Search - Serial Experiments - Lain: Reset (Layers 11-13) on DVD

Slow beginning, but this volume picks up quickly.

Matthew Barrett | Audobon, Pennsylvania, USA | 12/08/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With with Layer:11 almost all clips from the previous ten layers, I was sort of wary of watching the rest of the DVD. But in tradition, Lain surprised me with two and half layers of first-rate story telling. Like LAIN: DEUS, the story is X-Files style but highly original and creative. The animation here come close to the gripping marvel AKIRA in its most intense scenes. Watching the finale of LAIN would make anyone want to watch the entire series over again to fill in the gaps they experienced the first time they watched it. Highly recommended anime masterpiece! If you like The X-Files you are bound to like Lain: Navi, Knights, Deus, and Reset. Enjoy!"

Amazing! Totally terrific series!

Alicia | USA | 06/29/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After watching all of the Lain DVDs I can confidently say that this series has soared to my #3 favorite anime series of all time. Lain is basically a show of metaphores concerning the Internet, so if you don't have a firm grasp over the concepts of computers and the Internet or "wired" (as the series terms it) world such as what hackers, chips, etc. are you may not enjoy it. The art is really different and beautiful - every frame looks like a painting, with interesting use of colors and negative space. These episodes really need to be watched in order, so make sure you start with the first volume. The last episode literally had me crying! Lain's world is totally absorbing and not just a little bit creepy, and although you don't get all the answers at the end of this series, the last volume has a sufficiant wrap-up, leaving a jumping off point for the viewer's imagination. I reccomend this to everyone who can stand a little intelligence in their anime!"

Intense, Ambiguous, Artistic and Ultimately Satisfying

Marc Ruby? | 07/11/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Indeed, the pacing of the Lain series is somewhat slow, but it's slow in the same peculiarly satisfying way that a Wong Kar Wai film is slow. Every lingering shot and mysterious word is obtuse (at least to begin with), but still stunning. And as the series progresses, the vaporous bits and pieces begin to congeal and condense into something increasingly meaningful and powerful. The series is undoubtedly high-concept, but rarely falls into overblown presumptuousness. There is a strange emotional gravity to Lain; a synergystic effect of its characters and its abundant atmosphere. But that same gravity, more than any other single piece of Lain, is what separates this work from the droves of unengaging anime films. To my mind, only Akira can match the sense of resonance of Lain.It truly astounds me as an American that such an ambitious, complex and subtle piece of work could actually find air time on television. There is absolutely no way that this sort of thing would ever run on American network telelvision, and little chance we'd ever see it in American film, animated or otherwise. Perhaps that's why the experience of soaking in the Lain series for all 6 hours, regardless of its pace, is so mindblowing. Lain provides inventive and thought-provoking science-fiction, the likes of which an American audience is used to only seeing in print form (that is, if anyone in America still reads books). Lain, much like Akira and Ghost in the Shell before it, represents the anime genre at its best.Upon reaching the conclusion of the series, there are some questions left unanswered. Some of these ambiguities lend greatly to the air of the piece and others simply engender frustration after the time and emotional investment asked of its viewer. There are also some notable problems with the quality of the animation (although from what little I've read about the series, it seems this was due to under-budgeting rather than just shoddy craftsmanship), but thankfully they are rare. The soundtrack is astonishingly uneven, but used so sparingly that it hardly matters. DVD extras are minimal, but the subtitling is fantastic and picture and sound quality are great."

Close the DVD - txen eht nepO

Martin Prehn | DK 2650 Hvidovre Denmark | 08/10/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have to warn you, if you're planing on buying LAIN. I bought the whole series without knowing what I was in for, but odds are one of two things will happen. Either you will think "what a load of crap" and then try hastilly to forget how much money you spent on it, or you will find yourself completely hooked and addicted to Lain, feeling those greedy eyes watching you get more and more lost in the complex universe of this twisted series. Ahem. Anyway, that's what hapened to me. I strongly recommend watching this series in it's entirety (probably twice or three times) if you're into stuff that makes you think. Don't o.d. though. Enjoy it in small doses as it has a tendency to pickle your brain if consumed in large quantities. It's like a mix of X-files, the Maxx, Perfect Blue, And perhaps most of all: Alice in wonderland/through the looking glass. And of course it's filled with mythical stuff. I guess it could be interpreted as a modern techno version of the bible with an all new cyber Christ told though colourful images and an amazing soundtrack. Anime style. Or maybe it's just too original to describe properly. God knows how many have tried and failed. Guess, LAIN is something you just have to see for yourself."