Review of Haibane Renmei

Fever dream of a show. Watched on a whim, took me so long to finish because this show is hard to get through without falling asleep at times. (Hear me out...) Something about early 2000's shows is just so eerily sleep-craving, like the silent and sparse OST's, the lifeless animation, and general dark gloomy vibes just puts me right to bed. The plot is a slugfest if you couldn't guess, and takes 6 (SIX!) whole episodes for ANYTHING and I mean ANYTHING interesting to happen. I love a beautifully drawn anime just as much as the next guy, but when there is ONLY beautifully drawncharacters and backgrounds, I am left feeling empty. I felt this same way towards Serial Experiments Lain, whole lotta talent, just not the most substance. When half of your anime is boring, not really plot relevant world building, and another fourth is confusing setup, you are left with literally 2 good episodes that save this show. 12 and 13 feel emphatic, worthwhile and serve as a great closure. By far the best part of the show. Don't even get me started on the themes/philosophies/imagery of this show. Christianity? Maturity/Coming of Age? Sinfulness and "Good Christians"? Death? COMMUNISM? Don't get me started I said. The sincerity it takes it's discussions around said themes are just excellent, even if they do operate on a bit of stubbornness and can sometimes feel like a church sermon. I feel like if this was in classic literature form I would love this and write a 20 page essay about it, but in anime form I am gravitated towards it's weaknesses and left with a sour, slightly melancholy taste in my mouth. There are great moments, and I am glad that Reki is happy, but the path to get there is filled with too much glass for my the soles of my feet to truly enjoy a stable, excellent ending.