Serial Experiments Lain [Paperback]

Bruce Baugh (Author), Lucien Soulban (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2002 | Series: Ultimate Fan Guide Collection

Welcome to the cutting edge 13-part Japanese anime series, Serial Experiments Lain. There is a world around us, a world of people, tactile sensation, and culture. There is the wired world inside the computer, of images, personalities, virtual experiences, and a culture all of its own. The day after a classmate commits suicide, a thirteen year-old girl named Lain discovers how closely the two worlds are linked when she receives an e-mail from the dead girl: `I just abandoned my body. I still live here....` Has the line between the real world and the wired world begun to blur? This authorized book features detailed episode summaries, in depth character profiles, setting and theme analysis, and role-playing character sheets for Guardians Of Order popular Tri-Stat System. With hundreds of full-colour images from the series, and many pages of production line art, this Ultimate Fan Guide is the definitive English-language resource book for Serial Experiments Lain.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Guardians of Order (August 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1894525353
• ISBN-13: 978-1894525350
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,856,103 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fills a void in _lain_ artbooks, April 22, 2002

By 

David Mankins (Cambridge, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Serial Experiments Lain (Paperback)

This book is an excellent guide to the enigmatic and ambiguous anime series, _Serial Experiments: lain_. The bulk of the book is published in full color on high-gloss paper, reproducing a lot of screen-shots from the series. At the back, there are two pages of production credits (though there's no mention of the series' script superviser, Chiaki Konaka!).

Each episode is given a dense three-page summary, there are also character profiles at the back (though only Lain and Masami Eiri receive an extended profile). This is an excellent book to accompany your first or your fifth viewing of the anime series.

The publishers evidently have a deal with Pioneer to produce guides for many of their anime. I look forward to future volumes on _Dual_, _Trigun_ and _NieA_7_.

People interested in basing an RPG on the _lain_ world will probably find this book disappointing. While the book is full o f details about the series and its setting, there doesn't appear to be much in the book for supporting an RPG. However, as a book for fans of the anime, this is an excellent addition to your bookshelf.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good book, June 17, 2002

By 

dralactica (The Wasteland...) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Serial Experiments Lain (Paperback)

First things first - If you buy this book, expecting it to explain everything to you, prepare for disapointment. It has summaries. Sometimes the information is wrong (not that you can be sure of much of <I>anything</I> in this series...), but that's rare. It does ocasionally theorize on some things, and provides background info on other things (like the Knights, the 7th Gen Protocol, the city-on-a-rock in Ego). It also has a LOT of snapshots, and some concept art (though nothing you can't find in the extras section of the DVDs). The BESM section provides some info for the series as well. I can't vouch for its worth as an RPG info source, but from what I hear from other reviewers, it's lacking (though that's no reason to give it 2 stars, BTW...). Oh, and the book's dimensions are large. Think one of those large coloring books you might have used as a child and you have the right idea. Conclusion - buy for artwork, buy for series synopsis, buy for a different perspective on what the hell hapened in this series, but don't buy for the BESM.

1 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Colorful and informative, a must for any Lain fan..., August 27, 2002

By 

Yarrow (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Serial Experiments Lain (Paperback)

I've never seen the actual Lain series (yet mind you, yet. I'm still saving for some of the DVDs), so I'm afraid I'm a bit lacking when it comes to telling you how acurate this book is.
This doesn't seem to be a very good book for someone who has not seen the series, and if you are in that position I would not reccommend reading to the end of the book as it will totally spoil the whole series for you.
The book is very informative, and has plenty of drawings and screnshots from the series, it lays every part of the Lain world before you. As alot of questions go unanswered in the series itself the book is often at loss and presents theories to try and answer questions instead of actual answers.
The RPG section of the book seems quite lacking as the Lain world is a very difficult place to recreate in an RPG. Though I have not tryed playing it seems like a very fruitless endeavor.
I gave this book 5 stars because it is a great read and a very informative book.