The two obvious themes in my mind are gears/some sort of complex machine, or computer hardware/circuits.

As an avid Lain Iwakura enjoyer, I added that screenshot because it’s awesome and I think it’d be an extremely cool banner, but there are probably much cleaner designs out there that would be more welcoming to new users. I’m sure you guys will be able to come up with some in short order.

You can look on lemmyverse.net to get a quick overview of some other instance banners.

I really don’t know how the formatting and proportions are supposed to work but I will edit that in as soon as someone clarifies.

Lemmy.world looks like this

This discussion will run for at least a week, and then we can take the most upvoted submissions in this thread and put them up for an official vote.

    • imaqtpieOPMA
      7·
      1 year ago

      I just completed another rewatch a few weeks ago. The mood it evokes is something I just can’t get enough of. Late 90s was a golden age for Anime, and Serial Experiments Lain stands alongside Cowboy Bebop and Evangelion in the pantheon, right at the pinnacle of the genre imo. I will admit it can be confusing, especially on first watch, but it has the philosphical and emotional depth to justify its inaccessibility.

      • Uranium 🟩
        6·
        1 year ago

        It’s a true favourite of mine as well, and has led me to want to read R.D. Laing’s work with schizophrenia, as apparently it was highly influential in the creation of SE Lain.

        I struggle to get through it on many watchings, but occasionally I make it to the end, it often feels like the ominous parts of an acid trip, haha

        Out of curiosity, are you familiar with Lainchan? It’s a rather slow Chan site, but very much captures the feel of Lain.

        Let’s love all love Lain.

        • imaqtpieOPMA
          2·
          1 year ago

          Nah, didn’t know about Lainchan. Thanks for the suggestions. Totally agree about getting bogged down in the middle sometimes. It brings me great joy to find other people who love Lain.

        • imaqtpieOPMA
          2·
          1 year ago

          Wow, now that’s dedication. Come to think of it I haven’t used a CRT in like 15 years.

          Didn’t really appreciate them at the time but there’s certainly a cool factor to a CRT that I’ve realized in retrospect. Zero input lag, producing a picture by beaming electrons through a vacuum, being heavy and bulky as fuck, and of course, percussive maintenence. LCDs are boring in comparison.

      • HaveYouTriedCats
        2·
        1 year ago

        Lain was one of those anime that when I was introducing it to someone there was a “no questions, only experience” policy in place.

      • imaqtpieOPMA
        1·
        1 year ago

        The opening song is amazing but I still prefer the closing song. Ima link it.

        Doesn’t get any more badass than that.