What do I even think of Lain. Honestly, I'm not sure. What even is this show. It's some high concept sci-fi, and you know what? I kinda don't get it. I think I get it, I was at least able to follow the plot somewhat up till about episode 9. Because, you know, I liked the early episodes. Especially episode 2, when Lain is at Cyberia and that one guy kills some people and then she just walks up to him and stays calm, that was cool. I'll just qoute my other post about what I think the plot was.
"So what I *think* is happening, is that when Lain received the Psyche processor, she used it to upgrade her Navi so that she could upload her consciousness to the Wired. Her uploaded consciousness then started multiplying and causing havoc by doing weird shit in the Wired while taking on Lain’s form, which is why her friends always ask her if she did something weird."
And that's kind what happened. Lain ended up deleting her presence in the Wired entirely, then there was some talking about humanity being one single entity and... look I just don't get it. Like, yeah cool show, nice concepts and art but why is this considered a cult classic? Is it good? Did I even like it? I don't know and it's driving me insane. Because you see, that's the problem with shows like this, shows who conceal their "true meaning" behind so many layers. Yeah it's cool that you need to think and analyze the show to truly see what the creators intention was, but... at what point does "deep and difficult to understand" turn into "the show is just bad at communicating it's message".
Don't get me wrong, I like shows where not everything is completely spelled out. Haibane Renmei is like that, and it's my favorite anime. But with Lain, I don't really feel like I got anything out of it. I'd much rather just buy an art book of the show and flip through it occasionally. Because I never would have watched this show if it wasn't for who worked on it. Yoshitoshi ABe was in charge of the character designs and he did a great job as he always does. Lain's design and whole aesthethic in general is what I liked best about the show. There were multiple directors, but one of them is Ryuutaro Nakamura, who also directed one of my favorite shows, the 2003 Kino no Tabi, which is amazing. But if it weren't for these two, I never would have watched Lain. Did they do a good job? Sure, I like the look of the show and all the weird colours and... honestly I just don't know what to think about Lain. It's... good I guess. I liked the production, didn't really get anything out of the story though.
Lain exists, I watched. Some people liked it, I thought it was kinda good, kinda weird, and it probably just wasn't made for me. I like slow and contemplative shows, but we consume art because we can get something out of it, and I don't really feel like I got anything out of Lain. I mean I liked the scenes where she was in her bear pyjamas, that was cute. But I don't know why Lain's sister suddenly turned spastic, I don't know whether her dad is actually God or not, I don't know why... I don't fucking get it. The art and what I did in fact understand is strong enough for me to give it an 8/10, but I won't revisit it, ever. I'm glad I got to watch it, but I just can't understand it. I don't get it and I don't like it.
I thought I would get something a bit more out of it. I thought, "hey, maybe I can write something about it", but I really can't. How am I supposed to analyze something I don't understand? I mean i'm only fifteen, maybe i'm just not smart enough. Maybe, in ten or twenty years, I'll rewatch this and realize what it was about all along. But I don't understand it now, and that's why I don't like it so much.