Original artwork, not a still
Disputed attribution: The chant of the Wired, Serial Experiments Lain (1998); on screen, "Love Lain" in Layer 12
Let's all love Lain.
— Serial Experiments Lain · 1998
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The phrase turns affection into something sinister: a whole network telling itself to love one lonely schoolgirl, while Lain herself fades out of everyone's memory. For fans it stands for the series' themes of identity, worship and the self splitting online, which is why it is quoted half as a joke and half as a chill. It is the line fans reach for first when they want to evoke the show.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Serial Experiments LainShow the scene
Fans remember the line as a chant rather than dialogue from one scene. It surfaces in the Wired, the series' network, as it starts to swallow ordinary life in Serial Experiments Lain (1998). In Layer 12, 'Landscape', the on-screen news reporter signs off with a story that is just the words 'Love Lain' repeated over and over, while voices around the city call her name. Fans and TV Tropes remember it as the show's broken-record refrain, a crowd urging everyone to love a girl who has become part of the network.
Sources (2)
- Serial Experiments Lain Wiki: Layer 12Summary, news report sceneReference checked
- TV Tropes: Serial Experiments Lain (Anime)Broken Record entryReference checked
Context reviewed
