Haibane Renmei

Born from a cocoon in the village of Old Home, a young Haibane—a being with a halo and small gray wings—awakens to a world she does not understand without memories of her past. Named Rakka for the dream of falling she had while inside the cocoon, she soon becomes accustomed to life in the strange town. However, there are strict rules for the Haibane, such as being forbidden to leave the village or go near the walls surrounding it. These, along with mysterious disappearances of their kind on their "Day of Flight," begin to unsettle Rakka and the others since they know almost nothing about their own kind.

As Rakka and the other Haibane live their lives with no memories of the past, they try to break free from their former pain and ultimately find salvation.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Reki Main

Noda, Junko Japanese

Rakka Main

Hirohashi, Ryou Japanese

Kana Supporting

Miyajima, Eri Japanese

Kuu Supporting

Uechi, Aki Japanese

Nemu Supporting

Murai, Kazusa Japanese

Hikari Supporting

Orikasa, Fumiko Japanese

The Communicator Supporting

Ooki, Tamio Japanese

Kuramori Supporting

Hisakawa, Aya Japanese

Hyouko Supporting

Suzuki, Chihiro Japanese

Midori Supporting

Mizuno, Manabi Japanese

Ueda, Yasuyuki Producer

Iwatani, Yoshinobu Producer

Haruna, Go Producer

Gotou, Hideki Producer

Reviews

Jan 25, 2025

MidniteAndBeyond

Recommended

This is my favorite of Yoshitoshi ABe's works, without question. He's known for being attached to very complex, often hard to understand stories that require you to theorize and piece together the symbolism of each episode long after you've finished it. This one definitely has its air of mystery as well, but it isn't as abstract as Lain or Texhnolyze in which I literally had zero clue what was going on. But at the same time, it doesn't spell everything out for you either and you'll be left to think about what it all meant, even after finishing the show. Not every question gets answered, ... but a conclusion can be found if you take time to think about it or go the extra mile to look into what inspired this story. It may not be the answers you were hoping for, but they're answers, nonetheless. And for the subject matter in question, I honestly can't think of an alternative way they could've handled a story like this. I can see myself liking this show more and more if I were to rewatch it in the future. I'm glad I didn't give up on ABe's work after having as rough of an introduction as I did. I really think anyone can find enjoyment from this series and get something out of it, and I'd love to hear other's thoughts on the events that transpired.

8/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Dec 11, 2024

ChrisDC

Mixed Feelings

Notice: This show is labelled as "Mixed Feelings" due to its lack of a traditional plot, over-focus on dialogue, lack of action and missing narrative threats such as villains or world-ending events that must be dealt with.
These factors may turn off the average anime watcher, so you've been warned beforehand. That being said, let the review begin!

Atmosphere & Setting:
If I had to use one word to describe the feeling of the atmosphere and world, it would be sublime.
Haibane Renmei takes place in what looks to be a fantasy 19th-ish-century European-looking village surrounded by massive walls, where the main cast of Haibane (The angel-looking characters) ... exist alongside the humans. They live in an abandoned building called Old Home, take up charity work, and live without the use of money in a society that tolerates them and views them as good luck charms.
The rest of the world lore is a mystery, as even the village's residents don't know what is beyond their walls, nor are they permitted to attempt to scale them or leave the city through them, almost as if the village itself is a jail or purgatory of sorts.

Animation & Art:
This is where the series struggles the most. It's not well-animated most of the time, but that is understandable for an anime made in 2002. Despite that, the anime is beautiful, and the art style is unique as it was drawn by Yoshitoshi Abe, who also worked on Serial Experiments Lain and Texhnolyze. Basically, this means you're in for an artistic adventure with trippy visuals and breathtaking scenes, even if the animation isn't up to par with today's standards and looks dated.

Characters:
The show revolves around six main characters, whose names will be withheld for spoiler warnings.
The character writing is the peak of this series and what makes it so great. Each character is unique and feels human rather than anime archetypes/cliches. All of the main cast members have their own motivations, and some shift drastically as the story slowly unravels itself in terms of positive and negative developments.
Character progression is one of Haibane Renmei's biggest strengths. The story lives and dies based on how well-written its characters are—and man, they are written well!
You could argue that this anime more or less focuses on its characters rather than the external world, so it's very much an "introverted" anime, as it involves a lot of introspection and reflection rather than action.

Philosophy & Story (without spoilers):
Haibane Renmei is a profoundly symbolic anime that focuses on the meaning of life, suffering, and reaching atonement in a world with few to no answers with significant religious undertones.
It's an amalgamation of character case studies focused on their daily trials and tribulations, heavy injections of nihilistic depression, and existential crises regarding death/rebirth, with a significant focus on Arthur Schopenhauer's Hedgehog's Dilemma.
This is because many of the conflicts within the show stem from the inability to connect to other Haibane and Humans alike.
Additionally, Carl Jung's and Sigmund Freud's dream theories/concepts would be a good match for such a series, as dreams and dismantling their meanings play a large portion of the plot for various reasons.

Music:
The series' music is atmospheric and sometimes isn't present during conversations; however, this doesn't mean the soundtrack is terrible by any metrics, as many of the composed songs for this series are beautiful and play when appropriate. The intro and outro are pretty well done as they symbolically represent the show and what to expect from it without giving away too much.

Conclusion:
Haibane Renmei is a symbolic masterpiece and a worthwhile anime for anyone interested in philosophy, psychology and religion. However, it's not an anime for everyone and has its fair share of problems, such as slow pacing and a lack of external conflict, such as a main villain or bad people. So, with that being said, I'm going to list a few scores here that will differ depending on what you're looking for.

8/10 to 10/10 for anyone interested in philosophy, psychology, or religion, as the series is amazing in these areas.
6/10 to 7/10 for those of you who want an anime with an interesting story and well-written characters.
5/10 and under if you want an action-packed anime with a traditional story structure, following a narrative in which the main cast of characters defeats an evil or something threatening world.

This anime isn't for everyone, and it is divisive as it challenges the norms of the industry even for its time.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Aug 23, 2024

Atlas722

Not Recommended

The absurd school of literature was a mistake. it gave any Idiot with a pencil the ability to vomit random problems and philosophical themes into a frame of art, with some symbolism, and label it a work of art, I blame France specifically.

Old examples of this "wannabe" form of literature ranges from "The Stranger" to "Waiting for Godot". They all have one thing in common, and that is the loss of meaning, but flashing the evidence of it's existence(the meaning)all around the work, through symbolism and dialogues with open-ended meanings.

But nonetheless, first-world teenagers and their likes will continue to praise these types of ... works under the false impression of depth and intelligence, and they are yet to wake up from this endless delusion.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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	Poll: Haibane Renmei Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 ) jacobpaige - Apr 23, 2008	82 replies	by anikevin »» Feb 21, 9:30 PM
	this anime reminds me of houseki no kuni NunoTheDudeYT - Feb 14	4 replies	by NunoTheDudeYT »» Feb 21, 5:57 PM
	Poll: Haibane Renmei Episode 13 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) jacobpaige - Apr 24, 2008	278 replies	by BlackScout »» Jan 20, 11:03 PM
	Poll: Haibane Renmei Episode 11 Discussion Ria- - Aug 9, 2008	47 replies	by BlackScout »» Jan 20, 9:51 PM
	Poll: Haibane Renmei Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Ria- - Aug 6, 2008	55 replies	by BlackScout »» Jan 20, 9:24 PM

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