An Angel Passing By: Haibane Renmei Simulwatch - ep 02 24/12

[Professor Irony]

The best-known narrative work from graphic artist Yoshitoshi ABe, Haibane Renmei is the curious fantasy tale of a young girl born into a community of angels living in an isolated walled-city. Marked by its introspective and thoughtful atmosphere, I always tend to think of it as a kind of follow up to Serial Experiments Lain, even though ABe only provided artwork for Lain and was not involved in the writing.

Based on an incomplete doujinshi by ABe, the anime is not a long series (13 episodes) and my thinking was that we stick with the usual format of one episode a day, but as some or other kind of holiday (mostly involving Wham, as far as I can tell) is happening soon, please don't stress over not being able to keep up if you need to attend to other things - I thought we could even put in a rest-day for folk to catch up either this weekend or at that other holiday the week after.

Due to my own inability to organise my way out of a paper bag these days, I'm a bit later in putting this thread up than I would have liked, so while I would encourage folk to post impressions of ep1 tonight if they like, I won't shift the episode marker until the end of tomorrow (so midnight on the 24th).

Rejected titles for this thread may or may not include 14th Angel: ABe, Pull My Angel Trigger and ABenomics.

 

[ayase]

Episode 1 - I am falling, I am fading, I am drowning, help me to breathe



Geez, I didn't realise quite how difficult it was going to be to talk about Haibane on an episode-by-episode basis with foreknowledge of what's to come, but I'll do my best. It has been quite some time since I've seen it mind you, so hopefully I'll notice some new things as well. The first noticably great moment happens barely a minute into the episode when the intro music just cuts out and Rakka's previously peaceful and introspective descent becomes one of raw terror. And it's perhaps appropriate, the wonderful but terrifying subject of birth is definately the focus of this first episode, whether that's Rakka's own rebirth with her expectant new family awaiting her arrival or the very childbirth like emergence of her wings. Welcome to the world, Rakka. One of them anyway, in all its confusing, beautiful, painful glory.



And first among those to welcome Rakka to her new life is Reki. I had forgotten how kindly Reki was, in my memories I think she had become somewhat more aloof and while given to a bit of quiet musing here, she's probably the one who cares most about making Rakka feel welcome in her new home in Old Home. I thought it was quite clever how the other Haibane describing their cocoon dreams also worked to establish their basic characters. The pace is gentle but not to the point of dragging, easing the viewer into the world along with Rakka. And it is an attractive world, at least as much at it can be in its SD limited form. The colour palette is very subdued, probably the most so of any anime I've ever seen, lending it a unique, almost sepia tone that brings to mind the nostalgia of old photographs. Which is probably intentional, while I can't remember exactly what the level of technology is like in the world of Haibane Renmei (Reki has a motor scooter, there are telegraph wires and wind turbines) it doesn't feel any later than the 1960s.

The best-known narrative work from graphic artist Yoshitoshi ABe, Haibane Renmei is the curious fantasy tale of a young girl born into a community of angels living in an isolated walled-city. Marked by its introspective and thoughtful atmosphere, I always tend to think of it as a kind of follow up to Serial Experiments Lain, even though ABe only provided artwork for Lain and was not involved in the writing.

As a big enough fan of ABe's to own multiple artbooks, and of Haibane Renmei as a work, I still have to admit that the early digital era Haibane doesn't quite capture his designs in the same way the traditionally animated Lain does. No-one draws eyes quite the way ABe does or with such intensity that they provide a great deal of the depth and expressiveness of the face, on the closeup shots his style is apparent but on longer shots the low resolution of the digital animation doesn't really allow for a whole lot of detail. As I recall, Haibane Renmei and the doujin that inspired it began as simply ABe doodling angels. Angels doing things like flipping pancakes, with no particular idea for a story in mind at all. It's kind of remarkable what it turned into from those unlikely beginnings.

 

[D1tchd1gger]

Episode 1
First time watching the show, watched dubbed.
We're not given too much to go on here. There's a city which our group are not allowed to leave and as far as I can gather they are all "born" from cocoons and are named after the dream they had inside. It's not clear whether the "young wing" kids were also "born" that way or whether if they did they will grow. Not sure how long Kuu, I think it was, had been there, but she didn't seem much older than them, but seemed to be part of the grown up gang.
Only sign I've seen that all might not be sunshine and lightness is the crow trying to help Rakka in her dream, it seems it did not want her to fall to wherever this place is. It is also implied that they have come from somewhere else, so this could be a sort of purgatory or heaven.

 

[Professor Irony]

Episode 1 - Grey's Anatomy

While I have seen the series before, I remember being deeply puzzled by it, so I'm curious to see what kind of meaning might occur to me this time around. It definitely feels like one that's intended for the viewer to draw their own conclusions on what it's about and what we should take from it.

But yeah, the first episode mainly seems interested in establishing the themes and the general atmosphere of the show. I suppose you might say the storytelling is more environmental than anything else; I feel this is a series where it's best not to get too hung up on looking for meaning in the small details, but a lot of work has clearly gone into establishing a very specific look for their world. The haibane are born into a sort of mid-century rural mitteleuropa (vaguely Balkan even?) and don't seem to be the original residents of the building they live in. Barred windows on the doors give the Old Home something of a prison or sanatorium about it and, while Reki's comment about possibly missing where Rakka's cocoon appeared suggests it wasn't intentional, I found it hard not to think it was as if Rekka's cocoon was confined to a cell. The world seems bucolic and pleasant, however - if this is a vision of the afterlife, it doesn't feel like anyone here is being punished. It's also far from humourless, with the little cartoon of Reki's face on the warning sign indicating that maybe the haibane aren't taking it too seriously. Not to mention Rakka's cosplay-ish makeshift headband to hold her halo on.



Other than Rakka's dream of falling from the sky, the only thing that seems to stand in contrast to the slice-of-life vibe is the scene of her wings emerging from her body, which, along with her apparently scratching her way out of the cocoon, does feel a bit David Cronenberg body horror-ish. I'm not sure if it would have occurred to me to liken the wings emerging to childbirth if ayase hadn't said it, but something about Reki offering Rakka her thumb to bite on does give it a feel of midwifery to me - I feel that something like a belt might have been the obvious choice, but that seems a lot less intimate.

 

[Geriatric hedgehog]

Episode 1

I had watched a few episodes a little while ago but didn't get a chance to finish it for various reasons, a lack of interest not being one. The first episode is an intro fit for a mystery series, primarily experienced from Rakka's viewpoint as a "newborn", with other Haibane starting to introduce the apparently new world and customs.

I also very much second @ayase for the parallels with childbirth, primarily the wings that were more akin to human childbirth with the primary effort being from the "mother", versus the earlier non-mammalian effort of the "newborn" itself mustering the strength to survive and break through the shell cocoon. On that note, it seems we've got most of the animal kingdom characteristics covered here in the nature of the Haibane, with the mammalian/human appearance, avian features in the wings and then the somewhat overlapping aspect with insects (as opposed to reptiles?) in the eggs being cocoons, and lastly maybe even fish in that Rakka could breathe within the fluid in the cocoon despite the absence of an obvious umbilical cord - would be interesting to see if Haibane can breathe underwater. But in the end, I'm pretty sure I'm just overthinking all of this here.

On the metaphysical aspects, the sepia tone as @ayase mentioned, does evolve a sense of purgatory to me as well, neither being the beautiful, bright and colourful expectation of a heaven, nor the dark & menacing image one may choose to have of a hell. The Haibane form is clearly not the origin point of these characters given that, despite no memory recollection, Rakka is intrinsically aware of having a different name previously, being human and having a notion of what a family is. Hence the viewer is further lead to believe the possibility of this being a rebirth or afterlife. Forgive my clunky analogies but the memory being wiped could be analogous to a hard disk format with, as they say, not everything being entirely deleted nor permanently? However this format affects not only the individual but the world as a whole, i.e. don't bother going to look for your ex-family as neither party would be able to recognize nor have any memory of the other. This world has rules and boundaries also. What is the purpose of the adornments that are the halos (apart from some welcome comic relief)and where do they come from (the same source as the rules one presumes)? Do they serve an existential function, like the air one needs to breathe, or are they security monitors, like asbo tags?

Lots of questions to ponder but as @Professor Irony mentioned, best not to dwell too much, and more important to enjoy the ride.