Taro

Taro
Gender	Male
Age	10
Hair	Dark Brown
Eyes	Brown
Occupation	Student
Affiliations	the Knights Myu-Myu - girlfriend Masayuki - friend
Voice actor(s)	Keito Takimoto (Japanese) Ian Hawk (English)
Debut	Episode 02
Birthday	May 1st

Taro (タロウ) is a character of the anime series Serial Experiments Lain.

He is young boy younger than Lain. Despite not a member, he occasionally works for the Knights to bring forth "the one truth".

Story

He first appears in Cyberia with his friends, Myu-Myu and Masayuki. It's the first time that him and Lain met as they see each other on the club's stairs.

When she receives a Psyche, Lain goes to the Cyberia to ask to Taro and his friends what it is and how to use it. Taro is the first to recognize Lain as he saw her once in the Wired but, at the time, she seems like a completely different person. He then asks Lain on a date but only with her Wired-self.

We see later Taro bumping into Mika in the street, spilling soda on her sleeve. Although it can be see as an accident, it can also be seen as him participating in a plan from the Knights with the goal to bring Mika into her insanity. Later she will try to clean her sleeve with the tissue containing the message that will make her crazy.

As he was playing VR games, Lain comes to him asking him what he knows about a God in the Wired. Later she will come to him once again in Cyberia to go out with him like he proposed the first time. He at first doesn't want to, insisting he wants the Lain from the Wired to go with him, but she convinces him by proving him that she can be her Wired-self. The date is a trap, Lain discovered that he was working with the Kinghts and wants an explanation from him. Forced by Lain, he confesses that he's not a formal of member of the Knights, so he doesn't know everything, but he knows that they are "overwriting" memories starting with the people in Cyberia and that they then wanted to do this on Lain herself. The Knights want the "truth" to become into a reality. He then kisses her and leaves.

He's later seen in an empty Cyberia with his friends. First to discover that all the Kinghts have been listed on the net and then a second time listening to Lain's message on the Wired. He then understands the real nature of Lain calling her "an angel".

After Lain rebooted reality, Taro is seen one last time with his friends on the street. He recieves a cryptic message from Lain but since he doesn't know who she is anymore, he just stays confused. He finally hangs out his NAVI and goes find Myu-Myu and Masayuki.

Personality

Taro loves VR games and hangs out all day at Cyberia with his friends, Myu-Myu and Masayuki. He uses special technology, such as custom Handi Navi and video goggles. Taro takes pride in his internet anonymity.

Despite being Myu-myu's boyfriend, Taro is prone to flirt with other girls, he asks out both Lain and Mika.

Affiliations

Lain

Taro asked Lain for a date but with her Wired self in exchange for information. He gained a quiet fascination for Lain and her Wired self, leading him to kiss Lain one time.

Quotes

“ Information isn't free, not in the Wired or in the real world.”
—Episode 03

“ Most people take on a personality in the Wired that's different than what they have in the real world but yours are total opposites.”
—Episode 03

“ I want the wild Lain.”
—Episode 03

“ Mind if I hit on you?”
—Episode 05

“ Nobody knows if there is or not. It doesn't matter to the user if God exists in the Wired”
—Episode 05

“ Nobody knows what's fun and why.”
—Episode 05

“ The Knights are users who are fighting to make only the truth there is into a reality.”
—Episode 09

“ The truth has power because it's the truth. And because it's the truth, that make it just. It's persuasive, isn't it? Don't you want truth like that?”
—Episode 09

“ Hey, it's a date, you know? I'm a guy. I had to do that.”
—Episode 09

“ I kissed an angel!”
—Episode 12

minor edit source: https://twitter.com/lainscreens

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