Serial Experiments Lain is definitely a classic cyberpunk anime. But it’s also incredibly slow. This isn’t an action anime, it’s a psychological anime. And I wonder just how dated it feels. Aside from the CRT monitors everywhere, are the themes still applicable today? I think the anime was enamored with the idea of what The Internet could become. But now, in 2023, does that message still hold up?
What do you think? For those who have already watched Lain, would you recommend it today to someone who has never heard of it?
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5y4nQ5Y1V8
It’s streaming on Funimation. For some reason it isn’t on Crunchyroll yet, even though Crunchyroll and Funimation were supposed to merge libraries over a year ago.
It is one of the weirdest and most interesting anime series, I’d always recommend it. It is definitely a bit slow at times though, but it was really fun and I’d still say it’s worth watching. If you want something similar, but more action-filled (albeit slow and depressing as hell), Texhnolyze also exists.
Totally agree. Texhnolyze isn’t as slow as Lain, but it is extremely depressing. I thought it was going to be about how sweet cybernetic limbs could be but instead it was more about the trauma of having limbs amputated. Definitely a good anime, but it wasn’t what I was expecting (or what I wanted it to be).