The consciousness of the self within the virtual world in Serial Experiment's Lain
If you are one of those people who like the genre of science fiction, psychology, and mystery, maybe the series that we are going to address this time is for you. Serial Experiment's Lain is a story that has been able to transcend over the years, so much so that it has been considered a cult among those who have seen it whether they are self-described anime lovers or not, something that you can get to check among the many active groups that exist in social networks like Facebook, among others.
This production is from the late nineties of the twentieth century, and that by that time came to pass without shame or glory both in Japan and the rest of the world, the same did not get to have the same resonance as it came to have to have to cite an example the Dragon Ball saga, which generated a cultural impact in the countries where you get to see, and this is something that may be due to its humorous tone and the action that characterized it. In the case of Serial Experiment's Lain, this was not the case due to the intensity of the themes it deals with and the seriousness that characterizes it.
But in order to understand what its plot is all about, we will see its review below.
Review
It all begins with the suicide of the young student Chisa Yomoda, who after having thrown herself from the roof of a building begins to spread an email among her now former classmates, an email whose content carries a message that says: "I have not died, I am still alive in the network along with God". This generates a great impact and speculation among the students, one of whom is crying inconsolably while being comforted by her friends, to which Lain Iwakura (our protagonist) is somewhat disoriented by the atmosphere in the classroom of the institute she attends, learning about what happened.
When she returns home and turns on her computer out of curiosity, she notices that she has received the same message, so from there she decides to undertake a series of investigations that will lead her down a path of mysteries that will envelop her, making her life change completely forever.
Opinion
Serial Experiemt's Lain is a story with a slow development and lack of dialogue between the first chapters, and in which only the introspective and reflective look of Lain will be our guide to all the action that occurs and then move to a breakneck pace. Here we are shown a world where the human being has become highly dependent on technology for interpersonal relationships, where the meeting point is the world of Nexus (equivalent to the Internet), being this governed by a mysterious god which Lain must face for the good of all to destroy his plan to unite the human collective consciousness in this virtual world.
Another of the points addressed in the series is psychoanalysis and the different states that make up the personality of the individual, such as "the I", "super-ego", and "it"; and there are so many references that even Sigmund Freud is paid tribute to with his appearance. We can also see the multiple personalities that any individual can experience in the network, false identities, rumors as a weapon to destroy or generate opinion matrixes, conspiracy theories, and corporations with a lust for power.
The soundtrack is very varied, ranging from rock, blues, folk, to jazz.
The number of chapters is only 13 with a duration of around 25 minutes.
With all that has been said so far, it only remains to say that if you have not seen it yet, try to watch it as soon as possible, this kind of series is aimed at a mature audience because its content is worth to be analyzed and discussed. And in case you have already seen it, leave your opinions and points of view in the comments box, I will be glad to read them.
On my behalf, I bid you farewell until the next installment. See you soon.
Source of the images:
https://www.teahub.io/photos/full/59-594442_serial-experiments-lain-yoshitoshi-abe.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/d7/fc/0c/d7fc0c66a1e842ad1806e5b703b191fe.jpg
