Serial Experiments Lain

lain as a character has been so thoroughly dissolved into the online pop cultural osmosis that when i started the series a few days ago and saw lain for the first time, i audibly said “lain!! 😃😃😃😃” as if i had known her for many years, and i think thats kind of beautiful. i was gonna end the review there but after finishing the series i realize how perfect a fate that is for the character of lain given her story- its as if since i discovered the character of lain and seeing her in shitposts and edits, i had been experiencing the anime since before i even actually sat down and watched it. i think the first time i ever saw lain was a clip from the psx game. it was the ending. i knew nothing about lain but that clip of her standing out in the pouring rain, the audio design of her teeth chattering against the handgun influenced how i viewed the series as an outsider. i like to think since that day (i think it was in 2020), ive seen a side of lain iwakura, and anytime i see some meme or edit of her holding a monster energy, i see another side, and another, and another. we are living the events of serial experiments lain, and not simply because of the relevance of its technological speculation. we’re in lain’s world and tbh thats silly :3