The anime adaptation Despera is created by a staff that reunites several members from the Serial Experiments Lain team, along with manga creator / character designer Yoshitoshi ABe (Lain, Haibane Renmei). The sci-fi story is set in Japan's Taishou era in 1922 - one year before the 1923 Great Kantou earthquake in the Tokyo area - and centers around Ain, a 14-year-old girl who builds elaborate devices without having the required scientific knowledge.