Another 13-episode outing by Yoshitoshi Abe, Lain is easily the most brain-challenging series I've ever watched. You are bombarded with many questions throughout the series, but the most prevalent is "WTF just happened?!". Lain, like Revolutionary Girl Utena, is just one of those anime series that requires a second watch just to figure everything out. Lain is just so loaded with symbolism, plot twists, metaphors, and a totally original premise. The plot in Lain is great, with a very sad but still great ending.

However, not all is well in the land of Lain. The most unfortunate casualty of Yoshitoshi Abe's anime series are always the characters. Lain doesn't differ from this course. Dull, monotonous characters receive no development in Lain. Even many of the major characters seem to just be there to take up space. NieA_7 had the aliens, Haibane Renmei had every character, and now Lain has everybody but Arisu and Lain. It's not a pretty picture.