Review of Haibane Renmei

Episode for episode, this is probably the best anime I've ever seen. Premise: Girl, Rakka, wakes up, hatches from cocoon in other world. No memories of past. People around her, called Haibane, have wings and halos. She is Haibane too. She receives name Rakka based on her cocoon dream in which she was falling. Surreal kind of afterlife-ish world. Haibane have to live differently from humans. Girl struggle to adapt to life as a Haibane and reconcile it with feelings from her previous life. Characters: Thinking about the Characters, I feel like very few of them stick out. Inter-character relations are a big part of the story, but I'lljust talk about the characters that stand out.

Rakka is a very believable sort of introverted girl. She want to have friends and belong and can act happy and be helpful, but she has a hard time really trusting people with her thoughts. She has a hard time making decisions that mean anything and tends to ignore her problems. For instance, Haibane must have a job, though they can't have money. Rakka goes around to all the other Haibane to see if she likes thier work, but she never really takes any of it seriously, she's just having fun being with the others and distracting herself. Eventually she is given the job of washing gravestones as penance. And she comes to like that. She functions as a point of view character than can draw the viewer into the other world as she comes to accept her place in it.

Reki, really warmhearted motherly character or older sister-like character with a dark side. She reminds me of my older stepsister. Anyway, Reki teaches the other Haibane and treats Rakka like a daughter almost. She's not exactly all that mature and she was a real problem child growing up. Still has a big problem with authority. She also has some real issues, in many ways worse than Rakka.

The Communicator is the priest who heads the Haibane Renmei, which is kind of the Haibane religion or society. He wears a mask and a robe so we never see his body. He might not be a Haibane. Only he is allowed to communicate with outsiders who come within the walls. He coordinates trade and in return the humans pay for the Haibane's upkeep. He also acts as the moral and spiritual guide to the Haibane ensuring the preservation off their rituals and the moral growth of the Haibane themselves.

Conclusion/Opinions:
Really, there is as much to say about the society and world of Haibane Renmei as there is about its characters. I don't want to move into too much interpretation, because like a Romantic or Gothic work, a lot of the enjoyment here is in the mystery and the feelings the images and story invoke. Not everything feels like it can be explained. Most people, including myself, look at Haibane Renmei as a story about the afterlife. The creator, Yoshitoshi ABe, has outright denied that such was his intent, but he encourages everyone to come to their own conclusions.

I also don't want to spoil anything for you, a lot of the story has to do with the nature of sin and forgiveness. The Communicator has a riddle he uses called the Circle of Sin which is quite insightful. To escape the city, a Haibane must sometimes solve the Circle of Sin, but no one can find it by simply thinking, and that is what traps Reki and what causes her to resent Rakka.

There is just so much going on here, the golden rust on the tombstones, the broken clock, the tallest building in the city built at its lowest point, the supernatural nature of the walls, the identity of the Toga. There's just so much room for speculation. And the world of Haibane Renmei lets the imagination roam free, though not unguided or unfettered. Rather pretentious of me to say, but this series is largely about involving you with life within the walls and taking you into its world.

There's not really much romance, I don't know if the Haibane are allowed to have sex. Certainly, I think some of them, like Reki, might be forbidden. As far as plot, they don't really go anywhere. There are two real arcs, Rakka's story and Reki's, but they kinda flow into eachother.

The art I think is what really makes it a masterpiece and the sound. The background piece called Blight I think is the best depiction of fear and pain I've ever heard. Really heart-wrenching to remember it. The way fear plays into pain. And Yoshitoshi ABe's art is simply unrivaled. I used one of his sketches for my icon. He's noted for being one of the few artists who never uses a ruler. It gives his eyes a unique luster that you just don't see anywhere else. And his taste in costumes and in architecture and art remind me of Shadow of the Colossus. A lot of Haibane Renmei looks and feels like Shadow of the Colossus or Ico.

This is the only anime he wrote the story for and honestly, its probably his most optimistic piece. If you've ever read any of his manga or seen his other animes he worked on, ABe is usually a lot darker and more gruesome than this. But here the horror is much more fear of the unknown and sort of Gothic in nature.

There is no reason not to watch this unless you just can't take anime seriously, and even them, it's Yoshitoshi ABe, just watch it.