Haibane-Renmei

I just finished watching this series and I must say it is amazing. It's hard to say if it tops Cowboy Bebop or not for my favorite anime ever, but it definitely comes close.

Gist of it: There are a race of people called Haibane who have wings and halos and are born in cocoons, but other than that appear to be normal people. But there are humans living alongside them as well, in a massive town called Glie. The town is surrounded by a massive insurmountable wall, and no one is permitted to pass beyond it.

The story starts in the spring, as a new Haibane named Rakka emerges from her cocoon (she appears to be about 15 or 16, despite being a newborn.) For about the first 4 episodes, the series focuses on daily life in Glie and how the Haibane live their lives. But as the year approaches winter, things get darker, moodier, and deeper. The show becomes intensely more psychological, symbolic, and mature. To reveal anything would be to ruin too much, but needless to say this is is a wonderful, suspenseful, gripping, compelling, series. I found myself empathizing with the six Haibane of Old Home more than I have with any fictitious characters in recent memory.

I would recommend it to everyone. I'd give it an age rating of 15+, purely because anyone younger would likely be unable to appreciate it. (It definitely requires CT skills to grasp - the series spoon-feeds you nothing.)

Amazing. A work of art. The rare series that reminds you why you like anime so much to begin with.

[Moogy]

You have prompted me to finally download this.

[Squeek]

SPOILER ALERT FOR THE REST OF THIS THREAD




















How could you enjoy it?

I tore my hair out for weeks wondering why the director failed to end the series!

I loved the story solely for the fact that I wanted to see what the world she was in WAS. Or how it got to be that way. I gotta thank the director for never telling me either and instead ending it with someone else doing that thing that I won't mention for potential spoilers.

To sum it up:

I loved the show. The artwork was astounding and the drama was intense. However, not ending the show was a huge minus for me. I ended up writing an 8-page ending of my own to cope.

~Squeek

PS - Yes, I DO understand the crow deal and the entire concept of the world. Don't breathe down my neck about that. I want to know why that world exists and why those people are in it the way they are.

[Kefit]

Squeek, sometimes answers to questions like that just aren't necessary. You may as well ask why we are in our world and why our world is like it is.

Anyway, Haibane Renmei is a great series with a fantastic ending. However, I don't think of it as highly as Charish and a few others do. I had a difficult time getting attached to the characters, and the show really dragged it's feet during the first half. The excellent second half more than makes up for these drawbacks, but it isn't enough to raise this series to the status of godhood.

Originally Posted by Kefit

Squeek, sometimes answers to questions like that just aren't necessary. You may as well ask why we are in our world and why our world is like it is.

That was the whole point of the series. The town's wall represents death - we can only theorize what's on the other side, but we won't really know about it until we cross over. I think Reki mentions this in the final episode. It's also easy to assume that the Haibane are dead people from our world - this would explain not only why some of them are older or younger than others, but also the fact that some people were born sin-bound. This would also explain the nature of Reki and Rakka's ordeals.

Originally Posted by Kefit

Anyway, Haibane Renmei is a great series with a fantastic ending. However, I don't think of it as highly as Charish and a few others do. I had a difficult time getting attached to the characters, and the show really dragged it's feet during the first half. The excellent second half more than makes up for these drawbacks, but it isn't enough to raise this series to the status of godhood.

I like the slow start. It gives us time to get acquainted with the characters and their world before the gut-wrenching emotional drama starts. If it weren't for the first half of the show, we would be completely incapable of understanding why anyone would want to remain in that world, and thus incapable of understanding Rakka's feelings after Kuu's departure.

[Squeek]

I inferred much differently from you in my prospective ending for the series.

Useless edit because nobody will see it.



~Squeek