Haibane Renmei

Haibane Renmei (13 episodes, 2002)
(trans. Charcoal Feather Federation)

This is long overdue. I wanted to broaden the genre selection here first, though. Anyway, without further ado, I present to you my entry for Haibane Renmei.

Synopsis

Haibane Renmei tells the story of a young girl who suddenly finds herself "born" into an unfamiliar world, in a town called Glie. Upon finding herself in a bed, surrounded by a handful of girls with small angelic-looking wings and halos, the girl finds herself unable to recall any memories of her past, including her own name. All she could remember was a dream she had before awaking, in which she was falling from the sky. The girls calmly explained to her that she was now a "Haibane" (trans. "charcoal feather"), as were they. Although they could not elaborate much more than that, they explained that they were all born into this world in a similar fashion: a cocoon forms, in which they dream before being born. None of them are able to recall their lives beforehand, nor their names, so they are named according to the dream they have inside the cocoon. Based on her dream, the other girls decided that her name would be "Rakka" (lit. "falling"). From this point on, Rakka would have to find her own place in this new world among the Haibane, as she discovers more about the Haibane and the world they live in.

Main Characters (click names for images)

• Rakka: Rakka's name means "falling," representing her cocoon dream of falling from the sky. Rakka is the main character of the story, and the newest Haibane at Old Home. Because of this, she is still very curious about the Haibane and the world they are born into.


• Reki: Reki's name means "pebble" or "small stone." She can't remember her cocoon dream very clearly, but she recalls walking along a stone-laden path. Hence, the reason for her name. Reki is a motherly figure amongst the Haibane living at Old Home. She is the one who found Rakka's cocoon and took care of her once she was born.


• Kū: Kū's name means "air," representative of her cocoon dream of floating through the air. She is sometimes mistaken as a boy by some of the townsfolk, due to her boyish appearance and behavior. She is the youngest of the main characters at Old Home, but she always tries to act mature.


• Nemu: Nemu's name means "sleep," and was chosen as her name because her cocoon dream was of herself sleeping. Nemu continually lives up to her name as a frequent napper. Among the main characters of Old Home, she has been a Haibane the longest (nine years), just ahead of Reki. She occasionally helps with the young Haibane at Old Home, but her primary occupation is as a librarian in town.


• Kana: Kana's name means "river fish," based on her dream of drifting in a river like a fish. She's a bit tomboyish, often exuding a tough attitude. Coincidentally, she works at the clock tower at the center of the town, with a boss who's similarly stubborn and tough, yet caring. Thanks to this job, Kana has become handy with tools, and occasionally puts them to use to fix things around Old Home.


• Hikari: Hikari's name means "light," in reference to the light that surrounded her in her dream in the cocoon. Although she tends to be on the more serious side, Hikari is also occasionally mischievous, such as the time she is caught using the Haibane Renmei's halo mold to make donuts at the bakery in town she works at.


• The Communicator & the Tōga (Image: Communicator on left, Tōga on right)
  
  • The Communicator: A masked Haibane who is an official of the Haibane Renmei. The Communicator gives advice and guidance to the Haibane, as well as punishment if needed. He is also the only person allowed to communicate with the foreigners called the "Tōga," and the only one who is capable of doing so, through the use of a sign language only understood by the Tōga and himself.
  
  
  • The Tōga: People from outside of Glie, the Tōga are the only ones permitted to enter and leave the town. Never speaking or revealing their faces, they bring goods to the town for trade. The negotiator for these trades is the Communicator.

Other Notes

• ABe: By simply taking a look at the artwork, you may have already recognized the style of Yoshitoshi ABe. The series started as a dōjinshi titled The Haibane of Old Home, which was never completed, due to the conversion to an anime form. ABe is most recognized by his work on the anime series, Serial Experiments Lain, though he has also worked on NieA_7, Texhnolyze, the original novel of Welcome to the N.H.K., and other, non-anime works.
  In Haibane Renmei, ABe intentionally leaves a number of questions unanswered, leaving it up to the audience to analyze the story and use their imaginations to answer these questions for themselves.


• Soundtrack: Haibane Renmei's original soundtrack is nothing short of amazing. Composed by Kō Ōtani, the soundtrack provides some great ear candy comparable to Celtic-style music, while also showing oriental influence in some tracks, as well as some light jazz. Ōtani provides an excellent variety of tunes for the viewers, truly bringing out the mood of each scene.


• English Dub: Personally, I find the dub to be pretty decent. Nothing outstanding, but sufficient, if not a bit more than that. I can't say any of the characters' English voices particularly bother me, though there are the occasional moments when something sounds a bit unnatural. Overall, though, Carrie Savage (Rakka), Erika Lenhart (Reki), and the others all do a satisfactory job with their roles, and successfully (in my opinion) connect the viewer with the characters' feelings in the more emotional scenes.
  

Conclusion

Although it may be short and a tad inconclusive in some areas, Haibane Renmei is a really great series, and easily one of my all-time favorites. The general plot, accompanied by the soundtrack, is very laid back, yet dramatic when it's called for. The idea of the overall story and setting is fairly straightforward, but the openness that ABe gives for the viewers' ideas is a great touch, and many of the ideas I've heard of give some interesting explanations for those unanswered questions. If you're looking for something laid back, yet with an interesting plot, then this should be perfect for you.