Lain? Is that you???

Letter to Momo was a very cute film. I liked it a lot, especially the demon characters. I've always been fascinated with demons and their representation in Japanese media. It's interesting to see the designs for them in different films and comics.

But the thing that immediately stood out to me, which no one will understand because nobody else has seen this series (probably), was Momo's character design because of how similar she looks to Lain from Serial Experiments Lain. Obviously, there are drastic stylistic differences, but her hair, eye color, and even one of her outfits... they're all incredibly similar to Lain.

Eh??

I also noticed that the dispositions of the two girls at the beginning of their series/film were nearly the exact same. Both girls are very shy and withdrawn from other people and find it difficult to make friends.

As time goes on, distinct differences between their personalities develop. For example, Lain makes friends but then closes herself off from them and becomes more hostile. Momo, on the other hand, opens up and becomes friendlier. Also, Serial Experiments Lain is a sci-fi while Letter to Momo is more of a fantasy. And the ending of Lain is not NEARLY as hopeful as the ending to Momo, but there are definitely some parallels there.

But there are many similar parallels in plot as well. Both girls hurt someone who is close to them. (Lain hurts her best friend Alice, and Momo hurts her mother.) Both girls have someone watching over them (Momo, demons; Lain, government officials, even though she initially thinks these government officials are out to harm her). Both girls get the chance to rectify their past mistakes, though how they go about it is very different. Both girls do something with good intentions and get in trouble for it. (Momo tells her mother the truth about the demons, only to be accused of lying. Lain erases the memory of all of her friends except for Alice, thinking that Alice will be happy she still has her memories. Spoiler: Alice is completely miserable and confronts Lain about it.)

So, yeah, that's what I was thinking about the whole time I was watching the movie. I thought, "Wow, this pretty much IS Serial Experiments Lain if that series was happier and a fantasy instead of a sci-fi." Except not really... But you know... oh, well.