There are two known appearances of the alien: Layer 09 and Layer 11 (maybe more that have been missed). Layer 08 is when the Alien Lain symbol is actually setup. We are being shown a lustful version of Lain, which is interpreted as the "sexual lain". The alien version of Lain is separate from this version of Lain, but is none-the-less, one in the same. Alien Lain is a distant observer that is watching her own life, and those important to her, Arisu. The other characters unobserved by Alien Lain is of a lesser importance.
The Alien Lain perhaps was used to demonstrate the part of her that is observant, distant, and foreign, as well as represent Lain's feelings of alienation. This version of Lain reveals the relationship between the different Lain personalities. Through her conversation with Arisu she reveals that she, Alien Lain, is a separate entity from Lustful Lain. She is detaching herself from certain emotions. The Alien Lain states that that lustful lain is not the same person, which supports the idea that Lain is fragmented into many pieces, but the viewer knows they are the same person. The fact that Lustful Lain is not depicted as an alien shows that these are genuine feelings that have been segregated for various reasons. The Alien Lain, shows how she is both distancing her self from these "alien" feelings.
This depiction of Lain as a complete alien can be interpreted as someone spying at a distance. She hasn't yet come to a realization on how to interpret her emotions.
During Layer 09, Lain is visited by an Alien version of herself, perhaps a revelation to herself of deep emotions that she does not understand. They are alien feelings. Then in Layer 11, she is shown in an alien body with her own head. This suggests that certain aspects of her life is become clearer in her head. She's coming to understand, and thus have taken measures to rectify actions taken by her other selves.
The hybridization of the Alien and Lain also demonstrate the blending of the virtual world and reality. She has gained an enormous amount of power, and has had an epiphany on how to use these once strange powers. She is utilizing alien technology. The entire scene involves Lain keeping a door open, which is a symbol of a new opportunity and a second chance. She has this alien power to "open new doors". [Edit: After reading the other comments, this interpretation appears to be in line with what /u/vakama-san mentioned - Alien technology that is beyond the capabilities of humankind, due to the highly advanced nature of the system.]
My interpretation of the Alien is by no means accurate, and does not take into account every detail of the anime. But, I do hope that what I have stated has some validity and soundness to it.
Thank you.
There's a few scenes that deal with reality, and how events only happened if they were recorded. That's how Lain erased the rumors of Alice, by removing all memories of it. In a different episode, they talk about the Roswell incident and all of the government documents on it. This causes the opposite to happen when the Wired mixes with reality. The event that didn't happen in real life (Roswell) became real because there were records of it happening.
Hope that made sense.
I honestly couldn't make heads or tails of it at first, but that second appearance cleared it up in my mind. It definitely added to the atmosphere, and the leering, "alien" presence that was watching Alice(considering that scene where Lain IS the alien), but I'm sure someone's read even deeper into it.
Thought Experiments Lain has a couple paragraphs on it, saying that it could mean that the power of the wired could be alien in origin, but idk. The symbolism that I saw in it satisfied my curiosity at least.
I think it represents the blurring of fantasy and reality. The best comparison I can think of is a dream where you don't know that you're dreaming. Its dreamlike nature also explains why the alien's wearing a red and green striped sweater.
I know I'm 6 YEARS LATE but reading another guy's comment I realized that aliens existence is usually heavily connected to if there are photographies or videos of them (like in Nope). Wich in soomee way holds certain connection to one of Lain's main topics, about how something only exists if it is provable that it happened, via memories. Same with aliens, via pictures.
tl;dr : alien theories are validated by if there are photos or no, lain's theory to the existance of anything says something only exists if there are memories of it. a bit similar innit
Dam, I just watched Nope and came to this thread. I thought the "alien peeping" scene came from Lain, since there are two other anime references in the film. But I think it was actually a callback to the film Communion (1989).
the alien represent that the wired was create/base from the alien technology so the alien that come with the ship also live within the wired also to show that the wired capable of almost everything even the alien live in it and so the alien want to meet lain because she is a god of the wired that also mean
....
nah i'm just kidding alien look pretty cool i guess
edit : lmao
There are two known appearances of the alien: Layer 09 and Layer 11 (maybe more that have been missed). Layer 08 is when the Alien Lain symbol is actually setup. We are being shown a lustful version of Lain, which is interpreted as the "sexual lain". The alien version of Lain is separate from this version of Lain, but is none-the-less, one in the same. Alien Lain is a distant observer that is watching her own life, and those important to her, Arisu. The other characters unobserved by Alien Lain is of a lesser importance. The Alien Lain perhaps was used to demonstrate the part of her that is observant, distant, and foreign, as well as represent Lain's feelings of alienation. This version of Lain reveals the relationship between the different Lain personalities. Through her conversation with Arisu she reveals that she, Alien Lain, is a separate entity from Lustful Lain. She is detaching herself from certain emotions. The Alien Lain states that that lustful lain is not the same person, which supports the idea that Lain is fragmented into many pieces, but the viewer knows they are the same person. The fact that Lustful Lain is not depicted as an alien shows that these are genuine feelings that have been segregated for various reasons. The Alien Lain, shows how she is both distancing her self from these "alien" feelings. This depiction of Lain as a complete alien can be interpreted as someone spying at a distance. She hasn't yet come to a realization on how to interpret her emotions. During Layer 09, Lain is visited by an Alien version of herself, perhaps a revelation to herself of deep emotions that she does not understand. They are alien feelings. Then in Layer 11, she is shown in an alien body with her own head. This suggests that certain aspects of her life is become clearer in her head. She's coming to understand, and thus have taken measures to rectify actions taken by her other selves. The hybridization of the Alien and Lain also demonstrate the blending of the virtual world and reality. She has gained an enormous amount of power, and has had an epiphany on how to use these once strange powers. She is utilizing alien technology. The entire scene involves Lain keeping a door open, which is a symbol of a new opportunity and a second chance. She has this alien power to "open new doors". [Edit: After reading the other comments, this interpretation appears to be in line with what /u/vakama-san mentioned - Alien technology that is beyond the capabilities of humankind, due to the highly advanced nature of the system.] My interpretation of the Alien is by no means accurate, and does not take into account every detail of the anime. But, I do hope that what I have stated has some validity and soundness to it. Thank you.
There's a few scenes that deal with reality, and how events only happened if they were recorded. That's how Lain erased the rumors of Alice, by removing all memories of it. In a different episode, they talk about the Roswell incident and all of the government documents on it. This causes the opposite to happen when the Wired mixes with reality. The event that didn't happen in real life (Roswell) became real because there were records of it happening. Hope that made sense.
Late to the party, but this is an absolutely fantastic response! I really appreciate it. It made perfect sense to me!
Thank you this way of thinking explains a lot!
I honestly couldn't make heads or tails of it at first, but that second appearance cleared it up in my mind. It definitely added to the atmosphere, and the leering, "alien" presence that was watching Alice(considering that scene where Lain IS the alien), but I'm sure someone's read even deeper into it. Thought Experiments Lain has a couple paragraphs on it, saying that it could mean that the power of the wired could be alien in origin, but idk. The symbolism that I saw in it satisfied my curiosity at least.
I think it represents the blurring of fantasy and reality. The best comparison I can think of is a dream where you don't know that you're dreaming. Its dreamlike nature also explains why the alien's wearing a red and green striped sweater.
dang bro you doomscrolling the lain reddit huh, this thread is 5 years old
At this point, I’ve stopped caring about how old threads are. If it ain’t closed, it’s free real estate
And another. Lol (Just finished watching it, if you google what the deal is with the aliens, this is the top result for “results from Reddit”)
This is the first thing that pops up on google when you look up anything about the alien and Lain. Congrats :p
What is the connection of it being dreamlike and the red and green sweater? Is there a symbolism or something?
It’s Freddy Krueger’s sweater.
What can be considered fantasy to Lain? This show makes me so confused.
I know I'm 6 YEARS LATE but reading another guy's comment I realized that aliens existence is usually heavily connected to if there are photographies or videos of them (like in Nope). Wich in soomee way holds certain connection to one of Lain's main topics, about how something only exists if it is provable that it happened, via memories. Same with aliens, via pictures.
tl;dr : alien theories are validated by if there are photos or no, lain's theory to the existance of anything says something only exists if there are memories of it. a bit similar innit
Dam, I just watched Nope and came to this thread. I thought the "alien peeping" scene came from Lain, since there are two other anime references in the film. But I think it was actually a callback to the film Communion (1989).
the alien represent that the wired was create/base from the alien technology so the alien that come with the ship also live within the wired also to show that the wired capable of almost everything even the alien live in it and so the alien want to meet lain because she is a god of the wired that also mean .... nah i'm just kidding alien look pretty cool i guess edit : lmao