Serial Experiments Lain: Season 1
1998 · 13 episodes · ★ 8.2
What Season 1 of Serial Experiments Lain
Lain Iwakura is a lonely teenager who lives in Setagaya, on the outskirts of Tokyo, with a middle-class family she isn't close to. Her mother Miho, her father Yasuo, who is obsessed with computers, and her older sister Mika make up her world. Everything changes when her classmates receive posthumous emails from Chisa Yomoda, a deceased classmate who claims she still exists in the Wired, a virtual network similar to the internet. Lain becomes obsessed with that world and begins searching for answers. Conflicts grow with the rumors circulating at school, with Arisu and her friends, and with the Knights, a hacker group whose role becomes increasingly unsettling.
Season 1 Episodes
1x01 Layer:01 – WEIRD
Lain Iwakura, a shy, 13-year-old schoolgirl, receives an email from a schoolmate after her suicide. Is it a prank? Lain doesn't feel horror, but curiosity.
Directing: Ryutaro Nakamura · Writing: Chiaki J. Konaka
1x02 Layer:02 – GIRLS
Classmates Alice, Julie, and Reika wonder if that was Lain they saw at the nightclub Cyberia. To find out, they invite Lain to go with them to the club.
Directing: Ryutaro Nakamura · Writing: Chiaki J. Konaka
1x03 Layer:03 – PSYCHE
Alice, Julie, and Reika are minor celebrities in their class after they witness a shooting at The Cyberia. Lain is given a black-market chip for her computer, but it seems she is also being followed.
Directing: Yuichi Tanaka · Writing: Chiaki J. Konaka
1x04 Layer:04 – RELIGION
Some players of a Wired game called PHANTOMa are dying suspicious deaths. Lain investigates, but her growing interest in the Wired worries her father, as well as classmates Mika and Alice.
Directing: Akihiko Nishiyama · Writing: Chiaki J. Konaka
1x05 Layer:05 – DISTORTION
Lain receives cryptic messages about existence, God, and a coming prophecy. Meanwhile, Mika's world changes in ways both surreal and hyperreal.
Directed by: Masahiko Murata · Written by: Chiaki J. Konaka
1x06 Layer:06 – KIDS
Young children are acting strangely, arms outstretched and silently staring at the sky. A shocking vision suddenly appears in the skies; it looks like Lain! Determined to get to the bottom of this, Lain's investigations finally bring her to the creator of KIDS -- but what she discovers is not what she hoped for.
Directing: Ryutaro Nakamura · Writing: Chiaki J. Konaka
1x07 Layer:07 – SOCIETY
As the Knights activities make the evening news, a strange man named Nazumi wanders the city with machines strapped to his body. People on the WIRED are asking: ""Who is Lain"". Meanwhile, the two MIB agents take Lain to the Techibana offices where Lain's identity is challenged by a man; how well does she know her parents, her sister, herself? Can Lain answer him?
Directing: Johei Matsuura · Writing: Chiaki J. Konaka
1x08 Layer:08 – RUMORS
Still shaken by the information she received from the Men In Black, Lain discovers that she is being blamed for spreading an ugly rumor in the WIRED. Is what the MIB said is true; is she another person in the WIRED? Or is she doing it herself? Lain must find out or risk losing the one true friend she has.
Directed by: Yuichi Tanaka, Shigeru Ueda · Written by: Chiaki J. Konaka
1x09 Layer:09 – PROTOCOL
A documentary about Roswell gives Lain some valuable information about the pioneers of the WIRED. Later, at the Cyberia, J.J. tells Lain that she left something the day before and hands her an envelop with the Knight's logo on it. The envelop contains a chip. Believing this was the other 'Lain's' doing again, she decides to call Taro's bluff and go on a 'date'. Taking him to her room, Lain demands that he tell her what he knows. Together, with Taro's information and the mysterious chip, Lain finds out more then she expected.
Directing: Akihiko Nishiyama · Writing: Chiaki J. Konaka
1x10 Layer:10 – LOVE
Lain struggles with her identity. Is she a human being, or just a hologram? And are the Knights responsible for the Evil Lain? Lain decides to deal with the Knights once and for all.
Directed by: Masahiko Murata · Written by: Chiaki J. Konaka
1x11 Layer:11 – INFORNOGRAPHY
Alone and frightened, Lain immerses herself in the WIRED, processing the events of the past few weeks and searching for the truth of who she is.
Directing: Johei Matsuura · Writing: Chiaki J. Konaka
1x12 Layer:12 – LANDSCAPE
Troubled by what she saw, Alice decides to visit Lain at home and find out what is going on. Meanwhile, the two MIB agents receive a terrible shock and Eiri reveals his real motive for removing the barrier between the real world and the WIRED.
Directing: Ryutaro Nakamura · Writing: Chiaki J. Konaka
1x13 Layer:13 – EGO Season Finale
The world is crumbling, people are dying and Alice's sanity is threatened. To save humanity, there is only one thing Lain can do; she must make the ultimate personal sacrifice.
Directing: Ryutaro Nakamura · Writing: Chiaki J. Konaka
Season 1 Cast
Kaori ShimizuLain Iwakura (voice)13 episodes
Yoko AsadaArisu Mizuki - Lain's friend (voice)13 episodes
Ryusuke OhbayashiYasuo Iwakura - Lain's father (voice)13 episodes
Rei IgarashiMiho Iwakura - Lain's mother (voice)13 episodes
Sumi MutohChisa Yomoda (voice)13 episodes
Chiharu TezukaReika Yamamoto (voice)13 episodes
Manabi MizunoYūri Katō (voice)13 episodes
Show HayamiEiri Masami (voice)13 episodes
Jouji NakataKarl Haushoffer - Man in Black 1(voice)13 episodes
Takumi YamazakiLin Sui-Xi - Man in black 2 (voice)13 episodesWhere to Watch Season 1 of Serial Experiments Lain
It is currently not available on the major streaming platforms.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does season 1 of Serial Experiments Lain have?
Season 1 of Serial Experiments Lain has 13 episodes.
When did season 1 of Serial Experiments Lain premiere?
Premiered on July 6, 1998.
Where to Watch Serial Experiments Lain Season 1?
Currently not available on the major subscription platforms (availability may vary by country).
What is the best episode of Season 1?
According to the TMDB audience score, episode 1x08, "Layer:08 – RUMORS", with a 8.6.