The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Overview

Serial Experiments: Lain is one of the most difficult anime series to comprehend. Its assault of ambiguous, evocative images makes it a challenge to understand this rather demanding show. So when I heard about a Lain fan guide, I was both thankful at an explanation of the series, and skeptical that it was possible. This casual viewer noticed this guide missed areas a fan guide would cover, but was quite happy to receive a better understanding of the series.

The book is divided into two sections. The longer one, in color, is an episode summary, presented as thorough episode descriptions, followed by shorter character analyses. The black and white section covers rpg (particularly Big Eyes Small Mouth or BESM) information, technology overviews, and character sketches.

****

Color

This section is about 2/3 or 80 out of 110 pages of the book, and consists of episode summaries and character and location descriptions. The layout is impressive. Each **page** has anywhere from ten to fifteen images from the series, laid out as small informative computer-screen monitors. Although this reflects the busy feeling of cyberspace, text flows easily, and these images complement the reading. Viewers will recall that Lain had a large number of visuals (some shown for but a split second!), and the crucial ones have been chosen as pictures in this book. No filler here.

While most fan guide episode summaries are a few lines long, the book's summaries are actually detailed descriptions. Those who have seen (and freeze-framed) Lain several times might not get much out of them, but, again, casual viewers will appreciate knowing what they saw was really there -- or what it was in the first place! I did notice that the episode summaries missed some details Lain websites picked up. I also found oddly lacking in the summaries a sense of analysis. I appreciate knowing what bizarre scene I saw in this episode of Lain, but would have liked a better understanding of it.

Thankfully, the character and location descriptions have some of the analyses I was looking for. Much that I didn't know from watching the series "only" once was made clear. The author adeptly explains where the series does not provide enough information, yet still provides very plausible explanations. My only wish was that analysis was done during the episode summaries as well.

Although billed as an "Ultimate Fan Guide", the book does not have sections I've seen in fan guides in general. Character sketches are about the only "behind the scenes" information we have of the series. The book does not include interviews, production notes, additional creator art, trivia, and the like. Aside from short comments in the character sections and infrequent (but much appreciated) sidebars, there are no discussions of themes presented in the series. (Irrelevant conjecture from outside the series, gratuitous random picture stills, and stupid "Are you a real fan" quizzes are thankfully missing as well.)

****

Black and White

The black-and-white section consists of about 1/3 or 30 pages of the book. It's a combination of RPG guidelines, character conception sketches, and discussion about the technology seen in Lain. It ends with an index. Since this is an rpg review site, I'll focus on the rpg section.

Lain is a series of self-discovery -- with an amoral use of puppetry. To say that this would make a difficult task for an rpg setting would be an understatement. To create a story where the main character achieves awareness isn't easy (and we're talking enlightenment, not finding out you're the butt-kicking savior of the universe), and players don't like finding out they're merely props (Player: "I can only attend the first two game sessions." GM: "Okay. You can play Mika."). The GM advice section is but two pages long, yet it has some some solid suggestions for simulating the Lain environment -- something I wish were the standard rather than the "What is Roleplaying" rubbish in most rpg books. The advice isn't BESM specific, so you can use Lain with your favorite cyberspace rpg.

The BESM-specific information leaves something to be desired. The guidelines "map" cyberspace terms to BESM magic skills, reminding one of Arthur C. Clarke. While this would work in an rpg, Lain doesn't feel like a magic series, so these rules seem artificial. (Caveat: I have not played a BESM game with these rules.) Only two characters, Lain (at the time she attains proficiency with the Wired) and Eiri have statistics. Considering that most of the other characters have no "superpowers", I don't see this as a problem, but other readers may. That being said, only a few pages are dedicated to BESM, so you're not being "ripped off" by ignoring it.

Adventure seeds are not provided. In most generic-setting rpg's, they're pretty much useless. (Hmm... An adventure seed for a cyberpunk rpg in which the players break into illegal corporate data. How creative.) However, for licenses in which everyone knows the ending to a series, adventure seeds can be used to suggest other stories that could be told in the universe. The GM advice broadly addresses new directions for gaming, but, since Lain would be the first cyberspace rpg for BESM and many anime fans, concrete ideas would have been useful (even for the typical GM reaction of "Oh, **I** could do much better!")

The technical commentary is done just fine. It includes a discussion about **Using** the Wired, versus **Being in** the Wired. It reviews the gadgets used in the series. It ends with a discussion of the Apple influences on the series (see the link below).

Character sketches end and are interspersed in this section. The book ends with the series credits, pictures from the DVD covers (they're in the color section as well), and an index.

****

Conclusion

Despite what's missing in the Lain Ultimate Fan Guide, I still recommend the episode summaries for casual viewers who didn't understand all of the series. Veterans who know and understand the series will want to give it a pass. There may be better fan guides, but this book at least has more information than web fan sites I found. (The link below provides other Lain books, though none are necessarily fan guides.) Game support is there, though not enough to alone justify purchasing the book. The guide's not perfect, but does a remarkably impressive job of a very difficult task.

Lawrenc Eng's reviews of Lain books: http://www.cjas.org/~leng/lbooks.htm

Serial Experiments lain Ultimate Fan Guide
Serial Experiments lain Ultimate Fan Guide Capsule Review by Cedric Chin on 14/07/02 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty) So that's what the !@#$% prophesy is about! Product: Serial Experiments lain Ultimate Fan Guide Author: Bruce Baugh Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Guardians of Order Line: Ultimate Fan Guides Cost: $25 Page count: 110 Year published: 2001 ISBN: SKU: Comp copy?: yes Capsule Review by Cedric Chin on 14/07/02 Genre tags: Anime	Overview Serial Experiments: Lain is one of the most difficult anime series to comprehend. Its assault of ambiguous, evocative images makes it a challenge to understand this rather demanding show. So when I heard about a Lain fan guide, I was both thankful at an explanation of the series, and skeptical that it was possible. This casual viewer noticed this guide missed areas a fan guide would cover, but was quite happy to receive a better understanding of the series. The book is divided into two sections. The longer one, in color, is an episode summary, presented as thorough episode descriptions, followed by shorter character analyses. The black and white section covers rpg (particularly Big Eyes Small Mouth or BESM) information, technology overviews, and character sketches. ** Color This section is about 2/3 or 80 out of 110 pages of the book, and consists of episode summaries and character and location descriptions. The layout is impressive. Each page has anywhere from ten to fifteen images from the series, laid out as small informative computer-screen monitors. Although this reflects the busy feeling of cyberspace, text flows easily, and these images complement the reading. Viewers will recall that Lain had a large number of visuals (some shown for but a split second!), and the crucial ones have been chosen as pictures in this book. No filler here. While most fan guide episode summaries are a few lines long, the book's summaries are actually detailed descriptions. Those who have seen (and freeze-framed) Lain several times might not get much out of them, but, again, casual viewers will appreciate knowing what they saw was really there -- or what it was in the first place! I did notice that the episode summaries missed some details Lain websites picked up. I also found oddly lacking in the summaries a sense of analysis. I appreciate knowing what bizarre scene I saw in this episode of Lain, but would have liked a better understanding of it. Thankfully, the character and location descriptions have some of the analyses I was looking for. Much that I didn't know from watching the series "only" once was made clear. The author adeptly explains where the series does not provide enough information, yet still provides very plausible explanations. My only wish was that analysis was done during the episode summaries as well. Although billed as an "Ultimate Fan Guide", the book does not have sections I've seen in fan guides in general. Character sketches are about the only "behind the scenes" information we have of the series. The book does not include interviews, production notes, additional creator art, trivia, and the like. Aside from short comments in the character sections and infrequent (but much appreciated) sidebars, there are no discussions of themes presented in the series. (Irrelevant conjecture from outside the series, gratuitous random picture stills, and stupid "Are you a real fan" quizzes are thankfully missing as well.) Black and White The black-and-white section consists of about 1/3 or 30 pages of the book. It's a combination of RPG guidelines, character conception sketches, and discussion about the technology seen in Lain. It ends with an index. Since this is an rpg review site, I'll focus on the rpg section. Lain is a series of self-discovery -- with an amoral use of puppetry. To say that this would make a difficult task for an rpg setting would be an understatement. To create a story where the main character achieves awareness isn't easy (and we're talking enlightenment, not finding out you're the butt-kicking savior of the universe), and players don't like finding out they're merely props (Player: "I can only attend the first two game sessions." GM: "Okay. You can play Mika."). The GM advice section is but two pages long, yet it has some some solid suggestions for simulating the Lain environment -- something I wish were the standard rather than the "What is Roleplaying" rubbish in most rpg books. The advice isn't BESM specific, so you can use Lain with your favorite cyberspace rpg. The BESM-specific information leaves something to be desired. The guidelines "map" cyberspace terms to BESM magic skills, reminding one of Arthur C. Clarke. While this would work in an rpg, Lain doesn't feel like a magic series, so these rules seem artificial. (Caveat: I have not played a BESM game with these rules.) Only two characters, Lain (at the time she attains proficiency with the Wired) and Eiri have statistics. Considering that most of the other characters have no "superpowers", I don't see this as a problem, but other readers may. That being said, only a few pages are dedicated to BESM, so you're not being "ripped off" by ignoring it. Adventure seeds are not provided. In most generic-setting rpg's, they're pretty much useless. (Hmm... An adventure seed for a cyberpunk rpg in which the players break into illegal corporate data. How creative.) However, for licenses in which everyone knows the ending to a series, adventure seeds can be used to suggest other stories that could be told in the universe. The GM advice broadly addresses new directions for gaming, but, since Lain would be the first cyberspace rpg for BESM and many anime fans, concrete ideas would have been useful (even for the typical GM reaction of "Oh, I could do much better!") The technical commentary is done just fine. It includes a discussion about Using the Wired, versus Being in the Wired. It reviews the gadgets used in the series. It ends with a discussion of the Apple influences on the series (see the link below). Character sketches end and are interspersed in this section. The book ends with the series credits, pictures from the DVD covers (they're in the color section as well), and an index. ** Conclusion Despite what's missing in the Lain Ultimate Fan Guide, I still recommend the episode summaries for casual viewers who didn't understand all of the series. Veterans who know and understand the series will want to give it a pass. There may be better fan guides, but this book at least has more information than web fan sites I found. (The link below provides other Lain books, though none are necessarily fan guides.) Game support is there, though not enough to alone justify purchasing the book. The guide's not perfect, but does a remarkably impressive job of a very difficult task. Lawrenc Eng's reviews of Lain books: http://www.cjas.org/~leng/lbooks.htm

Serial Experiments lain Ultimate Fan Guide