Serial Experiments Lain is an amazing anime and is one of the major anime coined as responsible for popularizing the trend of experimental anime that began with NGE.
I have Bipolar Disorder 1, a mental health issue that is known to be incredibly dangerous and often can be fatal(Due to self harm and suicide issues). So I am talking from my own experiences here.
I want to leave a bit of a small warning for any fellow anime fans who are looking into old anime to see time capsules of anime history who almost certainly will come across Lain.
I will be vague as possible here with this as to not spoil anything.
SEL is absolutely amazing, and a very powerful show that encapsulates the experiences of dealing with certain personality shifts and inability to recognize self. In short, Lain deals with Dissociation as a theme and experience.
It does this INCREDIBLY well, better than any other TV show or movie that I’ve seen. But doing so well has a very strong catch 22. If you are bipolar, you are at high risk of dissociating, or being triggered to dissociate because of experiences you are witnessing 2nd hand. Lain is incredibly good at instilling the sense of dissociation onto it’s viewers. It is a significant underlying theme and portrayal in the anime.
So if you watch Lain, keep tabs own your own emotional state because it could cause an episode, serious shift in negative moods, and/or to experience dissociation, which can be incredibly frightening and potentially dangerous.
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