Lain Split Scene

[@Kitsune-kun663]

I love the use of the white color to accentuate the feeling of loneliness this show uses. All the color palette is superb in Serial Experiments Lain, but the use of the white color is GOAT.

[@ElChoninobb]

The use of colors is masterful, as well as the aesthetics and behavior of the characters, the silences and the music, this anime is the best example of how to create a good atmosphere.

[@tattooeduglyguy3376]

Id bet you'd appreciate Texhnolyze

[@nanaki1990blox]

The artstyle of Lain shows that void exists even in broad daylight.

[@chunkymilk]

same.

[@gogitobeyondgodtheultimate805]

One of the most unique, mysterious and interesting anime of time.

[@user-fd3ip5ff6z]

Gogito beyond god the ultimate fusion son mother is dying plz get out of your room

[@thewolfPrince]

20 years later and the mystery is gone

[@1sonders]

@@user-fd3ip5ff6zwym

[@alihorda]

​@@user-fd3ip5ff6zbro got brain damage

[@RB20071]

​@alihorda Gogito beyond god the ultimate fusion son mother is dying plz get out of your room

[@emmanuelV7.0]

Seriously the characters disappearing very suddenly like a clean cut freaks me out

[@gebbygebbers]

When glitch effects didnt exist yet 😂😂😂

[@andrewcoltzt1563]

@@gebbygebbers it's better this way, the whole glitch thingy is cliche anyway.

[@gebbygebbers]

@@andrewcoltzt1563 Agreed ✨

[@Alonzo_Light]

@@andrewcoltzt1563 yeah, electronic glitches appearing all of a sudden and happens instantly, not like a slow 'glitchy' effect.

[@agent-33]

That's how souls or ghosts disappear too, if you've seen one.

[@vaati000]

I know the show's supposed to be taken as crazy as it is on-screen, not necessarily taken metaphorically or symbolically, but... The fact that a show from 1998 is touching on this sort of split between ourselves and what others perceive via online self-curation - or even the effects on ourselves - is mind boggling to me. This is *7 years* before Facebook was a thing, and probably way before they realized the power of encouraging everyone to do it. There was stuff like forums/BBS/IRC/etc., sure, but nothing so widespread and culturally accepted at the time...

[@amitrana2756]

Shaman Xeed and the writer knew this fact when he was writing the script. *insert steins;gate theme here

[@MyriadMythial]

It was something that was already beginning to happen in Japan at the time. The internet took off far faster there than it did in the rest of the world. Too bad no one listened.

[@MultiSenhor]

In a certain way, it happens in real life too.

[@janellynah9619]

To me this scene does not seem to corolate with Social media and the internet but was a reflection of her mental health. This seemed like a representation of dissociation and just feeling like you're having to put up a front that doesn't match how you truly feel.

[@nicolealess64000]

Janelly nah yes i see both sides and opinions on this scene and they both seem right. But tbh i guess nothings wrong or right since no one *seems to understand* what really is going on. Anyone can interpret this anyway they like.Thats why i love this series, its so mysterious and interesting but depressing lol

[@matildamadison3662]

As someone who disassociates from themselves without even noticing, I relate to Lain's feeling of loneliness so much in this.

[@Comicallylargegun]

Donttt careee

[@sridrawings4510]

Disassociates from themselves without even noticing means?

[@limitstates]

@@sridrawings4510 her pronouns are they/them

[@capybapa]

Honestly, this is what dissociation is kind of like.

[@kenzie2191]

This scene hits different now that I’m older and realize I’ve been suffering from disassociation most of my life. I knew there was a reason this scene was so deeply disturbing to me as a teenager, and now I get it.

[@Real-1]

Yeah but you don't realize it when it happens

[@DeathMarine4810]

I think the worst part of dissociating is when you know it's happening, but there's nothing you can do about it. You can feel yourself disconnecting from yourself and watching people talking to you, but you just feel....nothing. There's nothing there. Just feel like an empty husk while you're watching yourself experience what's happening but can't feel anything.

[@salj.5459]

DeathMarine Primarch How do you watch yourself experience things? Does the brain imagine you but from an outsider perspective? How does that even work? Just curious

[@starcoreart]

@@salj.5459 when you go spinning in circles and then stop abruptly, there's a disconnect between sense of balance, which is still spinning, and all your other senses. disconnecting from one's body is similar to that. for me it was more like feeling one's body and its sensations located somewhere else. there's a disconnect between the feeling of your body including your emotions, and all the other senses (hearing, seeing) and stuff, so the actual you in space that's interacting with the world. i guess any out-of-body experience and alice in wonderland syndrome (super mario eating mushrooms) is this kind of dissociation. in spiritual circles, there's a distiction drawn between the physical, etheric, emotional body and more. i think that's helpful for contextualizing this stuff.

[@judahosborne8868]

God this anime is so weird. I had no idea what was going on half the time but I really enjoyed this anime.

[@chensera1392]

DRUGS

[@aryanaufaldharmawan5830]

@@chensera1392 INTERNET

[@ploopybear]

only the first episode is "Weird"

[@snakeoi8189]

@hayhay055 Is that a issue to address anyway? So? You can enjoy an anime without much of understanding it's process.

[@trhobs4137]

@hayhay055 what anime is this?

[@l4ndst4nder]

For anyone surprised that Lain perfectly captures the duality of physical reality and the internet, the writer and director researched prominent futurist writers for the technical side and postmodern philosophers like Jean Baudrillard to understand its impact on the definition of reality. While I think the futurists were a bit off, the postmodernists definitely got it right for better or worse. Just wish more people got the message at the end of the series to connect with people around you and build your reality from that point. But unfortunately Lain became omnipresent quickly after realizing this in the show, which ultimately obscures that message for the viewer.

[@taotao7607]

@Landstander That's a very good info. Are there any other writers you can recommend?

[@l4ndst4nder]

@@taotao7607 Unfortunately I only have a basic understanding of post modern literature since only Baudrillard connected with me. I’ve read a couple other post modern writers like Slavoj Žižek and David Foster Wallace who are both entertaining but they don’t really change the way I look at the world. I found them to be best at making fun the world rather than trying to fix it. Looking at your name, I’m going to guess you have read the Taoist philosophers Zhuang Zhou and Laozi? I think their influence on Asian culture significantly shaped the show as well. It would have been very different if it was made in the west. Also if you are looking for something like Lain, I do have a few recommendations. Check out the Shane Carruth films Primer and Upstream Color. Upstream Color in particular has a similar metaphysical nature to Lain and the method of story telling is also similar. Just keep in mind it might take a couple watches. I hated my first watch, then rewatched it a couple years later and it became one of my favorites. Also the podcast The Theory of Everything is brilliant too. It’s a post modern investigative journalism program and it is just as absurd as that sounds. They often would mix fake stories with real stories to highlight the absurdity of modern news and culture. Just don’t quote them on anything or you might look like an idiot. It really cool though, sometimes it has a vibe similar to the documentary segments in Lain.

[@melancholicacid471]

@@taotao7607 Deleuze and Guattari, anti-oedipus

[@mr.moonmn9040]

Dude I think you're mixing Lain with NGE, since I'm pretty sure that was the main message of the End of Evangelion. Anyway, if there is any message to get from Lain I doubt it's something as corny as connecting with others. I'm not saying you're wrong, in fact I think you're right that connecting with others is a message you can take from Lain, but I don't think all the hard work and research put into Lain was simply for the viewers to come off with such a cliche message, especially since a lot of it is about the arbitrariness of reality. I think Lain has enough to it that you could really take any moral message from it, like you could argue the converse message of the one you mentioned: Because Lain (the anime) says online friends are no different from real friends, and that the body is a hologram of the mind, making connections with others is pointless. Overall I think, because you can interpret Lain in almost any way, it's better to not make any interpretation at all, since they are all technically right, but not one of them can fully encapsulate Lain as a whole. Lain is just too abstract to simplify with a singular meaning or message.

[@l4ndst4nder]

@@mr.moonmn9040 I don’t think Lain is as abstract as you are making out to be. While I do think you can watch the show and walk away with the message, the anime tells half of the story. The first half of the story is in the game, but instead of global reality breaking down, it’s Lain’s reality that is falling apart. The game is also far more nihilistic and promotes the techno futurism that many people take away from the show. But the experiment in the game is a spectacular failure! Which is why the series is called Serial Experiments Lain, because the Tachibana corporation completely botched their first attempt. When comparing the two experiments, the key difference is the people that surround Lain. In the show Lain has emotional support from her friends and family, but in the game she has nothing. While this interpretation of the series can come off a little cheesy, when considering the hell that Lain went through, my take away was an earnest argument for pragmatic existentialism instead of falling into nihilism.

[@Monorisu97]

Best face of anime history

[@alanmxc9134]

Megumin smile

[@gilliandaemon1788]

Poor Lain. she tries to make everything like how they were before and it still doesn't work.

[@caleb_artzs2533]

*Let's all love Lain :)*

[@seed2520]

I had an odd dream similar to this. I stood in the middle of the road looking at my friends. They called me and before I could even realise there's another me walking in front of me. I watched them walk further and further so I decided to chase them. The another me then turned around and teleported to me. I can say that she looks just like me it's just that she is pitch black with a eerie smile and a pair of bloody red eyes. She caressed my face and said "You body has been taken over by me. Do you not realise that you are already dead?" Then I saw a car speeding towards me and I woke up. Yeah. That's it.

[@eliahaj2233]

Wow,that's not a dream ,that a top tier psychological horror nightmare.

[@wrathengel82]

you're lain

[@Hydrobananna]

Happy 20th anniversary, Lain

[@pailort4091]

ATASHI WA, A! TA! SHI!

[@firstcooommment3675]

1:33 *"I've seen that smug smile before!"*

[@Iegotroop]

Megumin?

[@dormin2749]

Asuka Soryu Langley from Evangelion

[@phonfowo7625]

Megumin right?

[@phonfowo7625]

@Kyte Ansarty i see you're a man of culture aswell

[@ayusoraua570]

Kobeni

[@MrYulienskate]

That's right! Lain is Lain, and I'm me. ... ... *plop*

[@justzvezvered]

Laying my lane

[@louciousstrike4396]

Plop.

[@lainopening4958]

Still looking for a show that grabbed my attention like a lot of the shows from late 90s and 2000s. They had such a different atmosphere.

[@angeladvise0734]

I know right?

[@anangrysliceofpie3935]

I think Sonny Boy is close to that atmosphere

[@mr.moonmn9040]

@@anangrysliceofpie3935 bruh that show is pretentious junk don't compare it to Lain >:/

[@realityoverdose]

maybe Madoka?

[@ciel59823]

The characters disappearing like that is so funny to me, because i always end up imagining the 'pop' sound with it 😭😭

[@gabsy_ferreira]

Yes, that's exactly what dissociation feels like

[@yanjeronimo7963]

this is probably my favorite scene in SEL and one of my favorite scenes ever, I'm really glad to have found this randomly while browsing youtube

[@Rhinestoneshark]

This show was SO futuristic for its time.

[@yannickluecker3983]

Let's all love Lain :D

[@DEMONLORD6561]

love this scene

[@nalluvsuxoxo]

i like the way the split personality just... completely disappears. like no effect or anything, just complete dissipation of the clone

[@olivercharles2930]

"My people need me!" type shit

[@EdenNeedsAYoutubeHandle]

something about this scene really hit close to home for me. actually, most of the show is like that for me. i can't explain it, but it just... captures the state of mind i had during a low point in my life and thus gives me these emotional reactions to the most seemingly nonsensical things.

[@l4ndst4nder]

Totally get this. Dealing with depression you can easily create a persona to act like the person you think people want you to be.

[@dang5874]

dissociation?

[@calamariseven4088]

Me imagining how my life would be if I wasn’t autistic as fuck

[@VMKjelly]

I've watched Lain 5 times now and it still hits hard

[@leafrustling6821]

When you realize that Lain's friends mistook her fake copy for the real one, while not noticing the real Lain

[@ayusoraua570]

when you realize your friend related more to your internet personality than your real life

[@olivercharles2930]

Can you blame them that much? It is probably much easier to hang with an extroverted type. Ok, you can definitely blame them, but you get what I mean.

[@知己知彼]

this anime was ahead of its time

[@hvegaval]

I haven’t even seen Lain yet this scene hits real hard.

[@c05]

Honestly the fact that her "clone's" cel just disappears is jarring, because I've never seen anything like that in an animation. This isn't the only time they use this effect.

[@viperzerofsx]

Fun fact this scene was sub contracted out to studio ghibly

[@fungifago]

no way

[@1.iroha.7]

Lots and lots of these voices can never end.

[@PK-xc3qr]

Ngl the physical interaction was pretty cute lmao BUT doesn’t take away from how unsettling the series was. Creeped the fuck outta me, but I live for that shit.

[@matthewpeterson5159]

this scene makes me cry

[@tacituskilgore80]

The sound of those power cables still haunts me.

[@Yvellic]

This is what I imagine my social anxiety to be like, a pretend version of me that is outwardly social whilst I just want to not have to speak or cause any embarrassment.

[@JayFAE12]

Lain staring at her shadow is relatable to me because i have a lot of visual disturbances and sometimes it can look like that

[@Mitzi-chan224]

I really, really like this anime. : ) I love the mysterious late-90s vibe to it.

[@olivercharles2930]

Same. I love the vibes in this show, even if I don't understand most of it.

[@불광동송곳니]

I am falling, I am fading

[@Mitzi-chan224]

I am drowning, help me to breathe

[@LucasNascimento-pl8qj]

@@Mitzi-chan224 I am hurting, I have lost it all

[@addisonfaith4749]

It’s crazy because I can actually relate to this I suffer from intrusive thoughts and hallucinations and it really does feel like this almost to real that it feels scary

[@ricky15641]

And you don't seem to understand

[@CurtIsTheSillo]

A shame you seem an honest man

[@FMB_Archive]

And everything you hold so dear

[@TheIncandescentOne]

n a n i

[@spartains5493]

God, this show is amazing.

[@Bobbyfawn]

It’s so weird I can’t explain it but I understand this on another level. Not even dissociation or putting on a face, I can’t explain it, but it makes you feel unsettled inside

[@Hulkzilla0]

And you don't seem to understand....

[@Antyla]

A shame you seemed an honest man...

[@kanoasuniverse7975]

And all the fears you hold so dear..

[@patrickrecio5788]

Will turn to whisper in your ear

[@sabrozongo3550]

And You know what they say might hurt you

[@patbook1619]

And You know that it means so much

[@shitcore_7787]

It's kind of interesting how all of the people I've met who relate to lain in some way are older men.

[@aDndni]

god I love this comment

[@marcelobasilio3786]

so that would explain why the agent Karl of this series had a especial kind of treatment to lain, huh?

[@popcultureheart5116]

Didn't the show come out when they were kids on a TV channel for boys/men? G4/TECH TV in the United States?

[@fuzzyguyenjoyer]

I've plenty of girls and women can relate to Lain too. Basically anyone who has an online identity separate from their real life one can relate to her I think.

[@spiceforspice3461]

@@popcultureheart5116 It aired on tech tv, not when the anime released, but a few years later in the early 2000s.

[@DakotaJones-nn2oi]

That's some powerful commentary on the nature of friendship.

[@whostolethebeans4537]

After I clicked on this the reccomandations are full of nursery rhimes

[@janeadelaidelennox7193]

Oh my god, it's my social media presence.

[@god47398]

"I'm me" she says

[@58mph48]

the fact false lain just pops out of existence is pure kino, from a composition perspective

[@TJHardstylez]

nobody going to comment on how the channel name is Jung Carl? a game reference.

[@spacenomad4477]

What game? I thought it was just a name of famous psychoanalyst.

[@TJHardstylez]

in the lain ps1 game, there is a scene where she talks about Carl Jung, that was never in the anime. The channel that posted this video is named Carl jung, I thought it was funny and surprised nobody commented about it

[@spacenomad4477]

Thanks :)

[@naturesquad9174]

@@TJHardstylez might just be a reference to Carl Jung, lot of people into Lain are into Jung

[@multiverseone8115]

I honestly feel bad for Lain

[@amandaisworthless]

This show has gotten better with age

[@HaouDeSoul]

Like our online personas

[@Cynitaivery]

I feel like I just skipped the whole episode of lain even though I already watched it on my tablet...

[@ingmar2000]

easy to understand. two different kind of express of split feeling. Lain expects herself to be a normal friend, but also is felling that she is completely abnormal ( first-person lain don't know certainly the reason of split), so she is seeing a split. Then she says " I'm me. " in order to eliminate her feeling of discomfort. This utterance make her notice her feeling of abnormality

[@fhd-5134]

*lain left the server*

[@madaophilippines8418]

Production Manager: what shall be the plot of Serial Experiments Lain?? Director, Script writer, Animators, production team: YES

[@limeyfigdet7460]

Lol, the face at 1:35! There's a MAL user with that for their forum picture.

[@aminrosli9744]

do you have MAL?

[@limeyfigdet7460]

Yeah, I do.

[@gabypurin]

Let's all love lain

[@macmac6064]

First year of college be like

[@michantomi5733]

oh godf the caption

[@richarddelionheart8308]

Senpai Kun IKR

[@E4439Qv5]

0:55 I see you over there. You smug sonova

[@BlackBloodCombatClub]

My mood today

[@RockStock6]

If Lain can erase the memories of her friends she can also do it with herself. This other Lain could possibly be her as well she just cant remember becuase she wants to see herslef as the quiet innocent Lain and not a disgusting person.

[@wolvozach8310]

we are here at the same time

[@cesarst3720]

The supreme psicologic anime

[@no_name923]

.ロクサスの最後の日思い出すわ。

[@quirinoguy8665]

This scene just gives me the creeps...

[@kastoroides]

ここほんと悲しい

[@Hex_Nihil]

Best smug.

[@kinghadbar]

and you don’t seem to understand

[@Inspiration_Inspires]

feels like dissociating

[@mehimself3936]

Episode 8 is where the Series peaked honestly

[@BlueEyedVibeChecker]

If an evil me tried to take my social responsibilities away, I'd hand them over and kick them out of the void. My void now, you made your bed, now sleep in it.

[@ms.pirate]

Not even a visible to transparent to then disappear sequence! Just a pop out disappear like a character desponding! Creepy

[@danielpeckham5520]

When the other Lain trolls herself at the end..

[@SirDaynz]

1:34 weed

[@senowaffle]

Etika....

[@twincherries6698]

bro..

[@iansilva7422]

*The only me is me, but are you sure the only you is you?*

[@mamiquieremequetrefe]

Wired lain is a menace to society

[@olivercharles2930]

She is wired up, am I right?

[@novo_ephemera]

avant garde anime truly no pretention

[@1703-o7h]

That shit eating grin

[@braun3926]

“Jung Carl”

[@olivercharles2930]

Not to read too into it, but this seems to depict the dichotomy between how people really are vs how they act outwardly. This idea is most obvious online, where people tend to be more vocal and at times cold than real life. Now that I think about it, another part of it is probably a question of who is the "real" you? Is the vocal asshole you? Not you? Both? Does it matter? What tf does present day present time me-

[@rosh36]

My favorite anime of all time. Maybe that's pretentious but oh well

[@dopeboy777]

Literally me like “literally”

[@stupiduwu1.095]

bro poor lain😢

[@dontyoueveraskmethisagain]

ppl in tiktok knew her , that's so sad cuz everyone act their personalities like her also the phonk is famous now. i wish thet area end

[@thewolfPrince]

We could have stopped this

[@thewolfPrince]

We should have stopped this.

[@egwbog]

玲音の声狂おしい程好き

[@drifter402]

I never understood what happened here

[@monstruolio]

or you could just explain

[@thething2523]

The Unknown that was so fucking pretencious i dont even have a response

[@ancientapparition1638]

And another possibility (Sorry for TL;DR I'm bored at work): Since Lain already 'erased' all memories leading up to this point she is now the only one that remembers herself. Right now the 'real flesh and blood Lain' ceases to exist. Her wired persona was then manifested into "reality" by Lain as a sort of replacement. Her 'friends' liked her wired persona better after all, and the show seems to really drive home the point of the divide between the selves we continually mold and pretend we are in society as opposed to our physical body (or soul if you believe in that). But either way: The whole point of the show was about memory. People and events only exist when you remember them or experience them through media. After all, you haven't met Napoleon or George Washington; but surely they existed? Maybe. Your best friend as well... If you didn't remember meeting him/her for the first time and sharing experiences together could you really say they existed from your perspective? That's basically what happened here. Lain 'rewrote history' by altering the consciousness of every individual on the planet to make it seem as if it was the same day as depicted in Episode 1. Memories, cognitive states, and subconscious thinking can be programmed just like a computer by sending information through Protocol 7, which if you remember allows for subconscious data transfer through ultrasonic transmission much like how the Schumann resonance affects humans on Earth (not IRL but in the anime it was proven it created a subconscious network between minds). It doesn't affect the physical state of Earth though. It only changes what people experience and think at any given moment which is why Lain is sort of stranded in a place where she technically doesn't exist.

[@SnowberryFlavour]

Ancient Apparition I really like your explanation and agree!

[@literallyasuka2996]

A symptom of DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) is having an out of body experience. Her alter greatly took over, and she wasn't able to socialize with her friends as her true own self, and witnessed one of her other selves taking her life over. However, this is only the Multiple Personality part of her I'm talking about. There's more reasons why this scene is the way it is. I only typed the psychological reason/theory in so that it isn't long to read. Edit: Please don't fucking listen to me I wrote this when I understood the anime less. Lain doesn't have DID. Lots of the anime is her battling her internet persona.

[@fluttershy3559]

this anime made my dd disorder even worse, anyway lets all love lain!!

[@Shiruvan]

How many Lains does it take to change a lightbulb

[@Krumplebumble]

Personally, I think she's having convince herself that she'll be accepted for her true self.

[@eliahaj2233]

Yeah

[@davidcito739]

Terrifying situation, not gonna lie

[@mathinho1237]

Cansado de chorar pqp

[@starrysheet]

This anime brings chills down my spine. Still good, though.

[@oliviasmith6511]

This anime reminds me of a movie I watched called "Tag"