SEL and Digimon?

Few people know very little about the anime Serial Experiments Lain or SEL (despite being popular).

Chiaki Konaka SEL is a particularly strange and twisted series about a confused girl named Lain and her connection to the world "We are all connected. Throughout the series she finds out more about the 'higher existence' she was created for- the "Wired' on which is in the Internet. SEL was a bit slow paced and very confusing but a masterpiece in itself.

I know this is all well and good, but what does Digimon have to do with SEL? I mean if there is one thing that is exactly is not, it's Digimon. Right?
Well sort of, you see… The writer of SEL also wrote Digimon, the genius that is Chiaki Konaka.

After deeper thinking, I began to see slight parallels. I always though Digimon was a lot deeper, better thought out, and had interesting plot turns than the other Digimon. Characters had more dimensions and the D-Reaper is a lot more interesting then most of our typical 'anime' villains.

The point I really want to get at is the characters, namely Juri.

Juri Lain- Both Juri and Lain where deeply connected to the 'other place.' Juri was deeply connected with the D-Reaper because she fueled it with her grief, Lain was connected to the 'Wired' because she was its 'God.'

Both had to deal with their responsibilities to their friends in holding such a position of power. In Lain's case, she joined the 'wired', Juri had to break free from it.

Lain and Juri experienced temporary detachment from society. Though Lain was always an outsider she became even more so when she became obsessed with "The Wired". After Leomon died, Juri detached herself from the group.

Both families' at first didn't seem to care about them, yet in the end they did. Lain's 'father' tried to save Lain by warning her. Juri's father seemed downright cold- but he was only trying to make her feel the consequences of her action. Other than that, Lain and Juri don't have much in common. Lain is very much like Takato. Quiet, somewhat unconfident, and self-sacrificing. He also became more than he was my merging to save the person he cared for most, Lain.

Juri Katou/Juri Katou: Juri in Lain is a sort of nice but whiny secondary character. Other than the namesake they have very little in common.

Juri/Alice: This is what I was waiting for. There are so many parallels to them, I almost dread writing them all. But hey, I'll try.

Both befriend the main character and connect to them on a very personal level. In fact, both become the most important figure in their life.

Both befall a certain tragedy. Alice's affair is revealed and Juri's Digimon dies. Their own pain causes them to sink into a depression.

Both are characterized by the soft sweet attitudes. Both selfless and kind on the outside with a pain on the inside. They both help the main character develop significantly by performing acts of kindness.

Their pain creates the motivation for the main characters to become 'more then they are'. Alice makes Lain become part of the Wired, Juri forces Takato to merge with Grangi.

On a less important note they also have a group of side friends *secondary characters that are nice but not as kind as them.

I really could go on forever but laziness destroys me.