10 Underrated 1990s Anime You Probably Haven't Seen
9. Serial Experiments Lain
Foretelling the pervasiveness of modern internet life and culture all the way back in 1998, the short-run anime series Serial Experiments Lain has become somewhat of a cult classic among viewers. The show's 13 episodes follow middle -schooler Iwakura Lain, a socially-inept introvert from a neglectful, emotionally distant suburban family.
Lain receives a mysterious message from a dead classmate stating that she has ascended to a new level of consciousness and, essentially, been absorbed into "The Wired", a virtual realm made up of the wavelengths created by modern communication all the way back to the telegraph, and... Y'know what, the show's just kind of weird.
It delves deeply into conspiracy theories, cyberspace, ascended consciousness and is basically Ghost in the Shell on drugs.
Lain eventually learns that she is the lynchpin allowing The Wired to control reality. Through said power of The Wired, she is basically able to ascend to become a Goddess that can control reality, including controlling other peoples' memories and minds and changing reality itself. She is eventually able to exist outside of time and space - and the whole thing is just a wild, confusing ride.