Playstation Lain and the Weird World of Interactive CD-Roms

[@majime-yamashita]

I did the spanish translation of this game. At some point of listening to the audio files so many times, I literally started having auditory nightmares. In japanese.

[@hhhazel]

even just playing through it once i definitely also had a stress dream or two about it, so i can only imagine

[@depreciatednull]

Holy fucking shit 😭

[@agu_ayala05]

Where i can found the spanish translation???

[@agu_ayala05]

@@majime-yamashita MIL GRACIAS

[@SiriProject]

No esperaba encontrar a Life Instinct Function por aquí xD Leí vuestra traducción y me encantó :P

[@RandallStephens397]

I think what I find most interesting about this game is that, as a work of art, it creates a need for its medium to be preserved. In this case, the PS1. It seems poetic for a game about memory and computers to itself become a memory of the technology it exists on.

[@lilym7395]

What a lovely comment!

[@IThinkThereforeIAint]

@@Nak597 I think that they mean if you take what Lain is about, in the same way Lain erased herself and her data stayed inside the Wired, which is a Virtual Reality game In a Navi (The Serial Experiments Lain equivalent of a computer), the data of Lain is preserved here as well? Not sure too tbu

[@les.neophytes]

Oh this comment made me cry

[@Owesomasaurus]

My physical disks for the Lain anime have a scratch on the first episode, so there's like 3 minutes of the anime that I wasn't aware of and had no idea existed until like 5 years after I first watched it,and in a way that is the most Lain thing in the world to me. Phantom data that both does and doesn't exist in my perception

[@RavemastaJ]

DON'T TERRIFY ME LIKE THAT. I archive everything I can, and phantom data like that is a nightmare to me.

[@RhizometricReality]

@@RavemastaJ The Basilisk appreciates your futile but important dedication

[@samt3412]

@@RavemastaJ any data, any information, that only exists in a purely digital format is inherently doomed to eventually become phantom data, mate

[@protowalker]

@@samt3412 any data that exists, period, is doomed to have never existed at all once the last living thing is gone

[@hello-xm5il]

@@samt3412 frankly this applies to all data, digital or otherwise. We may be able to bring information to the end of time, but we cannot transcend time to fully preserve information. At some point, everything will be lost.

[@dfm01000]

Playstation 1 art style kinda fits the series much more than the modern day graphics and we love it

[@xenomorphth3y762]

when i heard lain's diary where she said that someone had been reading her diary i felt so disgusted and horrible realising that that was what i had been doing this entire time, invading her privacy and life through this game....freaky

[@ganjasmoker]

oh my god i just realized, thats what she was going on abt when she had said that?😭 thats so sad, i guess lain really is much more than just a manga/game/anime like a lot of ppl try to perceive it as.. its all just so freaky, cant help but want to know more.

[@LovePoison23443]

In the context of the game itself, she could be referring to herself reading her diary. She herself mentions on multiple occasions that she doesn't feel like herself sometimes or that there's someone else in her head

[@korn6722]

@@LovePoison23443 it would be cool if the player was the person in her head if that makes sense?

[@LovePoison23443]

@@korn6722 yeah ive actually thought about that sometimes

[@henrysmarthy286]

@@LovePoison23443 It can't be that because she says someone leaked her diary and gave it a crass title before uploading it on the internet where over 20 people read it.

[@elk3407]

"Even the ports lead dev says they don't fully understand" I'm sorry, I just can't help butAND YOU DON'T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND

[@psychicsubwoofer5710]

A SHAME YOU SEEMED AN HONEST MAAAAAANNNNNN

[@Lanzallamas47]

@@psychicsubwoofer5710 And all the things you hold so dear

[@darkchii30]

@@Lanzallamas47 will turn to whisper in your ear

[@misia5356]

​@@darkchii30 And you know what they say might hurt you

[@elijah4168]

@@darkchii30 And you know that it means so muuuch

[@Jamie-sg5in]

Lain’s entire franchise is so fucking weird I love it. Thanks for covering this :)

[@davidallenmandal2439]

Yes. It is weird. But it is least toxic.

[@bamshablam5977]

@@davidallenmandal2439 ok?

[@akiradkcn]

this game and the anime ARE the entire franchise

[@filthyfrankblack4067]

@@akiradkcn Did it get a manga?

[@akiradkcn]

@@filthyfrankblack4067 as far I know, none

[@EldenaDoubleca5t]

Babe wake up new Hazel just dropped

[@jackie7988]

good taste

[@teodoraristic822]

I WAS LITERALLY ABOUT TO COMMENT THAT

[@miakelly2193]

HOLY SHIT I WAS JUST ABOUT TO SAY

[@Truffle_D_Toad]

"My dad saw me crying an apologized to me." "Why did he apologize?" "Aren't I the one at fault?" "I'm the one who should apologize." If this one excerpt is enough to make me actually tear up then I don't know if I'm ready for the rest of this game.

[@thorhighheels]

best video

[@PowerYoutuberViewer]

Love when youtubers I love show up to watch other videos I love

[@Jetsrike77]

Of course this beautiful cyber-hipster is here

[@dsmassive2182]

Ayyyyy thor

[@toastedfish1105]

Best channel too

[@Sofiaode18]

Ah, Thor and his gravitation towards weird playstation games is here as expected.

[@tytotech9498]

My dad freaking loves the anime. He even used to have a little figure of her. I've been meaning to watch it myself.

[@vattyvattyvatty]

ur dad is cool.

[@tytotech9498]

@@vattyvattyvatty agreed

[@seanspindleshanks2529]

Your dad's a Chad, I would give anything to make my dad into a weeb

[@tytotech9498]

@@seanspindleshanks2529 well, try to find qn anime you think he'd like and watch it with him. Like if he like the mandalorian show him cowboy bebop.

[@seanspindleshanks2529]

@@tytotech9498 in his words "if you ever try to make me watch one of those bloody Japanese shows, I'll throw you out the window" he was joking probably. I don't think it's worth the risk though. But to be honest he'd actually probably like cowboy bebop. Maybe I can convince him it's American. Probably not, but I could try. If you hear about a boy being catapulted out of a window, then I failed

[@buttercupghost]

Ohhh, a girl and her therapist. I’m already interested! I wish therapy appeared in media more, it’s a cool way to explore a characters psychology. I’m horrible at games and technology, though, so I might have trouble actually playing it.

[@thatitalianlameguy2235]

Usually people fail miserably at representing mental health (and this game is a big edgefest at points so it can fall into the former), so I guess people are now scared to cover such topics.

[@beelzemobabbity]

Ikr. I thought I had finally found a manga that has to do with, actual therapy, in a therapist office, but of course it was too good to be true cuz they only showed like a couple panels and refused to go, and weren’t made to.

[@rezziey4733]

Hmm, I kinda disagree. I feel like therapy is somewhat overused and a cheap way of conveying information that could be explored in more engaging ways. I do like it a lot when the character goes to therapy very rarely and the conversations lead to an entirely different point of view that makes sense but couldn't be foretold so I don't totally disagree with you. I also like it when the therapist character has their own personality traits, biases (as do most real life therapists in my experience) and can affect the character and the plot. Also, therapy in Japanese media is usually pretty interesting.

[@judahosborne8868]

I haven't played the game but it sounds super interesting. If you haven't seen the show that's really fascinating too, just maybe don't watch it all at once.

[@oanqvv42]

literally i have stuggled 30 mins to start the game i am bad

[@powderpuffarpeggio3968]

I'm so glad that you talk about 90s multimedia so much. It's so close to my heart and I rarely hear people talking about all the amazing and wild stuff that happened around that era.

[@DustinRodriguez1_0]

I turned 12 in 1990. Gotta say... it was pretty great.

[@Lumber_jocks]

Was there anything not mentioned that you would recommend?

[@Datachrome]

I nearly had a heart attack finding the game is fully playable in english now. I have been trying to find a way to play it for nearly two decades now… thanks a lot for the info!!!!

[@theowilson7549]

where can i find a rom or a link or anything pls?

[@skeevy_nyx]

12:08 "And even though the game goes in a supernatural direction, the very real and procedural way Touko navigates Lain's symptoms doesn't invalidate mental illness as a natural phenomenon." This made me think back to when I rewatched "The Sixth Sense" a few years ago, having not seen it since it came out--and I was struck by how heartbreaking the first 2/3 of the movie is. Because of all the cultural zeitgeist around "the twist", I had misremembered the supernatural element being revealed much earlier in the narrative. Most of the film is just Bruce Willis patiently trying to counsel and gain the trust of this withdrawn young boy, who from his perspective is either suffering from abuse or serious trauma--and trying to be in his corner amidst his school and well-meaning mother's mounting frustration at not being able to figure out "what's wrong with him". There are so many sad emotional scenes between Willis and Haley Joel Osment--like Willis tearing up trying to tell an awkward bedtime story about himself, about how he failed his former patient, how it changed him, that he and his wife don't even speak anymore--and in helping Cole (HJO), he feels like he would also be helping that other little boy. Cole meekly asks him how the story ends, and Dr. Malcolm softly says, "I don't know." He tells Cole this while he's recuperating in the hospital, after the traumatic incident of being shoved and locked in an old closet by shithead kids at a birthday party, screaming bloody murder while something inside may or may not have been actually physically harming him. The supernatural elements aren't even shown at all until over halfway through the film. Cole finally decides to trust Dr. Malcolm with his "secret"--and after a few gentle probing questions, Dr. Malcolm regrettably has to conclude that Cole might have juvenile schizophrenia or other mental illness that he's not qualified to treat him for. There's a heartbreaking scene where Dr. Malcolm just straight up tells Cole, "I can't see you anymore. I can't help you." And Cole tearfully says things like, "Don't give up on me! You're the only one who can help me!" that echo his former patient, and Dr. Malcolm starts welling up, saying, "There's somebody out there who can help you." It's all incredibly sad to think about it from a real-world perspective--would you believe a child who told you they can see ghosts, or would you think they're experiencing hallucinations, or even lying for attention? The "I see dead people" line and M. Night's "what a twist!" reputation being parodied to death since 1999 really overshadows the film, which is a shame--since that scene itself is so emotional and sad, especially since from Willis' perspective, Cole's mental stability is much more dire than he thought. I feel the film's true strength lies not in the twist or spooky ghost stuff, but in the mutual empathy and healing between Dr. Malcolm and Cole--a child psychologist desperately trying to help a troubled boy, after tragically failing to do so for patient who committed suicide--and Cole in turn listens to him, and helps him to move on. I think the hauntings themselves can be seen as a metaphor for mental illness--what "causes" Cole to feel afraid and act out is invisible to anyone else, and he doesn't understand why he's the only one who experiences this--and he doesn't feel like he can tell anyone, let alone that he'll be believed, and he's afraid that his mother hates him because of something he can't explain--but it's nonetheless real. Osment has a sad and chilling line for a child towards the beginning--he says to Willis, "You're nice... but you can't help me." Support and empathy is nice, and can be powerful--but your friends and family aren't trained professionals, and can't always help you in the way you need. There's nothing wrong with seeking and receiving help from qualified professionals, or being prescribed medication to help your brain produce the right balance of chemicals we all need to function. Anyway, that line just reminded me of that lol. Thanks for shining a spotlight on this--despite watching "Lain" on OG TechTV back in the day, I actually had no idea this companion game existed.

[@Noelciaaa]

Hope this comment gets more likes because it's definitely a great reading of that movie. I definitely feel the same. For me, the twist wasn't that interesting, but what came before was so emotinal, heartbreaking yet healing, it overshadowed the supernatural stuff.

[@DetectiveOlivaw]

This is a great analysis of that film and why it works and stood out so strongly that it entered the culture and changed how a lot of audiences engage with movies, hunting and examining them like puzzle boxes for the twist or turn in the plot that recontextualizes the elements and themes that came before. It’s really baffling to think that something so emotional, so dependent on the psychology and feelings of its characters, was written by the guy who would later give us Lady in the Water and The Happening.

[@wiredweird]

incredible analysis. i have to watch this now

[@ghaleon1103]

Thank you for inspiring me to watch this movie again, which I haven't seen since I was much younger. I also really only remember the "what a tweest" concept, but I'm looking forward to watching it again with an adult mind.

[@buukaczi]

tl;dr

[@oohwow2787]

Hazel. I genuinely don't know how, despite bringing up so many works I don't have the nerve to try myself, you perfectly and accurately spear my brain right in the good parts to get me hooked and keep me there. Genuinely, you've become one of my personal favorite creators and one who I recommend to anyone who needs new things to watch. Proud of you.

[@KeysmashLP]

At the very beginning when you say there's no full playthrough of the ps1 game, you're wrong. I made a full playthrough series that did cross reference a 600 page pdf simply because before I did there actually was no full playthrough and wanted to make this game more accessible for others. Not here to advertise myself but my videos of a full translated playthrough do pop up when you look for it.

[@AbrahamLure]

Amazing, I'm looking forwards to binging it this weekend

[@ghaleon1103]

Thank you! I'm going to find and watch your play through! I'm enough of a Lain fan for my online handle of many years to be inspired by the anime

[@Lumber_jocks]

Bless

[@quillclock]

i see you i found ya last year when i was looking for anything on this game

[@myurei]

omfg thank you i've been looking for one for days

[@BigPigEnergy]

It saddens me when people dismiss a piece of interactive media for the perception that it lacks qualities they associate with 'games'. Some people get so caught up in rigid definitions they forget how to just take part in a new experience, not all of which are meant to engage people in the same way, or even be necessarily enjoyable in a typical sense. I'll have to try the fan translation when I start going through the different pieces of Lain media

[@asinussum]

Just to reference the question at 11:14. there's also an anime called Ghost Hound where, the protagonist was kidnapped with his sister when he was 4 yo. His sister died during the captivity. In the Story we see him now as an 11 yo going to a therapist and taking medication for his trauma. The anime also tackles mental health generally and other topics such as near death experiences. It's really serious at some points and then strange and qirky at others. It was made to teach japanese kids about the human mind. I'd recommend it. To give even more cedit, it was one of the three shows that Ryuutaro Nakamura (the Director of Lain !) made before he died. It's also written by Chiaki J. Konaka, the writter of Lain. And it was created by I.G. Production in cooperation with Masamune Shirow. Do I have to say more?

[@skeevy_nyx]

That sounds really interesting, especially from the same creatives as "Lain". In that vein, I always recommend "Monster", either the manga by Naoki Urasawa, or the excellent anime adaptation, which has a fantastic dub. One of my favorite characters in the second half of the series is an older therapist who looks like Wilford Brimley, and has big Dr. Loomis energy from John Carpenter's "Halloween" XD The story revolves around, among other things, childhood trauma and the "nature vs. nurture" debate--when faced with extremely dangerous individuals, such as a serial killer or terrorist nationalist--at which point are we as a society guilty of conditioning/grooming/setting up children to become unstable adults who do horrible things, and how do we deal with these people once they become a danger to society at large? Incarcerate them, kill them? Or try to rehabilitate them--if all life is precious, is the life of a serial killer not as precious as those of his victims? If the "monster"--that tenant of human nature that can be provoked into violence or hatred more easily than we want to admit--is dormant inside all of us... what are we supposed to do about it? It's a very refreshingly mature and grounded story, and I remember while watching "Monster" for the first time thinking, "Wow... I'm so glad that anime like this exists." Unfortunately, the series has been in licensing hell for years and is completely out of print--but, that means you can find the entire series subbed or dubbed on YT. Here's hoping if more people start talking about it again, someone will pick up the rights and it'll get shown on Adult Swim XD

[@Branchofsin]

@@skeevy_nyx monster is amazing

[@ashkesslet1149]

GHOST HOUND MENTOINED

[@chiharris2810]

YESSSSS FINALLY SOMEONE TALKS ABOUT THIS FREAKING GAME. I just recently got into Lain (the anime universe) and I have been dying for someone to FINALLY talk about this!

[@filthyfrankblack4067]

It's a weird resurgence of SEL interest.

[@anthonyboschetti249]

The saddest game ever I needed a day off from life after the ending and it made me wonder if Arisu actually exists in the anime version or if she is actually a figment of lain's imagination

[@jakethehyena9327]

Does this game play kinda like metal gear? I’m having a hard time trying to figure out how this would work. Can’t watch the video, because of spoilers.

[@sheeplord4976]

@@filthyfrankblack4067 I litterally watched it on a whim last year and noticed that many of the videos on the series had been made soon before I watched it. I guess we are all truly connected through the wired . . . And the algorithm

[@ShelBelSapphire]

I watched Serial Experiments Lain something like 7-10 years ago and I remember it really had an impact on me. I remembered it existed a couple months back and have been meaning to watch it again. I had no idea there was a game that went with it. There's something about mid-late 90s anime that deals with mental health (either directly or indirectly) that really resonates with me. Lain, Paranoia Agent, and NGE were a few big ones for me. They just feel different from any others in their presentation of the topic. Or Maybe it's the age at which I first watched them..

[@anangrysliceofpie3935]

well same with me but I was born in '03

[@jamm6_514]

@@anangrysliceofpie3935 Was also born in '03 and these psychological anime media also interest me. Never got arround to getting deep into NGE because of the early mecha stuff tho

[@1deron1]

@@jamm6_514 i really recommend getting into NGE if you still haven't yet

[@jamm6_514]

@@1deron1 Haven't really gotten the time yet but, when i made the comment i had already recieved a lot of spoilers and watched clips and content related to the series

[@1deron1]

@@jamm6_514 ah, well spoilers and stuff like that isn't the same as actually experiencing it so hopefully you get around to it sometime

[@m_crowley6674]

the only thing that sounds somewhat similar to the lain game was the arg associated with alan resnick's "this house has people in it"

[@hhhazel]

ah! im kicking myself for not mentioning this, but it's been a while since i took a deep dive on THHPII. im also kicking myself even harder for not bringing up petscop!!!! of all things!!!!!!!!! which would've been such a perfect pull. oh well. maybe someday...

[@m_crowley6674]

@@hhhazel one day hazel shall surmount petscop

[@wildbill7942]

@@hhhazel the world now looks to hazel for petscop 2

[@jockohomosexual]

one day ppl will credit all of wham city comedy and not just alan resnick lmao alan resnick is the hot sexy leader of wham city but Ben O'Brien actually wrote most of THPII and UFOAB, really wish he got more credit and yet! ~~sorry im an autistic nerd who cares too much about wham city and adult swim~~

[@m_crowley6674]

@@jockohomosexual i was unaware of ben o'brien and apologize for the ignorance. admittedly, it is hard to ignore the hot tech genius and his four step program to help me live forever as i am now through 3d scanning and other digital archiving, techniques!

[@bipolarprobe]

"It disregards cohesion of vision to be the most it can be." I know this isn't a firepunch video but that little line is one of the most profoundly worded ways to describe firepunch I have heard. It's a manga I've found very hard to describe the appeal of to people and with a throwaway line you put it in better words than I've ever managed to, thanks for that.

[@nuclearlad]

The empathy definitely comes through in the videos. Connecting imagery and personal reaction and feeling is to me, the more interesting way to do media analysis, rather than just trying to parse what things could mean in general.

[@Lemieux_channel]

THE WORLD NEEDS MORE LAIN CONTENT LETS GOOOOO-

[@carlosdumbratzen6332]

YEEEEEEEEES!!!

[@syachipeanut]

yessir

[@ang3lica2k]

Facts!

[@arielruh7773]

(๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧ʸᴱˢ

[@aggersoul23]

Ps1 & Lain PTSD's do be hitting me really hard rn.

[@anthonyboschetti249]

Oh yeah

[@carlosdumbratzen6332]

I really really like this video. This truly is a piece of art. From the usage of old videogame OSTs, to this random tangents, the calm voice and how thouroughly this seems to be researched, I just love it. Thank you for always making such amazing content and allthough Lockdown was pretty hard for me your videos always put a smile on my face and I am really glad I found your channel. It is amazing how Lain not only is a Character, but has permiated internet culture and through the various forms with which people interacted with the series carried on the spirit of the anime. Also it is really difficult, that I see myself this clearly in both the anime and game Lain reflected (or are they both the same?). I am sometimes unsure if my obsession with this series is something great or not, because it does not seem to have helped me until now. But for some reason it makes me feel as if there is a place I will once fit.

[@superpokeproduction]

Your ability to break up talk of heavy themes with wholesome shitposting is unlike anyone else i've seen. Much love

[@God-ob9zs]

i would love to see you introduce the entire history of blaame! and nihei tsutomu's universe

[@unknown6390]

I think it'd be wise of Hazel to carry out one of God's requests

[@hhhazel]

unfortunately i could never get much into nihei's works. could never pinpoint why, but i just don't really think that kind of storytelling is for me

[@God-ob9zs]

@@hhhazel no problem i already knew u wouldn't say yes nihei's work is like the equivelent noise music in the manga industry like this dude this genius read the last chapter of slam dunk and went mad with it that's why i respect his works anyways have u read the phoenyx saga by tezuka ?

[@regrettedbear2611]

I rewatch this an embarrassing amount. Your voice is so comfy tbh. And like no matter how many times I watch your videos, rewatching them is like watching it the first time. Which is weird for me because I have a horrible time focusing with my adhd but watching your videos its so easy to get really invested in what you're saying even if I've already heard it.

[@owgirl]

I am once again crying because the Hazel content is too relatable and I’m serially sad.

[@icravedeath.1200]

Based utena pfp

[@jamzee_]

I love that after ive “played” this game, it only made your points more appealing. I wrote notes and did multiple orders of reading and watching everything. I have had dreams about making progress in this “game”. Its not a game, its a project, and i passed the damn thing with an 4.0+ several times over

[@ATjfds]

I got great Jacob Geller vibes here, especially when you started talking about the Interactive CD-Roms. Also I had to rewind quite a few times at 30:10 because of I love this song way too much and it distracted me lol

[@who2785]

I can see Rule of Rose on your shelf and now I'm dying to hear your thoughts about it in future videos 👀 Great video btw!

[@icravedeath.1200]

I guess tangomushi's video will have to do lol

[@nephthys2549]

gosh your videos always make me feel so comfortable, i dont even know how i could be nostalgic for the late 90s, but something about this just wraps me up like a warm blanket after a really shitty day. thanks hazel! looking forward to the next video!

[@halfiecafe]

You might just be the most underrated content creator on this entire platform. I seriously admire how much effort is put into your videos. They’re super refreshing and dynamic, yet so incredibly genuine and well researched. Respect. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’m going to go rewatch SEL now.

[@RadJordy]

It was 2019, I believe. I downloaded all of lain to watch at a later date, but hadn't ever gotten around to it and it sat in a folder for almost a year. Fast forward to December of that year, a couple days before christmas. I had just stayed up all night writing a paper for my final college assignment. Looking behind me out my window I saw the sun come up as it turned to 7am. Well, can't really go to bed now. Gonna have to stay up and tough it out so I don't fuck up my sleep schedule. Decided it'd probably be a good idea to watch all of Lain in one sitting. By the end of it, I was delirious and having weird half-asleep fever dreams while the episode played in the background, sending me spinning in my own head. So yeah, one of the best watching experiences I've ever had with any piece of media. 10/10.

[@VoltieBird]

When I first found out about PS1 Lain and checked it out a few years ago it was like... like coming home after a long trip away. This game lived inside my heart without me ever knowing it existed; the aesthetic, the themes, the structure, all of it has in one form or another seeped into indie thriller culture piecemeal, and I had, in a sense, played the game without ever playing it. I knew Lain even though I had never met her, or at least, not this version of her.

[@ArchaeologyTube]

I keep getting surprised again and again by how much Hazel is genuinely a talented historian. No idea if she has any formal training in history but I wouldn’t be surprised. Every one of these videos is so wonderfully contextualized within the discussed media’s historical and socio-political environment and it always enriches the criticism.

[@chameleonhrt]

I'm just going to pretend I know exactly what this video was about just like when I watched Serial Experiments Lain.

[@JJR93]

The Lain-verse is just so DENSE and complex it just leaves me in awe....and this game is like another pocket universe extension of the same fictional universe. The creators REALLY did their home work on a vast variety of topics. Thanks so much for this review!

[@fluffcake]

Lain seemed like such a funky show getting into it at first as I decided to watch it after Evangelion and I wanted to see more mindfuck anime. Yeah Psychological Horror anime is definitely a mainstay here

[@CATASTEROID934]

Unrelated but Cookie's Bustle became un-lost after reportedly being leaked from some dude's collection

[@skeletonwizard708]

There's something trully beautiful about despite how she literally achieved transcendence into a new type of being, the person who was loved, who mattered, was the mundane, deeply injured and melancholic human being. I'll be thinking about that a lot, I feel, as time goes on and the world gets darker. Anyway it's been a year Hazel and I absolutely, deeply, pathologically need a three hour breakdown on the deconstructionist antics of Drakengard. I need it both emotionally and physiologically.

[@fsce8599]

i love how you write scripts like youre telling a friend before internet how cool some game was, its really nice how you talk to us like youre giving us information right before we play the game like a tutorial, its super cozy

[@wuttbruh]

God damnit, this all hit me in the feels for a game I've never played, let alone the anime that I'd never heard of until now. The care with which you hold for every topic you talk about is felt and appreciated. It's like your holding a tiny egg in your hand, and you're gently showing it to those around you.

[@millennialboomer6780]

29:43 I think alot about how, in your narration, the phrase "I must exist" pokes out between the two readings. I think about this video a lot in general. Its a good one

[@mackerelphones]

I am astonished to discover that someone else knows about Uncle Buddy's Phantom Funhouse, Puppet Motel, Garage: Bad Dream Adventure, or Gadget, much less mentioning all of them in one video with The Silver Case and Moonlight Syndrome. This is amazing

[@Noelciaaa]

Also the bag of milk game. That one's really unknown but a gem.

[@mackerelphones]

@@Noelciaaa Yeah, that one too!

[@WonderSparkPuppets1]

Having people discovering Lain after all these years makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. LET'S ALL LOVE LAIN!

[@LMS2019]

Serial Experiments Lain was my favorite anime when I was 13 years old, back in 2001. I'm a clinical Psychologist for 10 years now. I didn't knew about the game though, and I'm amazed by how similar with the psychoterapeutic process the game narrative is. I'll certainly watch the full gameplay as soon as possible. It will make me a better professional in a very nostalgic way. Thanks for the video!

[@dazzeloids]

It was a stroke of genius to add the RE Dead Aim save room music in the video. Thank you for all your wonderful videos!

[@YaBoiHakim]

Lain analysis _and_ SH background music? God bless the algorithm. Fantastic video, subscribed! Edit: DID I JUST HEAR DEAD AIM'S SAVE THEME? That's it, the bell is getting a tick too.

[@udonge1043]

you know i never expected to find you on a video about serial experiments lain but im really glad there is an apparent connection between enjoying the series and being a communist

[@cagayakegirlz]

i have no idea why but the moment this video ended i just started crying. you are such a blessing to this site and i hope you continue making beautiful works like this

[@October1896]

That Avril 14th guitar cover, perfect. Thanks Hazel

[@RbDaP]

Your last minute take on PSX Lain's ending gives a whole new weight to "let's love Lain" motto

[@Kuwaiden]

What this video tells me is that the Lain game would have been my jammest of jam as a child in the early 2000's. All the brain power and time of a kid with unfiltered internet access would have made me obsessed with it. Alas, as an adult, I see clunky menus and decide to spend my time with easier sources of dopamine.

[@JoeBushOnline]

Thank you for talking about everyone's friend Cookie Blair and for using Spigot as the icon of a cool adult with a defined palate at 20:52. I love multimedia/fmv games so much

[@xJisJis]

I'm a simple woman, I see hazel upload? I turn my volume up and click with anticipation.

[@witchingold]

finished your elfen lied video and then saw that this was uploaded 6 min after i finished that, and as someone who felt targeted when u mentioned people having lain as their private twitter icons, the obvious answer was to come here and see what you had to say. this slaps, great work again!

[@pimposki6232]

this game is an unironic masterpiece and that it never even got translated, much less became the revolutionary turning point it should have been, was a complete travesty. this is an incredibly intelligent approach to software as exploratory, sprawling art projects, and the somewhat meta nature only makes it even more brilliant. this should have been a turning point, seriously. this should have revolutionised "games" or entertainment software or however you wish to refer to it. ah well. lets all love lain, even when consumers don't.

[@alyssaduffy8232]

Okay SO this whole essay is so amazing and I loooooove having such an in-depth and gentle examination of the themes of both the anime and the game. It’s very refreshing to see an analysis that doesn’t focus on “ohh the game is soooo confusing and weeeeeird” to the point of ignoring other qualities like other dives sometimes do. Your sense of humor is phenomenal, the insight into the property itself is so nuanced and wonderful. AND at 18:54 you sprinkled in one of my favorite tracks from one of my absolute favorite games EVER (Cave of Fear from the Guardian’s Crusade OST, if anyone wants to know!) so I’m absolutely enamored. You rock, thank you for this and for your other wonderful videos!

[@narutobro6967]

I've only seen maybe two of your videos so far but theyve both been so captivating to watch. Your tone/cadence, the editing, and the amount of research you put into making these videos and assessing a topic make it very powerful to watch from the perspective of a viewer. I really enjoy watching/listening to analyses for media and I think you have a unique manner of doing so that keeps out your opinion and remains pretty nuetral while still managing to share how you experienced the media on a personal level. I also love the way you relate the topic source to other games/media. Thank you so much for sharing your work, I cant wait to watch more from you! :^]

[@polymorphousadversity6211]

Hazel, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS! Seriously, you’ve introduced me to so much cool stuff, and I’ve only just begun to watch your channel. Thank you for going over this type of media. You’re doing such awesome work, and I can only hope you’ll keep going and showing more people your amazing analysis of various obscure or strange media. You allowed me to see meaning in things I might have otherwise passed off as shallow or uninteresting. Your point of view is seriously a breath of fresh air. Thank you. :)

[@corygulley4405]

this video is a masterpiece of a short documentary/review. it is the Lain/House of Leaves/Inland Empire of its genre to date. How did you manage to hit the Nail on the head so completely specifically for my tastes with this video. congratulations. I wish i had the ability to put these types of ideas into my own creative endeavors. this genre of horror is tops, and i don't know what it's called, but it's disturbing and needs growth.

[@yvngarmz5984]

This the best video i’ve seen on youtube for a while. So much knowledge on obscure e-creations. I’d expect nothing less from the Lain fandom! Great work!

[@richardhardtman8954]

This is my favorite video you have done to date.See you covering the lain ps1 game something i was always interested in but never found a dedicated video that explain the deal with it already peaked my interest, but you also covering obscure CD-roms for a half an hour fits both interests and aesthetic perfectly that i greatly appreciate the effort you put into this video.

[@hawkrose]

oh, dam. Hazel dedicated. I've had so many ideas in the shower, but I always figure it's too much of a hassle to try to type them out or write them down, so I just let them vanish

[@Arklem_Nebula]

I discovered your channel a few days ago and I'm glad I did, I really loved your content overall and something that I wasn't expecting to see today was a video about the Lain game, the entire Lain franchise is one of my favorite pieces of media ever, and I feel like the Lain game is always overlooked, people mostly talk about the anime, that is in fact really good but this game also deserves tons of credit. The Lain anime, at least for me, wouldn't be the same if this game didn't exist, and I'm happy to see someone finally talk about it, keep up with the great work you're doing!

[@karenerra]

This is the first video of yours I've ever watched and I am already ABOLSUTELY in love with your content, thank you for this!

[@JimFaindel]

The way you take us from dank memes over Persona-style music to doubting the self under Everything at the end of time-style noise, is the best kind of whiplash, and I am down for it from the second my eyes registered the words "Playstation Lain".

[@XavierZara]

3:00 props for using the Battle Network 3 NaviCust theme!

[@goblindonor69]

i don't know how else to say this hazel i am just absolutely in love with your content. cannot explain just how much i love lain and how you talk about it

[@syllvia1]

I will never stop being surprised and delighted by just how much armored core music is in these wonderful videos.

[@space_bound]

I watched this on the 3ds internet browser. You could say it was a... serial experiment. But for real it really added to the experience of lain. This video is one of my favorites of Hazel's.

[@AntiAntagonist]

I never got to play the PSX game, but was enthralled when I picked up the DVDs back in the late 90s. I didn't really understand all the allegories at the time (like Lain trying out different personalities online, but portrayed as her going out to clubs), but the concept of interconnectedness and importance of digital spaces was already apparent to me. I figured a lot of younger people would find the concepts explored as passe, much like the criticality of consumerism in They Live, The Stuff, or Network.

[@anthonyboschetti249]

Played this long ago... Oh man the ending.... probably one of the most profound and significant games to supplement an anime of all time. The depth of your exploration in the wired could have been more but the character development was so rich. Here I am almost 20 years later still feeling the wake

[@Techniquess]

it's always very fun to come back to this video and hear "I get to play a game for a video for once!" especially after the cozy anime games video that came out recently

[@FallingPicturesProductions]

I've been binging your videos after your Pokemon culture war vid came up in my recs. It's nuts because everything that I've seen from you this far is like you crawled into my head and pulled out thoughts and opinions I've had for years, and finally put them to video with just a bit more knowledge and a slight remix to keep me hooked. Please keep doing your thing!

[@SaberToothPortilla]

It's interesting that you mention the content warning in DDLC, because I'd argue that it's there less as a legitimate content warning, despite the fact that it also is that, and more as a device to craft the experience. Like you say, some things are more impactful when you already know how it goes, or at the very least, the impact is different. With DDLC, knowing that something was going to go wrong going in shaped the nature of the experience. I started injecting horror into the bits that were genuinely innocuous, or I'd forget in the middle of the early part of the game that something *was* going to happen, and it would immediately make me anxious, despite the fact that nothing that ought be anxiety producing had happened yet. The main reason I think that is because of the *way* that the content warning is presented, much more like it's part of the material, rather than being incidental or obligatory.

[@FreakinTheComments]

Thank you for using the Save Theme from Resident Evil: Dead Aim at 10:38

[@Constant_Herb]

I used to hang out at a neighbor's house a lot when I was a kid, and their older son who was maybe 13-14 when I was 10 used to watch Lain. I should maybe be concerned by how little it disturbed me at the time, but he restarted the show just so I could watch it from the first episode with him, and it's been a favorite anime of mine since then! I'd looked for the game a few years ago, but didn't want to pay the $30+ for it on eBay.

[@ObsessionistVideos]

You have rapidly become one of my very favorite KZbinrs and creators in general. You've got extraordinarily well-structured, well-written scripts with more interesting and undiscussed topics than any other channel I follow, along with great delivery and editing. Keep it up, you're one of a kind

[@popbitzblast3649]

I had no idea this existed beforehand, that’s awesome! Unfortunately looks too complicated for me, but I still find it it cool and impressive that a story told like this exists. I’m happy it handled mental health and all it’s tough subjects appropriately as well, that’s rare, especially for a horror.

[@alface935]

10:36 Thank You for putting this Dead Aim Music in the video It just hit it Me and My Heart like a Arrow and it feel it so good 🙆🏼‍♀️

[@BeanoNintendo]

I love going into one your videos and assuming it's going to be focused on a single topic only to find out that it's actually about 10 vaguely connected topics that you jump back and forth between at seemingly random intervals. It's always an experience.

[@faaf_quaaf]

That armored core OST at the end was totally unexpected, excellent video

[@maxaroni39]

This was incredible! I'd love to hear your takes on more video games in the future!

[@Volvator900]

The way this game works reminds me a lot of the game Her Story. Back then I thought they were pioneering on the whole non-linear storytelling in games, but who wouldve thought a weird japanese only Lain game had done it decades before

[@SiriProject]

D.R. Laing was an important figure within the late psychedelic movement, which in turn was heavily influenced by the people who developed the early internet. It was the era of the Human Potential Movement, and also transhumanism as we think of it today. A lot of Lain's "contracultural" and "human evolution" themes related to hacker culture had a lot to do with West Coast people like John C. Lilly or Terence Mckenna. Two volumes in my opinion ESSENTIAL to understanding Lain are "Cyberia: Life in the Trenches of Cyberspace" by Rushkoff and "Escape Velocity" by Mark Dery.

[@Dynwyn]

This is giving me "flashbacks" to a project that I did for a class. The topic was hidden object games and one of them was Alice an interactive museum and it was released on CD ROM in 1991.

[@SingKahKah]

big ups the shoutout to YMO, wendy carlos, and the residents (the true masters of midi clown music)

[@crossthreaded6867]

Thank you for all you've done in this video. I particularly enjoyed the tour of the experimental art projects that preceeded this game. It's wonderous and slightly unsettling in an interesting kind of way

[@Shabo0117]

I absolutely adore this video! I've only played the non-game web version, the one that's more just a list of all the files, but I ran through the whole thing in one night and it shook me for real. This was right after finally revisiting Lain after many years, and I found it so amazing just how much the game adds to the anime, and how great it is on its own. Better than the anime, if say. It's one of the most miserable stories I've read, seeing Lain's life fall apart, her mental health get worse and worse, it's so heartbreaking. It's something that stuck with me then and still does, and it's something I've thought about a lot since. This video explains all the reasons I love it so much. If only it was easier to get people to play it...

[@riummalcolm368]

An absolutely excellent essay, I love when channels like this just appear through the algorithm, I'm looking forward to whatever you do next.

[@jjwademan694]

my therapist is going to need a therapist after i try this. thanks hazel

[@Appl3sandgrapes]

Yo, thanks for going so in to depth in this; I've always been interested in it but never took the plunge. Great video!

[@thedragrat6104]

This channel combines the best of Super Bunnyhop's niche obscurity and ThorHighHeel's aesthetic cheekiness into one existentially wonderful weirdo. 10/10 would recommend.

[@PabloAvilaEstevez]

I just discovered your channel today from the Azumanga Daioh video, but WOW you've blown me away with this one. Most people here in the west who are familiar with Serial Experiments Lain haven't had the opportunity to experience this game,. Personally, I love this depiction of Lain more than in the anime. There's a beauty to its fragmented presentation, and I cannot be happier to see it being discussed among English speaking fans.

[@runglechungleinthejungle]

I went through the simple version way back and for a while now I've been saying PSX Lain is terrific and ABSOLUTELY worth checking out. On some level I found it more gripping than the TV anime, like yourself. I think JUST hearing the thoughts and words of these characters hits harder than any other way these same messages/themes could have been conveyed. It's hard to describe, even as a musician- but I just love Lain and Touko's performances a lot. Funny enough, I actually didn't know there was a functional PORT until just recently before this vid dropped (good excuse to actually play it for REAL now). I'm so glad to see this game get love and I hope more people give it a chance! It secretly might just be the best form of Lain media.

[@KaputOtter]

You have great taste in music, haha. I recognized several PSX-era JRPG soundtracks and then that slide guitar rendition of Avril 14, haha. Good vid, I'll have to try playing this sometime when I'm stuck inside over the winter.