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So here I am at the end of Haibane Renmei, and for the first time it has taken me weeks to get here [1]. Along the way some of the reasons why I love this show have crystallised in my mind.
The Play Stage is the thing, wherein to catch the Spirit Play.
In The World of Haibane Renmei I discussed the feel but not the look of Old Home. Which is a pity since Old Home is exactly what it says on the tin.
The designers clearly went to a lot of effort to get that used feeling right: the dust clouds when entering rarely used corridors, the damaged doors, that odd bits and pieces in corners that speak of little maintenance.
In any part of Old Home the atmosphere reflects how the Haibane interact with the space, both individually and as a group. The guest room where they gather is a bright, cheery, place that is still shaped by Kuramori’s gentle spirit. Kuu’s bedroom was also a comfortable, happy space, and Rakka’s room would have been heading in that direction.
In contrast, Reki’s suite was a place of loneliness and despair, and was usually lit accordingly.
This careful design of the staging of Haibane Renmei supports the story well and is an aspect that I adore [2].
The Play question is the thing, wherein to catch the Spirit mind.
Back when I did the Thirty Days of Anime posts I pegged Kyuuketsuki Miyu as the first anime that I bought [3]. One of the defining elements of Miyu is not telling the viewer everything. Such answers as are there must be worked for, and failing that speculated wildly about.
Series with an air of intrigue or mystery, like Miyu, Key the Metal Idol [4], or RahXephon have a good chance of catching my interest. This aspect hooked me when I first saw Haibane Renmei, and it hooked me again this time around.
I had an absolute ball writing Who Were They Before They Were Haibane, and that is only one of the topics where wild guesses can run free.
The Play flaw is the thing, wherein to catch the Spirit heart.
A mysterious setting, or a story where all the answers are not given, might be enough to catch my interest; it is not enough to keep it.
I have to be able to connect to the characters, to care about them. At one end there is the vague [5] concept of the Mary Sue who is so perfect that no one can really relate. At the other end there is the set of basket cases and bastards that the viewer either doesn’t care about, or hopes will die horrible bloody deaths [6].
Haibane Renmei has neither of these problems. Hikari may be a touch generic but that is the biggest issue I have with the characters.
Generally speaking the characters of Haibane Renmei are well balanced characters: nice people with problems or issues that the viewer can relate to. These problems may run a lot deeper for Reki and Rakka but never break my sympathy or hope that they will recover.
Having those hopes realised is what makes the series work.
It is what made me cry when Reki achieves her Day of Flight.
For the most part there is a sense of depth to the other Haibane that make them work well as characters: Nemu’s quiet loyalty to atone for her earlier rejection of Reki, Kana’s sensitivity hidden behind the brash tomboy, and Kuu’s serenity as she accepts her identity all spring to mind.
In Conclusion [7]
The experience of Haibane Renmei will change between viewings, and a more measured pace is definitely recommended for later viewings. I expected this having experienced the same effect with both Lodoss War and The Vision of Escaflowne.
Haibane Renmei is not always an easy show to watch, but it is a deeply satisfying and rewarding one. It has one of the few perfect endings in anime, and would be worth treasuring for that alone.
The complete package of a rich setting, a sense of mystery, and characters to care deeply about, lift Haibane Renmei to the level of a classic that I will come back to again and again.
Day 2 – Town and Wall – Toga – Haibane Renmei
Day 3 – The World of Haibane Renmei
Day 4 – Temple – Communicator – Pancakes
Day 5 – Trash Day – Clock Tower – Birds Flying Over the Walls
Day 6 – Gender and Haibane Renmei
Day 7 – Library – Abandoned Factory – The Beginning of the World
Day 8 – End of Summer – Rain – Loss
Day 9 – Dub vs Sub?
Day 10 – Scar – Illness – Arrival of Winter
Day 11 – The Bird
Day 12 – The Sound of Charcoal Feathers
Day 13 – Well – Rebirth – Riddle
Day 14 – Kuramori – Haibane of Abandoned Factory – Rakka’s Job
Day 15 – Who Were They Before They Were Haibane?
Day 16 – Parting – Darkness in the Heart – Irreplaceable Thing
Day 17 – Bell Nuts – Passing of the Year Festival – Reconciliation
Day 18 – The Extra Bits
Day 19 – Reki’s World – Prayer – Epilogue
Day 20 – Looking Back At Haibane Renmei
[2] This really shouldn’t surprise anyone given my fondness for the pure Scenery Porn that is ARIA.
[4] Key the Metal Idol is a candidate for a 20 Days series as it happens, albeit one with fewer meta posts.
[5] And often misused: I’ve seen a lot of commentary recently about “Mary Sue” being increasingly used in a misogynistic manner.
[6] Exhibit 1: Eva Jelly Donut. (Thanks to Seawasp for that well deserved mangling).
Related articles
- Twenty Days of Haibane Renmei – Day 19: Reki’s World – Prayer – Epilogue (piratesobg.wordpress.com)
Pirates of the Burley Griffin 
Thank you for these inspiring series of posts!
I loved the design of Old Home as well and felt a bit bad for the Haibane living in Abandoned Factory. Old Home has a lot of character. Maybe you have seen Sora no Woto which is quite similar to Haibane Renmei in many respects. I was quite touched when the MC greets the bulding on her arrival as if it was a living being. Old Home exudes the same feeling (and most likely was the blueprint for the Sora no Woto building).
Key the Metal Idol is also high on my watchlist so I’d love to read your thoughts on it one day!
You’re welcome. I haven’t seen Sora no Woto but have considered it.
Key may get a run later this year, but I make no promises. 🙂
There’s no need to be sad that the haibane live in Old Home, just as there is no need to pity them for having to use only second-hand items.
On the surface, it appears that the point is for them not to develop an attachment to Glie, as the town is meant only to be a temporary refuge until they achieve their Day of Flight.
On a deeper level, though, Old Home is a metaphor for our lives, the structures we build and the little (useless) things we acquire aimlessly by simply existing. We come into a world that is already fully formed and replete with a history that is always there to discover, if we only cared. We go, sometimes without warning, and leave behind another layer of dusty legacies for our descendants to ponder over, if they cared.
That’s the beauty of Haibane Renmei, the reason it has been my favourite anime ever since I had the privilege to watch it some six years ago.
I think the original poster’s comment was in respect of the Abandoned Factory. I do have to agree with him (her?) that the Abandoned Factory is a much less salubrious set of accommodations than Old Home.
There is even onscreen evidence of this in that the Young Feathers of Abandoned Factory need to be fostered at Old Home.
Your other comments provide an interesting viewpoint, and one that I’m not sure I fully agree with.
Your viewpoint is certainly worth considering and, given how much of Haibane Renmei is left open to interpretation, not one that I’m prepared to dismiss either.
My comment referred indeed, as you, dear John Samuel, note, to the Abandoned Factory. I would immediately move to Old Home if I could!
TinyRedLeaf, you raise an interesting point, though. On the one hand, Old Home is a place which offers the Haibane shelter for a while but does not burden them with a history of its own. On the other hand, the Haibane do leave something behind. Take Kuu, who leaves behind her frogs in ep. 8.
But most importantly, Reki leaves behind a collection of her paintings, in particular her portrait of Kumamori’s. Keeping portraits of previous Haibane would give the inhabitants of Old Home a sense of continuity which imo would run counter to the very purpose of that place. I wonder what happens to that portrait and to Reki’s mural of her dream. They seem to keep her scenery paintings which, however, are much less closely linked to a person.
I think that the final episode is fairly clear that Haibane who achieve flight can be, and are, remembered fondly whereas it is only those who don’t are forgotten.
Given that the room with the mural is locked up by Rakka I suspect that Reki’s nightmare will be what is forgotten in time whilst her joyful paintings will be what is remembered for as long as possible.
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