I started watching a new (old) anime series called Serial Experiments Lain. So far we’ve seen the first four of 14 episodes. I really like it. It has some wonderfully artistic animation and the storyline is challenging to follow(which for me is a good thing). I think the people who did Lain also did Haibane Renmei which is another quirky (and by quirky I mean convoluted and artsy to the point that most people would not like it) series.

It has taken the first four episodes just to get a tentative grasp of the story which seems to be about a young girl (grade 8) named Lain whose classmates are beginning to commit suicide. They all appear to have been caught in an online game which tends to blur the lines between reality and “the wired” (i.e. the net). The imagery throughout is very good and there are a number of “layers” to the character of Lain and to the story in terms of exploring themes of adolescense, our technological era of connectedness, relationship, identity etc.

So far I would recommend it but only for the serious anime lover. This is not your typical anime filled with bikini–clad, machine gun toting girls – there’s actually a pretty good story developing here.