serial experiments lain
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Episodes (13)
EP 1Chisa Yomoda's email leads Lain Iwakura into the Wired after her suicide.
Jul 7, 1998Following the suicide of Chisa Yomoda from a rooftop, students receive emails claiming she survives in the Wired virtual world. Fourteen-year-old Lain Iwakura, intrigued by these messages, requests a new NAVI computer system from her father, Yasuo Iwakura. Upon returning to school, she discovers a subliminal message on the blackboard inviting her to the Wired, which originates from Chisa. This event marks Lain's growing interest in computers and her entry into the digital realm where she believes a God exists. The narrative focuses on her initial steps into this virtual existence and the mysterious nature of Chisa's continued presence online.
EP 2Alice claims Lain visited Cyberia, prompting Lain to investigate the club and its dangerous drug culture.
Jul 14, 1998Alice Mizuki, Julie, and Reika inform Lain that they saw her at the Cyberia techno club, describing a vigorous personality unlike her own. To disprove this, Lain has Yasuo configure her NAVI system and visits the club that night. There, she encounters a man who purchased the nanomachine drug Accela earlier. The man, acting under the influence of the substance, becomes involved in a shooting incident. Lain approaches him, asserting that all individuals are connected within the Wired regardless of physical location. This statement causes the man to suffer severe psychological shock and trauma, leading him to commit suicide by shooting himself. The episode explores themes of identity, digital connectivity, and the disturbing effects of technology-enhanced substances on human behavior and perception within the cyberpunk setting.
EP 3Lain faces family tension and mysterious digital intrusions while exploring her dual online identity.
Jul 21, 1998The next day, Lain is reprimanded by her mother, Miho Iwakura, for oversleeping. She suspects surveillance after spotting a black car and hears an unknown voice on the train claiming she is not alone. Her confusion deepens when she receives an anonymous computer chip and questions her father, who is unaware of its origin. Later, Lain visits Taro, accompanied by Myu-Myu and Masayuki, at Cyberia. Taro recalls encountering Lain on the Wired, noting her online persona contrasts sharply with her reserved real-world behavior. The following day, Lain’s older sister, Mika Iwakura, returns home to find Lain behaving strangely while modifying and upgrading her NAVI computer system.
EP 4Rumors of PHANTOMa suicides lead Lain to investigate the Knights of the Eastern Calculus and the Wired.
Jul 28, 1998Rumors circulate at school and on the Wired regarding senior students from various high schools committing suicide while addicted to the online action game PHANTOMa. Lain investigates and discovers the game was glitched with a tag game for kids, where a little girl scares students to death. She determines the deaths were likely caused by the elite secretive hacker group known as the Knights of the Eastern Calculus. Later that night, she senses the Men in Black spying on her in a black car. When she tells them to leave, a sound wave penetrates her window, causing the two to fall back and drive away.
EP 5Lain confronts Wired realities through hallucinations while Mika faces pressure from the Knights
Aug 4, 1998As Tokyo suffers from a hacked traffic system causing deliberate accidents, Lain undergoes hallucinations that reveal the connection between the Wired and the real world, utilizing objects in her room and her parents. Simultaneously, Mika approaches insanity due to the Knights repeatedly urging her to fulfill a prophecy through unusual communication methods. Later, Yasuo visits Lain at night and observes significant changes in her room's arrangement and upgrades to her NAVI computer system, causing him concern. These events unfold against the backdrop of the ongoing cyber incident affecting the city's infrastructure.
EP 6Lain encounters her sky image while investigating the KIDS project with Professor Hodgeson.
Aug 11, 1998While in the district with Alice, Julie, and Reika, Lain observes children gazing at a sky projection of herself. She investigates the phenomenon and meets Professor Hodgeson, creator of KIDS, an experiment from fifteen years ago that harvested psi energy from children, resulting in their deaths. Lain discovers the Knights possess the project schematics. Later, Men in Black return to her location. A coolant system failure in her room reveals a parasite bomb planted by the Knights, which the Men in Black confirm. Lain steps outside to confront the situation as the threat becomes apparent through the mechanical breach and the presence of these agents.
EP 7Lain faces identity crisis as Knights breach Wired firewall and Men in Black investigate her origins.
Aug 18, 1998Alice grows concerned as Lain withdraws socially while becoming increasingly immersed in the Wired. News reports confirm that the Knights have successfully breached the firewall of the Wired's information control center. As the Knights' activities become public, the network begins searching for Lain. The Men in Black summon her to an office at Tachibana General Laboratories. There, an Office Worker, whom Lain previously assisted with a computer repair, displays a projection of Lain in the Wired eliminating a Knight member. He concludes that her physical and digital selves are identical and questions her origins. Unable to answer, Lain suffers a breakdown, shifting from a timid demeanor to a serious one before forcefully exiting the room.
EP 8Lain investigates family behavior and rumors about Alice while questioning her Wired existence.
Aug 25, 1998Lain notices strange behavior from her family and investigates her own nature in the Wired. She realizes she is merely a projection in the real world rather than being omnipresent. Rumors circulate in the network claiming Alice has sexual fantasies about a male teacher, with a second rumor accusing Lain of spreading this information. Distressed by the rejection, Lain interacts with reality directly for the first time and discovers she can delete the rumor events. Subsequently, a duplicate of herself with a distinct personality appears more frequently, causing Lain to question her own existence and identity.
EP 9Archives reveal consciousness networks while Lain investigates a memory-disrupting microchip from J.J.
Sep 1, 1998The episode presents archival data on the Roswell UFO incident, Majestic 12, and figures like Vannevar Bush, John C. Lilly, and Ted Nelson to explain human consciousness communication via networks. It notes Masami Eiri's sudden suicide. Lain receives a microchip from Cyberia disc jockey J.J. and asks Taro to examine it at her home. Terrified, Taro reveals the chip contains code to disrupt human memory, created by the Knights. Although he defends the group, he admits limited knowledge of them. Before leaving, Taro kisses Lain, remarking that she took him on a date.
EP 10Eiri reveals his identity as Protocol Seven creator and God of the Wired to Lain.
Sep 8, 1998After a body swap, Eiri introduces himself to Lain as the creator of Protocol Seven, asserting that she no longer requires a physical form to exist. Meanwhile, Lain returns to her own body, where Yasuo bids her farewell upon realizing she knows the truth about her existence. Eiri is revered as the God of the Wired because the Knights worship him. In response, Lain eliminates the Knights by broadcasting their member list across the Wired, resulting in murders by the Men in Black and subsequent suicides. Despite the destruction of the Knights, Eiri maintains his status as the God of the Wired, claiming that the true Lain resides within the Wired rather than the physical world.
EP 11Lain discovers her NAVI is integrated into her brain while Alice forgets past rumors.
Sep 15, 1998Lain rests in her room, entangled in electrical cords, following a complex memory flashback. Eiri congratulates her on successfully downloading her NAVI into her brain, enabling her to perceive and hear everything, but warns her about her hardware capacity and notes she is merely a sentient software program inhabiting a physical body. Lain later visits Alice to resolve issues regarding false rumors. She declares that entering the Wired no longer requires devices. The following day, no one recalls the rumored incidents, and Lain smiles at Alice's complicity.
EP 12Lain confronts Eiri as the boundary between the Wired and physical reality dissolves.
Sep 22, 1998The Men in Black receive final payment from Officer Worker and are ordered to leave town. They subsequently die after seeing Lain’s image etched in their retinas. Alice enters Lain’s house and learns Lain is a program designed to destroy the barrier between worlds. Lain claims humans no longer need physical bodies, but Alice proves her own heartbeat exists. Eiri appears behind Lain, intending to debug her. Lain asserts she is the true Goddess of the Wired, not Eiri. Eiri transforms into a monstrous form to use his limitless power, but Lain crushes him with electrical equipment.
EP 13Lain resets her life, confronts her bold self, and questions her identity as the Wired's Goddess.
Sep 29, 1998Lain initiates a factory reset, erasing herself from others' memories. Distraught, she seeks her true form and confronts a bolder version of herself. This alter ego asserts that Lain is the omnipotent Goddess of the Wired, capable of existing anywhere while observing the real world. After the bold self vanishes, Lain encounters her father, realizing her memories persist. Later, an older Alice with a spouse sees Lain on an overpass, feeling unexplained déjà vu but failing to recognize her. Alice bids farewell, suggesting they might meet again someday.
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Frequently asked questions
- How many episodes does serial experiments lain have?
- serial experiments lain has 13 episodes.
- When did serial experiments lain come out?
- serial experiments lain came out in 1998.
- Which studio made serial experiments lain?
- serial experiments lain was produced by Triangle Staff.
- Who directed serial experiments lain?
- serial experiments lain was directed by Ryuutarou Nakamura.
- Is serial experiments lain finished?
- Current status of serial experiments lain: Finished.