Haibane Renmei

A little bit like Haruhi Suzumiya, Haibane Renmei is one of those animes that it almost impossible to review because explaining much more than the premise for the series would be too much of a spoiler and would ruin much of the enjoyment. But, here goes.

Haibane Renmei (translated by the author as Charcoal Feather Federation) is a 13-part anime series based on Yoshitoshi ABe's original doujinshi manga (and doujinshi in this case just means self-published, for one reason or another - ABe's a bit of an avant-gardist). The series is about beings called Haibane, who look like angels with their little wings and halos.

The anime starts with two parallel scenes. In one, a young girl is (dreaming about?) falling from the sky, and in the second group of Haibane girls find a cocoon in their house from where a new Haibabne is about to hatch. This girl, who is later named Rakka, is helped out by the other Haibane and soon gets high fever which precedes her growing her own wings, and she's also given a halo to complete the Haibane appearance.

And that's pretty much all I want to tell you... I don't want to say anything about the Haibane and what they are and why and where they come from (or even pose more questions that might be too leading). I don't want to say anything about the other people that inhabit this world, or the place they live and work in. I don't even want to say anything about the Haibane Renmei. And obviously talking about the actual plot, for what there is, is totally out of the question. The whole beauty of the story is about finding out these things, one by one. And some things you might not find out by the end of it, some you might, some you might guess, some you might not. ABe's storytelling is purposefully open-ended, and interpretations and allegories are much in the eye of the beholder. And yet it's a complete story with a beginning, middle and an end.

This is a dreamy slice of life story about strange and beautiful people, and strange fates. It reminds me more about Hayao Miyazaki's work more than anything else - the characters, the way the speak and behave, the world they live in and of course the style of the animation. It feels like Miyazaki, but it's distinctive enough to have it's originality. It plays a little bit with Christian mythology - mainly, that Haibane look like angels - but doesn't really go much further than that. The storytelling and pacing are really slow, and in the beginning it's not clear at all where the story is going, it's just little stories of Rakka coming to terms with being a Haibane and getting to know her surroundings. It's about getting to know the characters and falling in love with them, about seeing what their life is like. Slowly a plot emerges, and while it's not totally surprising it doesn't really go where you expect to go either. Or it isn't what it looks like.

It's not even a tear-jerker in a way that something tragic would happen (or maybe that could be left for interpretation too, maybe you'd think it was tragic), but I did cry pretty much all the way through the last two episodes just because it was so beautiful and touching, and I'm chocking up even thinking about it. It's sensitive and kind, and magical and deeply emotional, without being fake in any way.

Me and Dragon both really enjoyed Haibane Renmei, but I think Dragon probably got little bit frustrated at times by the pacing. It's true, not a lot happens - but that reminds me of Miyazaki too, especially something like Totoro where the plot literally is "little sister gets lost" but that's not the point of the movie, and neither are the events in Haibane Renmei. It's about characters and emotions, and there's mystery and sense of wonder, and it's just lovely.

Haibane Renmei, ladies and gentlemen. 13 episodes available from Pioneer, get it in an affordable and beautiful box set. Unfortunately since the original work is a doujinshi, there's no translated version of the manga (licenses are more difficult to get from private people than from companies - go figure)... It's wonderful, gentle, human... slice of life anime at it's best.

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