Lain and Noir

**haohmaru** · 17 Jan 2005, 09:25 PM

Picked them up at Best Buy - anyone go through either of these sets? I've watched the first 8 episodes of Farscape (not anime) and I'm not terribly enthused about it, so going to give one of these a go.

**George** · 17 Jan 2005, 10:42 PM

I've seen both all the way through, so here goes:

Lain is a trippy 13 episode show about a young girl who becomes entranced by the "wired" (The internet) after her friend commits suicide and sends her an email post-mortem that states she lives in the wired. Lain begins to have horrific experiences with people who claim that the wired is "real" or "better than real."
The show delves into the mystery of the wired, who Lain really is, and who made her this way. It's very confusing at times, but if you pay attention then you should come out of it very satisfied.

Noir is an action drama about two young women who share a past that neither can remember. The older is a blonde-haired assassin in France, the other is a brown-haired young girl who can't remember her past, but can kill with avid ferocity. The two meet on the same mission, and before one kills the other, they agree to work together until they find Kirika's (The young girl's) memory. They form an assassination duo called "Noir." The show can actually be quite boring sometimes, but it has incredible music (Yuki Kaijura, a la .Hack) The action is predictable, and for such a violent show there is no blood whatsoever. Everyone who dies is a man dressed in a business suit (no foolin') and the story revelations at the end of the show are laughably bad.

I would recommend Lain over Noir anyday, but do yourself a favor and get Noir's soundtrack.

**animegirl** · 17 Jan 2005, 10:43 PM

Lain is really, really fucking weird. It has the best opening song ever though. I liked it, but it takes a lot of brain power to follow what the hell is going on, and when you get to the later episodes it goes batshit insane.

**George** · 17 Jan 2005, 10:48 PM

Originally Posted by animegirl20

Lain is really, really fucking weird. It has the best opening song ever though. I liked it, but it takes a lot of brain power to follow what the hell is going on, and when you get to the later episodes it goes batshit insane.

But the villain, he's too cool! And really, when you break it down it's not so bad.

**Opaque** · 17 Jan 2005, 11:30 PM

Originally Posted by haohmaru

Picked them up at Best Buy - anyone go through either of these sets? I've watched the first 8 episodes of Farscape (not anime) and I'm not terribly enthused about it, so going to give one of these a go.

I have both complete sets and they are both great, especially Noir.

**Scourge** · 18 Jan 2005, 12:23 AM

I highly recommend lain. I also highly recommend this REVIEW of lain. I don't normally recommend reviews, but this one puts the show into a very detailed context and explains some of the back elements behind the story, not ruining anything really, just making what is a very strange show have some level of clarity and meaning.