Producer interview on the Triangle Staff website ('lain stories I can tell now')
A relaxed, Japanese-only interview on the studio's own site. Ueda says the project ran like an indie production: most of the staff already knew each other and were heavy network users, so stories and notes were shared openly by CC email. Asked about censorship after recent youth crimes, he argues that simply banning images of guns or knives is shallow, that ratings and child locks have a place, and that adults should take responsibility for guiding what children watch. He says TV Tokyo's standards staff were understanding, which let both sides argue in good faith, and he presents the Agency for Cultural Affairs prize as proof the risk was worth it. On the game, he stresses that Konaka was asked to write only the movie parts, so most of the game is his own responsibility. He calls the game script hopelessly dark and says he and ABe are far darker people than Konaka and Nakamura. He describes the game as a mass of data blocks with almost no scenario, a toy for sensing a girl named Lain, and admits critics could call that a cop-out. His favorite episode is Layer 01, because Nakamura's storyboard convinced him to step back and leave the TV series to Konaka and Nakamura. He credits Nakahara and Sugiura of Leatrick with much of the CG, and praises Nakamura for welcoming game people into an anime production.
- Staff shared scripts openly by CC email, like an indie project
- Ueda rejects crude rules such as banning glinting knives on screen
- TV Tokyo's standards office argued with the team constructively
- Konaka wrote only the game's movie parts; the rest is Ueda's responsibility
- The game is 'data blocks' with almost no scenario, built to evoke Lain's presence
- Ueda's favorite is Layer 01, after which he left the series to Konaka and Nakamura
- CG mainly by Nakahara and Sugiura of Leatrick