To begin, I saw Lain during my first year at York. It was the last show on the YAMA (York Anime and Manga Association) weekly lineup. Thirteen episodes, with the last three shown in succession. It was last on the line-up for the main reason that it's one hell of a brain-fuck (pardon my french).
As I say, it was during my first year. I'm in my second year as I write this, so the details of the show are somewhat sketchy. I can tell you, though, that it was, and still is, one of the best pieces of anime that I've seen. Ever.
Lain, the title character, is a shy school-girl no older than ten or twelve. It's the near future, and to carry a hand-held computer is something that's ordinary. The online world is called The Wired, and it's a place of occasional full-immersion, if you have the hardware for it.
The first couple of episodes (I don't remember if the first episode ends with this or the second) start with Lain having no friends to her being approached by a nice classmate, and she is convinced to go out to this popular club. At the end of the night one man goes mental and shoots himself in the head.
Enter a number of strange murders, and a mysterious organization in The Wired known only as The Knights. And then there is Lain, who is being drawn further and further into The Wired, turning her home computer into something you'd see in Akira. Two men, with strange lasers on their eyes, spy on her through her bedroom window from their car. And all the while The Wired seems to becoming more real, and Lain starts to question her own existence, and that of her family. What is going on? Is The Wired an actual real world? Can it have its own God, its own life? Who are The Knights? What's going on with Lain? Why is her father acting so strangely? Why does it appear that she exists in both The Wired and the real world?
What the fuck is going on?
That's the question I asked myself after each episode. That last night, when we watched three episodes in one sitting, I was twitching afterwards. My brain had fried itself quite thoroughly in its own juices. The thing about Lain, you see, is that it's highly philosophical while at the same time being mysterious about its intentions. It's only thirteen episodes long, with 40min per episode, but even with that said it moves along at a deliciously slow pace. This, coupled with the obscurity of the plot, just might annoy some viewers. I, however, can't recommend it enough.
If you want a good anime that takes its time and is bound to fuck with your head, then go and check out Lain. It's more than worth your time.
And you'll never see telephone wires in the same way again.