serial experiments lain

1998 - 1998

Layer:01 – WEIRD

Episode 1

Lain Iwakura, a shy, 13-year-old schoolgirl, receives an email from a schoolmate after her suicide. Is it a prank? Lain doesn't feel horror, but curiosity.

Layer:02 – GIRLS

Episode 2

Classmates Alice, Julie, and Reika wonder if that was Lain they saw at the nightclub Cyberia. To find out, they invite Lain to go with them to the club.

Layer:03 – PSYCHE

Episode 3

Alice, Julie, and Reika are minor celebrities in their class after they witness a shooting at The Cyberia. Lain is given a black-market chip for her computer, but it seems she is also being followed.

Layer:04 – RELIGION

Episode 4

Some players of a Wired game called PHANTOMa are dying suspicious deaths. Lain investigates, but her growing interest in the Wired worries her father, as well as classmates Mika and Alice.

Layer:05 – DISTORTION

3rd August 1998

Episode 5

Lain receives cryptic messages about existence, God, and a coming prophecy. Meanwhile, Mika's world changes in ways both surreal and hyperreal.

Layer:06 – KIDS

10th August 1998

Episode 6

Young children are acting strangely, arms outstretched and silently staring at the sky. A shocking vision suddenly appears in the skies; it looks like Lain! Determined to get to the bottom of this, Lain's investigations finally bring her to the creator of KIDS -- but what she discovers is not what she hoped for.

Layer:07 – SOCIETY

17th August 1998

Episode 7

As the Knights activities make the evening news, a strange man named Nazumi wanders the city with machines strapped to his body. People on the WIRED are asking: ""Who is Lain"". Meanwhile, the two MIB agents take Lain to the Techibana offices where Lain's identity is challenged by a man; how well does she know her parents, her sister, herself? Can Lain answer him?

Layer:08 – RUMORS

24th August 1998

Episode 8

Still shaken by the information she received from the Men In Black, Lain discovers that she is being blamed for spreading an ugly rumor in the WIRED. Is what the MIB said is true; is she another person in the WIRED? Or is she doing it herself? Lain must find out or risk losing the one true friend she has.

Layer:09 – PROTOCOL

31st August 1998

Episode 9

A documentary about Roswell gives Lain some valuable information about the pioneers of the WIRED. Later, at the Cyberia, J.J. tells Lain that she left something the day before and hands her an envelop with the Knight's logo on it. The envelop contains a chip. Believing this was the other 'Lain's' doing again, she decides to call Taro's bluff and go on a 'date'. Taking him to her room, Lain demands that he tell her what he knows. Together, with Taro's information and the mysterious chip, Lain finds out more then she expected.

Layer:10 – LOVE

7th September 1998

Episode 10

Lain struggles with her identity. Is she a human being, or just a hologram? And are the Knights responsible for the Evil Lain? Lain decides to deal with the Knights once and for all.

Layer:11 – INFORNOGRAPHY

14th September 1998

Episode 11

Alone and frightened, Lain immerses herself in the WIRED, processing the events of the past few weeks and searching for the truth of who she is.

Layer:12 – LANDSCAPE

21st September 1998

Episode 12

Troubled by what she saw, Alice decides to visit Lain at home and find out what is going on. Meanwhile, the two MIB agents receive a terrible shock and Eiri reveals his real motive for removing the barrier between the real world and the WIRED.

Layer:13 – EGO

28th September 1998

Episode 13

The world is crumbling, people are dying and Alice's sanity is threatened. To save humanity, there is only one thing Lain can do; she must make the ultimate personal sacrifice.

Top Cast

Kaori Shimizu•Yoko Asada•Ayako Kawasumi

Animation Drama Sci-Fi & Fantasy Mystery

Lain—driven by the abrupt suicide of a classmate—logs on to the Wired and promptly loses herself in a twisted mass of hallucinations, memories, and interconnected-psyches.

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Production Companies

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Full Cast

Kaori Shimizu Image

Kaori Shimizu

Lain Iwakura (voice)

Yoko Asada Image

Yoko Asada

Arisu Mizuki - Lain's friend (voice)

Ayako Kawasumi Image

Ayako Kawasumi

Mika Iwakura - Lain's older sister (voice)

Ryusuke Ohbayashi Image

Ryusuke Ohbayashi

Yasuo Iwakura - Lain's father (voice)

Rei Igarashi Image

Rei Igarashi

Miho Iwakura - Lain's mother (voice)

Sumi Mutoh Image

Sumi Mutoh

Chisa Yomoda (voice)

Keito Takimoto

Tarō (voice)

Chiharu Tezuka Image

Chiharu Tezuka

Reika Yamamoto (voice)

Manabi Mizuno Image

Manabi Mizuno

Yūri Katō (voice)

Yuki Yamamoto

Myū-Myū (voice)

Sora Fujimatsu

Masayuki (voice)

Show Hayami Image

Show Hayami

Eiri Masami (voice)

Shigeru Chiba Image

Shigeru Chiba

Office worker

Jouji Nakata Image

Jouji Nakata

Karl Haushoffer - Man in Black 1(voice)

Takumi Yamazaki Image

Takumi Yamazaki

Lin Sui-Xi - Man in black 2 (voice)

Full Crew

Chiaki J. Konaka Image

Chiaki J. Konaka

Screenplay

Chiaki J. Konaka Image

Chiaki J. Konaka

Series Composition

Yasuyuki Ueda

Original Series Creator

Yasuyuki Ueda

Original Story

Steve Rodgers

Theme Song Performance

Ben Henderson

Theme Song Performance

Lee Sullivan

Theme Song Performance

Jasmine Rodgers Image

Jasmine Rodgers

Main Title Theme Composer

Reichi Nakaido

Original Music Composer

Alex Caird

Theme Song Performance

Jasmine Rodgers Image

Jasmine Rodgers

Theme Song Performance

Paul Turrell

Theme Song Performance

Toshiyuki Tsuru

Opening/Ending Animation

Tokuyuki Matsutake Image

Tokuyuki Matsutake

Opening/Ending Animation

Hidenori Matsubara

Opening/Ending Animation

Hirofumi Suzuki Image

Hirofumi Suzuki

Opening/Ending Animation

Tomokazu Tokoro

Opening/Ending Animation

Kouichi Arai

Opening/Ending Animation

Akihiko Yamashita Image

Akihiko Yamashita

Opening/Ending Animation

Yoshitoshi ABe Image

Yoshitoshi ABe

Visual Effects

Yoshitoshi ABe Image

Yoshitoshi ABe

Character Designer

Yasuyuki Ueda

Producer

Masaru Sato

Art Direction

Tsuyoshi Imai

Editor

Takashi Azuhata

Director of Photography

Taro Maki

Producer

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