This classic stream-of-consciousness animation of the 1990s, if viewed today, the gloomy feeling and the obscure plot exuded by the unique picture quality of that era, inadvertently The emotions that touch people's hearts still have indescribable charm. Lain is ahead of its time, it was 13 years ago, and it still retains its forward-looking 13 years later. When many commentary articles talk about Lain, they must talk about those about collective consciousness, Cyberpunk, the Internet, the unconscious, solipsism, these psychological and philosophical terms. Just looking at these difficult words is enough to make people daunted. In some ways, Lain is indeed more difficult to understand than EVA After all, EVA also takes into account the commerciality. Except for the last few episodes of the TV version, the stream of consciousness part can still let the audience understand what kind of story this is telling. But Lain is different, this 13 episodes The animation seems to have completely ignored business and whether the audience can understand it, it is just telling the plot in a stream of consciousness... The production team wants to put all their thoughts into the work. So, It is more like an experimental animation.
This discussion about the virtual world and the real world, in 1998, when the Internet was not yet fully popularized, could not resonate, but it was understandable. However, after so many years, revisiting During this animation, I suddenly discovered that many things that are happening now have been predicted in Lain's animation, including the different personalities displayed by the same person in virtual and real life, including the spread of Internet rumors, and even the virtual world. A little bit into reality, when the two are combined, it is no longer possible to distinguish who has influenced who.
Now that the Internet is developed, online media has gradually replaced traditional media. Isn’t that the case? What
happens in reality is transmitted to the Internet, The network is like an amplifier and mutator, which is distorted to expand the spread, unify people's thoughts, and then feed back into reality.
I have never thought that the Internet is a platform where various ideas can be displayed. I just think that in this place, people's ideas are more easily induced, and there are too many things that listen to the wind and rain. Many situations are simply summed up with ulterior motives For right and wrong, this is a medium of violence where it is easier for the majority to overwhelm the minority.
Just like what Lain wants to show, the collective unconscious in real life turns into a collective consciousness on this platform and becomes a sword that can be swung at others at will. Lingyin told Yingri Zhengmei, who claimed to be the god of the Internet, that you are not a god, because collective consciousness already exists, and this system was not invented by you, but discovered by you. The collective consciousness in her mouth was long before the existence of the Internet. It already exists. It’s just that it gathers and strengthens more quickly through the Internet. At the end of the last century when animation just appeared, it may not be possible to understand the meaning of this sentence, and now after various network events, large and small, This phenomenon has long been commonplace. Everyone who manipulates the tongue of the Internet and manipulates the direction of public opinion may be able to claim to be the god of the Internet.
If you want to discuss Lain's topics about the Internet, psychology and philosophy, it must be another It’s endless, and I can’t say it for a few days or nights. Besides, I am in a state of half understanding of many of the contents, and I am not qualified to discuss in depth, but I am very emotional that in a 13-episode animation , it is really admirable that such a huge amount of information can be stuffed into it. Especially the later interpretation of its world view (that is, the agreement that Yingli Zhengmei wants to promote in the animation, with a complete introduction to its origin and theoretical basis). How about the virtual world? A little bit of infiltration into the real world, these descriptions are very well done, I really like this artistic expression, although human beings at this stage can't do things like animation without wires, and only use consciousness to connect to the network , But because our existing portable devices are more and more convenient to surf the Internet, the more we can experience Lain's world. The
more developed the actual technology, the Lain's world will be one step closer to us.
Maybe one day, the Internet will really It can modulate the frequency to be consistent with the frequency of human beings, and only use consciousness to enter the virtual world.
I don't know why there is a faint expectation.
But Lain wants to express much more than that. Throwing away those complicated concepts, stripping the whole story, revealing the core, what is the final story that he wants to tell, maybe just a desire for warm emotions. A clumsy wood A girl who is almost autistic, a story of self-sacrifice for the only girl who treats her tenderly. Reine's
first room was an ordinary girl's room, filled with all kinds of dolls. Facing the cold mother, she was not very close The elder sister, Reine can only talk to the dolls every day for companionship. Because it is a fake family, it will be so weird and awkward, so it will be so lonely. The only kind father who is kind to her, bought Reine a computer .She found fun in the online world, Lingyin became cheerful, but her friend Alice was worried about it. She hoped to bring Lingyin back to reality from the Internet, but Lingyin had gradually become addicted to it and became lethargic. People are unpredictable.
Lingyin, when she stepped into that world step by step, her room was covered by cold machine wires and cooling systems. Lingyin started chasing Lain, Lingyin gradually turned into Lain, Lingyin did not I understand what happened to me. In the end, with the development of Protocol 7, the consciousness can be directly connected to the network, and Reine, who has become a dual personality, has even hurt Alice. In order to make up for everything, Reine rewrote everyone's Memories, "Things that don't exist in memory just didn't happen". Only Alice's memory remains, because she thought it was a blessing for her.
However, for Alice, it was obviously another A kind of torture in disguise. The memories of everyone around her did not match her own. The girl went to find Lingyin with an uneasy heart, as if being induced by an invisible white rabbit, she jumped down the rabbit hole. However, what she saw was nothing. Wonderland, but a cold and terrifying home that she can't even call home and a Lingyin that she can't understand. In another world connected by a rabbit hole, Alice has witnessed the truth of the world, because it is difficult to accept it. Nearly collapsed.
Until this moment, Lingyin really understood that not knowing some things is true happiness.
She used to think that the Internet could bring her happiness, but in the end she realized that only Alice really cared. This one once said to herself "I The only friend who will be on your side". Reine doesn't want to hurt her, but only wants to bring her happiness. However, only by erasing Alice's memory can she return to her daily life...
In the end, Lain chose to restart the world.
Alice returning from the rabbit hole seemed to have a dream.
The tone of the animation also swept away the previous gloom and suddenly became brighter and brighter.
The world has no Lain.
No one Lingyin no longer exists in her memory.
Lingyin sacrificed herself in exchange for a world
where Alice could be happy. She became a Lingyin who exists and does not exist anywhere, and is lost in the end. I am Who and how do I exist? This is the price and a warning to those whose consciousness is immersed in the virtual world. But I am still moved by Reine's sacrifice for love. Maybe this is what the animation wants to express. Kind of pure and simple love.
Don't be fooled by the superficial glitz, cherish the person who is really good to you.
Alice to Reine, Reine to Alice, their feelings are in this gray animation full of false and incomprehensible It seems so real and precious.
At the end of the story, Alice, who has grown up, was walking down the street holding her lover's hand, and suddenly she saw the girl standing on the overpass with some familiar eyes, so she involuntarily ran up to the girl and asked , Have we met before? The
girl evoked a smile and replied that we met for the first time.
Lingyin still maintains the appearance of a girl.
Seeing this, many people must have a kind of pain that their hearts have been gouged out. She
gave her all the happiness, but they were also strangers, leaving only a familiar melancholy.
Alice left, Lingyin was lying on the flyover, smiling shallowly, watching her go away The back of the picture. The camera is slowly zoomed out, leaving only that small lonely figure.
I always feel very, very lonely.
But it touches people's hearts.
That's the end of Lain's story. There's so much to tell about this anime, and it's hard to write after watching it, but I'm still trying to understand it. In the first days of watching this anime, all I could What I recall most is Lain's cold room full of machines, and her heart-pounding self-sacrifice.
Some feelings are only more precious after years of precipitation. I think maybe after a few years After watching this animation three times, I may come to more different opinions because of the increase in experience.
But I will always remember that lonely and sad girl.
Because Lain has always been here.
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