I wish I had a chance to watch this again before the discussion, but between all the extra hours at work, getting ready for vacation, school stuff I only got to watch it once.

I got seriously into how this anime questions reality and identity. The idea that we are our memories, and through manipulation of those memories we ourselves can change. If our ability to recall memories with any amount of accuracy is greatly flawed then who are we really? If I remember myself as a good person, am I really a good person? They say we are made up of our experiences, but we have to recall those experiences and interpret what they mean? If we change our interpretation are we a different person for it? Who were we before we changed that? The next interesting part was towards the end when Lain wipes herself from the minds of everyone. If I for example was wiped from the memories of anyone I ever came across would I have existed at all? I mean yes I did things and the world changed for it, but did I really exist? It was really crazy just to sit here thinking about who I am, and what that question even means. It was definitely the coolest part for me.

A lot of the nuance-y religious stuff seemed interesting to me. Like Lain in the end sacrifices herself for the good of society because of the impact she had on Arisu, and in the end she meets her "father" that pretty much reaffirms her existence. I got a really jesus-y feel from the whole thing. I mean Lain was for all intents and purposes created both body and mind which kind of seemed like the whole immaculate conception thing in Christianity. I'm not sure that it was important to the overall story just thought the connections were really interesting.

I liked the connection between the Wired and the real world, and the fact that in a lot of ways that made Lain a God (she was omnipotent, omnipresent, and in some ways omniscient). Her control over peoples memories gave her almost absolute power over humanity, but at the same time what makes a God? Is it the power they have? Lain was almighty, but she was still a 14 year old girl.

I had a few more questions about the authors interest in AI, and how man could in fact create a God in some ways, but honestly I wish I could have got another full play through of the entire show.