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Well said! I'll add one more factor that may have contributed to her depression. Those who are about to embark on their Day of Flight never tell anyone about it. Rakka happened to be the only one who noticed Kuu's flickering halo and strange behavior. Sure, Rakka had no idea that the Day of Flight was a thing, but she could have at least informed her fellow Haibane about her qualms regarding Kuu. Had she done this, the others might have realized what was going on, giving them the chance to say their farewells. Unfortunately she withheld that valuable information until it was too late. This likely led to a feeling of guilt caused by her lack of communication. |
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| WALL OF NOTES I HEREBY SUBMIT TO THE GRAND AUTHORITY OF MAL TO ADD UNTO THE COLLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE GREAT POPULATION OF THE MYANIMELIST FORUMS PARTICULARLY PERTAINING TO EPISODE SEVEN OF HAIBANE RENMEI • There’s an opening scene, this time instead of going straight to the OP. Interesting. I assume this would be to reflect the distraught events and tone of the previous episodes. You wouldn’t want to go straight from that sadness right into the fairly cheerful (although somewhat melancholic) OP the show has, would you? That would be grating. • Out of all the others, Rakka is the most outwardly affected, not Kanna who I expected. A possible reason would be that this is Rakka’s first Day of Flight and, so, she is not only distraught of losing a good friend, but also overwhelmed by that new feeling of loss. I do wonder whether it was something that happened specifically to her or something she herself did last episode that is also adding on to her grief. • Kuu’s still in the OP. I guess they didn’t bother adding in that detail. I feel like, from the animation quality so far, they probably didn’t have the time to do so. • The shots of Rakka lying down and waking up on the sofa in her pajamas look very blurry to me. I don’t know if it’s the lighting or the resolution they composited it in. Maybe this is actually a zoomed in segment of an entire frame, but I doubt that. • When Rakka looked out the window and saw Kana and Hikari interacting with the children, the zoom that took place in that show got a bit too much. It started out okay, but then we got a bit too near to the class and at a brisk pace too. • “It’s already been a month since that day.” I was wondering to myself why exactly Rakka told herself not to cry. Such a statement would imply a number of characteristics, but none of them seemed to fit her. The twist fact (that I probably should’ve expected since it’s so common) that it’s been a month explains it all. • Rakka looks at the miniature frog statues Kuu used to own. They’ve all been labeled with the names of each character of the main cast. Rakka looks at the frog statue meant to be her. She knocks it down. The melancholically hopeful music that came when the morning sun lit up Rakka’s face stops. Rakka washes her hands. That was a really impactful series of events. A lot of its impact stems of course from the sudden twist of it all, but it also comes from the jarring change of mood, rejection of hope, and character deepening. Rakka is supposed to be a nice girl. She still is but… • Rakka pulls out a feather that seems to be charcoal-stained. The title is finally starting to make more sense. • Kuu’s a confirmed girl, guys. It’s official. • Well, we now know Rakka isn’t as meek as meek anime girls usually are. She seems to be a far more realistic meek. A typical meek anime girl would probably just leave slowly and quietly after Hyohko had left. It’s not that meek people in real life wouldn’t do that, nor would it subtract anything from the show for me if Rakka did indeed do just that. Rakka’s actions were just refreshing. • You know, there’s something about cut angel wing feathers that just seem cool to me. A lot of things use angel wings to look cool (both black and white), but I think they could go one step ahead and use cut angel wing feathers too. That’s like some sort of corrupted majesty, far cooler than just black angel wings. • Rakka grabbing for the scissors was a pretty disturbing action. It added a lot to the tone. • Rakka’s screams too are very unsettling. I’d say the voice actor did a good job. • Does anyone else think Reki’s younger self looks cute? • Wait a minute. Are the wings ALREADY charcoal gray? No way. They look eggshell to me. • “Why are there good Haibane and cursed ones?” I feel like this’ll be a major theme of the show. • Great talk, Reki, but that still doesn’t explain what IS happening with Rakka’s wings. If it’s not her being Sin-Bound, then what is? • I’m not sure Reki exactly improved Rakka’s mood either. Actually, I’m sure that whole thing depressed her even more. However, it does seem to have occupied Rakka’s mind with something other than Kuu. • Rakka accepts a terrible truth. She is not in Paradise. Despite all the caring hearts, there is always curse abound. Not all angels live in Heaven. • Great episode. The plot’s definitely moving forward. More of the world and setting is being revealed as we were introduced to the Sin-Bound Haibane, special curved trees by the walls that have special dye, and the thing that happened to Rakka’s wings. Rakka’s character was also heavily expanded upon, and so too was Reki's. We learn that Rakka had not received closure from Kuu’s Day of Flight. Her relative newness to being a Haibane and to experiencing loss probably made the surprise and grief of Kuu’s departure overwhelm her far more than the others. Her probably ill-constructed viewpoint towards the new world she entered being some sort of Paradise was also broken. Kuu and Rakka’s relationship may have also been closer than the rest which may be indicated by their frog miniatures sitting on the same rock, and that being torn apart probably did nothing but worsen the afterburn. We also learn that Rakka can break her meek character and be assertive of herself when she is being provoked, especially when already stressed beforehand, and can become desperately fearful when something as scary as her wings turning black happen, especially when already stressed beforehand. She also seemed to be struggling with some sort of shame alongside her sadness, which is implied by her knocking her own frog miniature down. However, whether this shame comes from her believing that she’s spending too much time sad, or from her regret from believing that the world she was born in was a paradise, or if she was regretting something she did or didn’t do with Kuu before she left, or some combination of all three, or something else entirely, I am not sure. Reki’s backstory is also revealed, portraying Reki, both her past and present self, to be deeply troubled by the circumstances she was stuck with, so troubled that instead of comforting Rakka as she intended, she ended up getting caught up with her own troubles and probably depressed Rakka even further. Reki however also seemed to have made meaningful connections in her past, as we could see with Hyohko and her old mentor, Kuramori. Aside from Reki, if you look closer, one could also attempt to ascertain from their dialogue how the rest of the main cast (Nemu, Kanna, Hikari) deal with loss. Overall, great episode. As with the previous episode, the themes, plotline, hidden character depths, and setting are all coming into play as the pacing increases and the tone darkens. I’m somewhat hooked now. I desperately want to know what is outside of those walls, and I desperately want one of the cast to head beyond the walls to show it to us. I agree with the previous two replies. People are taking this at way too much face value. There is far more to Rakka's depression than just Kuu's departure. I state possible other reasons in my final note (which had expanded into multiple paragraphs). Excuse any typos or weirdly-constructed sentences. I wrote these while I was watching and have not proofread them. |
| "There’s no point in the world. But isn’t that wonderful? Because if there isn’t one, then you can decide what it is for yourself." ~ Filicia Heideman, Sora no Woto "Senpai...please grow up." ~ Fumi Manjoume, Aoi Hana "I wonder what tomorrow will bring." ~ Yunocchi, Hidamari Sketch: Sae and Hiro's Graduation Arc |
| Great episode, this series is really hitting its stride now. We find out more about the nature of Haibane and that there are some worse off than others. We also learn a bit more about Reki's past which this informs. But even more so we get an episode about depression. And a rather potent metaphor for self harm. It's hard not to get that interpretation. The scene where Reki rushes in to find Rakka cutting her feathers, was rife with double meaning. Reki and Rakka's relationship has been moving to me since Episode 1. And it only gets stronger here. Reki is such a compelling and relatable character. She didn't understand her purpose and felt rejected. So she rebelled and suffered. Now she's going to make sure the new young girl doesn't feel the same way and do the same thing. Pretty powerful stuff. I can't believe we're just over halfway and already getting an episode this raw. What does the ending have in store for us? |
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| Will Reki and Rakka be able to heal each other's wounds? I sure hope so. Jaguar-chan said: I’m not sure Reki exactly improved Rakka’s mood either. Actually, I’m sure that whole thing depressed her even more. However, it does seem to have occupied Rakka’s mind with something other than Kuu. I think that was actually helpful. The others left Rakka alone for a month because they thought she would eventually move on. Clearly that approach didn't work. Reki sharing something heavy and personal should reassure Rakka that she's not alone in dealing with heavy stuff, so she might feel less lonely. Plus, as you said, it broke her out of the loop. |
| Best episode so far. I liked how it showed that a huge loss for one person means nothing for another (The ramen guy saying "Eh, i guess that is how you Haibane are" and the ex-bf saying "Good" after hearing that someone has died, but not Reki). It portrayed very well the solitude that a person who lost someone very close feels. This is definitely getting much better than the first 5 episodes which were a pretty boring SoL. |
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| Shit's going down now. What I meant to say is: Haibane Renmei is plummeting to the ground. |
KrunchymanMar 10, 2019 8:21 AM
| Sees 1/5 ^I knew he would be the one lol |
| Another ok episode. A little background on her origin, but meh, not that special. |
| We're getting more serious, huh. |
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| They way she keep torturing herself over someone who's gone is painful I'm sure all of us experienced and will experience this, first time having someone you love gone is hard I like how the more negative feelings Rakka had, the more black feather she had Rakka just didn't realized how many bad things she cut it's always following her and it made her more noticeable Black is more noticeable than white, bad thing once is more noticeable than lot of good things, good philosophy At least I'd like to think so I think Rakka is somewhat similar to Reki since they both have incomplete dreams |
"Signature removed"   |
| This show is so weird and melancholy. Impressive couple episodes here. No op or ed, and a lot of background character work. I didn't really miss the character who flew away, I feel like (she) was barely described at all or related to. The main character's depression about her leaving was strange. Then again everything the main character does is strange so far. |
| oh goodness, I liked the first few episode but now I'm afraid it's turning into your typical 00s anime that will end with an assault on the viewer meant to depress them, yay, I really hate this era of anime. |
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| Rakka cutting off the infected feathers is like symbolism for self-harm, right? |
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| Depressive episode damn, Rakka is suffering from Kuu's disappearence... |
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| A bit on-the-nose when Rakka's wings started sprouting spots in front of Reki's eyes. Surely her noticing that Rakka's been cutting her feathers off is enough; indeed it implies Reki knows this can happen since she understands it without seeing it directly. Think it hits harder if the spots appear unseen, like how a real disease would progress. This series has been good about subtlety so it's a little strange to see it force something to make it obvious. I was a little surprised to see those flashbacks shots where Reki and Nemu were young girls. I wasn't sure the Haibane aged and Rakka was born as a teenager, after all. |
| I knew it was a mistake to choose Haibane Renmei over Aria to relax a bit considering how last episode lasted. But I didn't expect this episode to be so heavy, this show went from heartwarming slice-of-life to depression incredibly quickly... Maybe too quickly. It has always been handling rather heavy subjects behind its joyful facade but it was never in-your-face, here this episode was truly nothing but sadness and I'm afraid it'll keep going that way. I didn't find Rakka's depression to be as believable as it was trying to be actually, I know that depression sometimes is a part of mourning but here I don't know, something just felt wrong. I think it's because of three things actually : first because Rakka didn't seem to be that shocked when she found out about Kuu last episode. Also because we didn't get to know Kuu all that much and we didn't get to see Rakka spend that much time with her. Consequently I didn't develop enough attachment towards Kuu and I didn't manage to feel how close Rakka and her were. And finally, we've been told that one month has passed. It just feels weird that they decided to pull a timeskip now without us getting to see Rakka's fall into such a depressed state and it feels even more wrong to see that no one actually did a thing about it until now. It just feels out-of-character for the Haibane not to care. At least the black spots and Rakka cutting her feathers weren't a manifestation of this depression as well as a symbolization of self-harm like I initially thought. Here it would've really been way too dark for such a show. (Edit : wait nevermind, that's totally what it is. Well that's disappointing. I was hoping this show wouldn't do the same mistake of "handling heavy topics a very clumsy way" like so many other shows do.) However all that cursed angel stuff is making me a bit worried. I mean, the cursed story is one I've seen in so many shows from any kind of media, I know this show is quite old but still. I hope it'll handle it correctly and will be able to make something truly interesting out of it. |
FafetteNov 22, 2020 11:58 AM
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| All of this sounds important. This is gonna turn more interesting from here (I liked the previous episodes though). |
| I guess this was kinda interesting (really wasn't) plz say it gets better from here or imma lose it |
| Ah, yes. Depression. Just how I like my episodes to be. |
| Poor Rakka. Beyond the issues with her wings, she gets emotionally attached to people and concepts quickly, and being completely new to Glie only accentuates her reactions to upsetting events. You would think Rakka was Sin-Bound herself, considering she didn't seem to specifically remember the crow she fell with in her dream, and these crows are an onmipresent fixture of the themes of this anime. |
  ｲ乇刀乇乃尺ﾑ乇 ╔⏤═⏤╝   ╚⏤═⏤╗☽ Shaded Horizon ☾ |
| Man I'm so lost. At first I thought the Haibane were supposed to be a metaphor for Jewish people in medieval Europe but now there's suddenly the Day of Pilgrimage and the concept of being born sinful. It just doesn't make sense at all. So many questions left unanswered, and will probably be never answered as well. Oh and, the poster shows Rakka with gray feather and so does the french phrase at the anime's beginning, so I assume she's not going to easily cope with Ku's "pilgrimage". Well, I still like this anime. Edit: I'm watching the anime with Persian subtitles so I don't know the English equivalents. Edit 2: Apparently the anime is more of depression/suicide euphemism like NGE rather than a social one like SEL. Man I'm dumb |
FatephileSep 12, 2023 5:35 PM
| هیچوقت بهتر نمیشه |
| Reki's done an amazing job keeping the spirit of her maternal figure alive, especially if she really is a sin-bound haibane. Now I'm extra curious about the beef she has with the capped dude from the factory tho |
| Poor Rekka shes devastated by her friend's death and now she's her feathers are infected. |
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