Serial Experiments Lain-Volume 1: Navi (1998)

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General		Extras
Category	Anime	Main Menu Audio & Animation Theatrical Trailer TV Spots Trailer-CD Trailer-PlayStation Gallery-Concept Art Trailer-X; Gasaraki; Neon Genesis Evangelion Trailer-Martian Successor Nadesico; Blood-The Last Vampire; Akira Featurette-Device #01: Eye; Device #02: Mouth Featurette-Device #03: Hand; Device #04: Ear DVD Credits
Rating
Year Of Production	1998
Running Time	95:39 (Case: 100)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Ryutaro Nakamura Johei Matsuura Akihiko Nishiyama
Studio Distributor	Pioneer LDC Madman Entertainment	Starring	Kaori Shimizu Yoko Asada Chiharu Tezuka Manabi Mizuno Ryunosuke Obayashi Ayako Kawasumi
Case	Click
RPI	$34.95	Music	Reiichi Nakaido

    Lain is a Japanese animated science fiction series examining the blurring of the lines between the traditional world and the Wired world.

    The series starts with the apparent suicide of a young schoolgirl. Shortly after this tragic event, her classmates receive a number of emails appearing to come from the dead girl. Lain is an eighth grade student who has little experience with computers and the online world, the Wired. After receiving the strange email, she decides to investigate further and quickly finds herself pulled into a world she knows little about. Young gamers are committing suicide at an increasing rate, a new drug hits the streets and a covert group of hackers all seem to be connected.

    This disc contains the first four episodes from the thirteen part series. This series is extremely entertaining but many viewers may find that it does not initially make much sense. As the series progresses, different parts of the story will begin to fall into place and by the end it will all become clear.

Video

    This is an excellent quality transfer with very little artefacts present throughout.

    The full frame transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

    The transfer is exceptionally sharp throughout but a number of scenes are very soft. These same scenes are also very soft in the Region 1 transfer, so this would appear to be intentional. During the few dark scenes, an acceptable level of shadow detail may be seen and this appears to faithfully reproduce the original animation.

    The colour palette appears slightly muted and washed out during the majority of the transfer but some scenes, such as those at Club Cyberia, display bright vibrant colours. These colour choices work well with the animation and help to emphasize the blurring of the different worlds.

   No MPEG artefacts were detected during the transfer.

    A small number of aliasing artefacts were detected during the transfer. Some examples of these artefacts may be seen at 2:24, 3:06, 6:21, 10:51 and 18:15. Each of these artefacts are quite small and are only minimally distracting.

    A tiny number of film artefacts may be seen during the transfer. One of the clearest examples of these artefacts may be seen at 52:48 but these are so small that most viewers will not even notice them.

    A small number of NTSC to PAL conversion artefacts may be seen during this transfer. Some examples of these artefacts may be seen at 13:02, 16:39 and 46:15. As each of these artefacts are quite minor, they are not distracting to the viewer.

    A single set of yellow English subtitles is provided with this transfer. These subtitles are easy to read and appear to be consistently accurate. During the episodes there are a small number of instances where English subtitles are burned into the image. These subtitles appear in white and are used to translate Japanese characters that are also on the screen. The Region 1 version of this disc also has these same subtitles burned into the image. During the closing title sequence for each episode, the song lyrics appear as burned in English green subtitles. These subtitles are removable on the Region 1 release of this disc.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The dialogue is clear and easy to understand at all times.

    As this is an animated feature, there are the expected obvious problems with audio sync for each soundtrack. At no stage during the transfer were any audio dropouts detected.

    The music for this series is by Reiichi Nakido and this works well with the on-screen action while never drawing attention to itself. The distinctive opening title music is provided by Boa and is quite enjoyable.

    The surround channels are not utilized during the transfer. Some low frequency information, such as the humming of power lines, is included in this soundtrack.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The animated menus are presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

Device 01-04

    This short collection of clips follows each episode and examines different human design influences for the character of Lain.

Australian Trailer (0:30)

    This short trailer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

TV Promotion (0:25)

    This short trailer for the Japanese release is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

CD Promotion (0:20)

    This short promotion for the opening title music from Boa is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Playstation Game Promotion (0:25)

    This short promotion for the related Sony Playstation game is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Concept Art

    This is a collection of 18 different character and location sketches.

Trailer: X (1:44)

    This trailer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Trailer: Gasaraki (1:31)

    This trailer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Trailer: Neon Genesis Evangelion (1:08)

    This trailer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a musical Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Trailer: Martian Successor Nadesico (1:31)

    This trailer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Trailer: Blood The Last Vampire (1:02)

    This trailer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Trailer: Akira (1:15)

    This trailer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.66:1 with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Easter Egg (0:08)

    This is a short shot of Lain standing in a field and my be viewed by highlighting the word lain in the main menu.

The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;

• Additional 12 concept art sketches
• Stickers
• Short promotional clip for the closing title track (approximately 15 seconds)
• Pioneer Trailers

The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;

• Australian Promotion
• TV Promotion
• Playstation Game Promotion
• Madman Trailers

    As both versions of this film are nearly identical I would have no preference for either version.

    Lain is an interesting series that should appeal to all anime fans.

    The video transfer is of excellent quality and displays very few artefacts.

    The Japanese and English audio tracks should appeal to fans of both dubs and subs.

    The unusual collection of extras is interesting and hopefully the remaining concept art sketches found on the Region 1 release will appear on future episodes.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall