj4
JohnnyoftheWell 02.28.19	"If you just deep breath "shut your brain off" it should be "fun" yeah." Got no pretensions there lol, I dug the show for how easy it was to switch off and be carried along by its ridiculousness. So kind of the opposite of Lain in that regard
parksungjoon 02.29.20	its a good anime tbh