Close this World. Open the Next
Lain was one of the first anime character I ever felt a connection with, strange right? Well if you don’t know Lain then maybe it doesn’t sound strange. As fans of any medium we will find characters we identify with. We see our courage and morals in the valiant hero of an action series or the worse parts of our own personalities in the villain of the same series. I myself usually find myself identifying with anti-hero type characters probably because to a certain extent I see myself as one in my own life.
I know I am the main character of the story that is me, but at the same time I can’t see myself as a hero. Yes I do try my hardest to stick to my own moral code and do the right thing, I live with a belief in truth and responsibility for my own actions. If I’ve made a mistake I own that mistake and analyze why that mistake was made and try and figure out what I can do so I do not make that mistake again. I also consider myself a silent watcher even if at times I can be the loudest in the room, though I find that aspect of my personality quietening down as I grow older.
I guess one way to describe it is, at times I can be like a politician.
What do I mean by this statement? Well I can assure you it is not the pay packet though that would be wonderful, no by that I mean I can at times say a lot without really saying anything at all. I am the kind of person who when I want I can fade into the background and just listen to what is happening around me, then speak out when the time is right.
This is the kind of person I see in Lain. She is not popular and she does not follow the trends like everyone else around her at school, which in hindsight was a lot like me back then. When people talk about things like peer pressure, I must admit I have a hard time understanding the very concept of it. Being pressured into doing something you know is wrong just because those around you at the time want you to? Even as a teenager my mind would immediately go to ‘Ok if I do this now, what will happen later?’ or ‘If I do this now I will get caught eventually and I know I will get in trouble. What kind of trouble will I get myself into?’ and even ‘If I do this will someone else or myself get hurt for it? I don’t want to hurt anyone.’
Lain see’s the wired as an opportunity to escape the not knowing of those around her, on the wired you can find out anything about anyone. This influx of information can be calming to certain people, if you know something or understand it on a certain level then you lose the fear of not knowing and there is a comfort in that.
This is the beginning of my new writing project on here, titled Serialize Thyself. Through this series of writings (I don’t know yet how many posts there will be) I will be writing about different parts of the anime series ‘Serial Experiment Lain’. This series is my all time favorite anime and I have watched and re watched the series countless times, as well as watched countless videos analyzing the series, reviews and the series as well as read page upon page upon page of fan theories and other discussions on the series. Welcome to the rabbit hole that is Lain.
Are you Lain too?
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I both love Lain and don’t know wtf I watched tbh, it flew over my head o(；△；)o
It’s neat about that, there was only that I ceded to peer pressure and it was also when I got the most horrible guilt feeling and made me spiral into a deep depression and self-loathing enough to try to take my own life. But details.
I feel like you’re pretty great, I wish I had that rational side to me. I tend to go blank, and go by instinct, so I make a lot of mistakes @_@
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