Serial Experiments Lain

Serial Experiments Lain is an anime about a young girl named Lain. The series ran for 13 episodes half hour episodes. It is available in both subbed (subtitled) and dubbed formats and is a very intelligent look at god, the collective unconscious, the internet, and many other of those themes most common in cyberpunk literature. It references the 1940s paper As We May Think by Vannevar Bush, Douglas Engelbart et al. As a note, both the subbed and dubbed versions have their pros and cons. The translations were for the most part better (IMHO) in the sub, but the rendering of the name of Lain's best friend as "Arisu" instead of "Alice" has obscured an important reference to Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

This series is an excellent example of how anime can require a lot of thinking to enjoy. The whole series is very confusing at the beginning and raises two new questions for each one it answers. At the end you're left with several possible explanations to choose from, or it is very easy to come up with one's own explanation.

The Matrix, a very successful 1999 sci-fi action movie, contains imagery apparently based on this movie (and other anime also). For example, the title sequence with Lain and the bird uses an effect similar to The Matrix's "bullet time". There are also several thematic similarities, for example the characters of Lain herself and Neo (although this is probably more because both are Messianic figures based on Jesus).