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ANN Book Club -- Serial Experiments Lain.

Oh dang! That's something I took note of and completely forgot about it when I actually posted. Right now I can't really make anything of it other than it being another strange occurrence. Perhaps the MIB had something to do with it, or the Wired, or something else?

As for the interaction between Lain and her computer, Lain shows a certain amount of respect for her Navi and often receives the same from the seemingly "alive" other end (the Wired). Probably reinforces the idea that she's not just another kid who's into computers.

My thoughts are that the Knights and the MIB might be on opposing sides, because one seems to be helping her and the other may be trying to catch/stop her. I'm not sure how much either may be connected to the family. I'm actually more interested in the Knights at the moment and hope we learn more in the next episode.

Let's pick up the discussion, people! There's only so much us first-timers can add without making ourselves sound stupid.

July 15-21 discussion:

Episode 5 -- "Distortion"

Episode 6 -- "Kids"

Episode 7 -- "Society"

I expect things to really pick up these next few episodes, especially because we'll be completing a whole volume in one go. Just from the sounds of it, "Distortion" is an interesting title, although I have no doubts that "Kids" and "Society" could easily be just as delightful.

Also, I expect to learn a lot about the Knights considering "Knights" is the name of this volume.

Begin whenever you'd like starting tomorrow.

Let's pick up the discussion, people! There's only so much us first-timers can add without making ourselves sound stupid.

Episode 5 -- "Distortion"

Episode 6 -- "Kids"

Episode 7 -- "Society"

I expect things to really pick up these next few episodes, especially because we'll be completing a whole volume in one go. Just from the sounds of it, "Distortion" is an interesting title, although I have no doubts that "Kids" and "Society" could easily be just as delightful.

Also, I expect to learn a lot about the Knights considering "Knights" is the name of this volume.

I will, however, be very curious to see what y'all's perspective on "Kids" (as in the project itself) is as its the one part of the show that still feels really out-of-place to me. Even the video game gone awry made more sense at the end. KIDS...doesn't.

Whoever took the plans for KIDS seems to have a plan for using them which could be connected to the events of the Knights who seem to be taking full advantage of the blurring occuring between our world and the Wired.

The other concept in Lain I found pretty fascinating is its seemingly unnecessary focus on sexual relations. Seemingly. But not at all when you think about it. Lain is hell-bent on proving the Wired to be a world exact in purpose and complexity to that of the real one, if not superior, by rooting out all the dangerous/unknown elements holding its integration back.

But there's one thing we have emphasized in the real world that can only be mimicked in the Wired, and that's an awful lot of touching, sexual attraction, and candid human relations. The Wired is an emotional and dynamic environment, but there's something sterile about it when you realize how much sex has to do with the real world, and if you consider what sex might represent, it might be a good clue as to what the Wired is missing that makes Lain such a separate entity in either realm.

But in any case, I was actually able to watch all 3 episodes last night, but I kind of had to push myself to do so. I don't know if it was a good idea or not though, because I swear my head is still throbbing from all the information intake, especially given how friggin much was developed and revealed in these particular episodes..... I think a lot of our speculations were kind of confirmed in them though. Such as all that stuff about what Lain is doing in the wired and the MIB and Knights being on opposing sides. Plus that and I think Chisa's "God really does exist" coment earlier in the series is starting to come more into light here. As is the voice's "You are not alone." I think both are in reference to this Deus being that they're saying exists in the Wired. That led me to a speculation that Lain could possibly be this "Deus" herself, but yeah, from what I was possibly spoiled about above, I'll stop right there.

And of course a lot of new stuff happened and was revealed. I to am a little bit confused with the KIDS stuff myself. It says on the back of the box (yeah, I read that too ) that they "committed suicide" or something like that, yet it wasn't mentioned once in that episode that they did...... That and I'm kind of trying to figure out what it has to do with "this game the kids are playing." And with JesuOtaku saying she doesn't seem to see what it has to do with anything that happens in latter episodes doesn't help any...... At first it sounded to me like they were trying to say that Lain was one of these "KIDS" herself, but that's starting to look less and less likely.

I was starting to get a little bit confused by all these new characters that seemed to be getting introduced left and right in episode 7, but by the end of the episode I pretty much came to the conclusion that all of them are Knights. Now I don't know what happened to Mika in episode 5 (at first I thought Lain was responsible, especially after her reaction to that figure standing by the door, which I assumed was telling us that she could see Mika's consciousness form, but then again I guess that's still within the realm of possibility ) but I assume it has something to do with the Knights. I say that because I noticed (my overanalyzing may have actually payed off this time ) that when it happened, she's kind of silhouetted by the exact same symbol that was on the chip and on that crazy guy's visor at the end of episode 7, which once again, I assume each event had to do with the Knights.

JesuOtaku wrote:

The other concept in Lain I found pretty fascinating is its seemingly unnecessary focus on sexual relations. Seemingly. But not at all when you think about it. Lain is hell-bent on proving the Wired to be a world exact in purpose and complexity to that of the real one, if not superior, by rooting out all the dangerous/unknown elements holding its integration back. But there's one thing we have emphasized in the real world that can only be mimicked in the Wired, and that's an awful lot of touching, sexual attraction, and candid human relations. The Wired is an emotional and dynamic environment, but there's something sterile about it when you realize how much sex has to do with the real world, and if you consider what sex might represent, it might be a good clue as to what the Wired is missing that makes Lain such a separate entity in either realm.

Really? So far the only thing I've seen in the entire series pertaining to that was that scene where the guy is hitting on the housewife, but other than that, nothing really.... Although I wouldn't be too surprised if it was something that TOTALLY wen over my head. I'm one who never looks at anything pervertedly, after all.

You were pretty much on the borderline of spoiling events that take place later in the series. So, try keeping your temptations under control until the conclusion of the series.

From how I see things, it looked like the purpose of KIDS was a government experiment to see if it were possible to use Psi energy to bring about an evolution for humanity

With Mika, the Knights could have been using her as a guinea pig for testing out whatever information they obtained from Project KIDS.

As for what happened to the guy at the end of episode 7, I'm guessing he learned too much about the Knights and they had to silence him. He seemed to find out the wild Lain and the Knights were connected to each other somehow yet he assumed this Lain and the normal Lain were one and the same.

Mika getting dressed at her boyfriend's place at the start of episode 5. It's a little sneaky the way it was shown though, as you don't see the guy until after she's completely dressed again, and the lack of interaction and emotion between them doesn't give any impression that they just had sex. I'm sure that scene says LOADS about both her character and human nature in general, but I'm lost on exactly what.

And holy shit: your avatar is awesome. Where did you find that pic of the Medicine Seller?

Concerning Mika, I've got a theory:

Working on the assumption that Yasuo and Miho are basically constructs put into place by....someone to take care of Lain in the real world, perhaps Mika is also a construct designed to give Lain more of a family experience. However, we notice that she's inquisitive; she asks what Lain is up to, who she's talking to, and even asks her parents if they've noticed the change in Lain. Maybe whoever is pulling the strings behind the whole setup decided that Mika was asking too many questions; the 'fullfil the prophecy!' and 'the other side is overcrowded' messages could have been cryptic warnings meaning "Keep your mind on the job, big sister-bot! You have no purpose other than Lain!". Ultimately Mika couldn't do this and was replaced with the slack-jawed messy hair version. Seriously, look at the hair; it's just as raggedy and tangly as Miho's is during her closeups.