Because A Mortal Song is set in Japan, in the month leading up to the book’s release I wanted to celebrate some of the amazing media out there by Japanese creators. I’ll be highlighting my favorite books, TV shows, and films (as well as some snack box services—you need something to munch on while you’re doing all that watching and reading!). You can find a full list of my faves and other resources here on my website.

TV Rec – Serial Experiments Lain

What it’s all about: Lain Iwakura, an awkward and introverted fourteen-year-old, is one of the many girls from her school to receive a disturbing email from her classmate Chisa Yomoda—the very same Chisa who recently committed suicide. Lain has neither the desire nor the experience to handle even basic technology; yet, when the technophobe opens the email, it leads her straight into the Wired, a virtual world of communication networks similar to what we know as the internet. Lain’s life is turned upside down as she begins to encounter cryptic mysteries one after another. Strange men called the Men in Black begin to appear wherever she goes, asking her questions and somehow knowing more about her than even she herself knows. With the boundaries between reality and cyberspace rapidly blurring, Lain is plunged into more surreal and bizarre events where identity, consciousness, and perception are concepts that take on new meanings. (from MyAnimeList)

Why you should watch it: This is another reality-bending story, capturing the absorbing and sometimes addictive nature of the internet in advance of our modern-day world where everyone is wired in (metaphorically speaking). Haunting, poignant, and frightening at turns, you may not always understand what’s going on, but the emotions the story stirs up are no less real for that. And the soundtrack is lovely.

What’s your fave tech-centric story? Let me know in the comments.

Join me tomorrow for my next rec! You can read more about A Mortal Song in the meantime: