Ailes Grises

While skimming through the series again, I just realized what makes Haibane Renmei such a great work.

Haibane Renmei doesn't tell you the answer. It lets you question, ponder and contemplate about it.

"Starting an important question in life and letting it maintain in you."

... that is why Haibane Renmei is a great work. There is no meaning nor need for an answer. The answer would only become a mere piece of knowledge if you simply tell someone. It is something you should go through all the experiences and realize for yourself. Having the question and keeping it will be the starting point which evokes you to find the 'real' answer.

* p.s. * There is a type of a question -somewhat a strange oxymoron-isque question- Buddhists throw at someone when the question of 'truth' is sought after. The way to go through this question is just to keep questioning it in the head ALL the time, even when you're asleep. Suddenly, all the dots will be connected and the answer will just pop up in the blink of an eye, like 'ah, that's so obvious...!' The basis theory behind it is on the assumption that you already know everything, it's just that you haven't 'realized' it yet. Haibane Renmei makes you do that.

After watching Haibane Renmei early this year, I thought it was a bit different than Yoshitoshi Abes other works, (like Lain, which is a bit of a puzzler). This series (Haibane Renmei) has an air of sadness to it, but also moments of happiness and joy, and doesn't mess around to much with your head.

I really enjoyed it and would watch it several more times, enjoying it as much as the first. The ending had me virtually in tears, it really was perfect. If you're gonna purchase any anime on DVD in the future, this one should be next on your list. No doubt about that. This one makes the top of my favourite list without problems.

"Haibane Renmei" is on my Top5 'Best Anime Ever' list. It got there instantly, and remains even though I'm continuously filling my DVD shelf with new titles as they come out. And it's been there for some time. Why? Hm... let's talk about that for a moment.

First of, it's a journey. Don't be unprepared, this isn't something You watch as a Sunday Timewaster. In short - it's deep, entertaining and full of... well, me. And you. And everyone else.

At first, some may think it's about the main character and the events that unfold in regard to her. Then, it quickly becomes a psychological tale about a community, centered around Charcoal and Feathers Federation. But soon afterwards you lose track of things and just watch...

This anime becomes your mirror. I know - it may sound almost impossible, but that's the way it is. It has its own storyline and characters, granted, but it really talks about human emotions, the way we react to those emotions and events, and finally - how, and why we interact with each other. I won't say more.

It's not just a ride, it's a journey deep into yourself, into that dark room psychologists and psychiatrists always tell you to open. This title slams the door open and drags whatever's inside - out. By definition, this journey must be made alone...

... and it must be made, even if only to know - why.

Haibane Renmei is one of the most beautiful, original and meaningful animes. A young girl is born from a cocoon in an old building inhabited by Haibane, angel-like beings, without knowing anything about the world she has just entered and about her past. Very soon she learns that she is a Haibane herself, makes new friends and starts to explore the surroundings. She also gets a name: Rakka. In the first episodes we follow her as she gets to know the other Haibane and some nice people in a nearby town.

It all looks quite peaceful, relaxing and a bit childish but as Rakka learns more about herself we begin to understand there are quite a few similarities between our life and that of the Haibane and a significantly darker and deeper tone kicks in. The whole series begins to reveal itself as a metaphor without losing in the process a driving force that has nothing to do with sterile intellectual analogies. The creator, Abe Yoshitoshi, has a message to tell but he does it with such artistic talent, emotional intensity and subtlety that you can fall in love with the series even if you notice its flaws. Haibane Renmei is for the child in every one of us who is still charmed by a wonderful Christmas tree even if he has reasons to believe there is no Santa.

The best-kept secret in the world of Japanese animation is Tomokazu Tokoro's Haibane Renmei, a thought provoking and very moving 13-part 2002 TV series that is part fantasy, part coming-of-age story, and part religious allegory. Haibane is a creation of Yoshitoshi ABe who designed the characters for Serial Experiments Lain and inspired the science fiction series NieA_7. The story is very simple, yet it is full of understated poetry and rich meaning that can be enjoyed by people of all ages (but may be too dark for children under the age of ten).

The story is inspired by Haruki Murakami's novel Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World in which a man suddenly appears without memory of a previous life in a strange village surrounded by a high wall and ends up working in the library, replacing another who simply disappears. Set in a village called Glie, angel-like people with wings and halos called Haibane or "charcoal feathers" live alongside humans in the town, also surrounded by impenetrable walls. The laws are made by a council called the Haibane Renmie who decreed that the Haibane cannot own anything new, cannot go outside the wall and are forbidden to even touch it. Only the Toga, mysterious masked men who provide for and protect the Haibane, can leave the town.

The Haibane live in an abandoned building called Old Home and have no memory of a previous life, only a vague recollection of a dream they had inside the cocoon in which they were hatched fully-grown. Others live in the Waste Factory and are said to be "rowdy". Every so often, without warning, one of the Haibane disappears beyond the wall to an uncertain destination. This is the "day of flight" that is the fate of all Haibane except those that are "sin-bound" and must remain in darkness. As the series begins, a girl dreams of falling and, when she emerges from her giant cocoon, is named "Rakka" for falling. The early episodes deal with Rakka's arrival and adjustment to life as a Haibane.

Rakka's best friend is Reki who takes care of the younger children and is very protective of Rakka, caring for her when her wings emerge. Reki's name means "stones" because in her dream she was walking on a path of stones. Rakka goes with each of the Haibane to their jobs to see where she would best fit in. Other characters include Nemu who works at the library, Kuu, a boyish-looking girl who is the youngest of the group, Kana, also a tomboy, and Hikari who works at a bakery. Halfway through the series, Rakka must deal with an unexpected loss of a member of the group who has taken flight. Rakka's wings begin to turn black and both she and Reki are haunted by incomplete memories of their cocoon dreams and recollections of committing harm to others.

As the plot slowly unravels, both Reki and Rakka must overcome their feelings of inadequacy before they can move on and the atmosphere often becomes heavy and foreboding. Timeless questions are raised and left for us to ponder, yet the story has the simplicity of a children's book with a sense of mystery and awe about our place in the universe. Is this an allegory of our own after-life or is it about our waking life where no one knows for certain where they have come from and where they are going? Although the story line about sin and salvation strike a more conventional note, to the credit of the authors, they have emphasized personal responsibility and the need for us to take charge of our own lives. Haibane Renmie has just the right combination of magic and realism, and the visuals are beautiful to experience. With a lovely musical score, characters you can identify with, and a story that builds to a moving conclusion, Haibane Renmie is the best animated film I have seen.