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Poster for Serial Experiments Lain

Serial Experiments Lain

8.2/10 674 votes
AnimationDramaSci-Fi & FantasyMystery

Lain—driven by the abrupt suicide of a classmate—logs on to the Wired and promptly loses herself in a twisted mass of hallucinations, memories, and interconnected-psyches.

Cast:
Kaori Shimizu, Yoko Asada, Ayako Kawasumi, Ryusuke Ohbayashi
Language:
Japanese
Country:
Japan
Network:
TV Tokyo

Episode guide

Seasons

1 available

Season 1

Episodes

Episode 1 selected
Still from Layer:01 – WEIRD E01

Episode 1

★ 8.1

Layer:01 – WEIRD

1998-07-06 · 24m

Lain Iwakura, a shy, 13-year-old schoolgirl, receives an email from a schoolmate after her suicide. Is it a prank? Lain doesn't feel horror, but curiosity.

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Still from Layer:02 – GIRLS E02

Episode 2

★ 8.1

Layer:02 – GIRLS

1998-07-13 · 24m

Classmates Alice, Julie, and Reika wonder if that was Lain they saw at the nightclub Cyberia. To find out, they invite Lain to go with them to the club.

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Still from Layer:03 – PSYCHE E03

Episode 3

★ 7.8

Layer:03 – PSYCHE

1998-07-20 · 24m

Alice, Julie, and Reika are minor celebrities in their class after they witness a shooting at The Cyberia. Lain is given a black-market chip for her computer, but it seems she is also being followed.

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Still from Layer:04 – RELIGION E04

Episode 4

★ 8.2

Layer:04 – RELIGION

1998-07-27 · 24m

Some players of a Wired game called PHANTOMa are dying suspicious deaths. Lain investigates, but her growing interest in the Wired worries her father, as well as classmates Mika and Alice.

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Still from Layer:05 – DISTORTION E05

Episode 5

★ 8.3

Layer:05 – DISTORTION

1998-08-03 · 24m

Lain receives cryptic messages about existence, God, and a coming prophecy. Meanwhile, Mika's world changes in ways both surreal and hyperreal.

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Still from Layer:06 – KIDS E06

Episode 6

★ 8.5

Layer:06 – KIDS

1998-08-10 · 24m

Young children are acting strangely, arms outstretched and silently staring at the sky. A shocking vision suddenly appears in the skies; it looks like Lain! Determined to get to the bottom of this, Lain's investigations finally bring her to the creator of KIDS -- but what she discovers is not what she hoped for.

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Still from Layer:07 – SOCIETY E07

Episode 7

★ 8.5

Layer:07 – SOCIETY

1998-08-17 · 24m

As the Knights activities make the evening news, a strange man named Nazumi wanders the city with machines strapped to his body. People on the WIRED are asking: ""Who is Lain"". Meanwhile, the two MIB agents take Lain to the Techibana offices where Lain's identity is challenged by a man; how well does she know her parents, her sister, herself? Can Lain answer him?

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Still from Layer:08 – RUMORS E08

Episode 8

★ 8.6

Layer:08 – RUMORS

1998-08-24 · 24m

Still shaken by the information she received from the Men In Black, Lain discovers that she is being blamed for spreading an ugly rumor in the WIRED. Is what the MIB said is true; is she another person in the WIRED? Or is she doing it herself? Lain must find out or risk losing the one true friend she has.

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Still from Layer:09 – PROTOCOL E09

Episode 9

★ 8.5

Layer:09 – PROTOCOL

1998-08-31 · 24m

A documentary about Roswell gives Lain some valuable information about the pioneers of the WIRED. Later, at the Cyberia, J.J. tells Lain that she left something the day before and hands her an envelop with the Knight's logo on it. The envelop contains a chip. Believing this was the other 'Lain's' doing again, she decides to call Taro's bluff and go on a 'date'. Taking him to her room, Lain demands that he tell her what he knows. Together, with Taro's information and the mysterious chip, Lain finds out more then she expected.

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Still from Layer:10 – LOVE E10

Episode 10

★ 8.1

Layer:10 – LOVE

1998-09-07 · 24m

Lain struggles with her identity. Is she a human being, or just a hologram? And are the Knights responsible for the Evil Lain? Lain decides to deal with the Knights once and for all.

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Still from Layer:11 – INFORNOGRAPHY E11

Episode 11

★ 7.7

Layer:11 – INFORNOGRAPHY

1998-09-14 · 24m

Alone and frightened, Lain immerses herself in the WIRED, processing the events of the past few weeks and searching for the truth of who she is.

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Still from Layer:12 – LANDSCAPE E12

Episode 12

★ 8.2

Layer:12 – LANDSCAPE

1998-09-21 · 24m

Troubled by what she saw, Alice decides to visit Lain at home and find out what is going on. Meanwhile, the two MIB agents receive a terrible shock and Eiri reveals his real motive for removing the barrier between the real world and the WIRED.

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Still from Layer:13 – EGO E13

Episode 13

★ 8.5

Layer:13 – EGO

1998-09-28 · 24m

The world is crumbling, people are dying and Alice's sanity is threatened. To save humanity, there is only one thing Lain can do; she must make the ultimate personal sacrifice.

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Cast

Kaori Shimizu

Kaori Shimizu

Lain Iwakura (voice)

Yoko Asada

Yoko Asada

Arisu Mizuki - Lain's friend (voice)

Ayako Kawasumi

Ayako Kawasumi

Mika Iwakura - Lain's older sister (voice)

Ryusuke Ohbayashi

Ryusuke Ohbayashi

Yasuo Iwakura - Lain's father (voice)

Rei Igarashi

Rei Igarashi

Miho Iwakura - Lain's mother (voice)

Sumi Mutoh

Sumi Mutoh

Chisa Yomoda (voice)

Keito Takimoto

Tarō (voice)

Chiharu Tezuka

Chiharu Tezuka

Reika Yamamoto (voice)

Manabi Mizuno

Manabi Mizuno

Yūri Katō (voice)

Yuki Yamamoto

Myū-Myū (voice)

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