1. Opening

INSERT - TELEVISION SCREEN

A brief shot of a television screen with static.

WHITE SCREEN

The following text is typed on the screen (in Japanese) and is read aloud (in English) by a mocking voice:

PRESENT DAY,
PRESENT TIME!

TELEVISION SCREEN

Return to static television screen. Muffled "Mission Control" type voices can be heard, and the static is tuned this way and that. The face of LAIN briefly appears.

EXT. STREET - DAY

The opening credits consist of three elements: music, text, and visuals. The music is the song "Duvet" by the group Boa, performed in English:

And you don't seem to understand
A shame, you seemed an honest man
And all those fears you hold so dear
Will turn to whisper in your ear

And you know what they say might hurt you
And you know that it means so much
And you don't even feel a thing

I am falling . . .
I am fading . . .
I have lost it all . . .

I am falling . . .
I am fading . . .
I am drowning . . .
Help me to breathe . . .

I am hurting . . .
I have lost it all . . .
I am losing . . .
Help me to breathe . . .

Here are the credits:

PLANNING: production 2nd.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Taro Maki, Akihiro Kawamura

SERIES STRUCTURE/SCREENPLAY: Chiaki J. Konaka

ORIGINAL CHARACTER DESIGN: Yoshitoshi Abe

CHARACTER DESIGN: Takahiro Kishida

ART DIRECTOR: Masaru Satu

SETTING: Akihiro Hirasawa, Yoshinori Shioxawa

COLOR KEY: Michiyo Iriomote

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Takashi Azuhata

EDITING: Takeshi Seyama

SOUND DIRECTOR: Youta Tsuruoka

MUSIC: Reiichi "CHABO" Nakaido (supported by Tatsunosuke)

2ND UNIT MUSIC & SOUND DESIGN: Akira Takemoto, Koji Kasamatsu

OPENING THEME: DUVET/music by BOA, Lyrics by Jasmine Rodgers, Performed by: BOA (Polystar)

PRODUCERS: Yasuyuki Ueda, Shojiro Abe

TV PROGRAMMING: Kiko Iwata (TV Tokyo)

DIRECTOR: Ryutaro Nakamura

The visuals consist of the following SERIES OF SHOTS:

ZOOM IN to back of LAIN's head. She is standing on a city street in daytime, wearing a pink jacket and cap. She turns to face us. There is the head of an animated bear on the cap.

A blue computer screen, with the blue word "lain" appearing in more and more random spots.

A quick pan of Lain's face on a screen.

The screen full of "lain"s resolves into a single large "lain".

Close-up of a crow turning to stare at us, a pink strand of something dangling from its beak.

Lain in street clothes standing on the street. There are a couple of cars in traffic and dozens of crows on electrical lines and near Lain. Only the crows are moving.

The screen of "lain"s.

View obscured by crows taking off.

Crows fly close to Lain, who holds up her arms to protect herself.

Lain's face as she turns to follow the crows.

The crows flying over a roof in formation.

A screen showing static with different-sized words moving. Easily visible are the phrases "make me" and "NO PLACE". Not so easy to see is the following poem:

Make me fly.
Johnny?
NOW you don't mind heart yourself.
so long days for us. THE sun sits and be showed
you never think you always free.
I see the wings of your arms to fly out this world.

If you go to the promised land,
I never go with you
I do not want any more simply you.



Lain looks at us through a faded screen.

Another screen with lots of moving text, not all of it is in English. Working from the largest phrases (closest to us) to the smallest (frequently obscured by closer phrases), you can see "NO RACE", "NO NATION", "NO POSITION", "1912", "mad", "feel alright", "lose the", "the next" (in reverse type), "LAIN 0X00A33E76" and "serial experiments". Lain fades into the scene wearing a red dress and black khakis. The static background is replaced by a white glow, and "what kind of a make do you like" appears in rainbow-colored text. She fixes us with a cold stare, then fades out as the words "break through" pass by. She fades back in in closeup ("invisible" and "incredible" written next to her face). She says something and behind her is the phrase "Close the door, open the nExt" (with the second part in reverse).

A group of sophisticates at a party, all watching a wide-screen television featuring Lain talking against the static background.

Faded-out Lain.

A boy is playing a video game on his TV while his mother cleans dishes behind him. Lain is on the screen and talking to him.

Faded-out Lain.

A couple is making out as Lain lectures them from a TV.

A flowery background with more moving phrases (most of them sideways): "scanner/radio gun", "wake-up ?", "no problem", "feel alright", and "Hello, lain".

Faded Lain.

More words: "make it cool", "not face", "way home", "you will". The background is an article about the CRAY computer (I can make out "The CRAY...series is a breakthrough product, said Silicon Graphics Chairman and CEO Rick Belluzzo.").

A computer screen with faded Lain on it.

A skewed photograph of highrises, a brick church, and a suspension bridge. Superimposed is Lain in the red dress walking in place. The image rotates and then pixelates into the (live-action) interior of a railway station as Lain continues to walk.

Inside of a (live-action) parking garage. Close-up of Lain's head fades in and turns to look behind her as the garage becomes a winter sky.

View up some (live-action) railway steps. Superimposed is Lain looking over her shoulder at us with a concerned look.

View stepping down the railway steps (now animated) towards Lain in the pink jacket and hat, who is looking at her feet. She looks past us up the stairs. We stay with her as she climbs up.

Faded Lain saying something.

Side-view of Lain taking the stairs.

Faded Lain.

Lain on a pedestrian walkway over the street, making her way to the other side.

Ground view as she walks away from us.

Faded Lain.

A tired Lain looks at us from a computer screen as an abstract 3-D landscape rushes by behind her.

Side view of Lain crossing the walkway. The wind suddenly hits her and she closes her eyes tight. She stops to struggle with the wind, and her hat flies off as a shadow crosses her head.

View from above the walkway as a crow suddenly flies into view. It freezes and the color fades out of the picture. The camera then pans across the frozen picture until it just reaches Lain. If you're careful with the frame advance, you can see that she's the only thing in color in the picture.

FADE TO:

Lain's face looking up at the crow. Its shadow is frozen on her face.

Lain shrugs her shoulders and turns to walk away (the world is once more in color). Her hat is frozen in mid-air.

View from above as she walks away. The hat is still there.

Lain in the 3-D landscape. She closes her eyes, lowers then shakes her head, and then, appearing faint, fades away into a rain of pixels. The lower half of a face appears to be visible behind her.

END SERIES OF SHOTS

FADE OUT

2. A Girl's Death

FADE IN:

EXT. STREET INTERSECTION - TOKYO - NIGHT

A busy street corner is bathed in a green light as pedestrians stroll across the crosswalks. Street sounds are heard, but are distorted.

INSERT - CROSSWALK SIGNAL

as the red "Don't Walk" signal lights up.

BLURRED VIEW OF CAR LIGHTS

View of the street signs of Tokyo, the numerous electrical and telephone poles and lines in silhouette. Masses of humanity pass by.

Female (V.O.)

Why? Why won't you come? I wish you would come here . . . .("You really should come here . . . .")

Cars cross the intersection and make their way around tardy pedestrians.

Dark clouds race above neon buildings and thick nets of overhead wires.

COMPUTER SCREEN

showing letters swirling across the screen until they form the word "WEIRD", which is also pronounced by an echoing computer-generated voice. The additional text "Layer:01" appears and is also pronounced. Variants of these two phrases and "serial experiments lain"