{"id":5824,"date":"2016-08-29T07:00:03","date_gmt":"2016-08-29T14:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=5824"},"modified":"2016-08-29T03:59:26","modified_gmt":"2016-08-29T10:59:26","slug":"mark-watches-serial-experiments-lain-episode-6-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2016\/08\/mark-watches-serial-experiments-lain-episode-6-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Serial Experiments Lain’: Episode 6 – Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the sixth episode of\u00c2\u00a0Serial Experiments Lain<\/i>, Lain is drawn into the Wired after a bizarre experience in downtown Tokyo. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Serial Experiments Lain<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For nonconsensual medical experimentation, violence towards children.<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll repeat something I said during the video for this episode and expand upon it: I think I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been approaching this show wrong. There\u00c2\u00a0is<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0some serialization at the heart of this, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got a lot more in common with an anthology. Each of these episodes are like short stories, glimpses into the Wired that comprise an unsettling whole. Indeed, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Kids\u00e2\u20ac\u009d sidetracks us away from Lain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s transformation by looping her into a mega-disturbing mystery involving children holding their arms open to the sky in praise of\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 what? Initially, we see the motif on Lain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s street, but you know what? So much weird shit has happened on this show that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m ready to accept LITERALLY ANYTHING put on the screen. So I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know if that would be part of anything larger.<\/p>\n

But then \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Kids\u00e2\u20ac\u009d does one of my VERY FAVORITE THINGS: it gives us a wacky, unnerving sequence in which multiple kids raise their arms to the sky in apparent reverence of an image of Lain (WHEW, THE EX-CATHOLIC IN ME WAS OVERWHELMED, THAT IMAGERY WAS INTENSE)\u00c2\u00a0and other people can see it<\/i>. I fully expected that Lain would be the sole person aside from the kids to see this, but THIS IS SUCH A BOLD STORY CHOICE. First of all, it helps us to understand just how far the Knights are willing to go to disrupt our world. (At this point, that seems to be the prevailing motivation for them: they just want to cause chaos and to force people to adjust their thinking about reality.) Secondly, Lain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s friends, who had\u00c2\u00a0just<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0compelled her to socialize with them, can no longer deny that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wrapped up in something weird as hell. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, they start off this episode worrying that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s isolating herself and festering in loneliness, and now? Her nude image is all up in the sky like the Virgin Mary, and random kids are worshipping her. EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED.<\/p>\n

This episode also gives us a deeper look into the wired, too, and I was thrilled to see what it looked like, at least from Lain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perspective. She really is a different person in this world, and I got a sense for\u00c2\u00a0why<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0this was so addictive! She gets to exist in a world full of positivity and interest, where people want to talk to her, where people seek her out just to get her advice, where she is loved and cherished. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not surprising to me that her friends devalue such an experience, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll admit that watching this in 2016 affects how I interpreted this. We currently live in a cultural climate where entire friendships and relationship exist online. Who here hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t developed an intense relationship of some sort through the Internet?<\/p>\n

So I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see Lain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interest in the Wired as wholly bad; there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s value and meaning in it. Yet \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Kids\u00e2\u20ac\u009d shows us another side of things, too. In her quest to find out why an image of herself appeared in the sky and why kids were compelled to venerate it, she tracks down a man named Professor Hodgeson. Now, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important to note that this sequence doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just serve to give us exposition, but also puts Lain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s behavioral transformation front and center. She is\u00c2\u00a0absolutely<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0a different person here, one who is assertive, purposeful, and snappy. She doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stumble through words or hesitate when she wants to say something. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mesmerizing to watch.<\/p>\n

I admit that the actual interrogation of Hodgeson fell a bit flat for me. It was too on-the-nose, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m certain that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m used to the sparse nature of\u00c2\u00a0Serial Experiments Lain<\/i>. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m certain that this was the longest bout of dialogue that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d ever gotten, so it came across as exposition-heavy. The information is important, of course, since it leads Lain closer to the Knights. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure I understand what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actually happening here, though. Hodgeson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s experiment was about pulling psi energy from children for\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 something. It backfired, and he killed a\u00c2\u00a0lot<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0of kids. In the present time, the Knights got ahold of his research and used it to control kids. But what for? To tease Lain? Is this like the most extreme trolling any of us have ever seen? I can only speculate about this, but that seems like a strong possibility.<\/p>\n

This episode also helped me to separate the men in black suits from the Knights, since they appear to have saved Lain from a parasite bomb. (In a weird way, I might add. They just creep outside her window and get her to come down and confront them, which prevents her from being harmed or killed by the bomb. There was probably a more efficient way to do that.) So, are these men trying to\u00c2\u00a0protect<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0her? Are they allies? Or part of something else?<\/p>\n

I STILL KNOW SO LITTLE.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Kids\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded\u00c2\u00a0here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– I am now on Patreon<\/a>! There are various levels of support, from $1 up to whatever you want! You’ll get to read a private blog, extra reviews, and other such rewards.<\/b>
\n– I\u00c2\u00a0will be at numerous conventions in 2016! Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches have been announced here.<\/a>
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0 Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"