The purpose of this essay is to show the connections that fictional and real characters have with their respective ‘real’ and ‘virtual’ environments, and if any of the characters have an influence on the lives of the others.

 This essay will not attempt to encapsulate the entire sci-fi genre; nor will it try to summarize the effect of this genre on humans as a whole. My essay will concentrate primarily on a Japanese animated tv series, ‘SERIAL EXPERIMENTS LAIN’, first released in Japan on TV TOKYO on July 7th, 1998; and of my experiences on the internet.

The online version of the essay differs from the printed version in both form and style. the online version can be approached from many different angles, and the viewer is free to make whatever conclusions they want from the experience. This free-form style may be a little more disorientating than the printed version, but in my opinion, the medium dictates a different angle of approach for the piece.

 Below are a series of suggested links to begin the work. you may choose any perspective to begin with. If ,at any time, you wish to return to this page look for the following icon on the page:

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