Serial Experiments Lain - Reviews

The story it self is amazing, until u understand it. I lived the eiriness it has, the animation i really like cus it showed what they wanted to make it look "dirty". The plot didn't make sense until they started to explain it in ep 8, but the exiqution was perfect ( at least i think so) but yeah. 

if you like to watch scicological animes it's definetly one that you should chack out.

There are really only a few words that can be used to describe SEL, mainly convoluted, and contradictory. I say contradictory because it did a lot of things that didn't mesh well and for the most part I think this was done purposefully. Maybe it was for artistic flair but for me it just got in the way of what could have been a good story.

Sadly, I think my review of this title is going to be very much like the title itself, hard to understand, bear with me please.

Story:

There was a ton of potential here but they came at it from the middle of the plot and made you try to figure out what was going on with almost torrent like bits of information. In other words you'd get part 40 of 100 one minute and part 5 the next, maybe part 87 a few minutes later. It made following the whole concept a challenge, usually not a great idea for the masses but probably perfect for a select few and fanatical viewers. I found myself somewhere towards the ladder but it didn't really hit the mark for me.

Animation:

This really varied from very good to almost cheaply bad. The real life photos, paperwork, the sometimes poorly chosen colors, and repetitive style really lent to a poor presentation over all. Yet mixed in were some great character designs, well done and uniquely drawn scenic-scapes. Visually there was some gold here, the only real problem was finding it amidst the common ore.

Sounds:

The were sounds, I heard them... I didn't pay much attention, and they went well enough with what was happening on screen. I can't say there was really anything that stuck out for me here and that's pretty much typical for me. Unless something really reaches out and grabs me in a good way, the score usually reflects the same as it's overall.

Characters:

Probably one of the few parts that really shined with almost no real issues. Most of the characters were at least somewhat interesting once you sifted through the randomness and frequent skips around the plot. Probably my one gripe is how indifferent so many of the characters were about half the time they were on screen. Maybe depressed is a better word but they were just so listless/expressionless that it's hard to say what was supposed to be conveyed. Being that half the show was like that really ended up in deducting points.

Overall:

I can say that I enjoyed watching up until the very end, and without really giving up any spoilers and therefor pretty much ruining the show for anyone looking to watch it, I'd have to say that this might be worth your time if you like rather abstract and somewhat graphic anime. I just seemed sad to me and being who I am this was a major factor in how I scored this show as a whole. The ending is key/paramount/instrumental in separating the must sees from the can put aside for a bored day or two. You can probably guess which of these two categories this title falls under in my most humble opinion.

There are, of course, people that are going to absolutely love SEL, and with good reason, it's a matter of taste, some people's will most certainly not match up to mine, so if you've seen some of the recommendations linked to this title and liked them, there might be a good chance you're going to like SEL. Either way, I can tentatively say you could waste a few hrs on it and not be disappointed.