It's not particularly common for an artform to completely overturn the generally used portrayals and accepted principles of it's form in order to innovate. However when it does happen, the results are always polarizing. Either it becomes a resounding success, or a complete failure. Serial Experiments Lain is an example of *why* innovation is a good thing. And its critical success ought to make that clear.
Unlike most plots, while Serial Experiments Lain maintains a form of chronological linearity to its pace, the viewer's understanding is not by any means linear, nor even guaranteed. And that is because it takes one of the largest gambles possible in a story. It leaves the entire understanding of the message and plot structure to the viewer. There is no explanation, at least, direct explanation of the world Lain lives in, only more questions. It forces you to think, to come to your own conclusions about the world. And because understanding and realization of a message is not guaranteed, replay value is extraordinarily high.
And after you finish watching the series for your first time, and are left with a distinct void of emotions filled with only a slight existential dread although you do not understand quite why, you are left with three distinct choices. To rewatch the series again and try to figure out things on your own, to research the answers of the plot, or to leave yourself forever ignorant. Yet regardless of which you choose, it has already made a lasting impact on you, which was its goal.
Serial Experiments Lain is a masterpiece of psychological horror, from the plot, to the visuals, to the sound. And the fundamental device it uses to create such a horror is twofold: philosophical existentialism and confusion. And it is these things that cause that sense of dread and emptiness you get while watching, and which lingers even after the ending.
There is a single large pitiful that many shows tend to make when attempting to exhibit psychologically fear in their audience. And that is to rely exclusively on fear of the unknown. For when the unknown becomes that which is known, we shall have fear of it no longer (e.g. Higurashi). SEL is the antithesis of this pitfall. Instead of relying on fear of the unknown, our ignorance makes us fear the very aspect *of* knowing, and when we do finally come to know the message, its impact is heightened, not lessened.
This device of confusion is heightened in several ways: As mentioned before the foundational source of confusion is not resolving or explaining anything about the world to the viewer, all that one will know is what one has inferred with their own mind. Secondly, this confusion is amplified through the use of the visuals, which often times are strung together to highlight mundane things such as shirts or faces. Scenes are changed at illogical intervals. Scenes are connected in ways that sometimes are non-linear, but also sometimes don't have any direct link in meaning to the previous scene, but will mean something perhaps later, or are referencing an earlier event.
This confusion primes the viewer and amplifies the dread that forms that there is something drastically wrong with the world that is lived in. That there is something amiss. Even though we are not sure what.
This is amplified through the art, sound design, and animation. Characters move and are drawn in unnatural ways, When an arm is closing a door, it appears that it is bent unnaturally backwards. Shadows appear to be alive. The sound design intentionally loudens natural sounds which are normally much quieter (such as the buzzing of electricity on the street) which puts us on edge.
And then it asks us questions about the characters: "Am I real", "Am I the real Me". We soon realize that even these supposed basic principles are things that can be questioned in this world. And then, to what extent might the same argument apply in the world we live in too? One particular reasoning which stood out to me is that, for all intents and purposes, our existence as a person is dependent on the memories of other. If no one remembers we exist, or existed, than for all intents and purposes, we have, not existed at all. Questions like these and more are explored through the show.
But of course, the use of confusion is a gamble, because since we are so used to being spoonfed the message of the plot. So often it is just directly stated to us. We might either fail to be able to understand at all, or we might take it on face value, and thus not appreciate it for the masterpiece it truly is.
But the innovation found in this series is something to applaud, although I feel as if I haven't done it enough justice in my review, because I feel like I have a hard time completely understanding all the complex philosophical messages portrayed in the show.
If a show does not accept the axiom that "I think therefore I am", at face value, than you know it has the potential to be great, and Serial Experiments Lain delivers.
Worldbuilding: 10/10
Plot: 10/10
Art: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Sound Design: 9/10 (voice acting was deficient when compared to everything else)
Total: 10/10
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