This anime is even more confusing than the end of Neon Genesis Evangelion, which I understood actually ... but Lain takes a dive off the deep end. Though I love it for that reason.
Lain is certainly more abstract, but it's thesis is much more condensed and easily conveyed in language whereas Eva incorporates a scattered beautiful mess of themes and ideas. I have no didn't that decades from now they'll be used as case studies in philosophy and psychology respectively.
Serial Experiments Lain and Ghost in the Shell drove me to pursue Computer Science. LOL. And I still work as a programmer. The argument of creating biology via a software still distorts my brain even today
Serial experiments lain and ghost in a shell remind me of real life nowadays. We all live online via phones and computers. Were already cyborgs and social media just a extension of our cyborgness.
My question is more like "who or what?", we try to find explanations for everything, and even though we see things happening right in front of us, when we can't figure out what is going on, we just ignore the facts. That's what I've learned from this anime.
This anime just keeps getting more and more relevant as our technology progresses, its amazing to think that I could watch this series my whole lifetime and still gives me different viewpoint as my surrounding changes. Its too ahead of its time
I always thought that Lain was socially awkward and shy but on the wired where you don't have to be physically present she let go of her inhibitions. Similar to how people with little to less social lives get addicted to games, facebook,..etc. also, in the end she spends so much time in there that she becomes an admin or something and hence erases all data about her.
This show was definitely ahead of its time. Perhaps in Japan, this was more of an idea surrounding the hikikkomori in the late 90s, but now the internet has essentially changed the whole world.
At the end of the series Lain ends her existence but not her reality. Something can be real without having an existence, like numbers or geometrical figures: they are real in the counsciousness of the people without being there, therefore they have a value. Lain is no longer there, but is still real, that's why she can talk to Alice in the last scene. "An object or an action acquires a value and, this way, they get real, because they take part, in one way or another, of a reality that trascends them" (My rough translation of an excerpt taken from "Myth of the Eternal Return", written by Mircea Eliade). I don't think Lain became a goddess because for a god to be (an omnipontent, omnipresent, omniscient, necessary and perfect Being, exactly like the abrahamic) needs necessarily to just be, but not to exist, because existence involves necessarily non-existence, and viceversa, therefore the existance of god becames unnecessary, contradicting the very concept of Itself; therefore, a god needs to trascend existance and non-existence, to just Be, because the being cannot not-be, and the not-being cannot be, paraphrasing Parmenides. To me the abrahamic God and the Parmenides's being have quite a similarity. Greek gods are just too humanized (referencing Xenophanes here) to be used as an example. Limited by our very existence, we cannot perceive beings as themselves, because they trascend us, so had Lain became a goddess, Alice wouldn't be able to see her, possibly not even feel her. Demigoddess, that's possibly. I liked the videos. Keep them coming!
For some reason I can't send you a private message, or in a discussion page in your account, so it would have to be here. Now, si hablas español qué mejor.
Luis Emmanuel Desconozco a detalle las corrientes filosóficas, entiendo que tu comentario parte una base Parmenica, cuando mencionas "limited by our very existence we cannot perceived beings as themselves, because they trascend us" ¿Qué pasa con nuestra parte del ser? ¿Es también no percibida por nosotros mismos desde esta corriente de pensamiento?
Alia Alamina En Parménides los sentidos engañan, y no se accede al ser a través de ellos, sino a través de la razón, porque ella trasciende a los sentidos así como el ser trasciende a la existencia. Exactamente lo mismo aplica para nuestra parte del ser: Es, pero no la podemos conocer por medio de los sentidos, sino por la razón. Daré un ejemplo que sale de mí: Los números, no existen pero son, y no los podemos percibir por los sentidos, sino por medio de la razón, o dicho de otra manera, los razonamos; traigo el ejemplo de los números porque son entes abstractos, como el ser. Así que, según lo que entendí de esta corriente de pensamiento (la eleática), nuestro ser tampoco es percibido. La postura de que las esencias no pueden percibirse sería repetida por Husserl.
Luis Emmanuel Que interesante ¿Sabes de alguna ecuela actual de pensamiento que contemple los avances en neurobiología, computación y física que se han desarrollado hasta nuestros días? Por cierto muchas gracias por tomar el tiempo de responderme
If that were true, then she should have realised that the only way to be loved is to love others. As soon as you stop loving others, the meaning of your life becomes more meaningless.
Lain is clearly an introvert and lived a life with very cold parents. The only parent she is closes to is her father and he is more into his computers than parenting. Lain really don't have a bonding relationship with her sister either and they are super awkward towards one another when they do communicate. All of that contributed into Lain's eventual toxic relationship with her best friend. The type of best friend who showed Lain the love and attention lacking in her household. Her best friend is the only person that made and proved Lain is real instead of machine or software unlike her father. Such a toxic household would make anyone crazy. This anime more focuses on Lain battling her inner demands while coping with the suicide of her classmate. Lain is also suffering from identity crises and the pressures trying to keep up with society. Lain wants more friends, want to be up to date with the latest technology and want to break free from her introverted personality. She was so extreme at it that she lost sight of who she is and accidentally hurt her best friend in the process by revealing her secret. Lain is mentally ill.
---SPOILER ALERT---- The pain and sadness I feel for Lain is so unique to this show. So lonely, so alienated, and so confused that she chose suicide of the most purest form, complete erasure of her existence from the minds of others. There’s something so deeply terrifying and sad about this form of suicide. Suicide is typically used not to end ones existence, but if anything to FORCE others to remember them, empathize with them. Lain existed alone if but for very brief moments in the show. Her entire story only exists within our minds. In that we are the only people, as individuals, to know what she went through. Essentially, we are lain as well as we carry her first-hand memories.
I agree, the build up for lain finding love and then seeing it be killed off by not anyone but herself is unique. Makes me wish I never had seen the ps1 end cutscene.
4:05-4:10 - "What isn't remembered, never happened. Memmory is merely a record. You just need to rewrite that record." This may sound strange, but this kind of makes me think of Johan from Monster and makes me feel like, he could technically be an evil foil to Lain, idk. :p His idea of being forgotten for whatever reason was killing everyone he knew of him and was considered to be the devil or the anti-christ, purposely dedicating his life to non-existence, or perhaps even corruption. :p
While I had previously wondered about how the role of philosophy plays into Lain, I never saw it as explored in varied facets as in this video. I found it incredibly informative, considering I had learned many new things about philosophy from just this video alone. It also doesn't hurt that this is an actual analysis video about Lain instead of just generalizing everything, which is more or less, the vast majority of Lain videos on this site. I really enjoyed your thoughts regarding the series, and I'll definitely look through your channel. Great work.
What makes Lain so beautiful is how it bends the line between existential materialism and a theology of virtuality. Like the idea that God was not killed by the Enlightenment, but committed suicide voluntarily in order to be reborn in billions of disparate network nodes-- each stumbling into deeper connection by creative existential questioning... The ultimate modern Creation Myth, as it is recursively self-referential yet destructively self-questioning at the same time (outside of time)... I might be getting into the weeds here but hopefully that makes some sense. Anyway great video, definitely subscribed and I'll tell my friends as well.
In the normal universe, everything is interconnected. One could reasonably state that there is no moment when something isn't observed by a multitude of senses - be it those of living beings, or the clashing of molecules and waves with each other, creating a sort of 'universal sense' of existence. Interestingly enough, if you go deep enough - down to sub-atomic particles, this vast 'universal sense' breaks down and ceases to be a constant. There are waves that only 'decide' what state they are in, once directly observed - the phenomenon at the base of quantum physics (that and some really wibbly-wobbly math). This means that while at the macro-level, a tree will always make a sound, even if alone in the forest; at the sub-atomic scale, deep down inside even atoms, there is a world where it may make both sound and no sound at all, at the same time - until something observes it. Given this epiphany about the fundamental nature of the Universe, Lain may be ultimately both correct and incorrect at the same time regarding her sophos. Of further interest, is weather or not one can ever truly 'erase' information at all. Given enough tertiary information, we should be able to trace back anything that ever happened in the Universe, given how everything is interconnected and the ripples of an action - it's information - live on in perpetuity, as they cross time and space as no more then motes of dust, light, and radiation. The only thing that might be able to destroy information, is a black hole - and even then it might only just convert it through complex, but not fundamentally unknowable processes, into something else we are yet to understand. What I'm getting at is that while Lain could be both right and wrong regarding her views on existence, she is most likely fundamentally wrong regarding her ability to erase information - the best she could do, is mask it for those unable to look deeper. And just like someone or something capable of piecing back her existence from the ripples she left behind - we can see her, and her journey. We remember her. Thus, Lain is, ultimately, still alive, even if she doesn't realize this herself.
I appreciate the dive into quantum physics here. And while black holes and their effect on information is still a mystery (without hawking radiation there wouldn't be a problem at all) your topic really sparks the question of what constitutes existence. I've always had a problem with memories of a people forming their existence simply because there's so much information about that person they don't have.
We remember her so she is alive. Would that entail all people and things that we don't remember are dead? Would that mean there is a countless amount of things unknowable truly dead. But in categorising these unknowns, do they become known? Alive? so nothing is truly dead?
Sorry to break it to you chaps, but double-slit wave interference has also been observed in atom clusters with nonzero mass. Which means even stuff on a macro scale is subject to the observer phenomenon - our universe is literally employing "LOD rendering" optimisation, lol
the anime is about "enlightenment", the dissolution of ego, and the some of the experiences one might encounter and observe in the process. Lain is a conscious being among mostly egos'. this can be identified through the artwork of the eyes and pupil differences. I have convinced myself, this anime is a medium of spiritual awakening, much to same degree as one might find the works Alan Watts'.
Actually no, the anime defends the ego. Lain is constantly wondering what about her makes her herself, and what in existentialism that means is different from the "enlightenment" the fake god wanted for mankind. That's what lain wanted to avoid, the collective conscious of all beings forced together with no free will or individualism. The anime clearly defends our ego because it's what makes you, you. Without it you're not really anything but a subconscious blob.
What Lain has meant for me is true consciousness as well. I’ve experienced “Ego Death” before from some hallucinogenic substances and the “clarity” and inner peace I felt afterwards mirrors my experience watching this show. Thank you for your insight. The fact that the final episode is called “ego” I think proves your point as well.
2020: We have a new theorem about how social media has distanced us to the point of physical interaction instinction after just one pandemic they now use to rage war in our minds and countries
This series alone was ahead of it's time along with every dystopian novel like V for Vendetta. They weren't meant to be just fiction but remain a warning to those who would face it someday.
Hello dear Kath and subscribers, your voice is very charming and very clear explanation indeed. This explanation video is rather new and I like your approach so I'm typing my toughts while listening to "Serial Experiments Lain Soundtrack: 03 Inner Vision" I am kind of a radical viewer who cant move on to another anime until I find out enough evidences on web to materialize open endings and close the wounds. So its my duty to share and sync ideas with others though I will be mostly touching to plot part: * Earth's magnetic field is believed to be a perfect transition medium between internet and physical world. * Eiri aims to merge internet and magnetic field of Earth(reality) into one with Protocol 7 but he needs an emulator. * Eiri replicates KIDS project on a bigger scale but this time he avoids Hodgson's mistakes (or technical incompetence) and embodies "harnessed collective unconscious" traversing on Earth's magnetic field in an artificial human body, which becomes conscious and its own entity and that makes Lain an unawakened god at the beginning of the story. * Lain is an intercommunal psychic experimental girl compiled and awakened by Protocol 7, bio-emerged/physical form/hivemind/Gaia/manifestation of accumulated memories which grows day by day. * As part of awakening process she was needed to be in human form to acquire required skills and understanding to interconnect humans and realms. So Eiri gave Lain human thoughts by giving her human body and sent Lain to his colleague Yasuo's house * Eiri commits suicide after embedding his consciousnes to Protocol 7 as he no longer needs his body but he still needs Lain to leave her body and expand into the Wired to complete the merger. * As a result, Eiri and Knights scripted Evil Lain and altered memories and perception of Lain & humans around Lain (mostly Alice) to make Earth unbearably distorted place and force her to do as Eiri says.(Knights were able to break reality through Lain's memories) To make it worse they tried to blow up Lain's room but MiB had lured her away in time. * Tachibana Laboratories provided Lain real life experience (family,school), MiB and hardware until she reaches a stage of maturity (where she gets rid of all Knights with the help of MiB.) * After things get serious, Boss of Tachibana Laboratories reveals his true intention and disposes MiB off using Evil Lain (alter ego of Wired Lain which was scripted by Knights) * Lain's guilt over the havoc caused by her interaction within the wired provokes her to take drastic - and irreversible - action. * An exhausted Lain appears willing to sacrifice her own flesh and blood until Alice convinces her to take a stand against the digitalized deity and finishes Eiri off as soon as she realizes he is obsessive, greedy and inferior to her. * In the end Lain sacrifices herself for her only friend Alice by removing all instances of her memory from World (but Yasuo??or was it God?? or people start to recognize her and Yasuo was the first??) by manipulating magnetic fields of Earth with her psionic powers. It eventually leads to sacrification of her physical body. Her "mind" is still alive online, but the body everyone had hallucinated about for over a decade just disappears. * Wired Lain was everywhere scattered on the wired. She existed in the thoughts and memories of people. Finally Lain makes Wired Lain disappear and manages to exist as only one ego. She becomes goddess-like being that can alter memories and reality (and bend time up to an extent ??? which reminds me of Omega from Edge of tomorow.). * After events are settled she even manages to take her only known non-aging deific physical form (just like Eiri did I guess??), she even meets grown-up Arisu (Or maybe it was all in Lain's isolated mind to cope with solitude ?? but in the end Lain is everywhere so both cases are the same ????) Serial Experiments Lain and Digimon Tamers were both written by Chiaki J. Konaka. In Tamers, Digimon were artificial life programs that evolved within the Digital World, a parallel reality within Cyberspace. They developed the ability to "bio-emerge," manifesting as physical beings by synthesizing artificial proteins - much like the way Lain's physical form was created using "artificial ribosomes" and the way Eiri attempted to manifest physically in the climax. The barriers between reality and the Digital World seem to be eroding. I think thats the beauty of anime that uses "perception = reality" mechanic. Was Lain real or only real in memories... Therefore its hard to discuss whether Lain is physical or not at all because of how perception is defined in anime.. The creators of the show have explicitly said that any interpretation is welcome and is accepted as it is your own and that is how you perceived the transpired events. But I think reality was indeed very real as we witnessed some other events through eyes of side characters and Lain is actually plastering herself onto reality. When she interacts, she violates object-subject relation, reality is purposely subjective for Lain that makes her special. Thats how she manages to manipulate physical objects like exploding eyepiece of Men in black..by accessing both object and subject which changes or rewrites reality. This is the part Im trying to understand actually. My explanation is not flawless. There are some points missing but I think I tried...please correct me if I missed a point. Most important of all, this was made in freakin 1998!.. (before Google and Matrix franchise even existed as an entity) and Im proud of it because I'm a 90s child. Not to mention OST and Lain's cuteness made me forget all that humming noise! I heard there has been a prequel or sequel named "Despera" in progress for a long time but SEL director Ryutaro Nakamura passed away in 2013 at the age of 58, and anime was put on indefinite hold until last year! EDIT: Watched it 2nd time.. will make small changes soon..
Well Chiaki J Konaka & Yoshitobi ABe JUST said they're still trying to get it up and running like 3 weeks ago! Here's the tweet: twitter.com/yamaki_nyx/status/976433207607373825/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.animenewsnetwork.com%2Finterest%2F2018-03-21%2Fyoshitoshi-abe-despera-anime-project-isnt-dead%2F.129307 Your collection of all the plot elements is absolutely insane lmfao. Ima have to watch this anime again.
Despite me believing in realism, I find this show very interesting and thought provoking. If I've learnt one thing in life so far it is that even if you don't believe in another philosophy, still learn it's ins and outs as you will better your own understanding of life through that process.
@@SerendipitousProvidence It is the opposite of idealism that is explained in the video and solipism. Stuff exists outside of the mind and doesn't need to be perceived to exist.
Before I watched this anime, I believed that the Internet is just the Collective Unconscious as Carl Jung talked of. After watching, I strengthened this belief.
I know that this is a super old comment but I really wish that you would elaborate on this. I've only done a small amount of reading on Jung's Collective Unconscious, and I've come to share the beliefs of the scientific community that the CU is mainly pseudoscience. How can an ancestral language of symbols perpetuated by genes and dreams be supported by scientific evidence; moreover, how does this relate to the internet?
Lain for me is a manifestation of the people's Collective Unconscious, Lain is a manifestation of what they believed she is. In the beginning of the series we see lain as somewhat of an empty husk. But as lain learns more about the humans through the wired and such, she and her other selves somewhat developed and thoughts about the people that manifested her. On Layer 13 after lain having a time with Alice she has come to a conclusion that having a physical body is the true way to live. So as the God who has total control over the wired she rewrote everyone's memories to the way they were which also erases the people's memories of her she did this, because Lain loves us... Really sad that Lain was brought upon to existence just to be forgotten... sorry if I didn't worded this out too well, English isn't my first language...
I just adore this Channel. This video especially, as existentialism more or less saved my life, or rather Sartre did. A couple of years ago I was really sick. My heart had a bpm at around 140-180, sometimes even as high as 200. This lowered my hearts effeciency to a minimal, which resulted in liquids building up in my body, about 12 liters. My metabolism was through the roof, so much that they eventually had to cut out the part which makes it. (Don't know what it's called in english, sorry.) I could barely walk 5 meters wothout losing my breath like I'd been runing for days. I had no energy and no will to live, I became suicidal to a small extent. I just sat in my hospital bed, staring into the wall. Crying when no one was around. Then I read "existentialism is a humanism." By Sartre. I read it twice. I understood what was happening in my body was a situation I had little controle over, but by accepting this illness I was living in bad faith, and I could either fight this or die broken. Sartre didn't save my life. Not literally. But he did save my mind, or what religious people would refer to as a soul. Had I not read his book that half a year of me getting exhausted by walking to the bathroom would have broken me in pieces. And because of that I recommend that bloody book to every depressed, suicidal fool who will listen to me.
@@Stella.22g yes, thank you! I am doing so much better. I even started uni, and I'm on my 4th semester now as a 26 year old. While I still subscribe to Sartre's philosophy, I have come to recognise its rigidity and have made my own mental short cuts and additions to it. However, it is still one of my favorite books ever, and a wonderful starting place to being an active agent in one's own battle against the bullshit of life, of which there is plenty. It's a rather unique view on existance which I cherish wholeheartedly. I sincerely hope it helps you as it did me. Crossing my fingers for you.
I love this video you made. I'm a huge, and I mean a HUGE fan of SEL Lain, and I literally watch your video atleast once a week for the past year just about. Just know that someone out there cares for your content, and yes, The Wired and Real Life are interchangeable with one another.
I am glad i found the video and would love to see more. I am sad because it only has 7600 views but it is what it is. As for talking about Lain i don't think 9 minutes is ever gonna be enough, but you managed to do a pretty great 9 minute talking video nonetheless. I've taken Lain to the deepest part of my forever questioned existence and if everything fails me i will always have her.
I like that you like hearing what we think. I always was curious about Lain, but i never found the time to see it all. Thanks to your video, i know what to expect for. I love this type of videos, its like talking with a friend about your favourite shows, and truly learning something new. See you later, Space Cowboy!
After some time, you bring about La Mettrie, saying in substance that the ego is independent of the body, in the way that we could replace parts of your body and you would still be yourself. You say this is the point of view the show presents. At least for me, it is the worldview of Eiri, and of Lain under his influence, but in the end, Lain realized through Alice how the body is important. Eiri is convinced that the body is a limitation for the evolution of the human mind, but then Lain finally asserts her existence when she realizes she has a body and without it she has no ego. Eiri can only respond by trying (and failing miserably) to materialize himself, showing his powerlessness as an immaterial entity and the collapse of his worldview. This is really where the show was headed to. I mean, parts of your body are parts of you, as these change, you change too. Also, there have been examples of people who got transplants and experienced sensations that felt like they weren't theirs. The whole psyche is not strictly located in the brain, neurons are everywhere in our body, though in varying density. Also, associating the body with a biological machine could well be a truism, and as such, not helping at all deciphering the mysteries of life.
Awesome vid! I love this sort of stuff. Rarely do people apply the kind of analysis that many works of anime truly deserve. The artform is just ripe with artistic potential which can be observed already in lots of existing works: Serial Experiments Lain, for one; the oeuvre of Hayao Miyazaki... etc. Again, it's so nice to see a video that capitalises on the artistic intentions of the production team. Likely, these philosophies were running through their minds while they were creating Lain.
I’m an existentialist. However, my belief is that the meaning of existence can only be defined by us and it is the existential responsibility to define it.
then doesn't the existential responsibility for beings to define their purposes/meanings somewhat hint at a universal goal not defined by us or any other being that existed in the firmaments?
loved your video about lain! i just finished watching the series and you really break down the philosophy so clearly. also, hard for me to explain, but i noticed this idea of technology being a vehicle for something that has always existed, this ability for everyone's unconscious to be connected, and to give life to thoughts and to manipulate "reality". But Its like, humans need to create something tangible called technology to be able to understand the nature of this existence. its like lain got so much power by questioning reality, sparked by exploring technology, leading to her thoughts being so powerful that what she felt came true, like not existing in class or her avoidant family leaving her behind. i feel kinda optimistic after watching lain coz its almost like, theres no reason to question anything, we just need to know that we create our reality, without understanding why. embrace hope and love i guess. thanks lain!
If I could use one word to describe the subject of "Lain" & "Boogiepop Phantom," I'd say they are about "memory." At the end of the story, Lain deletes stored information so that no one will know she ever existed. It was watching "Lain" that I realized that we value people for their memories (who they know, what they know, etc.), and that value is based our own memories of that other person.
I have watched this series way too much, and I have yet to figure it out. It's my number two favorite anime series of all time, and I never realized so much form it until I found this video! It has me thinking I need to rewatch the series form a new mindset. thank you!!!
I very much enjoyed this video and was happy you took the stance of expanding on the themes without trying to use them to "explain" the story. I was also happy to didn't use a title like "lain explained" or some similar thing. Thank you.
I think Lain (the show) has to assume the mechanistic view of the person for it to make sense. Otherwise, it's left completely unexplained how Chisa or Eiri can live in the Wired while being dead in the "real world."
Thanks for videos, its really nice conent to watch. First of all its wired with Philosophy so you can receive some interesting ideas and info . And another point is that you can rewatch this anime with new thought and even maybe create some adds for it. Looking forward to the next videos.
I think you should do an analysis of Ergo Proxy. It's my personal favorite, because of its heavy philosophical influence and subtext. "I think, therefore, you are." I interpreted Vincent Law's first eye-opening as a symbolic gesture to show that because he left Romdeau, he was able to truly see the world and stop living the illusion he created for himself. All that stuff about being a model citizen was abandoned because he finally saw a glimpse of the wasteland of the real world. He could not return after having seen this truth, which reminds me of the Allegory of the Cave. Oh yeah, and episode 20 Sacred Eye of the Void was excellent for being heavily inspired by Zhuangzi's Butterfly Dream Parable.
this video was easy to understand now let me dive into the anime and see if i can keep up. when i watch these philosophical/psychological anime ( for example ghost in the shell) i always watch videos like these beforehand because its better to learn and get a better understanding than to pretend i comprehend wtf they're talking abt. especially since i get distracted so easily lol. though i will admit i usually get frustrated when i dont initially understand something.
You forgot alchemy! The material world is the lower part and the wired is the upper part, Lain being Hermete trismegistus. If you dig deeper you can see how accurate this reference is. Great video by the way :)
i think sound is qualia, it's an experienced sensation evoked by the ear from the sense data: sound waves. so a tree falling makes sound waves which only make sound if there is someone receiving them.
If a tree falls in a forest, does it make a sound. If something is not happening in our current awarnessss/perception did it happen? I mean none of saw the big bang but were all here ya? I mean if you left the stove on and forget, you might just come back to a fire. If a tree fell on a man with dementia would he survive, since he forgot about therefore it no longer exists right. Imo it feels a bit arrogant to believe if something isn't in your memory or awareness it just didn't happen. As if human perception creates reality. The sun still burns even without life. Even if you believed all of reality was an illusion what good would that do you? I remember Itachi trapping Kakashi in a illusion world. The first thing Kakashi says something like "This is only an illusion" with Itachi retorting by stabbing and torturing him days on end, as Kakashi screamed and screamed. His illusion becoming his new reality.
I feel like people use the term selfishness and arrogance to stuff like existentialism/solipsism or even Nietzschian philosophy too much... Who says it's arrogant if they genuinely believe it to be true even if they didn't want it to be because it honestly sounds logical to them? That being said, I feel like things probably would still exist even without our perception of it since the world is still alive even with all the people who are dead and those said dead people definitely existed, but yeah. :p But like, for you as an individual, if we do only live once, how much meaning does life really have? All those personal connections you have to people and any legacy you leave behind, even if it meant something to other people, what would it even mean to you anymore? Would you still be you in an afterlife, or would it be like reincarnation? You yourself in your mortal life wouldn't come back again any way, you only get one shot... I feel like hedonism, maybe even love, is the only thing that really matters for the most part... School... work... nothing really matters unless you achieve some dream you want, if you could, all that really matters is a person's individual happiness, and hopefully it's a happiness they can spread to other people. All these rules people have though, the black and white nature of good vs. evil and so on... I don't really understand all of that, at least not anymore, it seems weird for people to have so much meaning to such an ephemeral life, but maybe I just feel this because I'm depressed... not to sound "arrogant", but I think it's a very "smart" kind of depressiveness though, as I put a lot of thought into this comment with lots of good grammar and spelling, I'm not just simply depressed and shouldn't be depressed, fi anyone said that to me especially in a sense that sounded almost condescending and not empathetic, I would call that arrogance... or something... Anyways, yeah, maybe no one will care about this wall of text but whatever...
Something can be real and simultaneously not be apart of our reality, and vice versa. If a tree falls when no one is around, it does make a sound. But the falling of the tree and it's sound are not apart of our reality for we did not witness it.
I honestly hope that one day chiaki k makes a spin off series to serial experiments lain because oh boy i really want see more of his work in my life time
This video is good, but I think it misses a major point about the character of Lain: she's not actually a normal person at all. Unlike the people who die and transfer their consciousness to the wired, Lain's consciousness (allegedly) *precedes* the existence of her body. We are lead to believe "Lain of the Wired" is the original Lain, and that this person has existed for a long time (either as literal software, a manifestation of the Collective Unconscious, or something else). I don't know if that's the correct interpretation, but that line of questioning is one of the most interesting ones in my opinion.
@@AnimePhilosopher Hi. I loved your work on this video. Sorry to ask but could I get the name of the song used over the existentialism part of the vid. I'd really love it if you could.
While I dont remember too much of the story or what philosophy they tried to use. It would awesome to hear something about Wolf's Rain. Loved that show in Jr high. One of the first anime to make me cry. And just about everyone who watched it at my school all cried too. Wish I wasn't lazy right now or could remember the kids name. But man that hurt the heart. Loved this video!! Hope you find success with the RUclips algorithm. It can be a pain.
That beginning clip, I'm pretty sure, is a play on the Hegelian self-realization dialog and the mirror experience. PS I never heard someone considering Existentialism a bleak philosphy.
I just discovered your channel and i love your videos! Can you please tell me the music you used in this video? (The part about the vase had an amazing background song)
![ROSÉ(로제) - APT. (Band VER.) (With. 이영지) [더 시즌즈-이영지의 레인보우] | KBS 241129 방송](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/IW8qaemx74g/mqdefault.jpg)
This anime is even more confusing than the end of Neon Genesis Evangelion, which I understood actually ... but Lain takes a dive off the deep end. Though I love it for that reason.
i disagree, i felt like i could follow lain much more than evangelion
@@isislee919 same
Lain is certainly more abstract, but it's thesis is much more condensed and easily conveyed in language whereas Eva incorporates a scattered beautiful mess of themes and ideas. I have no didn't that decades from now they'll be used as case studies in philosophy and psychology respectively.
No doubt*
@@BirdUpFR No one knows that it
Serial Experiments Lain and Ghost in the Shell drove me to pursue Computer Science. LOL. And I still work as a programmer. The argument of creating biology via a software still distorts my brain even today
are you me?
we are all on the same berserk boat, some even call it the thousand hiatus
wow I feel you😂 I know what you mean lol. I've haven't watched ghost in a shell though😊
Serial experiments lain and ghost in a shell remind me of real life nowadays. We all live online via phones and computers. Were already cyborgs and social media just a extension of our cyborgness.
@@goroakechi3593 Exactly what I had in mind. The laughing man incident is equivalent Enron and Anonymous in our present.
Who is Lain, you ask? Why, that's easy; Lain is Lain.
The Bull Moose Best answer.
My question is more like "who or what?", we try to find explanations for everything, and even though we see things happening right in front of us, when we can't figure out what is going on, we just ignore the facts.
That's what I've learned from this anime.
or Lane is me :O
わたしはわたし
Watashi wa watashi
-Lain ikaruwa
This anime just keeps getting more and more relevant as our technology progresses, its amazing to think that I could watch this series my whole lifetime and still gives me different viewpoint as my surrounding changes. Its too ahead of its time
For a while during COVID this could have almost literally been your life
I always thought that Lain was socially awkward and shy but on the wired where you don't have to be physically present she let go of her inhibitions. Similar to how people with little to less social lives get addicted to games, facebook,..etc. also, in the end she spends so much time in there that she becomes an admin or something and hence erases all data about her.
i thought the same kind of thing
This show was definitely ahead of its time. Perhaps in Japan, this was more of an idea surrounding the hikikkomori in the late 90s, but now the internet has essentially changed the whole world.
u missed the mark completely lol
Indeed thought provoking anime
At the end of the series Lain ends her existence but not her reality. Something can be real without having an existence, like numbers or geometrical figures: they are real in the counsciousness of the people without being there, therefore they have a value. Lain is no longer there, but is still real, that's why she can talk to Alice in the last scene. "An object or an action acquires a value and, this way, they get real, because they take part, in one way or another, of a reality that trascends them" (My rough translation of an excerpt taken from "Myth of the Eternal Return", written by Mircea Eliade). I don't think Lain became a goddess because for a god to be (an omnipontent, omnipresent, omniscient, necessary and perfect Being, exactly like the abrahamic) needs necessarily to just be, but not to exist, because existence involves necessarily non-existence, and viceversa, therefore the existance of god becames unnecessary, contradicting the very concept of Itself; therefore, a god needs to trascend existance and non-existence, to just Be, because the being cannot not-be, and the not-being cannot be, paraphrasing Parmenides. To me the abrahamic God and the Parmenides's being have quite a similarity. Greek gods are just too humanized (referencing Xenophanes here) to be used as an example.
Limited by our very existence, we cannot perceive beings as themselves, because they trascend us, so had Lain became a goddess, Alice wouldn't be able to see her, possibly not even feel her. Demigoddess, that's possibly.
I liked the videos. Keep them coming!
Luis Emmanuel Luis Emmanuel hi, I would like to talk with you about what you have written in a more personal way, if it's possible please write to me
For some reason I can't send you a private message, or in a discussion page in your account, so it would have to be here.
Now, si hablas español qué mejor.
Luis Emmanuel Desconozco a detalle las corrientes filosóficas, entiendo que tu comentario parte una base Parmenica, cuando mencionas "limited by our very existence we cannot perceived beings as themselves, because they trascend us" ¿Qué pasa con nuestra parte del ser? ¿Es también no percibida por nosotros mismos desde esta corriente de pensamiento?
Alia Alamina En Parménides los sentidos engañan, y no se accede al ser a través de ellos, sino a través de la razón, porque ella trasciende a los sentidos así como el ser trasciende a la existencia. Exactamente lo mismo aplica para nuestra parte del ser: Es, pero no la podemos conocer por medio de los sentidos, sino por la razón. Daré un ejemplo que sale de mí: Los números, no existen pero son, y no los podemos percibir por los sentidos, sino por medio de la razón, o dicho de otra manera, los razonamos; traigo el ejemplo de los números porque son entes abstractos, como el ser. Así que, según lo que entendí de esta corriente de pensamiento (la eleática), nuestro ser tampoco es percibido.
La postura de que las esencias no pueden percibirse sería repetida por Husserl.
Luis Emmanuel Que interesante ¿Sabes de alguna ecuela actual de pensamiento que contemple los avances en neurobiología, computación y física que se han desarrollado hasta nuestros días? Por cierto muchas gracias por tomar el tiempo de responderme
Lain's purpose is to be loved.
Let's all love Lain.
If that were true, then she should have realised that the only way to be loved is to love others. As soon as you stop loving others, the meaning of your life becomes more meaningless.
Just like preacher
Adam White Wrong, very wrong
Adam White And i am runningfrom love
Lain is clearly an introvert and lived a life with very cold parents. The only parent she is closes to is her father and he is more into his computers than parenting. Lain really don't have a bonding relationship with her sister either and they are super awkward towards one another when they do communicate. All of that contributed into Lain's eventual toxic relationship with her best friend. The type of best friend who showed Lain the love and attention lacking in her household. Her best friend is the only person that made and proved Lain is real instead of machine or software unlike her father. Such a toxic household would make anyone crazy. This anime more focuses on Lain battling her inner demands while coping with the suicide of her classmate. Lain is also suffering from identity crises and the pressures trying to keep up with society. Lain wants more friends, want to be up to date with the latest technology and want to break free from her introverted personality. She was so extreme at it that she lost sight of who she is and accidentally hurt her best friend in the process by revealing her secret. Lain is mentally ill.
this is one of t he many interpretations of the show. it is amazing how there is so many well crafted ideas in the show
I never really bought that interpretation, I always thought that lain was a bunch of surreal concepts essentially becoming real.
thats literally the psfour version of lain
This show has LAYERS, and you are spittin' BARS!!
You should have way more subscribers, I learned more from you about philosophy than I do In my professors lectures. Awesome Job!
---SPOILER ALERT----
The pain and sadness I feel for Lain is so unique to this show.
So lonely, so alienated, and so confused that she chose suicide of the most purest form, complete erasure of her existence from the minds of others.
There’s something so deeply terrifying and sad about this form of suicide. Suicide is typically used not to end ones existence, but if anything to FORCE others to remember them, empathize with them.
Lain existed alone if but for very brief moments in the show. Her entire story only exists within our minds. In that we are the only people, as individuals, to know what she went through.
Essentially, we are lain as well as we carry her first-hand memories.
I agree, the build up for lain finding love and then seeing it be killed off by not anyone but herself is unique. Makes me wish I never had seen the ps1 end cutscene.
A series I love that has a similar type of suicide that I'd recommend reading is Goodnight Punpun
@@altimanzify yo spoilers man. i'm reading that!
@@purplehaze2250 I mean I didn't reveal who it is at least
SPOILER ALERT NEXT TIME PLEASE WTF
Lain really is everywhere now.
Her and Motoko in the wire/net.
4:05-4:10 - "What isn't remembered, never happened. Memmory is merely a record. You just need to rewrite that record."
This may sound strange, but this kind of makes me think of Johan from Monster and makes me feel like, he could technically be an evil foil to Lain, idk. :p
His idea of being forgotten for whatever reason was killing everyone he knew of him and was considered to be the devil or the anti-christ, purposely dedicating his life to non-existence, or perhaps even corruption. :p
While I had previously wondered about how the role of philosophy plays into Lain, I never saw it as explored in varied facets as in this video. I found it incredibly informative, considering I had learned many new things about philosophy from just this video alone. It also doesn't hurt that this is an actual analysis video about Lain instead of just generalizing everything, which is more or less, the vast majority of Lain videos on this site. I really enjoyed your thoughts regarding the series, and I'll definitely look through your channel. Great work.
Honestly I'm just glad people are still talking about Lain.
Artistic Masterpiece
What makes Lain so beautiful is how it bends the line between existential materialism and a theology of virtuality. Like the idea that God was not killed by the Enlightenment, but committed suicide voluntarily in order to be reborn in billions of disparate network nodes-- each stumbling into deeper connection by creative existential questioning... The ultimate modern Creation Myth, as it is recursively self-referential yet destructively self-questioning at the same time (outside of time)... I might be getting into the weeds here but hopefully that makes some sense. Anyway great video, definitely subscribed and I'll tell my friends as well.
That's actually a very cool perspective!
Very well said.
All good except "theology of virtuality" means absolutely nothing in any context.
made sense cause that's exactly what I did
In the normal universe, everything is interconnected. One could reasonably state that there is no moment when something isn't observed by a multitude of senses - be it those of living beings, or the clashing of molecules and waves with each other, creating a sort of 'universal sense' of existence.
Interestingly enough, if you go deep enough - down to sub-atomic particles, this vast 'universal sense' breaks down and ceases to be a constant. There are waves that only 'decide' what state they are in, once directly observed - the phenomenon at the base of quantum physics (that and some really wibbly-wobbly math).
This means that while at the macro-level, a tree will always make a sound, even if alone in the forest; at the sub-atomic scale, deep down inside even atoms, there is a world where it may make both sound and no sound at all, at the same time - until something observes it.
Given this epiphany about the fundamental nature of the Universe, Lain may be ultimately both correct and incorrect at the same time regarding her sophos.
Of further interest, is weather or not one can ever truly 'erase' information at all. Given enough tertiary information, we should be able to trace back anything that ever happened in the Universe, given how everything is interconnected and the ripples of an action - it's information - live on in perpetuity, as they cross time and space as no more then motes of dust, light, and radiation. The only thing that might be able to destroy information, is a black hole - and even then it might only just convert it through complex, but not fundamentally unknowable processes, into something else we are yet to understand.
What I'm getting at is that while Lain could be both right and wrong regarding her views on existence, she is most likely fundamentally wrong regarding her ability to erase information - the best she could do, is mask it for those unable to look deeper. And just like someone or something capable of piecing back her existence from the ripples she left behind - we can see her, and her journey. We remember her. Thus, Lain is, ultimately, still alive, even if she doesn't realize this herself.
I appreciate the dive into quantum physics here. And while black holes and their effect on information is still a mystery (without hawking radiation there wouldn't be a problem at all) your topic really sparks the question of what constitutes existence. I've always had a problem with memories of a people forming their existence simply because there's so much information about that person they don't have.
We remember her so she is alive. Would that entail all people and things that we don't remember are dead? Would that mean there is a countless amount of things unknowable truly dead. But in categorising these unknowns, do they become known? Alive? so nothing is truly dead?
Sorry to break it to you chaps, but double-slit wave interference has also been observed in atom clusters with nonzero mass. Which means even stuff on a macro scale is subject to the observer phenomenon - our universe is literally employing "LOD rendering" optimisation, lol
the anime is about "enlightenment", the dissolution of ego, and the some of the experiences one might encounter and observe in the process.
Lain is a conscious being among mostly egos'. this can be identified through the artwork of the eyes and pupil differences.
I have convinced myself, this anime is a medium of spiritual awakening, much to same degree as one might find the works Alan Watts'.
Actually no, the anime defends the ego. Lain is constantly wondering what about her makes her herself, and what in existentialism that means is different from the "enlightenment" the fake god wanted for mankind. That's what lain wanted to avoid, the collective conscious of all beings forced together with no free will or individualism. The anime clearly defends our ego because it's what makes you, you. Without it you're not really anything but a subconscious blob.
What Lain has meant for me is true consciousness as well.
I’ve experienced “Ego Death” before from some hallucinogenic substances and the “clarity” and inner peace I felt afterwards mirrors my experience watching this show.
Thank you for your insight. The fact that the final episode is called “ego” I think proves your point as well.
I came to the same conclusion watching the show, I legit felt guided to watch it
I think that’s why I like this anime so much, I had similar experiences from an acid trip
2020: We have a new theorem about how social media has distanced us to the point of physical interaction instinction after just one pandemic they now use to rage war in our minds and countries
This series alone was ahead of it's time along with every dystopian novel like V for Vendetta. They weren't meant to be just fiction but remain a warning to those who would face it someday.
If a tree falls and there's no one around to hear it, it's probably on the record of some hipster band
Hello dear Kath and subscribers, your voice is very charming and very clear explanation indeed. This explanation video is rather new and I like your approach so I'm typing my toughts while listening to "Serial Experiments Lain Soundtrack: 03 Inner Vision"
I am kind of a radical viewer who cant move on to another anime until I find out enough evidences on web to materialize open endings and close the wounds. So its my duty to share and sync ideas with others though I will be mostly touching to plot part:
* Earth's magnetic field is believed to be a perfect transition medium between internet and physical world.
* Eiri aims to merge internet and magnetic field of Earth(reality) into one with Protocol 7 but he needs an emulator.
* Eiri replicates KIDS project on a bigger scale but this time he avoids Hodgson's mistakes (or technical incompetence) and embodies "harnessed collective unconscious" traversing on Earth's magnetic field in an artificial human body, which becomes conscious and its own entity and that makes Lain an unawakened god at the beginning of the story.
* Lain is an intercommunal psychic experimental girl compiled and awakened by Protocol 7, bio-emerged/physical form/hivemind/Gaia/manifestation of accumulated memories which grows day by day.
* As part of awakening process she was needed to be in human form to acquire required skills and understanding to interconnect humans and realms. So Eiri gave Lain human thoughts by giving her human body and sent Lain to his colleague Yasuo's house
* Eiri commits suicide after embedding his consciousnes to Protocol 7 as he no longer needs his body but he still needs Lain to leave her body and expand into the Wired to complete the merger.
* As a result, Eiri and Knights scripted Evil Lain and altered memories and perception of Lain & humans around Lain (mostly Alice) to make Earth unbearably distorted place and force her to do as Eiri says.(Knights were able to break reality through Lain's memories) To make it worse they tried to blow up Lain's room but MiB had lured her away in time.
* Tachibana Laboratories provided Lain real life experience (family,school), MiB and hardware until she reaches a stage of maturity (where she gets rid of all Knights with the help of MiB.)
* After things get serious, Boss of Tachibana Laboratories reveals his true intention and disposes MiB off using Evil Lain (alter ego of Wired Lain which was scripted by Knights)
* Lain's guilt over the havoc caused by her interaction within the wired provokes her to take drastic - and irreversible - action.
* An exhausted Lain appears willing to sacrifice her own flesh and blood until Alice convinces her to take a stand against the digitalized deity and finishes Eiri off as soon as she realizes he is obsessive, greedy and inferior to her.
* In the end Lain sacrifices herself for her only friend Alice by removing all instances of her memory from World (but Yasuo??or was it God?? or people start to recognize her and Yasuo was the first??) by manipulating magnetic fields of Earth with her psionic powers. It eventually leads to sacrification of her physical body. Her "mind" is still alive online, but the body everyone had hallucinated about for over a decade just disappears.
* Wired Lain was everywhere scattered on the wired. She existed in the thoughts and memories of people. Finally Lain makes Wired Lain disappear and manages to exist as only one ego. She becomes goddess-like being that can alter memories and reality (and bend time up to an extent ??? which reminds me of Omega from Edge of tomorow.).
* After events are settled she even manages to take her only known non-aging deific physical form (just like Eiri did I guess??), she even meets grown-up Arisu (Or maybe it was all in Lain's isolated mind to cope with solitude ?? but in the end Lain is everywhere so both cases are the same ????)
Serial Experiments Lain and Digimon Tamers were both written by Chiaki J. Konaka. In Tamers, Digimon were artificial life programs that evolved within the Digital World, a parallel reality within Cyberspace.
They developed the ability to "bio-emerge," manifesting as physical beings by synthesizing artificial proteins - much like the way Lain's physical form was created using "artificial ribosomes"
and the way Eiri attempted to manifest physically in the climax. The barriers between reality and the Digital World seem to be eroding.
I think thats the beauty of anime that uses "perception = reality" mechanic.
Was Lain real or only real in memories... Therefore its hard to discuss whether Lain is physical or not at all because of how perception is defined in anime..
The creators of the show have explicitly said that any interpretation is welcome and is accepted as it is your own and that is how you perceived the transpired events.
But I think reality was indeed very real as we witnessed some other events through eyes of side characters and Lain is actually plastering herself onto reality.
When she interacts, she violates object-subject relation, reality is purposely subjective for Lain that makes her special.
Thats how she manages to manipulate physical objects like exploding eyepiece of Men in black..by accessing both object and subject which changes or rewrites reality. This is the part Im trying to understand actually.
My explanation is not flawless. There are some points missing but I think I tried...please correct me if I missed a point.
Most important of all, this was made in freakin 1998!.. (before Google and Matrix franchise even existed as an entity) and Im proud of it because I'm a 90s child.
Not to mention OST and Lain's cuteness made me forget all that humming noise!
I heard there has been a prequel or sequel named "Despera" in progress for a long time but SEL director Ryutaro Nakamura passed away in 2013 at the age of 58, and anime was put on indefinite hold until last year!
EDIT: Watched it 2nd time.. will make small changes soon..
Well Chiaki J Konaka & Yoshitobi ABe JUST said they're still trying to get it up and running like 3 weeks ago! Here's the tweet: twitter.com/yamaki_nyx/status/976433207607373825/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.animenewsnetwork.com%2Finterest%2F2018-03-21%2Fyoshitoshi-abe-despera-anime-project-isnt-dead%2F.129307
Your collection of all the plot elements is absolutely insane lmfao. Ima have to watch this anime again.
.
You are beautiful!!
Nice
Now I just seem to understand 🎵
Despite me believing in realism, I find this show very interesting and thought provoking. If I've learnt one thing in life so far it is that even if you don't believe in another philosophy, still learn it's ins and outs as you will better your own understanding of life through that process.
define realism?
Realism?
@@SerendipitousProvidence It is the opposite of idealism that is explained in the video and solipism.
Stuff exists outside of the mind and doesn't need to be perceived to exist.
Thank you for covering this anime, it truly deserves this coverage, and you did a great job breaking it down
Before I watched this anime, I believed that the Internet is just the Collective Unconscious as Carl Jung talked of. After watching, I strengthened this belief.
i got a chilling feeling that this was the case after watching this anime...
The Internet is the Cave (s) that Plato was talking about.
@soprano draper underwood horseman then does that mean that we just need to escape it to know the truth?
@@hahdhsjsjrkfn If the cave is the internet then what is the opposite that is Aristotle.
I know that this is a super old comment but I really wish that you would elaborate on this. I've only done a small amount of reading on Jung's Collective Unconscious, and I've come to share the beliefs of the scientific community that the CU is mainly pseudoscience. How can an ancestral language of symbols perpetuated by genes and dreams be supported by scientific evidence; moreover, how does this relate to the internet?
God…I miss these videos, please come back :’(
Who's watching Lain in 2019?
Present day.
Present time!
Me!!
Me ✍🏾☝🏾
Actually here. Started it way back than but gave it another try now and it is really thought provoking.
finished it an hour ago
HAHAHAHA
one of the few anime channels that hasn't annoyed me. your very insightful.
Holy shit, this is one of the most beautiful voice I've heard
ikr
just rewatched this show recently and this video is a great addition to the experience imo. Great video, subbed.
Lain for me is a manifestation of the people's Collective Unconscious, Lain is a manifestation of what they believed she is. In the beginning of the series we see lain as somewhat of an empty husk. But as lain learns more about the humans through the wired and such, she and her other selves somewhat developed and thoughts about the people that manifested her. On Layer 13 after lain having a time with Alice she has come to a conclusion that having a physical body is the true way to live. So as the God who has total control over the wired she rewrote everyone's memories to the way they were which also erases the people's memories of her she did this, because Lain loves us...
Really sad that Lain was brought upon to existence just to be forgotten...
sorry if I didn't worded this out too well, English isn't my first language...
This is probably the best Lain video explanation ever made.
What an amazing channel. I feel like I just stumbled upon a hidden gem
I love serial experiments lain because it accurately shows how addictive the internet is today
You should definitely do a video on texhnolyze.
It would be so good, i agree !!
True, that series is so messed up.
chupamiubre Yes! Texhnolyze has so much philosophy to unpack. I would also suggest Kaiba as well.
I have seen most of Kaiba, it was very interesting as well! Still need to finish it though.
man that show was a trip and a half
I just adore this Channel. This video especially, as existentialism more or less saved my life, or rather Sartre did.
A couple of years ago I was really sick. My heart had a bpm at around 140-180, sometimes even as high as 200. This lowered my hearts effeciency to a minimal, which resulted in liquids building up in my body, about 12 liters. My metabolism was through the roof, so much that they eventually had to cut out the part which makes it. (Don't know what it's called in english, sorry.) I could barely walk 5 meters wothout losing my breath like I'd been runing for days. I had no energy and no will to live, I became suicidal to a small extent. I just sat in my hospital bed, staring into the wall. Crying when no one was around.
Then I read "existentialism is a humanism." By Sartre. I read it twice. I understood what was happening in my body was a situation I had little controle over, but by accepting this illness I was living in bad faith, and I could either fight this or die broken.
Sartre didn't save my life. Not literally. But he did save my mind, or what religious people would refer to as a soul. Had I not read his book that half a year of me getting exhausted by walking to the bathroom would have broken me in pieces.
And because of that I recommend that bloody book to every depressed, suicidal fool who will listen to me.
Thank you, I'm one of the fools, I will give it a try, I hope you are doing better
@@Stella.22g yes, thank you! I am doing so much better. I even started uni, and I'm on my 4th semester now as a 26 year old.
While I still subscribe to Sartre's philosophy, I have come to recognise its rigidity and have made my own mental short cuts and additions to it. However, it is still one of my favorite books ever, and a wonderful starting place to being an active agent in one's own battle against the bullshit of life, of which there is plenty. It's a rather unique view on existance which I cherish wholeheartedly. I sincerely hope it helps you as it did me.
Crossing my fingers for you.
Lain managed to commit the perfect suicide that Johan from Monster desired. Except she regreted it in the end.
I love this video you made. I'm a huge, and I mean a HUGE fan of SEL Lain, and I literally watch your video atleast once a week for the past year just about. Just know that someone out there cares for your content, and yes, The Wired and Real Life are interchangeable with one another.
I wonder why she doesn’t post anymore. Her videos are quite thought provoking.
I am glad i found the video and would love to see more. I am sad because it only has 7600 views but it is what it is. As for talking about Lain i don't think 9 minutes is ever gonna be enough, but you managed to do a pretty great 9 minute talking video nonetheless. I've taken Lain to the deepest part of my forever questioned existence and if everything fails me i will always have her.
Goosebumps throughout the whole video. Great Explanation not gonna lie, I now had the chance to really grasp the idea behind Lain.
I like that you like hearing what we think. I always was curious about Lain, but i never found the time to see it all. Thanks to your video, i know what to expect for. I love this type of videos, its like talking with a friend about your favourite shows, and truly learning something new. See you later, Space Cowboy!
Woah. Just came across this channel. Philosophy in anime is literally one of my favorite things to think about. Def got a new subscriber💪🏾
You're so amazing, I just love your breakdowns and ideas on anime, plus you got that voice that just soothes the soul!
After some time, you bring about La Mettrie, saying in substance that the ego is independent of the body, in the way that we could replace parts of your body and you would still be yourself. You say this is the point of view the show presents. At least for me, it is the worldview of Eiri, and of Lain under his influence, but in the end, Lain realized through Alice how the body is important. Eiri is convinced that the body is a limitation for the evolution of the human mind, but then Lain finally asserts her existence when she realizes she has a body and without it she has no ego. Eiri can only respond by trying (and failing miserably) to materialize himself, showing his powerlessness as an immaterial entity and the collapse of his worldview. This is really where the show was headed to.
I mean, parts of your body are parts of you, as these change, you change too. Also, there have been examples of people who got transplants and experienced sensations that felt like they weren't theirs. The whole psyche is not strictly located in the brain, neurons are everywhere in our body, though in varying density. Also, associating the body with a biological machine could well be a truism, and as such, not helping at all deciphering the mysteries of life.
Awesome vid! I love this sort of stuff. Rarely do people apply the kind of analysis that many works of anime truly deserve. The artform is just ripe with artistic potential which can be observed already in lots of existing works: Serial Experiments Lain, for one; the oeuvre of Hayao Miyazaki... etc. Again, it's so nice to see a video that capitalises on the artistic intentions of the production team. Likely, these philosophies were running through their minds while they were creating Lain.
I’m an existentialist. However, my belief is that the meaning of existence can only be defined by us and it is the existential responsibility to define it.
then doesn't the existential responsibility for beings to define their purposes/meanings somewhat hint at a universal goal not defined by us or any other being that existed in the firmaments?
Kenny McCormick yes.
Meaning of existence... Is to define our own meaning of existence?
"Man is the measure of all things" - Protagoras
"Im an existentialist" -some weeb under 24
Criiiinge
your voice is so cool! This is one of my favorite animes, thank you for uploading.
Plus, that OP snaps! I still have it on Playlists nearly 2 decades after first watching the show!
I'm so happy I found your channel
One of the best anime ever made. Good video!
*the best ever made
Excellent....I'm in the middle of this series EP 7...Thanks for the insight. I just subscribed!
It has spoilers tho
loved your video about lain! i just finished watching the series and you really break down the philosophy so clearly. also, hard for me to explain, but i noticed this idea of technology being a vehicle for something that has always existed, this ability for everyone's unconscious to be connected, and to give life to thoughts and to manipulate "reality". But Its like, humans need to create something tangible called technology to be able to understand the nature of this existence. its like lain got so much power by questioning reality, sparked by exploring technology, leading to her thoughts being so powerful that what she felt came true, like not existing in class or her avoidant family leaving her behind. i feel kinda optimistic after watching lain coz its almost like, theres no reason to question anything, we just need to know that we create our reality, without understanding why. embrace hope and love i guess. thanks lain!
The narration really gets my misophonia going, sounds like you had a mouthful of jelly while recording this
And to think this director worked on Digimon Tamers...Amazing.
I literally just finished watching it and now the only going through my mind is “ what the fuck was that”
Such a special work of art.
If I could use one word to describe the subject of "Lain" & "Boogiepop Phantom," I'd say they are about "memory." At the end of the story, Lain deletes stored information so that no one will know she ever existed. It was watching "Lain" that I realized that we value people for their memories (who they know, what they know, etc.), and that value is based our own memories of that other person.
I have watched this series way too much, and I have yet to figure it out. It's my number two favorite anime series of all time, and I never realized so much form it until I found this video! It has me thinking I need to rewatch the series form a new mindset. thank you!!!
What is your top ten
This was one of the best videos i have ever watched in a very long while,thank you!I have subscribed.
if it wasn't for sel, i wouldn't be working in hi-tech, building all the stuff the show taught us.
I very much enjoyed this video and was happy you took the stance of expanding on the themes without trying to use them to "explain" the story. I was also happy to didn't use a title like "lain explained" or some similar thing. Thank you.
"If I namedrop philosophers am I deep?"
No.
I think Lain (the show) has to assume the mechanistic view of the person for it to make sense.
Otherwise, it's left completely unexplained how Chisa or Eiri can live in the Wired while being dead in the "real world."
Concise, simple, and enjoyable. I just finished the series today and I wanted to dive deeper into the show, and this video did just that. :D
Thanks for videos, its really nice conent to watch. First of all its wired with Philosophy so you can receive some interesting ideas and info . And another point is that you can rewatch this anime with new thought and even maybe create some adds for it. Looking forward to the next videos.
I LOVE the use of mushishi soundtrack at 0:46
Lmao didnt even notice
really liked this video. learned a lot and definitely found out about a new series i didnt know about ^^ well done
This, this is amazing- the way you speak, the way you explain. flawless 🤌🏾
I’m going to dissolve into quantum probability waves now thank you very much.
I think you should do an analysis of Ergo Proxy. It's my personal favorite, because of its heavy philosophical influence and subtext. "I think, therefore, you are."
I interpreted Vincent Law's first eye-opening as a symbolic gesture to show that because he left Romdeau, he was able to truly see the world and stop living the illusion he created for himself. All that stuff about being a model citizen was abandoned because he finally saw a glimpse of the wasteland of the real world. He could not return after having seen this truth, which reminds me of the Allegory of the Cave.
Oh yeah, and episode 20 Sacred Eye of the Void was excellent for being heavily inspired by Zhuangzi's Butterfly Dream Parable.
this video was easy to understand now let me dive into the anime and see if i can keep up. when i watch these philosophical/psychological anime ( for example ghost in the shell) i always watch videos like these beforehand because its better to learn and get a better understanding than to pretend i comprehend wtf they're talking abt. especially since i get distracted so easily lol. though i will admit i usually get frustrated when i dont initially understand something.
Texhnolyze is like this anime but set in a purgatory
“I rather be remembered then to be some else memory.” Incognito Night
Just finished watching the show , and out of all the crazy stuff that goes on , my favourite thing about it is the watercolored shadows.
This was very nice. Thank you. Keep it up!
I'm happy i discovered this video :D i think i'd like to learn more about philosophy it seems very interesting.
You forgot alchemy! The material world is the lower part and the wired is the upper part, Lain being Hermete trismegistus. If you dig deeper you can see how accurate this reference is. Great video by the way :)
i think sound is qualia, it's an experienced sensation evoked by the ear from the sense data: sound waves. so a tree falling makes sound waves which only make sound if there is someone receiving them.
If a tree falls in a forest, does it make a sound. If something is not happening in our current awarnessss/perception did it happen?
I mean none of saw the big bang but were all here ya?
I mean if you left the stove on and forget, you might just come back to a fire.
If a tree fell on a man with dementia would he survive, since he forgot about therefore it no longer exists right.
Imo it feels a bit arrogant to believe if something isn't in your memory or awareness it just didn't happen. As if human perception creates reality. The sun still burns even without life.
Even if you believed all of reality was an illusion what good would that do you?
I remember Itachi trapping Kakashi in a illusion world. The first thing Kakashi says something like "This is only an illusion" with Itachi retorting by stabbing and torturing him days on end, as Kakashi screamed and screamed. His illusion becoming his new reality.
Reality after all is that which if you stop believing in, doesn't go away. Quote from this show called Legion.
I feel like people use the term selfishness and arrogance to stuff like existentialism/solipsism or even Nietzschian philosophy too much...
Who says it's arrogant if they genuinely believe it to be true even if they didn't want it to be because it honestly sounds logical to them?
That being said, I feel like things probably would still exist even without our perception of it since the world is still alive even with all the people who are dead and those said dead people definitely existed, but yeah. :p
But like, for you as an individual, if we do only live once, how much meaning does life really have? All those personal connections you have to people and any legacy you leave behind, even if it meant something to other people, what would it even mean to you anymore? Would you still be you in an afterlife, or would it be like reincarnation? You yourself in your mortal life wouldn't come back again any way, you only get one shot...
I feel like hedonism, maybe even love, is the only thing that really matters for the most part...
School... work... nothing really matters unless you achieve some dream you want, if you could, all that really matters is a person's individual happiness, and hopefully it's a happiness they can spread to other people.
All these rules people have though, the black and white nature of good vs. evil and so on... I don't really understand all of that, at least not anymore, it seems weird for people to have so much meaning to such an ephemeral life, but maybe I just feel this because I'm depressed... not to sound "arrogant", but I think it's a very "smart" kind of depressiveness though, as I put a lot of thought into this comment with lots of good grammar and spelling, I'm not just simply depressed and shouldn't be depressed, fi anyone said that to me especially in a sense that sounded almost condescending and not empathetic, I would call that arrogance... or something...
Anyways, yeah, maybe no one will care about this wall of text but whatever...
@Sora Bringer Maybe he will die from the fire. Cause the whole house would be burned. Therefore the stove heating didn't exist?
Something can be real and simultaneously not be apart of our reality, and vice versa.
If a tree falls when no one is around, it does make a sound. But the falling of the tree and it's sound are not apart of our reality for we did not witness it.
Loved that you added mushishi ost to your video...helps to set up my philosophical mind if that makes sense
I honestly hope that one day chiaki k makes a spin off series to serial experiments lain because oh boy i really want see more of his work in my life time
Please keep making these videos!
"Published on Sep 11"
Never forget
What a godly upload date
Great video and great taste in anime. Expecting to see your thoughts on Evangelion. There's alot of Schopenhauer in it.
I came to your channel, Just wonderful ! And analysis that I never think about this. Thanks
So this is The Matrix if it was a cartoon and more depressing?
Watching the anime really felt like a weird fever dream..
This video is good, but I think it misses a major point about the character of Lain: she's not actually a normal person at all. Unlike the people who die and transfer their consciousness to the wired, Lain's consciousness (allegedly) *precedes* the existence of her body. We are lead to believe "Lain of the Wired" is the original Lain, and that this person has existed for a long time (either as literal software, a manifestation of the Collective Unconscious, or something else). I don't know if that's the correct interpretation, but that line of questioning is one of the most interesting ones in my opinion.
I like you, and appreciate your work.
Thank you!
@@AnimePhilosopher Hi. I loved your work on this video. Sorry to ask but could I get the name of the song used over the existentialism part of the vid. I'd really love it if you could.
@AlienatedNote yes please
@AlienatedNote the one at 6:28
Falling trees not making noise and non-existing vases... My head hurts.
I cannot see your head, therefore it does not exist, therefore it does not hurt. ;)
I'd like to see you make an analysis of Texhnolyze.
This is the whole life is a simulation type thing 🧐. Your voice is so nice it’s ASMR ❤️
This was one of the first anime I ever watched. Really cool 😊
Thanks for making this video. I'm about to rewatch this series. Maybe I'll add my own thoughts on the philosophy afterward.
While I dont remember too much of the story or what philosophy they tried to use. It would awesome to hear something about Wolf's Rain. Loved that show in Jr high. One of the first anime to make me cry. And just about everyone who watched it at my school all cried too. Wish I wasn't lazy right now or could remember the kids name. But man that hurt the heart. Loved this video!! Hope you find success with the RUclips algorithm. It can be a pain.
The nature of being is to derive meaning by transmitting data beyond perception over time.
That beginning clip, I'm pretty sure, is a play on the Hegelian self-realization dialog and the mirror experience. PS I never heard someone considering Existentialism a bleak philosphy.
It's hard to imagine Sysiphus happy.
I just discovered your channel and i love your videos! Can you please tell me the music you used in this video? (The part about the vase had an amazing background song)
Lain for me is more than an entity, she's a thought, a message, and an experience...
Lain predicted the internet
Excelent video about Lain👏👏👏
would be interesting a video relating Lain to Freudian thought.