Much longer running time than GITS allowed Lain to explore the implications of a connected and computerised world to a much further degree than GITS managed to do in its way too short feature length. It's very visible that Lain was thematically heavily inspired by Ghost in the Shell, and it certainly does an excellent job on expanding upon the basic ideas and concepts. Ghost in the Shell and Lain are essentially a parent work and its child, and they complement each other extremely well. However I am pretty sure that if you liked one, you really might like the other. Overall those shows, as I said above, are very different. SEL is gloomy and disturbing since the beginning while Perfect Blue begins as fairly normal before gradually falling into madness, but both will give you a similar feeling of anxiety but also need to know more about what is going on. Both shows have a very immersive feel, and the atmosphere is particularly well done.
However, the way it is handled makes for an immersive experience instead of a simple confusing mess.
The line between reality and illusion is blurred and until the very end, it is considerably difficult to fully proceed what is going on. Both shows will make you question what exactly makes us who we are and both will show the mc undergoing an identity crisis in a very interesting, impactful way. One of the main themes of Perfect Blue is the identity, something also very important to SEL. It is difficult to explain why without spoiling though. The main characters, while very different at first glance, really reminded me of each other the more I watched SEL. However, it also shares some important similarities that might make the fan of one love the other as well.
#Serial experiments lain op sub serial#
Serial Experiments Lain and Perfect Blue are very different on many levels (mostly pacing, ost and themes).