Finally gave it a watch and goddamn that was good. There is still so much that doesn’t make sense to me and so many scenes left me wondering about their meaning in the best way possible.

Anyone got recommendations for anime like SEL?

  • Erika3sis [she/her, xe/xem]@hexbear.netEnglish
    17·
    12 days ago

    I haven’t vetted it yet, but fans of Lain tend to recommend Paranoia Agent and vice versa, and they sound similar enough to each other. But have you already seen Neon Genesis Evangelion? Because that’s another one that’s got a lot of vice-versa recommendations with Lain, and I’ve seen it twice now and I would say that it scratched a similar itch for me as Lain did, although Evangelion can at times also be more action-oriented than Lain, what with the mechs and all. (By the way, if you enjoyed Evangelion you should also consider Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water!)

    I didn’t manage to get into Madoka Magica myself, but maybe that’s something for you, if you liked Lain for this teenage girl getting pulled into the web of this sort of dark underworld. I also think Lain has a lot of fan overlap with Revolutionary Girl Utena and FLCL, though I haven’t vetted more than the first two episodes of either of those. Utena and FLCL aren’t necessarily that similar to Lain in terms of tone or content, but they are late '90s to early '00s “auteur” type stuff, so if the “auteuriality” of Lain was a major draw for you — as it sounds like it was — then Utena and FLCL could also be up your alley.

    …But I mean, that’s the problem with “like”, isn’t it? The whole question of “‘Like’ in what way?” Because I could even recommend Steins;Gate as a top-tier psychological mystery show involving a lot of tap-tapping on a computer keyboard, but the vibes just aren’t the same as Lain, 'cause Steins;Gate has a lot more levity, for one.

    So yeah. The recommendations will always depend a lot on the specific point of comparison. But I still hope this is a good jumping off point.

    • JustSo [she/her, any]@hexbear.netEnglish
      9·
      12 days ago

      Yeah I was thinking steins;gate too. But it hits way different to SEL. Same for GitS and GitS:SAC, they tickle overlapping parts of my brain in that exploration of identity and the digital world overlaying the material world.

      I’ll have to check out Paranoia Agent.

    • ComradeSharkfucker@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
      7·
      12 days ago

      I intend to watch evangelion but haven’t yet. Maybe that will be next. Anyway I agree that qualifying “like” with a touch point is useful but the problem is I’m not entirely sure why I liked SEL so much. I thought it would be better to get broad recommendations based on vibes

  • insurgentrat [she/her, it/its]@hexbear.netEnglish
    13·
    12 days ago

    SEL was the thing that made me realise that there was anime that wasn’t juvenile power fantasies for disaffected boys.

    Could also recommend paprika for some mind melting reality blurring stuff.

    Ghost in the shell is very good and similarly existential although a lot more straight forward.

    edit: different vibe but similarly artistic and distinct are ?shinechiro watenabe?'s animes. Cowboy beebop, samuri champloo stand out. The wife and I adored space dandy for blending ennui, absurdism, and a dandy guy in space but it’s defs the most juvenile

  • CriticalOtaku [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    5·
    12 days ago

    Haibane Renmei was directed by the one of the key animators of Lain, and shares it’s character designer. It’s very good, if a bit slow and existential.

    Kino’s Journey (2003) was also directed by Lain’s director, it has a similar surreal feeling but I think I like it a bit better than Lain because it touches on things like politics and identity.

    Other posters have already given good recs (I’ll vouch for Paranoia Agent and the rest of Satoshi Kon’s work), but if you’re willing to change the genre to fantasy Mushishi is really good and also contains that same kind of thoughtful mysterious vibes.