Serial Experiments Lain: Complete Series (Blu-ray/DVD Combo) (Limited Edition)

EDIT1 (12.6.13): I feel like a different introduction should be used here. First, let's get this out of the way: It hit me upon watching this again that Lain exhibits classic symptoms of schizophrenia and very schizoid mannerisms through the beginning. The first couple of episodes show things mostly through Lain's perspective, but the way she perceives her reality is impossibly bizarre. And her perspective is one of overt psychosis--obvious hallucinations of different natures in episodes one and two, feelings and sightings of being watched, being painfully socially inhibited, a seeming inability to show strong emotions even in the face of PTSD-level trauma--it's really all there, both positive and negative symptoms of a developing disorder of thought and perception. I thought it prudent to point this out, as her developing thought processes are clearly disordered and her perceptions hallucinatory. The series never explains any of these strange hallucinations she has, or her flat affect and odd indifference even when in life-threatening situations. Others have already touched on the limited ability to make this series "Blu-ray quality". It is, indeed, a very old series, and it was never possible to remove the 4:3 native aspect ratio. Additionally, due to the variety of colors used, it was no doubt difficult to clean these up. However, the effort is apparent. If you're well-aware of the very original release ever-so-long-ago, it will be easy to spot that a Blu-ray transition does not magically make the animation or picture quality like a more modern series. Some credit needs to be given, though, that the effort is there. To expect more is just not reasonable. ...Which is probably why they throw in quite a few extras in the box to make the Blu-ray more worthwhile than a very simple resolution upgrade with some touch-ups. You get quite a bit of stuff here, which is already listed, and is good stuff. And, really, it's worth it for the top menu alone. Easily the most aesthetically creative and just-plain-cool Blu-ray menu for any anime I've come across. Someone had a good idea with that one, and it was executed beautifully. --- The very first two lines you hear in the first episode define the entire series. Maybe you've even seen it before because of how ridiculously creepy it is. This isn't a spoiler (it's the first two sentences ever spoken by anyone, and comes immediately before the opening credits of almost every episode), but once you hear an unnamed voice say in a disturbed tone, "Present day...*chuckle*...PRESENT TIME...HAHAHAHA!" Then the screen immediately cuts to white noise with a faint silhouette of Lain. Yes, it only takes literally two sentences and about five seconds of white noise on your TV for you to get the flavor of this series. If you appreciate anime series that are extremely heavy on real-life intellectual and philosophical issues, combined with an incredibly original and unpredictable protagonist, unbelievable twists, heavy but certainly not glorified violence, and a "feel" that's unique all on its own and has never been topped, this is your ticket. Nothing really compares or has compared since then, even though it's a relatively old series. This is one of *those* series that, once an episode is over, you'll have an extreme amount of difficulty not watching "just one more episode to see what happens". Once this series creeps into your blood and the story kickstarts hardcore by the end of the first episode, the sheer unpredictability of the events and the character reactions mixed with a unique art style and general creepiness will stay on your mind for a long, long time. There has *never* been a character like Lain herself. But anything I say about that would be a spoiler. Let's just say that she's a somewhat eccentric girl, and the writers made no effort to turn her into a typical anime female heroine that is actually believable in an intentionally unbelievable world in which she lives. From Lain's older sister's development as her own character to the identity and purpose of the KNIGHTS hacking group, every episode teases you with something that can, and does, change the entire course of the events. You may or may not have difficulty understanding the climax of the series, as some people have called it a notorious "Gainax Ending", meaning it appears to make absolutely no sense, and you have no clue what just happened upon the final lines spoken. But after I watched and really paid attention, I felt like I had a good grasp of exactly what was going on the whole time. Obviously, I won't spoil it, but let's just say that it does, in fact, make sense, if you've been paying attention to the messages throughout the series and understand every character's motivation and the inevitable conclusion it all leads to. (I wrote about the ending on TV Tropes, so if you need help understanding it, that may help. But, hey, I'll field questions after you're done with it.) Very, very highly recommended. Lain's development alone is enough of a hook to keep the series going, but there's so much more to explore as the story blossoms outward.

First of all, I'd like to say how glad I am that Funimation reissued this anime in a DVD/blu-ray combo pack last November. No longer is a gem like this in "out-of-print obscurity." Serial Experiments Lain has been one of those anime titles I've heard of ever since I got into anime back in July of 2002, but never checked out since from the surface, didn't look all that appealing to me at the time. I made a gamble when Funimation was reissuing this anime by pre-ordering it on Amazon a few months back, got it on release date, and just finished watching it. I guess after suffering a few months back from that puke-inducing animated swill known as High School of the Dead, a cerebral anime like this was just what I needed. As you can see by my rating, I was really glad to have seen this. Before I kick off the review, I should suggest to potential viewers that before watching it (if you want to see it), that you get yourself a lot of coffee and M&Ms (or whatever caffeinated and sugary food/beverages you like) when you watch Serial Experiments Lain, not because it's boring (quite the opposite), but because this is an anime that will give your brain a good workout. STORY Serial Experiments Lain is about a young girl named Lain Iwakura, who at first appears to be a shy, lukewarm junior high school student. After receiving a Navi (a computer connected to the Wired, the anime's version of the internet) from her dad, she soon finds herself engrossed in the Wired and embarks on a journey where the virtual world and reality are blurred. In this journey, many mind-bending things will happen and her personality will alter in so many ways. Along the way, she finds out of a power struggle between a mysterious group of hackers known as the Knights of Eastern Calculus and the Tachibana corporation. CHARACTERS I though the way the characters were handled in this anime was well done. The focus is mostly on Lain, and at first, she seems like a shy girl devoid of any personality. However, as her immersion in the Wired gets deeper, many bolder personalities of Lain are embodied. I was pleased with how Lain's school friends (Alice, Julie, and Reika) were handled, since they felt like teenage girls, but at the same time, this anime didn't bombard you with a bunch of sappy teenage school drama coming from these girls' mouths, which would have been a huge distraction from the central parts of the story. Other characters, like Lain's family, have believable, well-established personalities that get altered when the real world and the Wired are altered with, and these changes work out really well in the context of the story. THEMES Since Serial Experiments Lain is an anime that's heavily entrenched in philosophy and the rapid evolution of computer and electronic networking technology. I'll be honest here and say that so many things have happened in this anime, that I'll need to watch it again at least once to get a full grasp of this, but I was able to comprehend this well enough to know what happened and what some things mean. This anime's most prominent theme is that it's almost like a warning to people about over-reliance on computerized electronic communications. I thought this type of "warning" was tastefully-done since it's not shoved in your face and isn't sanctimonious about it. I guess you could say the core message with this theme is that over-reliance on the Wired (or internet) will diminish one's humanity. I think it's crazy that this was made in 1998 yet the themes of technology are still relevant today. Religion is another theme tackled in this anime, and without spoiling anything, some of the discussion between Lain and Eiri (who calls himself "God") will make ponderous folks happy. There was also real history about the first computers and electronic networks that would tie into the foundation for the Wired, and I thought this combination was ace since these meshed perfectly and shows it has some proper learning of important history. HORROR ELEMENTS While not being an outright horror anime, there are some horror elements used in it to illustrate the psychological deterioration Lain and others go through in this anime. One of the creepiest was on Layer 09: Protocol, where an alien in a red and green sweater peaks into Lain's room and creeps her out. Another horror scene that creeped me out a lot was when Mika (Lain's older sister) starts hallucinating in a fast food joint, and when in the bathroom, is forced into seeing "Fulfill your destiny!" scribed on the stall door. What I find funny about the scant horror scenes in it is that there's horrible anime like Elfen Lied that constantly bombard you with gore, trying to pass it off as scary, and while the horror scenes in Serial Experiments Lain had very little to no blood in them, were far more unnerving than anything the likes of Elfen Lied, Gantz, or High School of the Dead could throw at you. APPEARANCE The animation and artwork for this is stunning. With this being an anime from the late 90's, this was one of the last pieces of anime that would have had traditional cel animation in it, and incorporated a lot of fusion with CGI and real photographs and film passed through various filters. The combination of these visual elements help reinforce the strong themes of technological takeover and of the overall cerebral nature of the show. While the looks of the computers and other electronics look a little dated by today's world of thin supercomputers and smartphones, they almost seem like the foundation of the technology we take for granted. Lain's Navi can view video from the Wired without excessive buffer times and even has voice recognition for the password and cellphones have email capacity, which I thought was pretty visionary for its time. Also, Lain's Navi is hooked to a series of other computers and cooling machines to make it look like a menacing entity taking over Lain's life. I have to give props to Yoshitoshi ABe's (yes, the "b" in his last name is capitalized) character designs since they largely lean more towards "realistic" human looks while still have a strong "anime" air to them. SOUNDTRACK The soundtrack here is a little of a mixed bag, but thankfully leans more towards the good side. I found the intro and outro music to be pretty unremarkable, but the background music in the episodes is quite good. There's heavy use of ambient electronic music and even some more aggressive tones in this niche, that perfectly match the setting of this anime. There's some other styles of music in some episodes, such as in the last Layer, that featured a good deal of instrumental psychedelic rock pretty reminiscent to Jimi Hendrix. TONAL CONSISTENCY One of the things that really made me happy about Serial Experiments Lain is that the creators took this show really seriously and didn't try to inject scenes of redundant humor with exaggerated, goofy faces and chibi deformations. There's also no terminally-unfunny moments revolving around the female body trying to be funny. The totally serious, mature presentation of this anime made it extremely enjoyable. MATURE CONTENT While I'd recommend this anime to adults for its cognitive content, the visual content is essentially suitable to anyone 14 or older. The most "extreme" bits in this anime was when there is a shootout at the Cyberia nightclub, with a little bit of blood flowing on the floor, and some tastefully-done nudity in another where Lain is seen naked in the sky, but no private areas were illustrated on her. FINAL WORD This was one of the best and most rewarding anime titles I've seen in at least three years, and would even rank it as one of the best anime titles you can find. If you're in the market for an anime that's totally serious in execution and will really get your brain juices flowing, then Serial Experiments Lain is essential to your collection.

when i first got this i opened the package and looked inside... i found something horrible. the packaging was intact but the product was in a condition that can only be described as factory destruction... of the collectors box. the quality of the collectors box aside the only other damage i found was a small crack in one of the jewel cases (like is that a big deal?) and the gratuitous art book being trimmed ever so slightly off center or the binding being glued on wrong... all stuff i would blame on QC that does not affect my personal value of the set itself. so why rate it 5 stars if QC is lacking? because you get a lot more than you pay for at any price under like 150-200. that gratuitous art book i mentioned, yeah i wish EVERY limited edition animated movie or TV series would come with it. instead of some of the other filler swag that Funi and others are putting in them. but i have to say Funi especially tends charge a lot less that what they should when it comes to some of their limited editions. this one is no exception not only do you get that gratuitous art book that is filled with character designs and set designs, you get a commentary with Hiroshi Saito and one of Lain's producers Yasuyuki Ueda talking about the various things they did to Restore Lain, along with various promotional art form Yoshitoshi ABe, and some emails from Hiroshi Saito (to Yasuyuki Ueda) again detailing the progress of Restoring Lain. outside of the collectibles mentioned above (the art book i would say is undersold at $100) you get the beautifully restored version of Lain on Blu Ray and DVD with the original Pioneer Dub and the Original Japanese audio (both of which probably having been remastered). the story is as relevant today as it was in the 90's, and like Akira you can take a great many things out of it every time you see it. this will stand the test of time (if the package does not degrade to nothingness before eternity is over) and is one of the ESSENTIAL classic shows if you can't get this version there are others out theres including the Japanese Restore that probably has an even more gratuitous value.

Lain is not your average school girl. She's detached, boring, and not very into technology. All that changes when a classmate of hers kills herself. Lain and her friends receive postmortem e-mails from her saying that she has merely left her body and now lives within the "Wired". The Wired is an evolved form of the internet. Lain is intrigued by this event and begins to explore The Wired. When she gets involved with The Wired, Lain discovers that it is more than just a network of electrical signals. It is more like a living thing. A living thing with a will. Is it god? Is it an alternate Universe? Who the hell knows? I think it may be all of those. Lain discovers the truth behind her existence, the existence of the Wired, and their relationship to the real world. This anime all all kinds of weird. It's older, so the animation is kinda odd. It's from the creator of Haibane Renmei; and it's obvious from the character designs. I had to try very hard to get through the first 5 episodes. It bored me to death and made me angry. Once things began to unfold, I started to appreciate it. This is one of those artsy/experimental shows. It's totally philosophical ans psychological. There is not much action or drama. It moves painfully slow. Most of the characters are very one dimensional and have no personality. Lain and here family are especially boring people. The psychological elements of this story are the main focus. The characters teeter back and forth on the frayed edges of sanity. What is real? What is not? What is the truth? These things drive the characters to the edge. It takes a toll on your brain as you watch the characters explore their world. The animation and soundtrack also gnaw at your patience. There is a lot of static and "white noise" going through the speakers. I respect this series for it's depth and creativity, but I just don't like it. The story is deep and thought provoking, the animation is unique, but it's a major chore to watch. If I rated it according to how much enjoyment I got out of it; I would give it 2 stars. That isn't a fair rating though. If I'm trying to be objective, I'll give it 4 stars. It is a long shot from 5 stars, but it is a great piece of art and storytelling. There is nothing to get attached to in this series, so it's hard to fall in love with it. If you remember the ending of the Evangelion TV series; where the characters pretty much get a psyche evaluation, you can get a relative idea of what this anime is like. It's like watching the final Evangelion episode for 5 hours. I can't recommend buying this anime without watching it first. If you're interested in it, most definitely watch it online or rent it first. I bought it before I saw it, based on all the 5 star reviews. It pisses me off that everyone raved about something that was so subjective. I really wish I had watched it before buying. I can't stress it enough: WATCH BEFORE YOU BUY. YOU MAY LOVE IT, YOU MAY HATE IT. Review of the product: This is an excellent release(5 stars). It comes with both Blu-ray and DVD versions in separate cases. The box is very sturdy and has beautiful artwork. There is a small booklet inside with commentary for each episode. There is also a really big art book inside. Personally, I think the art book is kind of a waste of space and unnecessary, but if you're paying out the ass for something like this, you may as well get something extra. Overall, this special edition is probably only gonna interest major fans of the series. It's a great box set.

this is not a review about the series story at all, just what this boxset comes with. so being that this is an old series, it looks wonderful on bluray! it finally got the treatment it deserves. you get both the bluray and dvd versions of this set. the bluray has about 9 episodes on the first disc and the remaining episodes on disc 2. all the special features from the original dvd release from way back when have been included, but those extras were not upgraded at all to HD, they are the same SD version as you saw them, maybe even just under SD, because i saw the trailer for the CD and it looked like VHS quality, i'm sure its the same quality as my lain dvds from back when. the box set itself is a hard durable box, it comes with a booklet which is the episode guide, and the artbook which is pretty damn massive and filled with tons and tons of scetches of just about anything lain, from her character drawings to room layouts, its just really in depth and much appreciated. i also love the menu layout for the bluray version, i'm not sure if the dvd is the same but it basically looks like an old windows computer/dos screen. i thought that was pretty awesome. all in all, you'll greatly enjoy this if you were a fan of the show. although the price is mighty high, i feel as though you are getting what your paying for. it may have been cheaper if they didnt add in the dvds, but i guess they didnt want to do two separate releases and just bundled them into this combo deal, which i think is smart.

I bought this on a whim after I saw Funimation Tweet a picture of a poster with the box art on it. I was considering it to be a normal high school/middle school drama anime with a twist and that's what it was. The first episode started off very slow but as each one went on and on the show grew on me and ended up very well. I was very happy with this purchase and it made a wonderful addition to my collection. It shows a very real fear in peoples lives when it comes to the internet and acceptance in society. Can we really control peoples prospective mirrored onto our self about our self?. Very well done. Also the main character is one of the best personalities I have seen in a while. The story did start off slow but it really sucks you in fast. It makes you think and it is refreshing to see an anime do this. I am a huge fan of the in depth mind blown animes (kinda like Rei Ayanami and the whole quantum mechanic bit) and this one really was enjoyable.

Geneon Int. first licensed the Lain series in the early 2000s, giving it a small release. The sales for the Lain series took a mindboggling upward swing in sales as the series aired on Tech TV's late night release. Lain has since become a cult classic among anime enthusiasts. Its crazy dialogue, stark visuals, disturbing imagery, thought-provoking themes, and often confusing plot lines engages its audience to the limits. The references and the philosophical ideas are there that only the most experienced conspiracy conjurer could grasp. Yet, it finishes up with an ending that even a general audience will be satisfied with. Lain's sad, soulful stare is burned into the back of my mind. This is one of those unforgettable series. Geneon went under, but thankfully Funimation picked this back up from the back bin of history for an amazing release quality. The upscale on the BluRays is just so incredible for a series so old. The artbook is in perfect condition, and the translations are pretty faithful (impressive...knowing Lain, the script was probably a nightmare to translate. Props!) This is worth your cash, people. Go get it!

As much as I love the series, this is just a review of the product itself. It consists of two Blu-Ray cases, one with the series on blu-ray and the other with the series on DVD (in a blu-ray case so that it will fit in the package), a little booklet with commentary on the individual episodes and a thick conceptual art book. For me personally the concept art book made this package; it's about the size of a blu-ray case and the cover is that weird velvety texture, and it's full of black-and-white lineart for the series by yoshitoshi ABe. I've seen some complaints about the lack of color art, but for me personally this kind of thing is a favorite, so I think it's perfect and if you like ABe's sketchy art style you should enjoy it as well. :) As for the discs themselves, they changed the menus a bit from the original Pioneer release but nothing terrible. It looks more like an old timey computer screen. I haven't finished watching the whole series yet but so far the blu-ray transfer is lovely. If you want Lain on blu-ray, then you really ought to spring for this set.

One of my favourite anime, and a great release. Neat artbook inside, both BD and DVD included of the series. I wouldn't bother with the english dub, as it's sub-par as is typical of most english dubs. I'm not a huge fan of the 5+ minutes of badly dubbed advertisements before getting to the menu, but otherwise this is worth a buy for fans of the show.

Classic masterpiece of japanese animation with a superb release! Serial Experiments Lain is my favourite animated series of all time, it's a classic existentialist animation that presents itself both as a magnific story and as a thesis. The atmosphere and artistic direction in this series is so good it's bone-chilling, altough not for everyone, Lain gets my biggest recomendation for anywone with an open mind. It'll blow your mind!

Still one of the greatest series I've ever watched, properly converted with some new art for high definition. If you're the kind of person who knows what BeOS is, read Neuromancer, and think esoteric literary references are for more than english majors, then this is pretty much flawless.

Great transfer to Blu Ray took so long for this to finally come out but worth the wait. get it while you can because the dvd jumped to 300$ after they all got bought up so if you aren't sure get it now.

BD発売を機に購入、初見です。 難解というか…「何？どゆ事？」となるストーリーですけど 不愉快さがなく想像する、好奇心がそそられ、ちょっと止時を見失いますね。 画質もかなり綺麗ですし気になるなら買って損はないかと。