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Serial Experiments Lain (stylized as serial experiments lain) is a Japanese anime television series created and co-produced by Yasuyuki Ueda, written by Chiaki J. Konaka and directed by Ryūtarō Nakamura. Animated by Triangle Staff and featuring original character designs by Yoshitoshi ABe, the series was broadcast for 13 episodes on TV Tokyo and its affiliates from July to September 1998. The series follows Lain Iwakura, an adolescent girl in suburban Japan, and her relation to the Wired, a global communications network similar to the internet.

Lain features surreal and avant-garde imagery and explores philosophical topics such as reality, identity, and communication.[3] The series incorporates creative influences from computer history, cyberpunk, and conspiracy theory. Critics and fans have praised Lain for its originality, visuals, atmosphere, themes, and its dark depiction of a world fraught with paranoia, social alienation, and reliance on technology considered insightful of 21st century life. It received the Excellence Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival in 1998. Contents1 Plot 2 Characters 3 Production 3.1 Writing 3.2 Character design 3.3 Themes 3.4 Apple computers 4 Broadcast and release history 4.1 Episode list 5 Reception 6 Related media 6.1 Art books 6.2 Soundtracks 6.3 Video game 7 See also 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External links

Plot

Lain Iwakura, a junior high school girl, lives in suburban Japan with her middle-class family, consisting of her inexpressive older sister Mika, her emotionally distant mother, and her computer-obsessed father; Lain herself is somewhat awkward, introverted, and socially isolated from most of her school peers. The status-quo of her life becomes upturned by a series of bizarre incidents that start to take place after she learns that girls from her school have received an e-mail from a dead student, Chisa Yomoda, and she pulls out her old computer in order to check for the same message. Lain finds Chisa telling her via email that she is not dead but has merely "abandoned her physical self" and is alive deep within the virtual realm of the Wired itself, where she claims she has found "God" there. From this point, Lain is caught up in a series of cryptic and surreal events that see her delving deeper into the mystery of the network in a narrative that explores themes of consciousness, perception, and the nature of reality.

"The Wired" is a virtual realm that contains and supports the very sum of all human communication and networks, created with the telegraph, televisions, and telephone services, and expanded with the Internet, cyberspace, and subsequent networks. The series assumes that the Wired could be linked to a system that enables unconscious communication between people and machines without physical interface. The storyline introduces such a system with the Schumann resonances, a property of the Earth's magnetic field that theoretically allows for unhindered long-distance communications. If such a link were created, the network would become equivalent to Reality as the general consensus of all perceptions and knowledge. The increasingly thin invisible line between what is real and what is virtual/digital begins to slowly shatter.

Masami Eiri is introduced as the project director on Protocol Seven (the next-generation Internet protocol in the series' time-frame) for major computer company Tachibana General Laboratories. He had secretly included code of his very own creation to give himself absolute control of the Wired through the wireless system described above. He then "uploaded" his own consciousness into the Wired and "died" a few days after, leaving only his physical self behind. These details are unveiled around the middle of the series, but this is the point where the story begins. Masami later explains that Lain is the artifact by which the wall between the virtual and material worlds is to fall, and that he needs her to go into the Wired and "abandon the flesh", as he did, to achieve his plan. The series sees him trying to convince her through interventions, using the promise of unconditional love, romantic seduction and charm, and even, when all else fails, threats and force.

In the meantime, the anime follows a complex game of hide-and-seek between the "Knights of the Eastern Calculus" (based on the Knights of the Lambda Calculus), hackers whom Masami claims are "believers that enable him to be a God in the Wired", and Tachibana General Laboratories, who try to regain control of Protocol Seven. In the end, the viewer sees Lain realizing, after much introspection, that she has absolute control over everyone's mind and over reality itself. Her dialogue with different versions of herself shows how she feels shunned from the material world, and how she is afraid to live in the Wired, where she has the possibilities and responsibilities of an almighty goddess. The last scenes feature her erasing everything connected to herself from everyone else's memories of her and everything else that has happened since the premiere. She is last seen, unchanged, encountering her oldest and closest friend Alice once again, who is now married. Lain promises herself that she and Alice will surely meet again anytime as Lain can literally go and be anywhere she desires between both worlds. Characters

Lain Iwakura (岩倉玲音, Iwakura Rein) Voiced by: Kaori Shimizu (Japanese); Bridget Hoffman4 The titular character of the series. Lain is a fourteen-year-old girl who uncovers her true nature through the series. She is first depicted as a shy junior high school student with few friends or interests. She later grows multiple bolder personalities, both in the physical world and the Wired, and starts making more friends. As the series progresses, she eventually comes to discover that she is, in reality, merely an autonomous, sentient computer program in the physical and corporeal form of a human being, designed to sever the invisible barrier between the Wired and the real world. In the end, Lain is challenged to accept herself as a de facto goddess for the Wired, having become an omnipotent and omnipresent virtual being with worshippers of her own, as well as an ability to exist beyond the borders of devices, time, or space.

Masami Eiri (英利政美, Eiri Masami) Voiced by: Shō Hayami (Japanese); Kirk Thornton4 The key designer of Protocol Seven. While working for Tachibana General Laboratories, he illicitly included codes enabling him to control the whole protocol at will and embedded his own mind and will into the seventh protocol. Because of this, he was fired by Tachibana General Laboratories, and was found dead not long after. He believes that the only way for humans to evolve even further and develop even greater abilities is to absolve themselves of their physical and human limitations, and to live as virtual entities—or avatars—in the Wired for eternity. He claims to have been Lain's creator all along, but was in truth standing in for another as an acting god, who was waiting for the Wired to reach its more evolved current state: Lain herself. According to another Lain, however, he has never truly existed all along and would not have had any self-obsessed ideas about being God if he had.

Yasuo Iwakura (岩倉康男, Iwakura Yasuo) Voiced by: Ryūsuke Ōbayashi (Japanese); Barry Stigler4 Lain's father. Passionate about computers and electronic communication, he works with Masami Eiri at Tachibana General Laboratories. He subtly pushes Lain, his "youngest daughter", towards the Wired and monitors her development until she becomes more and more aware of herself and of her raison d'être. He eventually leaves Lain, telling her that although he did not enjoy playing house, he genuinely loved and cared for her as a real father would. Despite Yasuo's eagerness to lure Lain into the Wired, he warns her not to get overly involved in it or to confuse it with the real world. Miho Iwakura (岩倉美穂, Iwakura Miho)

Voiced by: Rei Igarashi (Japanese); Dari Lallou Mackenzie4 Lain's mother. Although she dotes on her husband, she is indifferent towards both her kids. Like her husband, she ends up leaving Lain. She is a computer scientist. Alice Mizuki (瑞城ありす, Mizuki Arisu) Voiced by: Yōko Asada (Japanese); Emily Brown4 Lain's classmate and only true friend throughout the series. She is very sincere and has no discernable quirks. She is the first to attempt to help Lain socialize; she takes her out to a nightclub. From then on, she tries her best to look after Lain. Alice, along with her two best friends Julie and Reika, were taken by Chiaki Konaka from his previous work, Alice in Cyberland. Mika Iwakura (岩倉美香, Iwakura Mika)

Voiced by: Ayako Kawasumi (Japanese); Patricia Ja Lee4 Lain's older sister, an apathetic sixteen-year-old high school student. She seems to enjoy mocking Lain's behavior and interests. Mika is considered by Anime Revolution to be the only normal member of Lain's family:[5] she sees her boyfriend in love hotels, is on a diet, and shops in Shibuya. At a certain point in the series, she becomes heavily traumatized by violent hallucinations; while Lain begins freely delving into the Wired, Mika is taken there by her proximity to Lain, and she gets stuck between the real world and the Wired.[6] Taro (タロウ, Tarō)

Voiced by: Keito Takimoto (Japanese); Brianne Siddall4 A young boy of about Lain's age. He occasionally works for the Knights to bring forth "the one truth". Despite this, he has not yet been made a member, and knows nothing of their true intentions. Taro loves VR games and hangs out all day at Cyberia with his friends, Myu-Myu and Masayuki. He uses special technology, such as custom Handi Navi and video goggles. Taro takes pride in his internet anonymity, and he asks Lain for a date with her Wired self in exchange for information. Office Worker Voiced by: Shigeru Chiba A top executive from Tachibana General Laboratories. He has a personal agenda, which he carries out with the help of the Men in Black. He looks forward to the arrival of a real God through the Wired, and is the man behind the Knights' mass assassination. There are many things he does not know about Lain, but he would rather ask questions about her than disclose his agenda. Men in Black Karl Haushoffer (カール・ハウスホッファ, Kāru Hausuhoffa), Voiced by: Jouji Nakata Lin Suixi (Chinese: 林随錫; pinyin: Lín Suíxī), Voiced by: Takumi Yamazaki The Men in Black work for the above "Office Worker" in tracking down and murdering all of the members of the Knights. They are not told the true plan, but they know that Masami Eiri is somehow involved, despite having been "killed." They see no need for an almighty, all-powerful God—let alone Lain—in the Wired. Chisa Yomoda (四方田千砂, Yomoda Chisa)

Voiced by: Sumi Mutoh (Japanese); Lia Sargent4 A teenage girl who committed suicide at the beginning of the series. After her death, she e-mails Lain, Julie, and a few other kids, saying that she is still alive in the Wired, leading to the series events. Reika Yamamoto (山本麗華, Yamamoto Reika) Voiced by: Chiharu Tezuka (Japanese); Lenore Zann4 One of Alice's friends from school. She does not seem to care for Lain, since she harasses her quite a lot. She is more serious than Julie, and also somewhat meaner. Julie Kato (加藤樹莉, Katō Juri)

Voiced by: Manabi Mizuno (Japanese); Gracie Moore4 Another friend of Alice. She also harasses Lain, but not as severely as Reika does. She is sometimes insensitive to other people's feelings. Masayuki (マサユキ) Voiced by: Sora Fujima (Japanese); Dorothy Elias-Fahn (English) Taro's best friend. He is usually seen hanging out with Taro and Myu-Myu. Myu-Myu (ミューミュウ, Myūmyuu)

Voiced by: Yuki Yamamoto (Japanese); Sandy Fox (English) A young girl who hangs out with Taro and Masayuki at Cyberia Café. She has feelings for Taro, so she gets jealous when he flirts with Lain. Narrator Voiced by: Takashi Taniguchi (Japanese); Paul St. Peter (English)

Production

Serial Experiments Lain was conceived, as a series, to be original to the point of it being considered "an enormous risk" by its producer Yasuyuki Ueda.[7]

Producer Ueda had to answer repeated queries about a statement made in an Animerica interview.[6][8][9] The controversial statement said Lain was "a sort of cultural war against American culture and the American sense of values we [Japan] adopted after World War II".[10] He later explained in numerous interviews that he created Lain with a set of values he took as distinctly Japanese; he hoped Americans would not understand the series as the Japanese would. This would lead to a "war of ideas" over the meaning of the anime, hopefully culminating in new communication between the two cultures. When he discovered that the American audience held the same views on the series as the Japanese, he was disappointed.[9]

The Lain franchise was originally conceived to connect across forms of media (anime, video games, manga). Producer Yasuyuki Ueda said in an interview, "the approach I took for this project was to communicate the essence of the work by the total sum of many media products". The scenario for the video game was written first, and the video game was produced at the same time as the anime series, though the series was released first. A dōjinshi titled "The Nightmare of Fabrication" was produced by Yoshitoshi ABe and released in Japanese in the artbook An Omnipresence in Wired. Ueda and Konaka declared in an interview that the idea of a multimedia project was not unusual in Japan, as opposed to the contents of Lain, and the way they are exposed.[11]

Writing

The authors were asked in interviews if they had been influenced by Neon Genesis Evangelion, in the themes and graphic design. This was strictly denied by writer Chiaki J. Konaka in an interview, arguing that he had not even seen Evangelion until he finished the fourth episode of Lain. Being primarily a horror movie writer, his stated influences are Godard (especially for using typography on screen), The Exorcist, Hell House, and Dan Curtis's House of Dark Shadows. Alice's name, like the names of her two friends Julie and Reika, came from a previous production from Konaka, Alice in Cyberland, which in turn was largely influenced by Alice in Wonderland. As the series developed, Konaka was "surprised" by how close Alice's character became to the original Wonderland character.[12] A young girl in a white shift sits with her back to us in the dark, focusing her attention on many glowing computer screens which surround her. Lain's custom computer features holographic displays and liquid carbon dioxide cooling.

Vannevar Bush (and memex), John C. Lilly, Timothy Leary and his eight-circuit model of consciousness, Ted Nelson and Project Xanadu are cited as precursors to the Wired.[11] Douglas Rushkoff and his book Cyberia were originally to be cited as such,[6] and in Lain Cyberia became the name of a nightclub populated with hackers and techno-punk teenagers. Likewise, the series' deus ex machina lies in the conjunction of the Schumann resonances and Jung's collective unconscious (the authors chose this term over Kabbalah and Akashic Record).[10] Majestic 12 and the Roswell UFO incident are used as examples of how a hoax might still affect history, even after having been exposed as such, by creating sub-cultures.[10] This links again to Vannevar Bush, the alleged "brains" of MJ12. Two of the literary references in Lain are quoted through Lain's father: he first logs onto a website with the password "Think Bule Count One Tow" [sic] ("Think Blue, Count Two" is an Instrumentality of Man story featuring virtual persons projected as real ones in people's minds);[13] and his saying that "madeleines would be good with the tea" in the last episode makes Lain "perhaps the only cartoon to allude to Proust".

[14][15] Character design

A young girl in a white shift kneels facing us with scissors in her hand, and hanks of her own hair on the ground, leaving one forelock uncut. The background is blue. ABe came up with Lain's hair by imagining Lain cutting it herself and making a ponytail of what was left.[8] This was later included in his An Omnipresence in Wired artbook.[16]

Yoshitoshi ABe confesses to have never read manga as a child, as it was "off-limits" in his household.[17] His major influences are "nature and everything around him".[6] Specifically speaking about Lain's character, ABe was inspired by Kenji Tsuruta, Akihiro Yamada, Range Murata and Yukinobu Hoshino.[8] In a broader view, he has been influenced in his style and technique by Japanese artists Kyosuke Chinai and Toshio Tabuchi.[6]

The character design of Lain was not ABe's sole responsibility. Her distinctive left forelock for instance was a demand from Yasuyuki Ueda. The goal was to produce asymmetry to reflect Lain's unstable and disconcerting nature.[18] It was designed as a mystical symbol, as it is supposed to prevent voices and spirits from being heard by the left ear.[8] The bear pajamas she wears were a demand from character animation director Takahiro Kishida. Though bears are a trademark of the Konaka brothers, Chiaki Konaka first opposed the idea.[12] Director Nakamura then explained how the bear motif could be used as a shield for confrontations with her family. It is a key element of the design of the shy "real world" Lain (see "mental illness" under Themes).[12] When she first goes to the Cyberia nightclub, she wears a bear hat for similar reasons.[18] Retrospectively, Konaka said that Lain's pajamas became a major factor in drawing fans of moe characterization to the series, and remarked that "such items may also be important when making anime".[12]

ABe's original design was generally more complicated than what finally appeared on screen. As an example, the X-shaped hairclip was to be an interlocking pattern of gold links. The links would open with a snap, or rotate around an axis until the moment the " X " became a " = ". This was not used as there is no scene where Lain takes her hairclip off.[19] Themes

Serial Experiments Lain is not a conventionally linear story, being described as "an alternative anime, with modern themes and realization".[20] Themes range from theological to psychological and are dealt with in a number of ways: from classical dialogue to image-only introspection, passing by direct interrogation of imaginary characters.

Communication, in its wider sense, is one of the main themes of the series,[21] not only as opposed to loneliness, but also as a subject in itself. Writer Konaka said he wanted to directly "communicate human feelings". Director Nakamura wanted to show the audience — and particularly viewers between 14 and 15—"the multidimensional wavelength of the existential self: the relationship between self and the world".[11]

Loneliness, if only as representing a lack of communication, is recurrent through Lain.[22] Lain herself (according to Anime Jump) is "almost painfully introverted with no friends to speak of at school, a snotty, condescending sister, a strangely apathetic mother, and a father who seems to want to care but is just too damn busy to give her much of his time".[23] Friendships turn on the first rumor;[22][24] and the only insert song of the series is named Kodoku no shigunaru, literally "signal of loneliness".[25] A series of drawings depicting the different personalities of Lain—the first shows shy body language, the second shows bolder body language, and the third grins in an unhinged fashion. The different personalities of Lain have their names written using different scripts.

Mental illness, especially dissociative identity disorder, is a significant theme in Lain:[19] the main character is constantly confronted with alter-egos, to the point where writer Chiaki Konaka and Lain's voice actress Kaori Shimizu had to agree on subdividing the character's dialogues between three different orthographs.[19] The three names designate distinct "versions" of Lain: the real-world, "childish" Lain has a shy attitude and bear pajamas. The "advanced" Lain, her Wired personality, is bold and questioning. Finally, the "evil" Lain is sly and devious, and does everything she can to harm Lain or the ones close to her.[12] As a writing convention, the authors spelled their respective names in kanji, katakana, and roman characters (see picture).[26]

Reality never has the pretense of objectivity in Lain.[27] Acceptations of the term are battling throughout the series, such as the "natural" reality, defined through normal dialogue between individuals; the material reality; and the tyrannic reality, enforced by one person onto the minds of others.[22] A key debate to all interpretations of the series is to decide whether matter flows from thought, or the opposite.[22][28] The production staff carefully avoided "the so-called God's Eye Viewpoint" to make clear the "limited field of vision" of the world of Lain.[27]

Theology plays its part in the development of the story too. Lain has been viewed as a questioning of the possibility of an infinite spirit in a finite body.[29] From self-realization as a goddess to deicide,[14] religion (the title of a layer) is an inherent part of Lain's background.[29] Apple computers

Lain contains extensive references to Apple computers, as the brand was used at the time by most of the creative staff, such as writers, producers, and the graphical team.[12] As an example, the title at the beginning of each episode is announced by the Apple computer speech synthesis program PlainTalk, using the voice "Whisper", e.g. say -v Whisper "Weird: Layer zero one". Tachibana Industries, the company that creates the NAVI computers, is a reference to Apple computers: the tachibana orange is a Japanese variety of mandarin orange. NAVI is the abbreviation of Knowledge Navigator, and the HandiNAVI is based on the Apple Newton, one of the world's first PDAs. The NAVIs are seen to run "Copland OS Enterprise" (this reference to Copland was an initiative of Konaka, a declared Apple fan),[12] and Lain's and Alice's NAVIs closely resembles the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh and the iMac respectively. The HandiNAVI programming language, as seen on the seventh episode, is a dialect of Lisp; the Newton also used a Lisp dialect (NewtonScript). The program being typed by Lain can be found in the CMU AI repository;[30] it is a simple implementation of Conway's Game of Life in Common Lisp.

During a series of disconnected images, an iMac and the Think Different advertising slogan appears for a short time, while the Whisper voice says it.[31] This was an unsolicited insertion from the graphic team, also Mac-enthusiasts.[12] Other subtle allusions can be found: "Close the world, Open the nExt" is the slogan for the Serial Experiments Lain video game. NeXT was the company that produced NeXTSTEP, which later evolved into Mac OS X after Apple bought NeXT. Another example is "To Be Continued." at the end of episodes 1–12, with a blue "B" and a red "e" on "Be"; this matches the original logo of Be Inc., a company founded by ex-Apple employees and NeXT's main competitor in its time.[32] Broadcast and release history

Serial Experiments Lain was first aired on TV Tokyo and its affiliates on July 6, 1998, and concluded on September 28, 1998, with the thirteenth and final episode. The series consists of 13 episodes (referred to in the series as "Layers") of 24 minutes each, except for the sixth episode, Kids (23 minutes 14 seconds). In Japan, the episodes were released in LD, VHS, and DVD with a total of five volumes. A DVD compilation named "Serial Experiments Lain DVD-BOX Яesurrection" was released along with a promo DVD called "LPR-309" in 2000.[33] As this box set is now discontinued, a rerelease was made in 2005 called "Serial Experiments Lain TV-BOX". A 4-volume DVD box set was released in the US by Pioneer/Geneon. A Blu-ray release of the anime was made in December 2009 called "Serial Experiments Lain Blu-ray Box| RESTORE".[34][35][36][37] The anime series returned to US television on October 15, 2012, on the Funimation Channel.[38] The series' opening theme, "Duvet", was written and performed by Jasmine Rodgers and the British band Bôa. The ending theme, "Distant Scream" (遠い叫び, Tōi Sakebi), was written and composed by Reichi Nakaido.

The anime series was licensed in North America by Pioneer Entertainment (later Geneon USA) on VHS and DVD in 1999. However, the company closed its USA division in December 2007 and the series went out-of-print as a result.[39] However, at Anime Expo 2010, North American distributor Funimation announced that it had obtained the license to the series and re-released it in 2012.[40]

Episode list

No. Title Directed by Original air date

1 "Weird" Ryūtarō Nakamura July 6, 1998 A high school girl commits suicide by jumping off a rooftop late at night. A week later, students are getting emails from the girl, named Chisa Yomoda, which claim that she only gave up her body, but is actually still alive inside the virtual world known as the Wired, saying that there is a God that exists there. After getting one of these emails, introverted fourteen-year-old Lain Iwakura becomes much more interested in computers and asks her techie father, Yasuo Iwakura, for a new NAVI computer system. When she returns to school the following day, the blackboard writes a subliminal message, inviting her to come to the Wired as soon as she can, revealed to be written by Chisa herself.

2 "Girls" Ryūtarō Nakamura July 13, 1998 At Cyberia, a hardcore techno club, a man buys a nanomachine drug called Accela. On the way to school the next day, Alice Mizuki, along with her friends Julie and Reika, tell Lain they saw her during their first visit to Cyberia, but with a far more vigorous and forceful personality. Lain has her father set up her NAVI computer system at home later that evening. After some persuasion, Lain decides to join Alice at Cyberia that night to prove that she was not there before. However, Lain becomes involved with a shooting in the club by the same man under the influence of Accela. She approaches the man, saying that everyone is connected in the Wired no matter where they are. This leads the man to shoot himself out of psychological shock and trauma.

3 "Psyche" Jōhei Matsuura July 20, 1998 The following day, Lain is scolded by her cold mother, Miho Iwakura, for waking up too late. When she leaves the house, she believes she is being spied on when she sees a black car parked near her house. Furthermore, she hears a voice calling out to her when she enters the train, telling her that she is not alone. Her life is thrown into further disarray when she is anonymously sent a mysterious computer chip. She asks her father what it is, but he says he does not know. When she goes to see Taro, with his friends Myu-Myu and Masayuki, at Cyberia, he recalls seeing Lain on the Wired once, noting her Wired personality being the complete opposite of her restrained real world personality. Mika Iwakura, Lain's older sister, comes home the next day, only to see Lain not acting herself as she starts to modify and upgrade her NAVI computer system.

4 "Religion" Akihiko Nishiyama July 27, 1998 Rumors are flying around school and on the Wired in regards to numerous senior students of various high schools committing suicide, with each of the deceased being addicted to the online action game known as PHANTOMa. Interested, Lain investigates only to discover that the game was glitched with a tag game for kids, in which a little girl scares the students to their deaths. Moreover, she finds out that the deaths were most likely caused by the elite secretive hacker group known as the Knights of the Eastern Calculus. Later at night, she senses the Men in Black, who had been spying on her earlier. When she tells the two to go away, a sound wave penetrates through her window, causing the two to fall back and drive away in their black car.

5 "Distortion" Masahiko Murata August 3, 1998 Amidst the events surrounding Tokyo having its traffic information transmission system hacked to cause deliberate accidents, Lain experiences a series of hallucinations that teach her the nature of the Wired in relation to the real world, by means of inanimate objects in her room and eventually her parents. In the meantime, Mika is driven to terror from the Knights repeatedly communicating in unusual ways for her to "fulfill the prophecy."

6 "KIDS" Ryūtarō Nakamura August 10, 1998 At night, when Yasuo checks on Lain, he sees a dramatic change in her room arrangement and the upgrades on her NAVI computer system, which worries him. As Lain hangs out with Alice, along with Julie and Reika, in the district, she notices that children are looking up into the sky and raising their arms, only to realize that they are looking at an image of herself that appears in the sky. Lain searches for the reason behind the strange happenings and finds Professor Hodgeson, the creator of KIDS, an experiment that started fifteen years ago that tried to gather psi energy from children and store it, though the result of the project destroyed the children. Now it seems that the Knights have gotten hold of the project's schematics. When the Men in Black return, Lain goes outside to see them. The coolant system in her room bursts, leading the Men in Black to confirm that the Knights planted a parasite bomb there.

7 "SOCIETY" Jōhei Matsuura August 17, 1998 As Lain gets more and more involved in the Wired world, albeit at home and at school, Alice starts to worry about her closing up again. It is reported that the Knights cracked the firewall of the information control center of the Wired. As the activity of the Knights begins to surface, the network is in search for Lain. The Men in Black ask Lain to follow them to an office in the Tachibana General Laboratories, where the Office Worker in charge of the Men in Black, after her help of fixing his computer, shows Lain a projection of herself in the Wired taking out one of the members of the Knights. After the Office Worker deduces that Lain in the real world and in the Wired are one and the same, he questions her about her origins. However, she breaks down for not knowing, altering her timid personality to that of a more serious one before she shoves her way out of the room. 8 "RUMORS" Shigeru Ueda August 24, 1998 Lain's family has been acting weird lately, much to her surprise. Upon further investigation, Lain disbelieves that she is omnipresent in the Wired, while she is merely a body, more or less a projection of herself, in the real world. A rumor is spread in the Wired about Alice having sexual fantasies about a male teacher, and a second one says that Lain has spread the first. To cope with the distress of rejection, Lain acts directly on reality for the first time, finding out that she can "delete" the event of the rumors. A lookalike duplicate of herself with its own distinct personality starts appearing more frequently, which leads her to question her own existence.

9 "PROTOCOL" Akihiko Nishiyama August 31, 1998 Throughout the episode, background information is being shown from "archives". Information regarding the Roswell UFO incident, the Majestic 12, which was formed by President Harry S. Truman, engineer Vannevar Bush, who developed what is called memex, physician John C. Lilly, who conducted experiments with dolphin communication, pioneer Ted Nelson, who founded Project Xanadu, and the Schumann resonances are all mentioned, explaining how the human consciousness can be communicated through a network without the use of a device. It is also noted that a man named Masami Eiri has suddenly committed suicide. During that time, Lain gets a computer microchip from J.J., the disc jockey from Cyberia. She then asks Taro on a "date" and takes him to her home, where she asks him about the microchip. After becoming frightened, he admits it is a computer code made to disrupt human memory, and it was made by the Knights. Although he defends them, he admits not knowing much about them. He later kisses Lain before leaving. 10 "LOVE" Masahiko Murata September 7, 1998 As both are seen to have switched bodies, Eiri introduces himself to Lain as the creator of Protocol Seven, saying that Lain no longer needs to have a body in order to be alive. As she, back in her own body, comes home, Yasuo says his farewell after realizing she knows the truth behind her existence. Eiri is considered the God of the Wired because he explained that he is worshiped by the Knights. Knowing this, Lain deals with the Knights once and for all by leaking a list of all of its members onto the Wired, leaving a trail of murder by the Men in Black and suicide in its wake. Even with the Knights gone, Eiri still claims he is the God of the Wired, since he says that the real Lain exists in the Wired, not the real world.

11 "Infornography" Jōhei Matsuura September 14, 1998 Lain lies exhausted in her room, and wakes up to find herself all wrapped in electrical cords. After a really long and complicated memory flashback, seen throughout the series, Eiri appears in her room and congratulates her, for having succeeded in downloading her NAVI into her own brain to see and hear all that is happening. However, he warns her about her "hardware capacity," and that she is merely a sentient and autonomous software computer program with a physical body in the form of a teenage human girl. Lain later appears to Alice in her room to make things right with her again concerning the false rumors. Lain declares that anything is possible now, as devices are no longer needed anymore to enter the Wired freely. The next day, nobody seems to remember the rumored incidents and Lain smiles at Alice's complicity.

12 "Landscape" Ryūtarō Nakamura September 21, 1998 Lain witnesses the frontier between the physical and the Wired worlds finally beginning to collapse. The Men in Black are approached by their Officer Worker, who gives them a final "payment" for their services, telling them to leave town away from any power lines or satellite coverage. After he leaves, both Men in Black suffer death from an image of Lain etched in their retinas. Alice enters Lain's eerie house and goes inside her room. Lain explains that she is actually a computerized program designed to destroy the barrier between the two worlds. Lain is still affixed on the fact that humans no longer need a physical body to stay alive, but Alice shows that her heartbeat proves otherwise. Suddenly, Eiri, first unseen to Alice, appears behind Lain, assuming she needs to be "debugged". Lain argues that Eiri was just an "acting god", for she is the true Goddess of the Wired. Eiri retaliates by transforming into a monstrous form to attain the vastly limitless power and strength that she possesses, but Lain manages to crush Eiri with her electrical equipment, wiping him out for good.

13 "Ego" Ryūtarō Nakamura September 28, 1998

Lain's attempts to protect her from Eiri's attack result in traumatizing Alice, Lain's only true friend; in order to fix this, Lain decides to do a "factory reset" on her life, deleting herself from everyone's memory. Distraught from doing so, Lain is determined to discover her true form and identity and takes radical action. She is confronted by her separate bolder self of the Wired, who reminds her that the Wired is not an upper layer of the real world. Her bolder Wired self then assures her that she is the true Goddess of the Wired, saying she is an omnipotent and omnipresent virtual being that can go and be anywhere she desires and merely watch the real world from afar. After causing her bolder self to disappear, Lain sees her father. Alice, now older with a spouse, spots Lain standing on an overpass, having some déjà vu about Lain but not recognizing who she is. Alice says goodbye and that she may run into Lain again someday. Lain asserts that this is true, since she is everywhere at once. Reception A suburban scene on a sunny day, showing houses and telegraph poles, but the shadows contain unnatural red splotches. Lain's neighborhood. The "blood pools" represent the Wired's presence "beneath the surface" of reality.[6]

Serial Experiments Lain was first broadcast in Tokyo at 1:15 a.m. JST. The word "weird" appears almost systematically in English language reviews of the series,[23][41][42][43][44] or the alternatives "bizarre",[45] and "atypical",[46] due mostly to the freedoms taken with the animation and its unusual science fiction themes, and due to its philosophical and psychological context. Critics responded positively to these thematic and stylistic characteristics, and it was awarded an Excellence Prize by the 1998 Japan Media Arts Festival for "its willingness to question the meaning of contemporary life" and the "extraordinarily philosophical and deep questions" it asks.[47]

According to Christian Nutt from Newtype USA, the main attraction to the series is its keen view on "the interlocking problems of identity and technology". Nutt saluted Abe's "crisp, clean character design" and the "perfect soundtrack" in his 2005 review of series, saying that "Serial Experiments Lain might not yet be considered a true classic, but it's a fascinating evolutionary leap that helped change the future of anime."[48] Anime Jump gave it 4.5/5,[23] and Anime on DVD gave it A+ on all criteria for volume 1 and 2, and a mix of A and A+ for volume 3 and 4.[42] Lain was subject to commentary in the literary and academic worlds. The Asian Horror Encyclopedia calls it "an outstanding psycho-horror anime about the psychic and spiritual influence of the Internet".[49] It notes that the red spots present in all the shadows look like blood pools (see picture). It notes the death of a girl in a train accident is "a source of much ghost lore in the twentieth century", more so in Tokyo.

The Anime Essentials anthology by Gilles Poitras describes it as a "complex and somehow existential" anime that "pushed the envelope" of anime diversity in the 1990s, alongside the much better known Neon Genesis Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop.[50] Professor Susan J. Napier, in her 2003 reading to the American Philosophical Society called The Problem of Existence in Japanese Animation (published 2005), compared Serial Experiments Lain to Ghost in the Shell and Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away.[51] According to her, the main characters of the two other works cross barriers; they can cross back to our world, but Lain cannot. Napier asks whether there is something to which Lain should return, "between an empty 'real' and a dark 'virtual'".[52] Mike Toole of Anime News Network named Serial Experiments Lain as one of the most important anime of the 1990s.[53]

Despite the positive feedback the television series had received, Anime Academy gave the series a 75%, partly due to the "lifeless" setting it had.[54] Michael Poirier of EX magazine stated that the last three episodes fail to resolve the questions in other DVD volumes.[55] Justin Sevakis of Anime News Network noted that the English dub was decent, but that the show relied so little on dialogue that it hardly mattered.[56] Related media

Art booksAn Omnipresence In Wired: Hardbound, 128 pages in 96 colors with Japanese text. It features a chapter for each layer (episode) and concept sketches. It also features a short color manga titled "The Nightmare of Fabrication". It was published in 1998 by Triangle Staff/SR-12W/Pioneer LDC. (ISBN 4-7897-1343-1) Yoshitoshi ABe lain illustrations ab# rebuild an omnipresence in Wired: Hardbound, 148 pages. A remake of "An Omnipresence In Wired" with new art, added text by Chiaki J. Konaka, and a section entitled "ABe's EYE in color of things" (a compilation of his photos of the world). It was published in Japan on October 1, 2005, by Wanimagazine (ISBN 4-89829-487-1), and in America as a softcover version translated into English on June 27, 2006, by Digital Manga Publishing (ISBN 1-56970-899-1). Visual Experiments Lain: Paperback, 80 full-color pages with Japanese text. It has details on the creation, design, and storyline of the series. It was published in 1998 by Triangle Staff/Pioneer LDC. (ISBN 4-7897-1342-3) Scenario Experiments Lain: Paperback, 335 pages. By "chiaki j. konaka" (uncapitalized in original). It contains collected scripts with notes and small excerpted storyboards. It was published in 1998 in Japan.(ISBN 4-7897-1320-2)

Soundtracks

The first original soundtrack, Serial Experiments Lain Soundtrack, features music by Reichi Nakaido: the ending theme and part of the television series' score, alongside other songs inspired by the series. The second, Serial Experiments Lain Soundtrack: Cyberia Mix, features electronica songs inspired by the television series, including a remix of the opening theme "Duvet" by DJ Wasei. The third, lain BOOTLEG, consists of the ambient score of the series across forty-five tracks. BOOTLEG also contains a second mixed-mode data and audio disc, containing a clock program and a game, as well as an extended version of the first disc – nearly double the length – across 57 tracks in 128 kbit/s MP3 format, and sound effects from the series in WAV format. Because the word bootleg appears in its title, it is easily confused with the Sonmay counterfeit edition of itself, which only contains the first disc in an edited format. All three soundtrack albums were released by Pioneer Records.

The series' opening theme, "Duvet", was written and performed in English by the British rock band Bôa. The band released the song as a single and as part of the EP Tall Snake, which features both an acoustic version and DJ Wasei's remix from Cyberia Mix. Video game Main article: Serial Experiments Lain (video game)

On November 26, 1998, Pioneer LDC released a video game with the same name as the anime for the PlayStation.[57] It was designed by Konaka and Yasuyuki, and made to be a "network simulator" in which the player would navigate to explore Lain's story.[12] The creators themselves did not call it a game, but "Psycho-Stretch-Ware",[12] and it has been described as being a kind of graphic novel: the gameplay is limited to unlocking pieces of information, and then reading/viewing/listening to them, with little or no puzzle needed to unlock.[58] Lain distances itself even more from classical games by the random order in which information is collected.[12] The aim of the authors was to let the player get the feeling that there are myriads of informations that they would have to sort through, and that they would have to do with less than what exists to understand.[12] As with the anime, the creative team's main goal was to let the player "feel" Lain, and "to understand her problems, and to love her".[11] A guidebook to the game called Serial Experiments Lain Official Guide (ISBN 4-07-310083-1) was released the same month by MediaWorks.[59] See alsoNoosphere

References

"Serial Experiments Lain BD/DVD Box Delayed 4 Months". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on June 28, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2018. "FRUiTS October (No.15_1st/Oct./1998)". Cornell Japanese Animation Society. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved October 27, 2019.

Napier, Susan J. (November 2002). "When the Machines Stop: Fantasy, Reality, and Terminal Identity in Neon Genesis Evangelion and Serial Experiments Lain". Science Fiction Studies. 29 (88): 418–435. ISSN 0091-7729. Archived from the original on June 11, 2007. Retrieved May 4, 2007. "Serial Experiments Lain (1999 TV Show)". Behind The Voice Actors. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022. Retrieved January 31, 2022. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information. "[SEL] Character Profiles". Anime Revolution. Archived from the original on March 23, 2007. Retrieved December 30, 2006. "Otakon Lain Panel Discussion with Yasuyuki Ueda and Yoshitoshi ABe". August 5, 2000. Archived from the original on October 26, 2006. Retrieved September 16, 2006.

Scipion, Johan (March 1, 2003). "Abe Yoshitoshi et Ueda Yasuyuki". AnimeLand (in French). Anime Manga Presse. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved September 16, 2006. The Anime Colony (August 7, 2000). "Online Lain Chat with Yasuyuki Ueda and Yoshitoshi ABe". Archived from the original on October 24, 2006. Retrieved September 16, 2006.

"Anime Jump!: Lain Men:Yasuyuki Ueda". Archived from the original on August 4, 2008. Retrieved September 26, 2006. Animerica, (Vol. 7 No. 9, p. 29) Animerica, (Vol. 7 No. 9, p. 28) "Serial Experiments Lain". HK Magazine. Hong Kong: Asia City Publishing (14). April 2000. in "HK Interview". Chiaki J. Konaka. Archived from the original on November 24, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2010. and "HK Interview". Chiaki J. Konaka. Archived from the original on November 1, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2010. Serial Experiments Lain, "Layer 01: WEIRD"

"Movie Gazette: "Serial Experiments Lain Volume : Reset" Review". Archived from the original on May 21, 2006. Retrieved October 11, 2006. Yasuo: "I will bring madeleines next time. They will taste good with the tea." Serial Experiments Lain, Episode 13, "Ego". Lain has just erased herself from her friends' memories, while for Proust the taste of madeleines triggers memories of his childhood. ABe, Yoshitoshi (1998). "Hair cut 01-04". An Omnipresence In Wired (in Japanese). Pioneer LDC. ISBN 978-4-7897-1343-6. "Anime Jump!: Lain Men: Yoshitoshi ABe". 2000. Archived from the original on May 10, 2006. Retrieved September 16, 2006. FRUiTS Magazine No. 15, October 1998.

Manga Max magazine, September 1999, p. 22, "Unreal to Real" Benkyo! Magazine, March 1999, p.16, "In My Humble Opinion" "T.H.E.M.Anime Review of Serial Experiments Lain". Archived from the original on October 11, 2006. Retrieved November 24, 2006. "DVDoutsider Review of Serial Experiments Lain". Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Retrieved November 24, 2006. Toole, Mike (October 16, 2003). "Anime Jump!: Serial Experiments Lain Review". Archived from the original on June 10, 2008. Serial Experiments Lain, Layer 08: RUMORS "List of Serial Experiments Lain songs". Archived from the original on January 13, 2007. Retrieved December 7, 2006. ABe, Yoshitoshi (1998). Visual Experiments Lain. Triangle Staff/Pioneer LDC. ISBN 978-4-7897-1342-9., page 42 Manga Max Magazine, September 1999, p. 21, "God's Eye View" Serial Experiments Lain, Layer 06: KIDS: "your physical body exists only to confirm your existence".

Study on Lain, Buffy, and Attack of the clones by Felicity J. Coleman, lecturer at the University of Melbourne. From the Internet Archive. "Conway's Game of Life". Carnegie Mellon University. Archived from the original on July 22, 2009. Retrieved June 24, 2009. Serial Experiments Lain, Layer 11: INFORNOGRAPHY. "Be, Inc". Archived from the original on November 28, 2003. Retrieved November 27, 2006. "Serial Experiments Lain – Release". Archived from the original on February 16, 2010. Retrieved September 16, 2009. "Serial Experiments Lain Blu-ray Box RESTORE". ImageShack. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved April 14, 2015. "serial experiments lain Blu-ray LABO プロデューサーの制作日記". Archived from the original on December 26, 2010. Retrieved September 16, 2009. "Playlog.jp Blog". Archived from the original on August 17, 2009. Retrieved October 15, 2009.

"Lain on BD announced – Wakachan Thread". Archived from the original on February 27, 2012. Retrieved October 15, 2009. "FUNimation Week 43 of 2012". Archived from the original on January 23, 2013. "Geneon USA To Cancel DVD Sales, Distribution By Friday". Anime News Network. September 26, 2007. Archived from the original on March 28, 2010. Retrieved January 30, 2010. "Funi Adds Live Action Moyashimon Live Action, More". Anime News Network. July 2, 2010. Archived from the original on July 4, 2010. Retrieved July 3, 2010. Bitel, Anton. "Movie Gazette: 'Serial Experiments Lain Volume 2: Knights' Review". Movie Gazette. Archived from the original on August 21, 2006. Retrieved September 16, 2006. Robinson, Tasha. "Sci-Fi Weekly: Serial Experiments Lain Review". Archived from the original on July 20, 2006. Retrieved September 16, 2006.

Beveridge, Chris (July 13, 1999). "Serial Experiments Lain Vol. #1". Mania.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved September 16, 2006. Southworth, Wayne. "The Spinning Image: "Serial Experiments Lain Volume 4: Reset" Review". Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved September 16, 2006. Silver, Aaron. "Anime News Network: Serial Experiments Lain DVD Vol. 1–4 Review". Archived from the original on March 25, 2006. Retrieved September 16, 2006. Lai, Tony. "DVD.net: "Lain: Volume 1 – Navi" Review". Archived from the original on September 20, 2006. Retrieved September 16, 2006. Japan Media Arts Plaza (1998). "1998 (2nd) Japan Media Arts Festival: Excellence Prize – serial experiments lain". Archived from the original on April 26, 2007. Retrieved September 16, 2006.From the Internet Archive. Nutt, Christian (January 2005). "Serial Experiments Lain DVD Box Set: Lost in the Wired". Newtype USA. 4 (1): 179. Bush, Laurence C. (October 2001). Asian Horror Encyclopedia. Writers Club Press. ISBN 978-0-595-20181-5., page 162. Poitras, Gilles (December 2001). Anime Essentials. Stone Bridge Press, LLC. ISBN 978-1-880656-53-2., page 28.

Napier, Susan J., Dr. (March 2005). "The Problem of Existence in Japanese Animation". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 149 (1): 72–79. JSTOR 4598910. Napier 2005, p. 78 Toole, Mike (June 5, 2011). "Evangel-a-like – The Mike Toole Show". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on October 10, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2015. "Serial Experiments: Lain". March 16, 2002. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved April 17, 2015. "Serial Experiments Lain – Buried Treasure". May 11, 2000. Archived from the original on August 26, 2011. Retrieved April 17, 2015. "Serial Experiments Lain – Buried Treasure". November 20, 2008. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2015. "Serial Experiments Lain". Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2010. "Games Are Fun: "Review – Serial Experiments Lain – Japan"". April 25, 2003. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved November 10, 2006.シリアルエクスペリメンツレイン公式ガイド [Serial Experiments Lain Official Guide] (in Japanese). ASIN 4073100831.

Further readingBitel, Anton. "Movie Gazette: 'Serial Experiments Lain Volume 3: Deus' Review". Movie Gazette. Archived from the original on May 21, 2006. Retrieved October 11, 2006. Horn, Carl Gustav. "Serial Experiments Lain". Viz Communications. Archived from the original on February 19, 2001. Retrieved September 25, 2010. Moure, Dani. "Serial Experiments Lain Vol. #2". Mania.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2010. Moure, Dani. "Serial Experiments Lain Vol. #3". Mania.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2010. Napier, Susan J. (2005) Anime from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation ISBN 978-1-4039-7052-7 Prévost, Adèle-Elise; Musebasement (2008)

"Manga: The Signal of Noise" Mechademia 3 pp. 173–188 ISSN 1934-2489 Prindle, Tamae Kobayashi (2015). "Nakamura Ryûtarô's Anime, Serial Experiments, Lain (1998)". Asian Studies. 3 (1): 53–81. doi:10.4312/as.2015.3.1.53-81. ISSN 2350-4226. Sevakis, Justin (November 20, 2008). "Buried Treasure: Serial Experiments Lain". Anime News Network. Retrieved September 25, 2010. Jackson, C. (2012). "Topologies of Identity in Serial Experiments Lain". Mechademia. 7: 191–201. doi:10.1353/mec.2012.0013. S2CID 119423011.

External links Wikiquote has quotations related to Serial Experiments Lain. Look up Appendix:Serial Experiments Lain in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

this is definitely the new weirdest anon ive gotten

#in case you're wondering this is the entire text of the lain wikipedia article #asks tag

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Crimson Ace Reviews: Ultraman (1966), the Start of a Legend

For my first review, I took a look at the first tokusatsu series I ever saw, and today, I'm going to take a look at arguably the first tokusatsu series anyone ever saw, if not the most popular (apologies to any Nanairo Kamen fans reading this). But before we dive into this cosmic tale, I should probably explain the importance of another show to new readers looking to get into tokusatsu, as well as the man behind it, Eiji Tsuburaya.

Born on July 7th, 1901, Eiji Tsuburaya is considered by many to be the Father of Tokusatsu. This is a man who has been involved in the production of movies since he was eighteen years old, starting off as an assistant cameraman as he gradually started to pioneer new special effects in his craft. After working on countless war propaganda films for Japan's military during World War II (with the effects in one film in particular, Hawai Mare Oki Kaisen, being so convincing, it is said that General Douglas MacArthur assumed the movie had actual footage of the attack on Pearl Harbor), Tsuburaya teamed up with Ishiro Honda and Tomoyuki Tanaka to work on a little indie film involving a character with a very minor presence among several of Japan's historical cultural icons. You might know it better as Godzilla.

While it initially got mixed reviews from critics at the time due to touching on the impact the atomic bomb had on Japanese society only nine years after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, over time, Godzilla became a hit, so obviously, more sequels were commissioned, and Tsuburaya was involved in the filming of more movies. Rodan? Mothra? King Ghidorah? Eiji Tsuburaya might not have been the sole creator of these characters, but it's thanks to his talent that these iconic monsters made to the big screen in the first place.

By the early 1960's, Tsuburaya had clearly made a name for himself, but he wanted to focus more on a project of his own. Something that wouldn't just be credited as a project he did the special effects for. With television growing in popularity at the time, Tsuburaya set his eyes on making it to the small screen. In particular, he was inspired by American anthology shows like The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits. And of course, that show eventually became known as... Ultra Q. What, you thought I was going to mention a different show?

Similar to The Twilight Zone, Ultra Q (named after a popular phrase at the time, “Ultra C”) would focus more on a group of scientists investigating supernatural phenomena more often than not caused by giant monsters or aliens, with the occasional exception. The show was a massive hit with audiences, so the Tokyo Broadcasting System, or TBS, wanted a new show like it, only in color. Remember, this was the 60's when color TV wasn't as common as it was now, so seeing broadcasters want Tsuburaya's work to be in color was a big deal. There were a few conditions though, like more focus on monsters, and for there to be a heroic monster on humanity's side like what Godzilla had become at the time.

In spite of those requests, the show I'm actually here to talk about premiered on July 17th, 1966, and essentially kicked off a long line of tokusatsu heroes on the small screen. But how does this show hold up more than fifty-five years later? Well, let's find out as we take a look at the original Ultraman

THE STORY

The Science Special Search Party (SSSP) is a government organization dedicated to investigating scientific anomalies and protecting Earth from invading aliens and giant monsters. One night, Shin Hayata (Played by Susumu Kurobe), is sent to investigate a mysterious blue sphere landing in a nearby lake, only to accidentally collide with a red sphere. Inside the red sphere is an alien from Nebula M78, who feels remorseful for accidentally killing Hayata, so to make up for the cosmic vehicular manslaughter, he offers to give his life to save Hayata. The two merge, and when the situation calls for it, Hayata is now able to use a device called the Beta Capsule to transform into the alien to fight giant monsters other and aliens head on with his energy attacks, calling himself Ultraman (Played by Bin Furuya).

Of course, Hayata isn't alone on his quest to defend the Earth from danger. In addition to himself, the SSSP consists of Captain Toshio Muramatsu (Played by Akiji Kobayashi), a very serious, yet fatherly leader to the team who stays cool in a crisis, Mitsuhiro Ide (Played by Masanari Nihei), a bumbling inventor who helps develop the technology needed to deal with whatever threat they face, Daisuke Arashi (Played by Sandayu Dokumamushi), an expert marksman with a bit of an itchy trigger finger, and Akiko Fuji (Played by Hiroko Sakurai), the primary communications officer and sole female officer who isn't afraid to speak her mind. They're later joined by Isamu Hoshino (Played by Akihide Tsuzawa), a child who tags along with the team, before he is eventually made a full-fledged member himself.

Seeing how this was a TV show in the 1960's, there's obviously no major shifts in the status quo or the character dynamics. It's just a very simply formula: The SSSP is called in to investigate a weird occurrence, they spend time figuring out what's behind it, it turns out to be an alien or giant monster, they try their hardest to engage the threat once the situation escalates, Hayata conveniently manages to duck out so he can transform into Ultraman and save the day when all seems lost. There's nothing wrong with this necessarily, seeing how this was before TV shows became more serialized. In the modern age of streaming and YouTube, this kind of formula also makes watching shows like this easier for newcomers, as watching every episode isn't a requirement thanks to how interchangeable they can be.

At the same time, it also makes marathoning the show a bit confusing, with how inconsistent the characters can be. While there are decent focus episodes for characters like Ide and Arashi, the development rarely sticks. Arashi in particular suffers from this, as in one episode, “Don't Shoot, Arashi”, he learns about how dangerous his trigger-happy nature can be, but two episodes later? He goes against orders and tries to shoot a giant monster. While it's not too bothersome, it is still important to note, as it doesn't really hamper your enjoyment of this show.

Generally, the tone of these episodes can vary. While there's still a giant monster for Ultraman to fight every episode, there's almost always something interesting to shake things up. To list a few examples, “The Coast Guard Command” features a subplot about some kids uncovering a diamond smuggling scheme, “The Rascal from Outer Space” is more lighthearted in tone with how the monster of the week is created from a wishing stone, “Brother from Another Planet” was more of a conspiracy episode with the alien invader's plan to trick the SSSP into appearing benevolent, and “Phantom of the Snow Mountains” has a supernatural mystery element to it revolving around this little girl. You never know what kind of episode you're going to get with this show, and I think it makes sense when you remember this was a follow up to Tsuburaya's take on The Twilight Zone.

THE HEROES

Once again, because this would serve as the basis for countless tokusatsu shows after it, Ultraman has a fairly basic cast of characters, but they're not exactly boring. The actors all do a good job with that they're given, and they play off each other nicely.

Hayata is a... pretty decent lead. Much like a lot of main characters in the 60s, there's not really a lot of character development on his part. He's meant to be this paragon to look up to, this heroic figure meant to inspire others. It's something the show focuses on more by trying something that future installments wouldn't really do: Make Hayata the second in command of the team. Normally, Hayata is the one the others report to when Captain Muramatsu isn't around, and generally has more of a commanding presence compared to later main characters, who are usually portrayed as everymen with more flaws. At the same time, he'll do what he can to help the others when they have problems to deal with, almost like a big brother.

Even compared to the others who have their own flaws like Arashi's temper, Ide's immaturity, Hayata doesn't show a lot of vulnerability, at least, in the sense of character flaws. Yeah, he gets in trouble and there are times where he can't transform into Ultraman to save the day, it's usually not done to test Hayata's resolve or set up an interesting conflict. It's just done to explain why Ultraman can't stop the bad guy of the week. The few times Hayata isn't able to transform into Ultraman, it's normally resolved by circumstances outside of his control, like when he lost the Beta Capsule in the two-part episode, “The Prince of Monsters”, he didn't even know he lost it until some kid gave it back to him, robbing us of a conflict where Hayata tries to stop a monster without Ultraman's powers.

In general, the show also kind of glosses over what happened to Hayata in the first episode. The whole thing with him merging with an alien is rarely touched on, and it's never made clear if any of Hayata's actions were influenced by Ultraman, especially when the final episode shows he can still talk. What, was Ultraman just sleeping whenever Hayata didn't need to use his powers?

Captain Muramatsu is meant to be the more reasonable person in the SSSP, which makes sense, given that he's their boss and all. He's usually the least likely to suggest violence as a first option, best shown in the second episode, “Shoot the Invaders!”, where he opposed the Japanese government's idea to try using a nuclear missile against a bunch of alien invaders whose motives they don't even know yet. He's generally one to act more like a father to the team, and compared to the others, doesn't have any quirks. He makes for a decent straight man for the show.

I don't think it's really controversial to say Ide is my favorite character in the show, and for multiple reasons. Masanari Nihei is clearly having a ball in this role, and gives the best performance out of the entire cast. Ide's antics lead to some pretty funny moments, and for a comic relief character, he's not as annoying as you would think. He has his moments where he likes to prop himself up as this genius in order to boost his ego, but is usually subjected to some form of slapstick.

At the same time, there have been a couple of episodes that show another side to Ide's character, like “My Home is Earth”, where he hesitates to fight a monster that used to be a human, or “The Little Hero”, which shows him doubting the effectiveness of his inventions when Ultraman is usually the one to save the day. I'd argue of the entire SSSP, Ide is the one with the strongest resolve, as he always tries to come up with new weapons and gadgets for the team to use to save the day, and more often than not, they come in handy with it comes to dealing with whatever the SSSP is struggling to beat.

Arashi is honestly the most boring member of the main cast in my opinion. He's usually the most bullheaded of the SSSP, itching to get into a fight and shoot whatever threat the team is facing. At the same time, he does get some moments where he helps put the clues together when the team is trying to understand the monster of the week's powers and MO. He still gets the least amount of focus and moments to shine compared to the others, and compared to Ide's comedic moments, Arashi's trigger-happy nature gets a little annoying after a while.

For being the only female lead in a TV show that aired during the 1960's, Fuji is a surprisingly strong character. Yeah, she gets kidnapped and endangered a lot, and yeah, she's normally the one to man the communications center for the SSSP, but at the same time, she's not really shown to be an idiot, and can be just as clever as the others. In the very first episode, when Ide said that she was “still a girl” despite being part of the SSSP, she immediately fired back, showing she isn't one to be teased. She also has a tendency to tease the others and mess with them a little, like in “Five Seconds Before the Explosion”, where she claims to be going to a resort with someone for her day off, only to reveal it was Hoshino she was going with. While she's not a total snarker on the level of Lois Lane, she still has a lot of spunk that prevents her from just being “the girl” of the team.

Hoshino is arguably the only member of the SSSP who goes through an arc in this show. He starts off as a very reckless kid who stole Arashi's gun to fight a giant monster himself, but throughout his appearances, he's shown to grow as a person and take things more seriously, making his official welcome into the SSSP feel natural. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to stay for long, as Akihide Tsuzawa had broken his leg on a skiing trip, so he went the way of Chuck Cunningham.

Overall, while the cast is seen as basic by today's standards, they're still enjoyable enough on their own.

THEIR ARSENAL

Hayata's Beta Capsule is a very simple transformation device by modern standards. There's no trinket he needs to insert, and there's no jingle that plays when he transforms. Hayata just presses the button, and boom, he's Ultraman. It's honestly kind of funny to look back on this when you know how toyetic tokusatsu shows can get. Hell, compared to the other transformation devices of the Showa Era, this is somehow the most complex with it being a piece of technology, as opposed to the rest (Sans Ultraman 80's Bright Stick) being fashion accessories like sunglasses, badges, and rings.

Ultraman's suit, designed by Toru “Tohl” Narita, went through three designs throughout the show's 39-episode run. There were a few complications that led to the cheaper looking suit used for the show's first third, mainly the plan to originally make Ultraman's mouth move before it was scrapped. The next two suits would give Ultraman a much sleeker look and a shinier color scheme that would better fit the iconic design of the character that is still used to this day. Compared to most of the monsters we've seen in Tsuburaya's earlier works, this is a suit that really screams “alien”, yet it has a look that makes it appear benevolent.

Ultraman's fighting style really helps him stand out from Tsuburaya's other creations, as unlike Godzilla or Rodan, Ultraman's attacks aren't really fierce. They're more coordinated and he isn't as destructive as someone like Godzilla is. In combat, Ultraman specializes in wrestling with his opponents, tending to find a way to exhaust them into a state where they're vulnerable to his energy attacks. The Specium Ray is Ultraman's signature attack, and it's really cool, being a simple energy ray fired through his iconic pose.

Be honest, if you're an Ultraman fan, you've most likely made a hand gesture like this before. I'm sorry, but I don't make the rules.

Ultraman's other primary attack is the Ultra Slash, where he creates a sharp energy blade to slice up his enemies with.

Both of these attacks have essentially become synonymous with the franchise, much like how the Rider Kick has become synonymous with the Kamen Rider franchise.

On the other hand, there's the other powers you don't really hear about when talking about Ultraman, though I call them the “We only have two minutes to wrap up the episode, so let's have Ultraman do whatever the plot needs him to do” powers. He has X-ray vision, laser eyes, the ability to shoot water from his hands, the ability to spin at high speed, and in one case, somehow turn a monster into a constellation for reasons that are way too confusing to explain. And I'm sure I missed some powers that even the Ultraman Wiki doesn't know about.

Of course, with all of these powers, you'd think there wouldn't be a lot of tension in the story. You would be right, and a lot of the producers realized this, so they gave Ultraman another one of his defining features: The Color Timer. Whenever Ultraman is struggling in a battle, or if he starts to run out of solar energy thanks to our sun not having enough light to power him, the Color Timer, a blue emblem in the middle of his chest, will start to blink and let off a beeping sound, sort of like a video game. If the Color Timer goes out, Ultraman will lose the power to ever stand up again. If you forget, don't worry, because the narrator reminds the audience of this nearly every episode, with a handful of exceptions. This is a great way to add stakes to the conflict, as the Color Timer going off can punctuate how much of a struggle this is for Ultraman.

The SSSP has some pretty cool suits. I really love how they switch from the blue suits to the more combat-oriented orange battle gear. It's such a 60's spy show thing, and I love it. The helmets also go really well with the suits. Their badges are also a unique way of communication, and it shows how advanced their technology is.

The SSSP has a very basic arsenal. The Super Gun is their primary firearm, shooting lasers capable of harming monsters. Arashi in particular gets the Spider Shot, a bigger gun more power. Another gun that sees use is the Mars 133, a rifle with more power than the Super Gun. There are also other guns and inventions made for the SSSP to use thanks to Ide, but like some of Ultraman's powers, they're usually situational.

Their primary vehicle is the Jet VTOL, a fighter jet that can travel to space when equipped with a special engine. A simple plane, but nothing short of iconic. And again, while there are other vehicles, they don't see as much action.

While the arsenal seems very barebones for a tokusatsu show, it doesn't really stop the SSSP from doing their job really well. In general, the SSSP gets a surprising amount of kills to their name. Not only do they manage to take out about ten monsters/aliens with standard SSSP weaponry, seven giant and three human-sized threats. I want to emphasize the “about”, because a lot of episodes focus on the SSSP's attempts to stop the monster of the week, and while Ultraman typically gets a lot of the kill shots, there are plenty of monsters that are already weakened as a result of the SSSP's tactics. Generally, despite being the character the show is named after, Ultraman is usually used as a last resort. Even though they're the first attack team in Ultraman history, the SSSP's arsenal arguably makes them one of the most effective in the franchise.

THE VILLAINS

Monsters in the Ultraman franchise are very different from other tokusatsu shows. Rather than a comical monster of the week who works for a greater evil, most monsters in the franchise, especially the Showa era, are standalone threats for the heroes to take care of. Usually, they tend to either be alien invaders seeking to conquer the Earth, or monsters that the humans accidentally woke up and/or pissed off. Like I said, the twist usually comes from the other element thrown into the plot of every episode.

While it's a bit of an oversimplification, there are still a lot of creative monsters and aliens here still have quirks and abilities that make them stand out from each other for the most part. You have Baltan, an insect-themed alien with teleportation abilities, Neronga, an ancient monster with the power to consume electricity to make himself invisible, Zarab, an alien who can disguise himself as an evil version of Ultraman, Dada, an alien who tries to abduct humans as test subjects with the help of his shrink ray, Keronia, an member of a race of mutated plant monsters who tries to enslave humans for their blood, and Mefilas, an alien who tries to conquer the Earth with trickery rather than brute force. And I haven't even gotten to the other monsters in my highlights list, who are just as creative.

Of course, there are still two other monsters I want to talk about here, the first of them being arguably the most iconic monster in the franchise, Gomora. Gomora was one of the first monsters to actually give Ultraman a challenge, and was the star of the franchise's first two-part episode. Since then, he's gotten a lot of focus in later installments as a more heroic monster. When you see all the forms and powers Gomora has gotten over the years, it's kind of funny to see Gomora beat Ultraman in a fight with nothing but his brute strength and long tail. Here, he's just a giant dinosaur who was pissed he was woken up from his nap and kidnapped like King Kong, yet he still managed to overwhelm Ultraman. It's like watching a wild coyote get the better of Superman.

The other monster I want to talk about is infamous, not because of the episode it came from, but rather, how he looks.

This is Jirass, and yes, that is an old Godzilla suit. Well, technically the head of the one used in Invasion of Astro Monster and the body of the one from Mothra vs. Godzilla. The thing is that most of the monster suits were reused from the Godzilla movies thanks to Toho letting Tsuburaya's production team borrow them for this show. While there's actually a lot of reused suits, this is the one people tend to talk about the most, and for obvious reasons.

For the most part, in spite of a lot of them being reused from older suits, the monster designs really hold up today. A good example of how versatile the suits are is the Baragon suit from Frankenstein vs. Baragon. It was reused to make three different monsters during the first nine episodes (Neronga, Magular, and Gabora), and they all look visually distinct from one another. There were a lot of times where I was genuinely surprised to learn some of the more memorable monsters in this show were reused from older monster suits. The effects work is that well-done.

HIGHLIGHTS

As a whole, Ultraman had a lot of great episodes, and it was hard to find the ones I thought were outright bad. Most of the “worst” ones were more boring than anything else. The fact that I struggled to find five bad episodes is a good sign of this show's quality.

Top Five Worst Episodes

#5: Secret of the Miloganda

Several botanists are being killed by a mysterious plant creature, one by one, so the SSSP is called to investigate before anyone else can be hurt.

This episode isn't really bad, just slow. The plot is more of a mystery than your standard monster of the week plot, with several scientists recalling their side of the story, and there's some decent buildup to it. The problem just lies in how underwhelming the monster and climax is. The killer, a mutated plant called Greenmons grows giant out of nowhere after seemingly being killed, and the suit just looks so cheap.

Be honest, is this really what you think of when you hear “mutant plant monster”? A moldy oven mitt? All Greenmons does is spray stuff from the hole on its... I want to say face, and move around the one arm it has. This is what you do with a killer plant? Make it a giant can of Lysol? Even the death is underwhelming. All Ultraman does is shoot it with a Specium Ray, and it just catches fire. You can really tell this episode was when the writers and costume designers were still experimenting with new ideas, because it really doesn't hold up.

A later episode, “Who Goes There?”, would do a much better job with the idea of a plant monster in the form of Keronia, and would do so with a much better horror element to it. I'd watch that episode instead of this one. Again, this one isn't bad, just underwhelming.

#4: The Endless Counterattack

While Hayata escorts Indian SSSP member Patty around Japan for her vacation, Zambolar, a monster with control over fire starts to rampage through nearby construction sites, so it's up to the SSSP to take him down.

Compared to most monster of the week plots, this one is pretty boring, and Zambolar himself is a very underwhelming monster. The writers try to throw in an environmentalism message by implying he was woken up by some construction, but it's kind of hard to see Zambolar act like this guardian of the environment when most of his screentime is spent burning stuff down. The chemistry between Hayata and Patty was also forgettable. I guess they were trying to set up some kind of romance compared to other girls Hayata has met in this show, but there honestly wasn't much of a reason to include this character in the story.

Again, it's not a terrible episode, just really boring.

#3: Terror on Route 87

The SSSP is called to investigate a strangely glowing mountain, where they encounter a giant bird monster called Hydra. The monster soon sets his sights on the titular Route 87, all while learning about a connection between it and a child who was killed in a car accident on the same route.

This is an episode where you can tell there were good intentions, but the execution was pretty bad. See, during the mid to late 1960's, there was a high number of traffic accidents in Japan, to the point where people called that time the “War on Traffic”, so this episode was meant to serve as social commentary on it. The problem is how the lesson gets across. Okay, so the monster of the week is connected to a boy who was killed in a traffic accident. That could work for a tragic story. What's less tragic is how the moral of the story seems to be in favor of Hydra, in spite of his massive body count.

Yeah, what happened to the kid was tragic, but how does that make Hydra killing more people as a result of that okay? As a matter of fact, why make the giant monster attacking a highway a bird? I don't get why it's sad that children are killed in car accidents, yet the moral seems to downplay the amount of people killed by Hydra (some of them probably being children too).

This is a pretty lousy episode that needed a lot of work.

#2: The Monster Graveyard

While on patrol in space, the SSSP stumbles upon the bodies of several past monsters they've killed in the past, dubbing it the Monster Graveyard. After heading back to Earth, they're followed by the spirit of another fallen monster, Seabozu. Can the SSSP defeat this latest threat, or is there more than meets the eye to this creature?

This is an episode with a really good idea that would be expanded upon in later entries, and to its credit, it manages to have a pretty solid first act. The SSSP feel remorseful for all the monsters they've killed, especially Hayata, and the scene where they hold a memorial service for them is very powerful. Unfortunately, things go downhill once Seabozu enters the picture. Despite saying they feel bad for having to hurt monsters who weren't able to coexist with humanity, the SSSP has no problem shooting at Seabozu, and even after they learn it just wants to go home, they don't really change their method of operation and keep shooting at it.

Seriously, the second half of the episode is pretty much “Maybe this monster wants to go home, so let's find a way to send him back to space... by shooting him with grappling cables and dragging him towards the rocket against his will because he doesn't know what a rocket is”. Do you want to have a more nuanced story or not? It's a really mean-spirited episode disguised as something pretending to be deep.

#1: The Pearl Defense Directive

Gamakujira, this hybrid toad/whale monster, starts eating pearl oysters, driving the prices of pearls up exponentially. Taking this as a declaration of war, Fuji takes on a more active role than usual to save her favorite kind of jewelry with rest of the SSSP.

While most of the episodes in this show are pretty timeless, this is an episode that has definitely shown its age in a few ways. The way Fuji is written reeks of negative stereotypes regarding women. I'm sure there were good intentions, but the way the conflict is handled is just awful. Put aside the fact that this is the third aquatic monster with a craving for a specific item in the past seven episodes (cacao beans for Guesra and oil for Pestar), the only reason why Fuji is upset at Gamakujira isn't because of the potential damage it's doing to the ecosystem or the economy, but just because she loves pearls.

Because, you know, a girl's just got to have her pretty jewelry, right? I feel like if they exaggerated the level of anger Fuji was feeling, it'd be easier to tolerate. Instead, it's like we're supposed to take her anger at her precious pearls completely seriously.

While Gamakujira isn't completely forgettable, it's nowhere near the same level as memorable as other monsters in this show. The goofy tongue and croaking noise it makes is pretty interesting though.

Overall, it's just a terrible episode that's an obvious product of its time.

Top Five Best Episodes

#5: Passport to Infinity

Two meteorites with reality bending abilities are found by a pair of scientists, who each choose to study one individually. One of them comes to the conclusion that if the two meteorites are brought together, bad things will happen... right as the SSSP decided to place them together. After the new meteorite monster, Bullton, is formed, it starts to send the scientists and the rest of the SSSP into the fourth dimension, so they need to try and get out.

For something that aired in 1966, the effects work in this episode is pretty creative here. Yeah, there are some obvious wires and green screen effects here and there, but there are also a lot of clever cuts and camera angles that give the illusion of realty being distorted. Even for being a giant rock, Bullton is an interesting kind of monster. What it lacks in strength, it more than makes up for with its powers.

Yeah, the final battle is kind of weak since we don't get the usual fight choreography on account of Bullton being a rock, the rest of the episode is still a blast, and is a visual highlight for the show.

#4: Present from the Sky

One day, Skydon, a monster randomly that randomly fell from the sky, starts to make its home at a local construction site, and and the SSSP is called to deal with it. There's just one problem: None of their weapons work on it, and it's too heavy for even Ultraman to move. Thus, the SSSP has to employ some more unusual tactics in order to get it off the planet.

We go from one of the trippiest episodes in the show to one of the goofiest episodes of the show. If you're here from my Miraculous Ladybug blog, you'll remember I referenced this episode when talking about “Mr. Pigeon”, an episode featuring a villain with such a wacky idea, you just have to roll along with how weird the action is. I stand by what I said, because this episode is a blast.

The humor in this episode in the form of the SSSP's plans to get rid of Skydon is top-notch. Things just so outlandish, it starts to resemble a Looney Tunes cartoon, and I love it. Just seeing the SSSP continually fail to stop Skydon to the point where one attempt leads to them running away from after shooting it with a rocket is hilarious. The gags that parody the usual Ultraman formula are just so well-timed, and an episode all about stopping a really heavy monster has no right being this funny.

This is easily the funniest episode of the series, and it's also one of the best episodes in the series as a result.

#3: The Lawless Monster Zone

The SSSP is called in to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a research team of scientists on an unexplored island. It turns out that the island in question is swarming with monsters, and after meeting up with the only surviving scientist, what started as a rescue mission turns into a “try not to die before we get the hell out of here” mission.

This is a really nice take on the usual formula of the show. Usually, it's the monster or alien the SSSP stumbles upon that they need to fight off, but this time, they're on a place full of monsters. We have Red King, Pigmon, Magular, and Chandler to deal with. Could there beany more monsters? There's a lot that makes this place a hostile environment, so you wonder how the SSSP will escape.

There's also some cool monsters introduced here too. Aside from Magular and Chandler, we have Red King, a bully who loves to beat up weaker monsters, and Pigmon, a tiny creature who's the one of first benevolent monsters in Ultraman history. These characters both get some good focus and like a lot of the monsters I've talked about, become iconic in later entries.

Overall, it's a really action-packed episode that's a blast to watch.

#2: My Home is Earth

Several planes carrying guests for an international peace conference are being mysteriously shot down by an invisible spaceship. Just when it seems like destroying the spaceship would end the conflict, the pilot of the ship, a giant monster appears. It's soon revealed that the monster was named Jamila, a human astronaut who was mutated into this form after a space flight went wrong. After learning the truth, Ide is left conflicted as to whether Jamila is beyond saving or not as the SSSP is ordered to kill him to cover up the story of what really happened.

Many Ultraman fans consider this to be one of the saddest episodes of the franchise, and for good reasons. The tone is very somber, and it raises questions about whether the SSSP is doing the right thing by trying to put Jamila out of his misery. The fact that Ide isn't the usual bumbling comic relief really says a lot about how serious this episode is, and it makes sense when you remember his inventions are the reason why the SSSP is even able to fight Jamila in the first place.

The cinematography in this episode is gorgeous, some of the best of the show. There's some great uses of lighting and shadows during the dramatic scenes. I especially love this one shot of French SSSP member Alan standing in front of a spotlight while he repeats the orders to kill Jamila while he's obscured by the light, almost like a soulless drone with no empathy for his fellow man.

Jamila's story would go on to be one of the most tragic in the franchise's history, and even though it was covered up in-universe, it's unforgettable to us.

#1: Farewell, Ultraman

The SSSP gets word of an invading fleet of aliens who had visited Earth for over forty years, but before they set their sights on humanity, they decide to go after the Japanese branch and Ultraman. As our heroes prepare to fight against near insurmountable odds, it turns out one of the invading aliens disguised himself as one of their allies, and even when it seems like the tide of battle is turning, Ultraman himself has one more challenge that not even he may be able to overcome...

As the final episode of the show, this episode really does a good job to show how high the stakes are. Right from the start, we're dealing with a full-blown alien invasion, from aliens who actually planned ahead instead no less. There's a lot of awesome action, great effects work, and drama from how tense the conflict is.

There's not much else I can say without spoiling anything, seeing how it's the final episode and all, but this one is a must-watch.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Being the first in a long line of tokusatsu TV shows, Ultraman does a lot of amazing things. The effects hold up really well, the characters are very likable, and it introduced a lot of concepts that would endear us to the franchise over fifty-five years later. While it may seem like I don't have as much to say compared to my last two reviews, it's mainly because I'm not sure what else I even have to say.

If you're looking to get into tokusatsu as a whole, please check out this series. It's a classic, and for a damn good reason.

#crimson ace reviews #ultraman #ultraman 1966

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deadlinecom · 21 days

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ptbf2002 · 27 days

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My Kids' WB! Universe:

Animaniacs

Tom And Jerry

Pokémon

Scooby-Doo

Scooby-Doo Where Are You!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003)

Tiny Toon Adventures

The Scooby-Doo Show

What's New Scooby-Doo?

Tom And Jerry Tales

The Tom And Jerry Show (2014)

The Powerpuff Girls (1998)

Dexter's Laboratory

Looney Tunes

The Looney Tunes Show

The Batman

Teen Titans (2003)

The New Batman Adventures

Batman Beyond

Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends

Superman The Animated Series

Dorothy And The Wizzard Of Oz

Original Template: https://www.deviantart.com/abfan21/art/My-Kids-WB-Universe-Template-1013487071

Animaniacs Belongs To Tom Ruegger, Steven Spielberg, TMS Entertainment Co., Ltd. Shanghai Morning Sun Animation Co., Ltd. Wang Film Productions Co., Ltd. StarToons International, LLC, AKOM Production, Ltd. Freelance Animators Co., Ltd. Varga Studio, Ltd. CNK International Co, Ltd. Phillippine Animation Studio Inc. Amblin Entertainment, Inc. Amblin Partners, LLC. Warner Bros. Animation Inc. FOX KIDS, FOX Family Worldwide Inc. FOX Broadcasting Company, FOX Entertainment, FOX Corporation, Kids' WB! The WB, The WB Television Network, Inc. Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC. Tribune Media Company, Nexstar Media Group, Inc. Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia, And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

Animaniacs (2020 Reboot) Belongs To Tom Ruegger, Wellesley Wild, Steven Spielberg, Digital eMation, Inc. Saerom Animation, Inc. Snipple Animation Studios, Tiger Animation, Titmouse Animation, Inc. Tonic DNA Animation, Toon City Animation, Inc. Yowza! Animation, Giant Ant Animation, Studio Yotta, Birdo Studio, Flystudio, Screen Novelties, Amblin Television, Amblin Entertainment, Inc. Amblin Partners, LLC. Warner Bros. Animation Inc. Hulu, LLC. Disney Streaming, Disney Entertainment, The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia, And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

Tom and Jerry Belongs To William Hanna, Joseph Barbera, Wang Film Productions Co., Ltd. Fil-Cartoons, Mr. Big Cartoons, Bardel Entertainment, Inc. Baer Animation Company, CNK International, Seoul Movie Co., Ltd. Toon City Animation Inc. Yearim Productions Co., Ltd. Hanho Heung-Up Co., Ltd. Rough Draft Korea Co. Ltd. Rough Draft Studios, Inc. Lotto Animation, Inc. Renegade Animation, PIP Animation Services Inc. Slap Happy Cartoons Inc. Digital eMation, Inc. Duncan Studio, Rembrandt Films, Sib Tower 12, Inc. MGM Animation/Visual Arts, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Cartoon Studio, Harman-Ising Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc. MGM Holdings, Inc. Amazon MGM Studios, Amazon.com, Inc. Turner Entertainment Company, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. Warner Bros. Animation Inc. Kids' WB! The WB, The WB Television Network, Inc. Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC. Tribune Media Company, Nexstar Media Group, Inc. Cartoon Network, Boomerang, The Cartoon Network, Inc. Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia, And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

Pokémon Belongs To OLM, Inc. OLM Team Ota, OLM Team Iguchi, OLM Team Kato, The Pokémon Company, Game Freak Inc. ILCA, Nintendo Co., Ltd. 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. 4K Media Inc. 4Licensing Corporation, Konami Cross Media NY, Inc. Konami Group Corporation, The Pokémon Company International, VIZ Media, LLC, TV Tokyo, TV Tokyo Holdings Corporation, Nikkei, Inc. Kids' WB! The WB, The WB Television Network, Inc. Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC. Tribune Media Company, Nexstar Media Group, Inc. Cartoon Network, The Cartoon Network, Inc. Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia, Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. Disney XD, Disney Branded Television, Disney–ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution, Disney General Entertainment Content, Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, Disney Entertainment, The Walt Disney Company, And Netflix, Inc.

Scooby-Doo! Belongs To Joe Ruby, Ken Spears, Ruby-Spears Productions, Inc. Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. Warner Bros. Animation Inc. Kids' WB! The WB, The WB Television Network, Inc. Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC. Tribune Media Company, Nexstar Media Group, Inc. Cartoon Network, Boomerang, The Cartoon Network, Inc. Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia, And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! Belongs To Joe Ruby, Ken Spears, William Hanna, Joseph Barbera, Iwao Takamoto, Fred Silverman, Ruby-Spears Productions, Inc. Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. Worldvision Enterprises, Inc. Taft Broadcasting Company, Spelling Television Inc. Paramount Domestic Television, CBS Media Ventures, Inc. CBS Studios, Inc. CBS Broadcasting Inc. CBS Entertainment Group, Paramount Global, Turner Program Services, Turner Entertainment Company, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia, And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 TV series) Belongs To Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Lloyd Goldfine, DongWoo Animation Co. Ltd. Mirage Studios, 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. FoxBox, 4Kids TV, FOX Broadcasting Company, FOX Entertainment, FOX Corporation, The CW 4Kids, The CW Television Network, The CW Network, LLC, Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC, Tribune Media Company, Nexstar Media Group, Inc. CBS Entertainment Group, Cartoon Network, The Cartoon Network, Inc. Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia, Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. Nickelodeon, Nickelodeon Group, Nickelodeon Networks Inc. Paramount Kids and Family Group, Paramount International Networks, Paramount Media Networks, Inc. Viacom International Inc. And Paramount Global

Tiny Toon Adventures Belongs To Leon Schlesinger, Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising, Tom Ruegger, Steven Spielberg, AKOM Production, Ltd. Wang Film Productions Co., Ltd. Encore Cartoons, Freelance Animators New Zealand, Island Animation, Kennedy Cartoons Inc. Mook Animation Inc. StarToons International, LLC. TMS Entertainment, Ltd. Amblin Entertainment, Inc. Amblin Partners, LLC. Warner Bros. Animation Inc. CBS, CBS Broadcasting Inc. CBS Entertainment Group, Paramount Global, FOX Broadcasting Company, FOX Entertainment, FOX Corporation, Kids' WB! The WB, The WB Television Network, Inc. Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC. Tribune Media Company, Nexstar Media Group, Inc. Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia, And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

The Scooby-Doo Show Joe Ruby, Ken Spears, Ray Parker, Ruby-Spears Productions, Inc. Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. Worldvision Enterprises, Inc. Taft Broadcasting Company, Spelling Television Inc. Paramount Domestic Television, CBS Media Ventures, Inc. CBS Studios, Inc. CBS Entertainment Group, Paramount Global, Turner Program Services, Turner Entertainment Company, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. ABC, Disney General Entertainment Content, Disney Entertainment, The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia, And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

What's New, Scooby-Doo? Belongs To Joe Ruby, Ken Spears, Sander Schwartz, Wang Film Productions Co., Ltd. DongWoo Animation Co. Ltd. Lotto Animation, Inc. Hosem Animation Studio, Ruby-Spears Productions, Inc. Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. Warner Bros. Animation Inc. Kids' WB! The WB, The WB Television Network, Inc. Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC. Tribune Media Company, Nexstar Media Group, Inc. Cartoon Network, The Cartoon Network, Inc. Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia, And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

Tom and Jerry Tales Belongs To William Hanna, Joseph Barbera, Rob LaDuca, Jeff Davison, Toon City Animation Inc. Yearim Productions Co., Ltd. Rough Draft Korea Co. Ltd. Rough Draft Studios, Inc. Lotto Animation, Inc. Turner Entertainment Company, Warner Bros. Animation Inc. Kids' WB! The WB, The WB Television Network, Inc. Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC. Tribune Media Company, Nexstar Media Group, Inc. Cartoon Network, Boomerang, The Cartoon Network, Inc. Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia, And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

The Tom And Jerry Show Belongs To William Hanna, Joseph Barbera, Darrell Van Citters, Renegade Animation, PIP Animation Services Inc. Slap Happy Cartoons Inc. Turner Entertainment Company, Warner Bros. Animation Inc. Cartoon Network, Boomerang, The Cartoon Network, Inc. Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia, And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

The Powerpuff Girls Belongs To Craig McCracken, Rough Draft Korea Co., Ltd. Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. Cartoon Network Studios, Kids' WB! The WB, The WB Television Network, Inc. Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC. Tribune Media Company, Nexstar Media Group, Inc. Cartoon Network, Boomerang, The Cartoon Network, Inc. Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia, And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

Dexter's Laboratory Belongs To Genndy Tartakovsky, Rough Draft Korea Co., Ltd. Twenty First Century Entertainment, Fil-Cartoons, Wang Film Productions Co., Ltd. Mr. Big Cartoons, SEK Animation Studio, Shanghai Morning Sun Animation Co., Ltd. Shenzhen Jade Animation Company, Hong Ying Animation Co., Ltd. Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. Cartoon Network Studios, Cartoon Network, The Cartoon Network, Inc. Turner Network Television (TNT), Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia, And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

Looney Tunes Belongs To Leon Schlesinger, Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising, Harman-Ising Productions, Leon Schlesinger Productions, Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, Format Productions, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Animation, The Vitaphone Corporation, Vitagraph Company of America, Turner Entertainment Company, Warner Bros. Animation Inc. Kids' WB! The WB, The WB Television Network, Inc. Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC. Tribune Media Company, Nexstar Media Group, Inc. Cartoon Network, Boomerang, The Cartoon Network, Inc. Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia, And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

The Looney Tunes Show Belongs To Leon Schlesinger, Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising, Sam Register, Spike Brandt, Tony Cervone, Yearim Productions Co., Ltd. Toon City Animation Inc. Lotto Animation, Inc. Rough Draft Korea Co., Ltd. Crew 972 Ltd. Warner Bros. Animation Inc. Cartoon Network, The Cartoon Network, Inc. Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia, And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

The Batman (TV series) Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Michael Goguen, Duane Capizzi, DongWoo Animation Co. Ltd. MOI Animation Co., Ltd. DC Comics, Inc. DC Studios, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation Inc. Kids' WB! The WB, The WB Television Network, Inc. Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC. Tribune Media Company, Nexstar Media Group, Inc. Cartoon Network, The Cartoon Network, Inc. Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia, And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

Teen Titans Belongs To Bob Haney, Bruno Premiani, Glen Murakami, David Slack, Sam Register, MOI Animation Co., Ltd. Lotto Animation, Inc. DongWoo Animation Co. Ltd. DC Comics, Inc. DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation Inc. Kids' WB! The WB, The WB Television Network, Inc. Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC. Tribune Media Company, Nexstar Media Group, Inc. Cartoon Network, The Cartoon Network, Inc. Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia, And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

The New Batman Adventures Belongs To Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Paul Dini, Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett, DC Comics, Inc. DC Studios, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation Inc. Kids' WB! The WB, The WB Television Network, Inc. Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC. Tribune Media Company, Nexstar Media Group, Inc. Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia, And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

Batman Beyond Belongs to Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Paul Dini, Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett, Dong Yang Animation Co., Ltd. Koko Enterprises Ltd. TMS Entertainment Co., Ltd. DC Comics, Inc. DC Studios, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation Inc. Kids' WB! The WB, The WB Television Network, Inc. Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC. Tribune Media Company, Nexstar Media Group, Inc. Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia, And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends Belongs To Craig McCracken, Lauren Faust, Mike Moon, Boulder Media Limited, Cartoon Network Studios, Cartoon Network, The Cartoon Network, Inc. Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia, And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz Belongs to L. Frank Baum, Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, Edgar Allan Woolf, Snipple Animation Studios, Boulder Media Limited, Turner Entertainment Company, Warner Bros. Animation Inc. Cartoon Network, Boomerang, The Cartoon Network, Inc. Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia, And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

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