Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Grew up… in a Japan slowly going viral. In the "present day, present time," the physical world coexists with the Wired, a cyber networking system parallel to and just as ubiquitous as the Internet.
Living… an ordinary life with ordinary parents and an ordinary sister. Lain's family life isn't exactly a warm one, but it's a stable one, and that works for her.
Profession… middle-school student. Lain keeps mostly to herself at school, and except for Alice Mizuki and a few other girls, she rarely talks to anyone. It isn't until classmate Chisa Yomoda kills herself, in fact, that Lain begins to take an interest in the outside world.
Interests… not people. Lain spends most of her time in her room, wearing comfy if childish bear pajamas and staring blankly at her stuffed animals. While everyone else is busy talking to each other on the Wired, Lain barely uses her old Navi, describing herself as "not very good with computers." But after getting an email supposedly written by Chisa, Lain begins to take more interest in cyberspace, and she proves to be adept at both computers and the Wired.
Relationship Status… single. Except for Alice, Lain barely talks with anyone. Other fourteen-year-olds may be starting to hang out in clubs and date, but romantic relationships are still a while away on Lain's timeline.
Challenge… navigating her new world and her new place in it. As Lain explores the Wired, she starts finding upsetting truths about herself, her family, and the true nature of the Wired. Secret organizations, mysterious assassins, and rumors of "another Lain" abound, and as Lain delves deeper into the Wired, she is left more and more uncertain of what is real or cyberspace. "Are you real?" she asks, nearly pleading with her family. "Are you really my dad?"
Personality… reclusive, silent, and seemingly emotionless. Lain might be nearing high school, but she still dresses and looks like a much younger child. But unlike most children, Lain seems to have little interest in the world around her. All that, however, changes when Lain enters the Wired, and as her world begins to change, so too does Lain.
Get to Know her in...
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Serial Experiments Lain focuses on Lain Iwakura, an adolescent girl living in suburban Japan, and her introduction to the Wired, a global communications network similar to the Internet. Lain lives with her middle-class family, which consists of her inexpressive older sister Mika, her cold mother, and her computer-obsessed father. The first ripple on the pond of Lain's lonely life appears when she learns that girls from her school have received an e-mail from Chisa Yomoda, a schoolmate who had committed suicide. When Lain receives the message at home, Chisa tells her that she is not dead, but has merely "abandoned her physical body and flesh", and is alive deep within the virtual reality-world of the Wired itself and that she has found the almighty and divine god there. From then on, Lain is bound to a path which will take her ever deeper into both the network and her own subconscious thoughts and sensations.
