Lain, a symbol of Jesus Christ

        This Anime series is full of religious symbolism, especially in Lain's character. There is quite a bit of evidence that leads the watcher to believe Lain is representing Jesus Christ, whom Christians believe to be their savior. In the bible there is a well known story of how Satan tried to tempt Jesus Christ into betraying His father, God in Heaven, and join Satan in doing evil on the earth. Jesus Christ, however, was stronger than any of Satan's temptations. Not only did He turn Satan down, he also overcame Satan and his evil later on. This very same story is symbolized in this series when the Satan character, Masami Eiri, who thinks he is a god, tries to tempt Lain in joining her powers with his to rule the world of the wired. Lain being more powerful, and knowing right from wrong, turned Masami Eiri down as well. Masami Erir was also defeated. Lain, like Christ, had the strength to do the right thing over the easy thing. They both turned down more power, and later selflessly sacrificed themselves so that others could live and not suffer. They both had greater things waiting for them than the power they could have had on this earth.  

         More than once in the series Lain appeared naked in the clouds of the sky. This symbolized purity and holiness, which also compares to or resembles Jesus Christ. She was pure and innocent because she had never really done anything to anyone. Holiness means “Set apart,” and that symbolizes how she is not like any other. She had powers unlike anyone else, and was not really of this world. No one compared to her in the series, not even the other “gods” like Masami Eiri. There were also several people on the streets looking up at her with raised hands like worshiping, which made it look like she had quite a few followers. All of this is powerful evidence for Lain resembling Jesus Christ.

Symbolic Religion

Through out the entire Serial Experiments show, Lain was contemplating all of the power within her and constantly fighting to keep it inside of her. Lain’s doppelganger inside of her was a very important detail on who she is and what her objective was. The doppelganger portrayed as how the normal “human” would act in God’s eyes. However, in this case, Lain’s normal self was how she connected as the “Jesus Christ” of the Wired. 

     Religion and symbolism is in life, as we know it. Everywhere we look we see signs of God, Jesus, temptation, and sins. All of which we cannot pull together and figure out why we see and do what we do. However, in Serial Experiments Lain, Lain realizes that with the power of being her own god she could do whatever she pleased. The only mistake was that temptation was waiting around every corner for her, but just like Jesus, she overcomes the temptations placed by Eiri and others. Last but not least, she even erases herself from everyone’s memory because she loved everyone and knew what would happen if she did not. Lain was the modern day Jesus, and only she knew it.

Symbolism, Masami Eiri's God Complex.

Before he was in the Wired, Masami Eiri worked at Tachibana Labs. His actions there are indicative that his intentions to become a God. He encoded the Schumann Resonance, a low frequency the earth emits which purportedly connects us all at an unconscious level. He then inserted that code into the 7^th Generation protocol for PC connectivity to attach all human beings as one neural network. While he did that, he uploaded himself or a program of himself to the Wired. He did not do this for the good of humankind. His sole purpose was to create a new avenue to have direct access people as his subjects or followers. He believed in this so much that he lost his job at Tachibana Labs. He committed suicide to usher in the transition to the Wired where he believed he would be a supreme being.

His attitude towards the human race is one of indifference. To him, humanity is a means to an end. They are purely there to make him a God. His attitude toward them is not one of compassion or scorn but rather disaffection. He talks of them as if they are a cog in a machine built and orchestrated by him. They are tools at his disposal in his realm to him, Lain included. Lain being the force that she is, he must woo her or manipulate her to bend to his will. His dialogues with Lain reinforce his need of her power. He starts early when Lain is adapting to the Wired. One of his tricks is to use the façade of Lain’s father to impose a visage of authority and emotion. He tells Lain that there is no God. There is only one God and he is in the Wired. Throughout the series, he uses techniques like these to manipulate Lain.