Part of the 12 Moments of Anime 2009, an index of what I was doing when I should have been exercising or solving world hunger
Plenty of people told me plenty of things about ABe’s Haibane Renmei. There’s Martin, Pete, TheBigN, Coburn — it almost seems to have a 1:1 viewer-to-fan ratio. And I found it for cheap many moons ago now, but it sat on the shelf until I was bed-ridden a couple months back. In the end, being sick and watching it was a wonderful way to do it. Thanks to its mood and themes, Haibane could almost sit in the vague non-genre called “iyashikei” (healing) alongside such plotless delights as YKK and Aria, but it does have a story and some really heavy drama to go with.
In fact, searching for a “moment” in Haibane could only mean finding its harrowing climax. Amidst the surreality of a painting come to life and a Satoshi-Kon-like reality warping, there’s intense human drama. The series’ overall meditation on sin and salvation comes to a nail-biting crescendo here. And then I understood.
Well, to be fair to Haibane Renmei, I understood a good bit before, that just drove it home. More than ABe’s other more cyberpunky hits, it’s tied together with threads of love, hope, and melancholy that make it easy to get caught up in. And now, if you haven’t seen it, there’s one more asshole telling you how much you’re missing out.
Nice pick! Haibane Renmei has been a favorite of mine since I watched it, yet unlike you I’m surrounded by people who think it’s either too slow-paced or just plain lame.
That sucks. Anyway, thanks for bringing this one back to my mind.
Not much to say other than I completely agree. Series is <3
Hmm… I guess I’m one of those assholes too then.
I was underwhelmed by this, maybe because i was expecting something like lain (which is silly, coz ABe didn’t write that one)…also the lifting of the set-up from murakami’s book kinda didn’t sit well either. it was nice, though.
One of the best fantasy/drama/psychological anime, in my opinion
+1 for the Haibane Renmei naggers telling me to completely watch the series before I die.
You mean I don’t have to pay for expert advice like this amnyore?!
It’s almost pointless to write about Haibane Renmei because you end up with over 9000 people agreeing with you that it’s the greatest thing, and there’s not a ton to say. Except that you guys are all 100% right
Kritik, perhaps it was your expectations that caused you to be underwhelmed, but that is disappointing to hear either way. I haven’t seen Lain in a very long time but my first comparative impression after watching Haibane was that it held together story-wise much better. That said, it’s also a way simpler story than Lain, so I suppose it would. At any rate, if Haibane is exemplary of what ABe can do when writing, I’d like to see more.