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In the first episode of Serial Experiments Lain, right at the beginning,
someone says:

> Why? Why won't you come? I wish you would come here.

This person I assumed to be Chisa Yomoda, but I am not completely sure. Who is
being addressed, and is the speaker Chisa or someone else? (Or is this perhaps
simply something inserted for "atmosphere" that doesn't have an explicit
answer?) Within the context of the story, it seems to make sense for the
addressee to be Lain, but I'm really not sure.


CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-17T22:40:39.693
8737
2014-04-20T04:15:59.853
2604
question
serial-experiments-lain
Who is being addressed at the start of the first episode?


Having progressed a lot further in my rewatch of Serial Experiments Lain, it
seems that the "correct" answer is along the lines of the comment by
user1306322. At the beginning of most episodes (with the exception of 10, 11,
and 13), someone says a few short lines, such as the one above, or such as:

>   * You've heard of a girl named Lain, right? Lain of the Wired. (Episode 3)
>
>   * I don't need parents. Humans are all alone. They are not connected to
> anyone else at all. (Episode 4)
>
>   * If you want to be free of suffering, you should believe in God. Whether
> or not you believe in Him, God is always by your side. (Episode 9)
>
>

An exception is in episode 12, where there seems to be an exchange instead
between what seems to be Lain and possibly either her mother or the doll
figure she was addressing a couple episodes earlier.

Given this and the fact that the question at the opening of the first episode
is somewhat similar to those "opening lines" in later episodes, it seems most
reasonable to conclude that the question in the beginning of the first episode
is meant to set the atmosphere, and that the addressee of the question is, as
pointed out by the comment, anyone who hears it (the viewer, people in the
Wired, Lain, etc.).

I still can't quite identify the speaker of the question in the beginning of
the first episode, but it seems worth noting that the speaker of the "opening
lines" seems to vary by episode. (I'm not completely sure about this since
this could well be the same voice actress/character speaking the lines, but
with a different inflection).


CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-20T04:03:04.360
8780
2014-04-20T04:15:59.853
2014-04-20T04:15:59.853
2604
2604
8737
answer