‘Serial Experiments Lain’ To Receive “Occult RPG” Adaptation With Blessing From Original Writer: “I Couldn’t Help But Think – The Experiment Is Still Ongoing”
After years of dormancy (and to the genuine surprise of even the series’ most die-hard fans) it’s time for the Serial Experiments Lain franchise to make another trip back to the Wired, as the iconic psychological-horror series is receiving a new entry and officially endorsed “occult RPG” adaptation, //signal.
Based on a story by noted anime producer Yasuyuki Ueda, whose credits include Texhnolyze and Hellsing, and written by Digimon Tamers and Ultraman Taiga scribe Chiaki J. Konaka, Serial Experiments Lain centers on the titular Lain Iwakura, an introverted middle school-aged girl who struggles to fit in either at home or among her larger group of peers.
However, her dreary life is quickly turned upside down when she receives an email from her late friend, Chisa Yomoda, claiming that she didn’t die, but rather gave up her physical body to permanently link with ‘The Wired – essentially, a physical representation of the collective communication networks that humanity has engaged with throughout its existence, from the very first telegraph to the current incarnation of the internet.
Eventually making her way into The Wired in search of her friend, Lain soon finds herself wrapped up in a psychological roller coaster that sees her used as a vehicle to explore a number of high-level and emotional philosophical concepts, such as the human need for connection, the intertwining relationship between technology and mankind, and the theory that reality is not objective, but an endlessly malleable experience whose outcome is influenced by one’s own perceptions.
All thirteen of its episodes produced by the now-shuttered animation studio Triangle Staff (of Macross Plus fame), the series also received a video game adaptation courtesy of Pioneer LDC, now NBCUniversal Japan.
Released for the PS1 following the conclusion of the anime’s original run, the similarly-titled Serial Experiments Lain saw the show’s creative team deliver a “Psycho-Stretch-Ware” title – in other words, a visual novel-esque experience aimed at helping players connect with Lain and understand The Wired’s existence.
Sadly, after receiving a manga side-story set in the game’s continuity, The Nightmare of Fabrication, in 1999 and a Blu-ray remaster in 2009, Serial Experiments Lain has essentially been relegated to the dust-bin of history.
And while that may seem like a bit of hyperbole, consider the fact that in 2018, when met with a rising demand from Japanese players for a re-release of the PS1 game, NBCUniversal Japan declined to do so and instead announced the Lain Time To Live open source project.
Created in partnership with Ueda, the project “grant[ed] permission for individuals residing in Japan to use derivative works based on the animated series Serial Experiments Lain (hereinafter referred to as “the Work”) free of charge, regardless of whether the use is commercial or non-commercial,” with no need for “supervision or approval”.
Disappointing as this move was at the time, it is by way of this project that fans will now be receiving their first official piece of Serial Experiments Lain media in decades, //signal.
Created by indie developer Team MJM as a sequel to the original PS1 game, //signal. [this period is not a typo, but rather part of its official name] will take the form of an “occult RPG” and pick up right in the aftermath of the original, inviting players to explore with both the real world and The Wired in the hopes of finding more answers as to Lain’s new existence.
“Since its release in 1998, we have lived in the omnipresent world of lain, sometimes feeling her presence, yet both she and the original work remain shrouded in layers of mystery,” reads Team MJM’s official press release. “Who is Rei Iwakura? What is lain? Discover a new side of these questions through //signal. In this game, you will interact with original characters, collect “past logs” as event records, and rebuild lost connections. Why do these connections need to be reconstructed? Why were they lost in the first place? Perhaps, clues can be found within diaries and emails.”
Notably, far from just an ‘official work’ under the Lain Time To Live guidelines, //signal. has also received the official blessing of Konaka himself.
“Serial experiment 2025,” said the writer in an official statement, as shared in image form and translated by Automaton Media. “New, and nostalgic. The archetype for Serial Experiments Lain was the PS game. Although many requested for it to be re-released, the producer, Ueda, adamantly refused, instead issuing a limited-time license for Lain (TTL) and saying ‘”If you want it, make it yourselves.'”
“However, I’d been skeptical as to whether there were really fans out there who would volunteer to create a new Lain game,” he admitted. “Then the //signal. project appeared, and although it went through a period of radio silence, it has at last been developed into a product. It incorporates elements of the anime that was released following the original game too, but when I saw the new art of Touko (Lain’s psychiatrist from the PlayStation game), I couldn’t help but think – the experiment is still ongoing.”
At current, //signal. is currently set to release for the Windows and Apple platforms on April 30th, with a digital release set to be offered via Steam and Itch.io for ¥1000 (~$7 USD) and a limited physical release, ostensibly only available in Japan, available through their official website for ¥1700 (~$11.35 USD).
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