layer:01 WEIRD
(pg. 6)
〇 Present Day, Present Time⋆
The city at night-, despite the people coming and going in silence, countless voices are converging⋆.
Waaannn
There are countless electric wires between buildings.
This was exactly what New York was like until the 1920s. Until the underground burial work was done.
Leaking out, therein a voice can be heard-
Young woman: (off/whispering) "Why don't you come? I wish you would come here..."
〇 Shibuya/Center of the city
Most of the shops are closed late at night, but there are many people on the street.
A girl is walking with an unsteady gait.
The dirty uniform is from a private junior high school. It doesn't come off as fashionable; it's an old-fashioned design.
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⋆Originally an image (scene name), Director Nakamura planned to show nothing but text in an avant title style, but he also had a foreign actor do a voice performance as well.
⋆Convergence
The original meaning is that people gather together, but it is used when the telephone network is down, such as during a natural disaster.
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(pg. 7)
Dressed up girls moving between clubs look at the girl's appearance. They point at her and laugh boisterously.
〇 Bitmap font on white background⋆
S: "-Why you should do that... is something you should figure out for yourself"
〇 The roof of a building
The roof of a multi-tenant building. The neon lights of a love hotel are blinking under her eyes.
A girl with her hair fluttering in the wind looks straight down from the railing with no expression.
A couple of lovers are walking sparsely.
The girl turns her face to the sky and says something silently.
And - a smile -
〇 Bitmap font on white background
S: "I... don't need to stay in a place like this"
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⋆In the early episodes, we aimed to convey information as text characters and just put it on the screen as is, changing it as the story progressed. But this style became integral until it neared the final episodes. A brightly colored image, not the "white background", is Raretrick's job.
(T/N: Raretrick is an animation company)
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(pg. 8)
〇 Alley
Just behind where the couple was walking, a black shadow falls, followed immediately after with the sound of a crash.
The two people turn around in shock.
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Blood is flowing.
Bathed in the neon light, red, blue and green...
The blood makes a stream and flows down the slope.
〇 Residential area/next morning
Early in the morning.
Barely any people can be seen walking.
However, the convergence of chattering voices is occurring here as well.
Alleys and alleys, roofs and roofs, utility poles and utility poles-.
There are always dark gray wires glittering in the sky.
Like when a drug wears off, "scanner"⋆ feels like a "voice" that flows directly into the brain.
A connection of meaningless words.
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⋆Scanner
In the movie "Scanners", directed by John Cronenberg, telepathic people were called by this name.
I wrote the story with the image of a protagonist whose telepathic suppressant drug wore off, but I didn't specifically explain this to the director. When layer: 01 was completed, I was surprised that the sound effects were so close to what I wanted, and when I asked Mr. Koji Kasamatsu, the head of sound design, (who became a big force in the acoustic aspect of this series), he said, "It's a coincidence."
(T/N: According to Wikipedia, "Scanners" was directed by David Cronenberg. The original text uses the name "John")
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(pg. 9)
Yes, this story uses "words" to symbolize the network and communication.
This is a world where reality's present-day is slightly distorted.⋆
However, it is also not separated from reality's present-day either.
〇 Bitmap font on white background
S: "If you stay in a place like this... you might not be able to connect-"
〇 Inside a private railway car
A train that goes down to the suburbs. It's not crowded, but Lain is standing and leaning against the door. Her uniform is faintly reflected on the window glass.
Lain feels the strangeness by tilting her head a little.
You can hear every episode's convergence through a mumbling tone. Lain looks behind her.
The sound of someone grasping the hanging strap, a sitting person reading the newspaper-. No one's mouth is open.
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⋆Normally, something like this is not written in the scenario.
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(pg. 10)
However, Lain continues to hear the mumbling tone of chattering voices.
Lain: (muttering) "What a racket..."
No one responds.
Lain: (slightly louder) "-Can't you be quiet...?"
Several people nearby stare at Lain.
Lain is just staring out the window.
The sitting man, appearing to be in a bad mood, returns to his newspaper.
Lain suddenly looks up.
The neighboring railway track's powerline appears to be moving slowly.
〇 Railroad tracks running in residential areas
The train runs over the overpass as the pantograph rubs the power lines.
The power lines are connected with countless electric wires-
〇 Ouka Academy
A girls' school from junior high school to junior college.⋆
Lain is among the students going to school.
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⋆It is clearly stated that Ouka Acadamy is a girl's school, and art and characters are also set, but in layer:04 there are lines spoken by male students. This is my mistake.
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(pg. 11)
She gives the impression of being slightly younger than the other students.
Lain suddenly stops and tilts her head to one side.
The students who were walking disappeared, and the campus becomes uninhabited.
However, the students' conversations continue to be audible.
Waaaan... They echo in the concrete school building and wrap around Lain.
After that, when Lain regained her ego, the landscape returned to its previous state.
〇 Bitmap font on white background
S: "Everybody, hurry..."
〇 Second year group B / Classroom
When Lain entered, the students were formed in several groups and conversing in low voices.
Not paying anyone any mind, Lain heads to her seat.
When she puts her bag on the desk and pulls out her textbook-
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(pg. 12)
Suddenly, a girl begins to cry.
Lain turned around; a student named Juri was hunched over her desk and crying.
Lain: "?"
Juri⋆ is surrounded by Alice and Reika who are trying to console her.
Alice: "Juri, you shouldn't worry about it."
Reika: "That's right. It was obviously a prank."
Lain was watching but soon lost interest. When she faces forward and opens her notebook-
Alice: (Off) "Lain?"
Lain looks up. Alice was peering in.
Lain: "Yes?"
Alice: "Did you get one, too?"
Lain: "Get what?"
Alice: "E-mail!"
Lain: "E-mail...?"
Alice: (Slightly frustrated) "The e-mail from Yomoda Chisa⋆!"
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⋆Alice/Juri/Reika
It is a character whose name has appeared many times in my script work, and the first appearance is "School Kaidan/Screaming High School" (Kansai TV 94). The three heroines of the PlayStation game "Alice in Cyberland" (96) also had this name (Reika is Reina). " For "Alice" in " Lain", it was my strong hope that she would be casted by Ms. Asada Youko, who played " Alice" in "~Cyberland". Because "network" is the theme of the story, it was because of my own physiology that I couldn't separate "~Cyberland" from "Lain". However, at the stage of writing this layer, Alice and the others are made to appear to only be Lain's school friends.
⋆Yomoda Chisa
"Alice 6" was a late night drama series broadcasted in Shizuoka that I wrote and my younger brother Kazuya directed. The Chisa from "Alice 6" disappeared in the first episode and was the "Sixth Alice".
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(pg. 13)
Lain: (looks down) "I'm not very good with computers..."
Alice: (Sigh) "You should at least check your mail once a day. Well, it's up to you, I guess..."
Reika: (Comes over) "Lain's such a baby."
Lain: "Why-, (looks at Juri) is she crying?"
Reika: "Because she got an e-mail from Yomoda Chisa, that's why!"
Lain: "Chisa..."
Reika: "She was in class D. She killed herself last week by jumping off a building in Shibuya. Come on, the teacher told everybody!"
Lain: "..."
Alice: "It's not just Juri. Lots of people have gotten mail from her this week..."
Lain: "-But she's..."
Alice: "Right. You shouldn't be getting mail from a dead girl. But there it is..."
Lain thinks deeply.
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A teacher silently writes C language⋆ syntax on the blackboard.
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⋆C language
An artificial language used for computer programming.
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(pg. 14)
The students are silently copying it.
It seems to be a little difficult for Lain. She stares at the blackboard desperately trying to understand it, but it looks like a list of meaningless characters.
She gives a small sigh and moves her eyes to her hands.
Her right hand is grasping a mechanical pencil.
She drops the pencil and opens her palm.
Her fingers still look child-like.
From each one, something like a dark red ectoplasm⋆, begins to stretch out and drift into the void.
Lain keeps staring at it.
〇 Bitmap font on white background
S: "What's it like when you die? It really hurts. (lol)"
〇 Residential area / Afternoon
Waaannnnnn
Conversation's convergence.
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⋆This is one of the typical hallucinations in neurosis. Lain wasn't particularly ill; actually, I wanted to create an atmosphere that looked as if it were natural, but I couldn't imagine what it would look like on screen.
Mr. Kishida Ryukou did all of the scenes for layer: 01's animation and character design (the source of screen design/original picture/background).
(T/N: not sure of the name)
In a live-action movie, it's similar to the framing of a camera), but the layout of this scene alone takes a month and a half.
As an aside, the layout of episode 1 of "lain" was highly evaluated by animators, and it seems that this copy was distributed to several animation studios.
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(pg. 15)
A power line that makes a buzzing noise in the wind.
Hilly road.
A town with many slopes.⋆
Lain slowly climbs up the slope.
Her home is at the top.
The nameplate reads "Iwakura." A modern house that has just been built.
Lain unlocks the door and goes inside.
〇 Iwakura house / Dining room
Lain walks from the entrance to the stairs.
There seems to be no one here at this time.
〇 Lain's room
Lain comes in.
Wallpaper with childish colors. However, there aren't many things; it's empty.
She places the bag on the floor and approaches the desk.
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⋆A town with many slopes is a town that inherits the image as it is from the scenario written in the animation part (Director: Mr. Endo Tetsuya/Character Design: Mr. Haga Hitoshi) of the PlayStation software version produced prior to the TV series.
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(pg. 16)
There is NAVI⋆(network computer terminal) made for children. Both desktop type and portable type are available. Lain's first terminal had extremely low functionality, and the monitor was also LCD) placed in the corner. Lain stares intently.
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Lain approaches the desk again while putting her arm through the sleeves of her sweater.
She brings the NAVI control panel to the center of the desk and-
Presses the start key.
S: "Login"⋆
S: "Who?"
Lain types on the keys with an uncertain hand.
S: "lain"
Lain: "Re-i-n"
It displays a ripply shape that matches the rhythm of her voice-
S: "Accept"
S: "You have mail"
Lain: "From who?"
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⋆NAVI
A term used as a general term for things like personal computers and mobile terminals.
The first appearance is in an OVA series called "Armitage the Third" ('95). Thereafter, when I put it in my work in the near future, it almost feels unified. The etymology comes from Knowledge Navigator, a concept proposed by Apple Computer in response to Alan Kay's concept.
The children's NAVI that appears in this scene was designed by Yoshitoshi Abe, an original character designer who held the key visuals for all lain projects. It features a plotter-like pointing device used in CAD.
⋆The operating system COS launched here is by Junji Nakahara, who designed and produced all the NAVI interfaces that will appear in the TV series. Mr. Nakahara is the director of the PlayStation version of "lain" and is originally a programmer. After the middle of the series, it was a difficult task to be pressed for time during airing, but the COS that appeared here was designed over a considerable amount of time and was created by making full use of an application called After Effects on the Macintosh.
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(pg. 17)
A little while later-
S: "Yomoda Chisa"
Lain: "..."
S: "Read?"
Lain presses the enter key.
Characters pop up on a white screen.
S⋆: "Hello. How are you?"
Lain: "..."
S: "Lain, I walked home with you just once. Do you remember?"
Lain gives a small nod.
S: "I have only given up my body. By doing this, I can explain to you that I am still alive. "
Lain: "..."
S: "I wanted to let you know this, Lain, so I sent this e-mail to you. Do you understand?
(T/N: she uses 判る)
Lain: "..."
S: "It's okay if you can't right now. You will understand soon. Everyone will."
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⋆S
This S is an abbreviation of "super impose" and is written in the screenplay by simply putting in the letter.
Director Nakamura directed this as a voice navigation system with synthetic voice, and everything was spoken as dialogue. Therefore, the character "S" is written on the closing credits.
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(pg. 18)
Lai: "Why- did you die?"
S: "Rumor at school has it that this is a prank e-mail, but I want you to know that it isn't, Lain."
Lain: "Why did you kill yourself?"
It was as if they were having a conversation. However-
S: "God is here."
Lain: "..."
The letters weren't trying to say anything anymore.
Lain: "..."
〇 Dining room / Evening
Mother, older sister and Lain are eating.
The television, which no one is watching, continues to spill meaningless information. The sound is muted. Only the sound of touching dishes and the sound of swallowing food can be heard. The sound reverberates.
Lain is troubled because the plate placed in front of her doesn't look anything like food.
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(pg. 19)
Neither her mother nor her sister seems to be interested in Lain at all.
Her older sister, Mika, leaves her seat with more than half of her food left.
Mika: Late lunch today. Thanks for the food."
Lain seems to eat slowly.
She stops moving the spoon-, and looks at her mother
Lain: "-Mama?"
Miho: "What?"
Lain: (Very small voice) "I got an e-mail..."
Miho doesn't look at Lain.
Lain: "-From the girl who committed suicide last week"
Miho: "..."
The two continue to eat.
〇 Lain's room
The NAVI screen is left on.
However, it is just in a green state of appearance.
Lain reclines on the bed and spaces out alone.
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(pg. 20)
And then, the sound of a car stopping outside.
Lain approaches the window.
She can see her father getting out of a taxi.
〇 Father's room
Without changing clothes, her father, Yasuo, is connecting the parts he bought for his own terminal.
[ハッキ―な性分らしく、かなり手の込んだシステムになっている。]
[It's a very elaborate system because of its clear nature.]
Then, the door opens slightly, and Lain⋆ peeks half of her face in.
Yasuo notices-
Yasuo: "-What is it, Lain?"
Lain timidly enters the room.
Lain: "..."
Yasuo: "It's certainly unusual to see you in here."
Lain: "-My NAVI-, I was wondering if you could buy me a new one-"
Yasuo: (broad smile) "Finally caught the bug, huh? It's like I said, right?"
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⋆In this scene of the finished work, Lain wears a "bear" cartoon-animal pajama.
When Mr. Iwata first drew this design rough drawing, I felt a little rebellious. Because a "bear" is a kind of trademark of me and my younger brother.
This is because we also made a movie called "Kuma-chan". Since I was a scriptwriter, I thought that it would be a loss for the director and Mr. Iwata to put out the "bear" mark like an icon. However, Director Nakamura explained why Mr. Iwata had the idea to draw such a costume to me and the producer, and I was convinced.
Lain wears bear pajamas when confronting her family or when she cuts off interference from the outside world.
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(pg. 21)
While saying that, Yasuo is working on inserting a new cache⋆ card into the infrastructure of the open computer base.
Lain is staring at her hand.
Yasuo: "You're in junior high school, so you should use a better machine. You'll fall behind your friends, right?"
Lain: "..."
Yasuo: "This world you know, Lain. Whether in the real⋆ world or in the Wired⋆, human beings are all connected to each other, and that's how societies function.
Even a child like you can make friends right away, Lain. There's nothing to be afraid of. I wonder why your mother can't understand that..."
Lain: (Faint voice) "-I'm- not scared."
Yasuo (turns to Lain) "But why bring up your Navi all of a sudden?"
Lain "-There's a friend I want to see."
Yasuo "..."
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The light goes into the assembled machine.
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⋆Cache
However, the PCI expansion card was drawn on the actual screen.
Cache, not cash, is the closest thing to working memory for the CPU.
However, the PCI expansion card was drawn on the actual screen.
In this way, the NAVI of this work depicts the personal computer as of '98, as well as its peripheral devices. What is fiction is its function and operating speed.
⋆Real World
Real World network, meaning being relative to the real world.
⋆The Wired
Wired is a general term for networks in this series.
In the United States, there are cases where the Internet is called this way, but the usage in this series is selected with the intention of strengthening the nuance of "connecting things."
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(pg. 22)
Yasuo sits in an easy chair in front of a large NAVI.
Lain stares in the corner of the room.
Shuunnnun
The fan noise of the Peltier⋆ cooler is low and muffled.
Virtual⋆ windows open one after another in front of Yasuo, and the exchange of CU⋆ mail begins.
The shape of a person without a face. One by one in the monitor.
Yasuo seems to be having a conversation without voicing words.
Even on bbs⋆ boards with a time lag, the virtual real-time mode allows conversation to be established as if it were a synchronized meeting. Yasuo is able to manage several of them at once.
[まるで―、まるで世界にだけ魂が飛んでいる様。]
[It's like- it's like a soul flying only in the world.]
Yasuo's physical self doesn't even quiver into an archaic smile.
Lain continues to motionlessly stare at his face.
〇 Inside a private railway car / The next morning
In the same way, Lain holds the door and stares at the scenery flowing outside.
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⋆Peltier cooler
An integrated circuit cooling device that uses a Peltier element, which absorbs heat when an electric current is passed through it. In reality, the noise of the fan is not heard outside the computer case.
On the actual screen, six large CRT monitors were lined up and the multi-window OS was started. This OS interface is also Mr. Junshi Nakahara's outstanding work.
⋆CU mail
A word coined from "-Cyberland" to mean voice mail with a video. "CU" means See You, which is the name of a videophone-style chat that was popular a while ago.
⋆bbs boat
A text-based communication form on the Internet. Often referred to as a bulletin board.
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(pg. 23)
Kikikikikikikiki
The train comes to a sudden stop. Inside the roaring train. Lain, trying to grab the railing- doesn't reach it and rolls to the floor.
Convergence of all episodes increases.
Lain stands up while enduring knee pain.
And the voice of the announcement in the train.
Conductor: "We apologize for the inconvenience, ladies and gentlemen. The train is currently stopped due to an accident."
The man who was holding the newspaper-
Man: "Was someone hit?"
A noisy room.
Lain looks out the window.
Lain: "!"
Some liquid is flowing down a power line above the next railroad track. It falls on the ground in drips.
Lain looks over the railroad tracks.
It's- blood. Blood was flowing along the power lines.
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(pg. 24)
Lain: "..."
〇 Abstract image
Lain is in the town.
No, it may be in school.
Or in the house.
Lain is alone wherever she is.
Everyone in her surroundings is just another stranger.
She doesn't even feel like a human.
Lain has always been fine with that.
However-
〇 Railway track
A world that looks like its covered in a white mist.
Lain stands on the railroad tracks without her bag.
I don't know why I am here.
(判らない)
Suddenly, there is a person in front of her.
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(pg. 25)
It looks like a female student from another school.
Lain stares at the girl in a suspicious manner.
She can't see her expression because of her hair.
Like that girl who jumped and fell to her death, she walks to the middle of the railroad tracks with an unsteady gait.
Lain: "!"
From far away, you can see the the lights of a train traveling towards her.
The girl seems to be standing ready, but with a pose that lacks determination.
Lain: "!!"
Lain shouted. However, she is not able to speak.
Even so, it seems that it reached the girl's ears.
The girl turns to Lain.
Lain: "!" (Fear)
The girl's face was blurry, like the other side of cloudy glass.
Light approaches from behind-
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(pg. 26)
Abruptly, the girl's body is caught under the wheels and the train draws near Lain!!
Lain: "!" (Screaming face)
〇 2nd Year Classroom B
With a start, Lain returns to herself.
She was sitting properly in her seat.
Looking around, all the other students are looking at the blackboard and copying it into their notebooks.
Homeroom teacher: "Miss Iwakura"
Lain is surprised and looks forward.
A young female teacher⋆ in a suit was staring at Lain with a harsh expression.
Lain: (delicate voice) "Yes..."
Keiko: "This will be on the test."
Lain: "..."
Lain, biting her lips, picks up her mechanical pencil and looks at the blackboard.
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⋆Female teacher
At the time of writing for these episodes, I had a plan to feature this character more, so I gave her the name Keiko Yoshii, but in the end she ended up being a background character.
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(pg. 27)
Lain: "..."
Randomly written letters on a dark green blackboard- are wriggling.
Lain: "..."
Eventually, the characters became the same typeface as Lain's children's NAVI monitor.
S: "Come to the Wired as soon as you can"
Lain "..."
The characters have already returned to the original English text written by Keiko.
〇 Residential area
The usual scenery of the town where countless wires cover the sky.
Lain climbing the hill.
No one else is around- is what it should be, but Lain suddenly turns around, feeling like she's passed by someone.
Lain: "..."
A pale-faced Chisa stood in a feeble pose and watched Lain.
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(pg. 28)
Lain: "-Chisa, chan...?"
Chisa smiles.
Lain: "-Where are you?"
Chisa's face -turns white and gradually disappears-
Lain: (feeble voice) "-Wait!"
There was no human figure in that place anymore.
Lain stood perfectly still⋆.
To Be Continued...
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⋆This last shot was a laborious task. Raretrick took a day and a half to spit out the renderings. From the size of the first Lain to that unusual wide-angle screen: all of it was drawn in one cut. It may be casual, but it is a shot unique to digital that cannot be created with ordinary cells and film alone.
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