Official poster for Serial Experiments Lain

Anime · TV Tokyo

Serial Experiments Lain

Close the world. txen eht nepO.

8.2IMDb647 votesStrongly recommended
Community0/20 ratingsYour ratingRateSign in to rate
19981 season · 13 episodes~24 min per episodeTV-14Ended
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The Nutevio profile

TV DNA

How Serial Experiments Lain actually feels to watch, measured on the traits our editors track across every series.

Signature profile

Serial Experiments Lain reads strongest on Character Depth, Bingeability and World Building.

Character DepthDefining8.8

How fully written and psychologically layered the ensemble is.

BingeabilityDefining8.6

How hard it is to stop after one episode.

World BuildingDefining8.5

The scale, internal logic and texture of the world.

SpectacleVery strong7.5

Visual ambition — scale, craft and set-piece filmmaking.

Emotional WeightVery strong7.1

How much the series is designed to affect you.

Cliffhanger IntensityStrong6.5

How often an episode ends on a hook you can't ignore.

TensionStrong6.5

The sustained pressure the series keeps you under.

SerializedStrong5.5

How much each hour depends on the one before it.

HumourLight2.5

How often the series is genuinely funny, by design.

The story

What it's about

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.

The run

Seasons

1 season · 13 episodes.

  • Official poster for Season 1

    Season 1 · Complete

    Season 1

    199813 episodes

    8.2IMDb

    Best episode · S01E08 Layer:08 – RUMORS

Where the series peaks

Best Episodes

The hours that define the show, ranked by audience response and editorial signal.

Still from Layer:08 – RUMORS

S01E08 · Signature episode

Layer:08 – RUMORS

8.6IMDb10 votes

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.

24 Aug 199824 min
Still from Layer:06 – KIDS

S01E06 · Signature episode

Layer:06 – KIDS

8.5IMDb11 votes

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.

10 Aug 199824 min
Still from Layer:07 – SOCIETY

S01E07 · Signature episode

Layer:07 – SOCIETY

8.5IMDb11 votes

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?

17 Aug 199824 min
Still from Layer:09 – PROTOCOL

S01E09 · Signature episode

Layer:09 – PROTOCOL

8.5IMDb11 votes

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.

31 Aug 199824 min
Still from Layer:13 – EGO

S01E13 · Signature episode

Layer:13 – EGO

8.5IMDb20 votes

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.

28 Sept 199824 min
Still from Layer:05 – DISTORTION

S01E05

Layer:05 – DISTORTION

8.3IMDb12 votes

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

3 Aug 199824 min

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Behind the series

Created by

Showrunners, creators, executive producers and the writers who set the voice of the series.

The craft

Key Crew

Directing, writing, production, camera, music and editing.

Executive production

Writing

Cinematography

Music

Where to watch

Streaming

Availability verified against regional listings.

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