Thoughts as I’m watching Serial Experiments Lain for the first time, as someone who has never seen an anime before, except for a bit of Azumanga Daioh.

Episode 1: I like this. Spooky. Nice hat. Nice computer. Wires overhead. Is that a bear onesie?

I like the way Lain just stares emptily whenever anyone talks to her. Reminds me of myself.

Episode 2:

Girls? How terrifying.

Cyberia rings several bells, mostly from when I used to listen to the occassional bit of breakcore. Neat. I never knew Lain was the inspiration.

Dude, you are too broad to hide behind a telephone pole, that only works in cartoons.

Oooh Lain I’m wiggling my phone at you ooh.

Is that a hamsterdance reference? I mean the little hamsters on the phone.

Oh, someone’s going to shoot me? Time to stare at them like O – Ox

Episode 3:

Everyone is connected.

m9 (O_Ox)

Thats not how static electricity works, doofus.

Episode 4:

Where’d all those computer bits come from?

You better run, Lain is coming to take you into her Minecraft world!

If I ever get glasses, I’m going to get the model that starts glowing ominously whenever I tilt my head.

Lain, your posture is terrible. Your spine is all out of shape.

Episode 5:

Man is a neoteny, as a matter of fact! That kind of stuff is worth looking into.

WAIT, HUH? I THOUGHT THAT WAS THE NARRATOR? WHAT.

I like how her pupils are always contracted; it makes her look very distant. Very fitting.

Darn, Lain, where you getting all that RAM?

Episode 6:

Man, where did all those computer bits from? Is the green stuff cooling fluid or something?

Is the X on her hair supposed to repressent a pylon? Or crossed wires? Either way it’s cool.

Lain, no, you need to hang out with people noooo… Oh, phew, she is doing so.

It’s fun to stay at the Y-Y-Y-Y, it’s fun to stay at the YYYY.

What’s wrong with Lain’s sister?

“You’re more noise than signal” ooof.

Why is your room full of water? Splish splosh splish whenever you run, can’t be good for the flooring.

Episode 7:

Is that machinery growing out of her window?

Oooh it’s a gargoyle! Like in Snow Crash!

Lore-accurate League of Legends player.

I wanna knowwww have you everrrr seeeen the Lain?

Shou, don’t ever visit friends in real life. Only ever play internet games.

Karl!

Layer 08:

BEEG SWORD.

No phones in class.

The bear onesie will never not be funny.

Layer 09:

Is that a- Huh? What is that doing there?

YO! Is that a Memex reference? Memex my beloved?

Dolphins!

That’s got to be the creepiest hand phone I’ve ever seen. This is good stuff.

Gum? Paper?

In Xanada did Kublai Khan a stately pleasure dome decree— lines from a dream the poet had.

Okay… the brain has ~85 billion neurons, so we’re off by a factor of ten. Nevertheless: some people are born missing their cerebellum and are still mostly okay, and that reduces their neuron count to a fifth of the regular human neuron count, seeing as ~78% of the neurons are in the cerebellum. And some people, with encephalitis/hydrocephalus, I believe, can end up with squished brains weighing 50-150 grams (the last is a tenth of the regular human brain mass; the first is a thirtieth), and be fine; they can be mathmaticians, even.

Is that electrical tape???

Layer 10:

Don’t you hate it when your sibling goes “beep beep beep” in your ear?

Wow. That was a lot.

Layer 11:

Is this going to be an entire episode of reused shots?

Phew, no, okay, just ten minutes of it.

I’ve never really watched anime before, but I listen to enough japanese music and vocaloid that I’m able to catch a surprising amount of dialogue, though I do read the subtitles of course. Neat. Boku wa kamisama, that kind of stuff.

Wait, Lain was the sweater girl from rumors all along???

Lain, what’s happened to you? You’re wearing a sweater!

Scare chord Lain.

Blurry Lain.

Smiling scare chord Lain.

What are those weird spires? At first I thought they were steeples, but I don’t think they have those in Japan. I bet that they’re the same as those towers Lain saw in the other world thing.

Layer 12:

Pupil Lain.

I would not take my shoes off if I were you, Arisu.

Huh. Well, that was odd.

Layer 13:

Oooh, the layout got switched? Neat.

“Ego” isn’t pronounced “eggo”.

That wouldn’t have happened if you cut your nails, Arisu.

Did she just reset everything?

Lain is always watching you, lady. She’s watching quietly.

Wow. That was a good show. I’ll have to watch the others in the trilogy.

And write something.