Search - Serial Experiments - Lain: Knights (Layers 5-7) on DVD

I see dead people...

illadvised | Northern California | 09/09/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ok, wrong movie-- but regardless whether she is bothered by neck dwelling prickly things or not, after "Navi," Lain is begging to be unraveled. In "Knights," it's seems that we'll finally see Lain's ball of truths untwine. Instead we discover it's loops and knots, all through an unceasing collage of imagery and sound that leaves our senses bruised and us meandering with Lain and her world. Ever get a cut or bruise and wonder how they got there? The answers lie within the layers of the Serial Experiments: Lain series. Not for the attention-challenged. Technically, there really isn't anything to add that hasn't already been said. Like volume 1, the quality of the transfer, both in video and sound (even if it's only 2.0 DD), once again hold up beautifully. This series is truly a reference piece for Anime on DVD. As before, there are Japanese and English audio tracks as well as English subtitles available. I don't know if it's just my copy, but I picked up two obvious errors (not a translation nit-picking) in the subs that seems to have slipped passed the editors. One is clearly a complete thought in dialogue left incomplete in the subs. The other is completely technical, where the english subtitle falls on top of a sub/caption thats there when sub is off. Oh well, I guess you've seen it all, no big deal. As for supplements, it may seem lacking, but what _is_ there just makes the great, greater. It might not seem like a big deal but I really appreciate the option to watch the opening intro without the credit text! Also, I haven't watched much anime in a while, but I'm glad to see there are still people who preserve the original work when it makes it overseas. Specifically concerning the soundtrack, wherein some U.S. Anime distributors, who originally have nothing to do with the work itself, decide to take it upon themselves to change this and that, because "it's better this and that way." Since when did idiocy take precedence over the artists original work? 3!"

The Best of the Four - Knights

C.J.S. | Tampa, Florida | 03/17/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you buy only one tape of Serial Experiments Lain(Which is a really bad idea), make this the one. Not only does this raise the most interesting questions, but some of the best plot twists occur here, including what happens to Lain's sister, Mika.If you want an anime to keep you up at night, either with thought or with chills, make this it."

"Everything is a prophecy"

Marc Ruby? | Warren, MI USA | 04/18/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you approach this series expecting the ordinary, or even a somewhat imaginative approach to the theme of where the line between real and virtual are you are in for a shock. There is little about this story that is comfortable, and much that is deeply disquieting. Ryutaro Nakamura is intent in placing the viewer in Lain's experiences, intentionally creating the same perceptual and intellectual confusion.The question probed in this DVD continued to be who or what is the real Lain. These episodes fracture the appearance of waif-like innocence that Lain wore in the first DVD. Not completely, though. Only enough so that it is clear that a much brasher and more forward young woman exists in the same mind. Even this simplifies her personality boundaries, as her sister is also consumed by the changes within Lain.Sharing the 'wired' with her are desperate geeks trying to gain admission to the 'Knights,' a closed hacker society that is driven by secret, and perhaps deadly purposes. And in the 'real' world men in dark suits follow her and question her very existence. While her Navi grows into a water-cooled monster that swallows her entire room. Time and again, we have to wonder whose perceptions are we following, as our vision fragments and then heals in kaleidoscopic patterns. Into this strangeness step parents, strangers and friends who seem to only stop by to pronounce philosophically and then vanish back into the surfaces.The artwork continues to be remarkable. This isn't so much an animated series as it is a designed film. By which I mean that rather than a flow of action, we are presented with images and symbols that glue themselves like wallpaper on the inside of our minds, returning repeatedly to haunt us. This is creative, experimental work, which draws the viewer forward despite forebodings of a final bleak vision that will never leave. This is a demonstration of anime's real potential as an art form, rather than simple entertainment."

The plot thickens and a lot of questions remain unanswered

Gerardo Braham Caballero | Queretaro, Queretaro Mexico | 05/09/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Serial experiment Lain is perhaps the best anime i have seen on the year. However, in order to really hope to understand it you will need a lot of patience and go through the four discs. On the Knights disc the plot thickens and a lot of weird things keep happening to Lain, there are three layers on this DVD (distortion, kids and society), all three fit into the story in a strange kind of way leaving more questions open than revealed. If you really want to understand what is really going on wait for the fourth disc (Deus) and the stunning conclusion (Reset). As far as the quality of the anime goes, the image is crisp and the sound great, the voice acting is very good and i liked both the english and the japanese versions. Try it and be amazed!"