This article examines two major works in recent Japanese anime, the science-fiction series "Neon Genesis Evangelion" (1997) and "Serial Experiments Lain" (1999) in terms of their exploration of the human subject vis-à-vis an apocalyptic vision of technology and the real at the end of the twentieth century.
While they are both groundbreaking works, they are also analyzed in relation to key issues in contemporary Japanese culture, in particular its own increasingly problematic relationship with the real.