Haibane Renmei

7 reviews - 33.5 total score (Explanation of the rating system)
avg. score: (4.8)

7. Tempy

A girl dreams she is falling from the sky, with a raven tugging at her as if trying to save her. And when she awakens, she is born from a large egg as a Haibane into a mysterious and intriguing world. Based on her dream she is named Rakka ("to fall") by her fellow Haibane.

The Haibane are like humans but with wings. They live by separate rules with humans in the town of Glie which is surrounded by high walls. Rakka is a shy girl, but she is constantly wondering what the Haibane are, why they may never leave the city, and the meaning of her own existence.

Haibane Renmei often moves along in a relaxed slice-of-life pace as the world Rakka lives in gets elaborated upon, as well as the fellow Haibane she lives with. The down to earth designs are effective, the gorgeous music by Kou Ohtani moves the heart, and the good cinematography gives the show an absolutely beautiful mood and atmosphere. The characters are quirky, amusing, and sweet. But things are not as they seem.

Though the world seem calm and peaceful, trouble is brewing underneath. Reki acts like a mother to all the Haibane, her concern and care make her a very likable character. But she is tainted with Sin and haunted by her past. Does she really acts out of love? Rakka is concerned, she wants to help, she wants to find out why the Haibane have to leave someday, and what happens when they don't. But then she discovers that she too is tainted with Sin.

The complex mix of peaceful slice-of-life, lovable characters, intriguing existentialism, mystery, artsy cinematography, and heart-rendering drama, proves to be a very satisfying and moving viewing experience. The interaction between Rakka and Reki is simply amazing to behold. From the moment Rakka was born, Reki took it upon herself to take care of her, brushing the blood from Rakka's wings. But eventually all things must come to an end - it is the Haibane way, but we can at least rewatch the show on DVD and on subsequent formats.

6. Cross Scars

The basic premise of this series has already been talked about in previous reviews so I’ll just get straight into my thoughts on Haibane Renmei. Overall I thought the series a very decent anime but one which failed to reach the heights that it perhaps should have achieved.

The whole concept of the Haibanes and the world in which they lived was extremely interesting, but like with so much in the series, I just wished it had been explored more. What the Haibanes were, who the Togas were, the wall and what was beyond it, all these facets of the series were terrifically intriguing but woefully little attention was devoted to all them. Admittedly we can’t expect too much detail from a 13 episode series and there’s nothing wrong with having to come up with our own conclusion about these things, but I just felt any real substance behind these ideas was lacking. It’s a similar story with the cast. Haibane Renmei is another largely character driven series but by the end it felt like only Reki had built up any real depth. That’s not to say that the characters aren't enjoyable as they stand, because they are very much so, it was merely disappointing to not see more done with them.

Those thoughts aside there’s nothing wrong with the soundtrack and animation to the series which are both excellent. The music to series is wonderfully used throughout and really heightens the emotions at certain scenes. While all series look nice now days Haibane Renmei is a cut above the rest and the attention to detail is very impressive.

By the end of the series I was disappointed to see Haibane Renmei end. Not only because as it stands it’s a very good series, but also because there was no further chance to develop it into a great series. It’s the falling short of that amazing potential which is really the biggest disappointment of this anime and if anything I think that’s a credit to the series; that it could be so good and still have room for improvement.

5. h8er13

This series starts off a bit slow, much like Lain. Of course, the animation is also quite similar. The first few episodes are a bit intriguing because it makes you wonder what's going on. Still yet, the series moves slowly. The animation is smooth and gives off a relaxed feeling. And yes, again this anime moves slowly, so patience is a virtue when watching this. It's still really cute seeing little angel winged people with halos running around and having jobs and responsibilities. I remember there was one funny scene having to do with a crow. The ending song also sounds a bit creepy. All in all, I suppose this anime makes you question the world and what's real or what's really "out there," but I only recommend this to people that liked Lain, even though the story is very different and the series itself is not gothic.

4. End of Hearts

Absolutely beautiful, the only ways to describe a title the majority of anime fans will let fly over their heads. It immerses you into mysterious town of Guri, surrounded by a huge, high wall, off limits to anyone. The story revolves around a group of haibane, a mysterious “race” of people who possess grey to ash colored wings. The title focuses, in a bitterly slow pace in the initial episodes, the mystery behind the wings, the haibane themselves being in the town, the wall that surrounds the city, and other questions that you will ask yourself. With slow, introductory episodes in the beginning, the mid episodes to the ending keep strong and prepare you for the amazing ending. The art is like Lain, yet cleaner and simpler and the soundtrack was great, all the music fitting the each scene well. A wonderful anime, once you pass the first episodes, you’ll be hooked till the end.

3. Prep_Styles

Featuring beautiful audio and visuals Haibane Renmei creates and immerses viewers in a bizarre yet familiar world. A world that is captivating enough to allow this story to move at an appropriate pace, and by appropriate I mean slow. The audience experiences Guri through the character Rakka, it is as new to her as it is to us, as we observe her learn about life (after life?) we learn about this humble yet compelling world. Rakka is however not the most inquisitive person and as such facilitates the development of this story through means other than dialogue. Everything looks and sounds impressive so that things are interesting despite the fact that the story is developing at a modest pace.

Haibane Renmei is well designed, written, acted, composed, and paced, allowing someone to lose his or herself in the emotions invoked by all aspects of this title as it slowing reveals itself. This is a unique and memorable anime experience for viewers with the patience to see it through.

2. SAGO

Haibane Renmei is one of those anime that come in peeking at the door, making little noise as it enters, ignored and shrugged off by most, but would give heartfelt insights to anyone who would take the patience to listen and understand. With its proper combination of animation, music, and storytelling and the absence of sex, violence, romance or off-the wall comedy, Haibane Renmei proves in a subtle way that memorable animes are different from the rest.

Haibane Renmei immerses you in a world filled with questions; Where daily activities are familiar yet strangely unfamiliar. The slow pace of life in a town where the past, present, and dreams are molded seamlessly together neither bores nor disorients but rather breathes calm to the events happening in the Old Home. Everything feels as if they're in place even though the viewer knows they are not.

The characters from Reki to Raka, from the Togas to the Tailor, all seem to breathe with life in the world of Guri. Rich and distinct colors spread through the land in a hazy dreamlike state.

One of the few animes that moves emotions in a beautiful manner. Haibane Renmei is Abe's best work yet, and is also one of the best releases of 2002. It would be a shame for anyone; whether you're an anime fan or not, to miss on such a masterpiece.

1. Neko Tsukimi

Somewhere in the world exists a town named Guri which is surrounded by a wall. Inside the wall, there are humans and creatures living among them called haibane because of their grey wings (haibane roughly meaning grey or ash-coloured wings). They look like humans but they're not humans. They have wings and halos like angels, but they're angels neither. No one knows who they are and where they came from other than the fact that they are born from cocoons.

Haibane Renmei is a 13-episode series based on the 3 doujinshi of Yoshitoshi ABe titled "Old Home no Haibane-tachi" about a group of haibane girls living in an abandoned building they call Old Home. It does contain some similarities to ABe's other works (Serial Experiments Lain, NieA_7). While crows existed only in the OPs of Lain and NieA_7, they became important characters in Haibane. Also, the story revolves around young girls with the protagonist trying to find herself and where she fits in life. With that said, this show does have some weird factors like Lain but it's closer to NieA_7 as it's more of a realistic slice-of-life anime than whatever Lain is categorized to be. It's not extremely dark, a bit thought-provoking, barely comical, and very enjoyable.

Possibly the best quality of this show aside from its general overall beauty is how well you can fall in love with the characters. After the first episode, I thought I had fallen in love with one character. However, by the second, I had fallen in love with them all. If anything good happened to them, I felt a happiness in my heart. If something bad happens, I felt like my heart had been hollowed out. This series actually brought me to tears on several occasions.

Overall, I had a great feeling of satisfaction at the end of the series. However, several questions remained unanswered. In my mind, I almost wish the series were just a few more episodes longer, but in the back of my mind, I knew that if it went any longer, it would loose some quality points. As far as reccomending this show, I would really reccomend it to someone who has patience. The story starts off slowly with character devopment. Also, there's no violence, no romance, no busty babes, and no wafer-thin bishounen. Just a beautiful story accompanied by beautiful music and ordinary characters.