I’ve watched the first 6 episodes of this show, imo everything past episode 4 is really vague and hard to understand. I’ve read that I shouldn’t expect to understand it on my first watch but if I’m not enjoying it my first time through I’m not gonna torture myself by rewatching something I dont like a bunch of times to understand it. It also makes me feel dumb for not appreciating something deep like this, especially since it’s something that you’re actually supposed to think about while watching it. Credit where credit is due, it is definitely one of the most unique anime I have seen.
Says who? IMO the strongest aspect of Lain is the vibe (style, sound, art, the whole world). The overall narrative is jarringly structured, a bit chaotic, with sudden introductions and resolutions of subplots, and especially on the first watch it’s futile to try to treat it as some sort of a (solvable) puzzle, or, even worse, a philosophical tractate. Not that it might not be treated that way on a rewatch sometime down the line (though honestly I wouldn’t expect that to be possible even then), but the first time around it has to draw you into the world and into Lain’s mind. Just relax, make yourself comfortable, and let it be an irrational, intimate experience that it’s probably meant to be. (Or, well, don’t, if you’ve already given up.)