Here's the thing that a lot of people who have seen and reviewed Serial Experiments Lain don't seem to get: just because something is "unique" and "quirky" doesn't mean it's good. Lain is the very definition of "pretentious college undergrad project" and I can honestly say it's the most overrated anime I have ever watched (and I've seen quite a few).
I have noticed that virtually all glowing reviews for "Lain" never really get very specific about what it is they like, which is fair enough since sometimes you can't really explain why you like something, but in this case I can't escape the feeling that people say they love this to seem...intelligent and interesting. "Yeah I got the message, I get what it wanted to say and it really touched me". Maybe that's an insensitive thing to say, but hey, it's only my opinion right, and it's the feeling I have with "Serial Experiments Lain".
To me, this anime is also the definition of "sound and fury signifying nothing" (although ironically without much sound and completely without fury). It's also the most boring anime I have ever watched, and it isn't really a valid argument to say "well it's not supposed to be CONVENTIONALLY entertaining" or "it's not supposed to be ENTERTAINING, it's supposed to make you THINK". First of all, since when are the latter two mutually exclusive? Secondly, there are anime out there that tackle philosophical questions SO MUCH better than "Lain" ("Mushishi" comes to mind right away). "Serial Experiments Lain" slaps you in the face with a desperate cry of "look at how unique and quirky and important I am" when it in fact has nothing of any real substance to say.
Even for what you would expect with an anime like this, the pace is unbelievably slow, almost infuriatingly so and that would be fine if there was a point to that, but as I've already explained my view is that there is no point to "Serial Experiments Lain". The quality of the.art and animations is mediocre at best (even for a 1998 anime) but the worst thing of all is the point most people praise this work for: the "ambience" and "general feeling of uneasiness". I love experimental works in any medium, I love horror and I love fiction that has a "sneaking unease and dread to it" (a phrase I've seen be used to no end to describe "Lain") but the thing is Lain IS NONE OF THESE THINGS. It's not visually stunning (or even interesting in a non-conventional way, because the art style is completely conventional); it doesn't make you feel uneasy, it makes you wonder what the point is (and "you aren't supposed to think about the plot" is a laughable excuse for this) and it doesn't feeling creepingly sinister, it feels like what it is: mindnumbingly boring, pointless fluff. Sure, it may not have a story and that's bad in my opinion, but the real deal breaker is that it doesn't have anything else to make up for the lack of that either.
The only reason this gets a 4 is because the point (is there one?) explored in "Lain", much like the Internet, was at least relatively fresh and new back in 1998 and maybe, just MAYBE they actually did try to make something cool and interesting and new but groundbreaking? To be groundbreaking an anime needs to have something in it. I happen to think that's a bare minimum to demand from any work. Clearly, most people don't.
PS: If you think this review is mean, you're probably right. However, when (as I view it) a work as unworthy as this gets the praise it does, I believe it necessary to try and offset that with a perhaps harsher-than-usual use of language.
I have noticed that virtually all glowing reviews for "Lain" never really get very specific about what it is they like, which is fair enough since sometimes you can't really explain why you like something, but in this case I can't escape the feeling that people say they love this to seem...intelligent and interesting. "Yeah I got the message, I get what it wanted to say and it really touched me". Maybe that's an insensitive thing to say, but hey, it's only my opinion right, and it's the feeling I have with "Serial Experiments Lain".
To me, this anime is also the definition of "sound and fury signifying nothing" (although ironically without much sound and completely without fury). It's also the most boring anime I have ever watched, and it isn't really a valid argument to say "well it's not supposed to be CONVENTIONALLY entertaining" or "it's not supposed to be ENTERTAINING, it's supposed to make you THINK". First of all, since when are the latter two mutually exclusive? Secondly, there are anime out there that tackle philosophical questions SO MUCH better than "Lain" ("Mushishi" comes to mind right away). "Serial Experiments Lain" slaps you in the face with a desperate cry of "look at how unique and quirky and important I am" when it in fact has nothing of any real substance to say.
Even for what you would expect with an anime like this, the pace is unbelievably slow, almost infuriatingly so and that would be fine if there was a point to that, but as I've already explained my view is that there is no point to "Serial Experiments Lain". The quality of the.art and animations is mediocre at best (even for a 1998 anime) but the worst thing of all is the point most people praise this work for: the "ambience" and "general feeling of uneasiness". I love experimental works in any medium, I love horror and I love fiction that has a "sneaking unease and dread to it" (a phrase I've seen be used to no end to describe "Lain") but the thing is Lain IS NONE OF THESE THINGS. It's not visually stunning (or even interesting in a non-conventional way, because the art style is completely conventional); it doesn't make you feel uneasy, it makes you wonder what the point is (and "you aren't supposed to think about the plot" is a laughable excuse for this) and it doesn't feeling creepingly sinister, it feels like what it is: mindnumbingly boring, pointless fluff. Sure, it may not have a story and that's bad in my opinion, but the real deal breaker is that it doesn't have anything else to make up for the lack of that either.
The only reason this gets a 4 is because the point (is there one?) explored in "Lain", much like the Internet, was at least relatively fresh and new back in 1998 and maybe, just MAYBE they actually did try to make something cool and interesting and new but groundbreaking? To be groundbreaking an anime needs to have something in it. I happen to think that's a bare minimum to demand from any work. Clearly, most people don't.
PS: If you think this review is mean, you're probably right. However, when (as I view it) a work as unworthy as this gets the praise it does, I believe it necessary to try and offset that with a perhaps harsher-than-usual use of language.