Haibane Renmai

 Haibane Renmei is about a girl called Rakka who is reborn as an angel from a cocoon and doesn’t remember who she is or anything about her which is common with the other people she lives with. Rakka develops wings, as it’s common with the people like her who were also from cocoon’s. Rakka goes throughout the story, with dissociation from herself and the world; I can’t stump what her purpose is in the world or why she’s there. Her wings get darker and full of oil when her mental state is worsening and at the start she has to develop her wings, which was very brutal to experience being in her shoes. I’d have to compare her character to Lain where she is listless all the time, and is always curious about outside her little village which she is not allowed out of without someone else. This anime shows that everyone faces the same issues with existence but doesn’t show and has to find their peace in the world or be ignorant of it. It also has themes of the afterlife as they are reborn into this world and must find what their dream means when they were in the cocoon as it has meaning to why they are here; once they remember themselves and become at peace, then is when they can pass on.

This anime does an amazing job at dealing with amnesia themes, as well as the psychological cognitive issues in a creative way. By having these angels winged humans, it can show their state getting worse by having the wings turn black and Rakka tries to pull out the wings symbolising self harm without it being insensitive and not direct. This anime actually shows a lot of psychological things in the anime, with being selected to just stay in an area and they can’t venture to show the human curiosity about exploring and possibly wanting to escape reality. Also, the crows call out to Rakka that lead to a skeleton of a crow which could have been someone they knew calling from their old world and it shows the concept of spirits and dying in an interesting way. I love this anime because they did everything in a creative psychological and avant garde way that I can’t help but love to death. Everything is left unknown and leaves out the afterlife, or angels or who they actually are, which creates uncertainty within the character psyche and shows it well to the audience from showing and not telling. Therefore, because of this you could make your theories and speculation about everything which is like a musical composition where your own interpretation is not wrong and adds another level to watching as it gets you thinking; I love it because it’s an amazing way to show the psychological side but also have it be slice of life as well. To someone who doesn’t think it can be a regular slice of life that doesn’t seem special but if you understand and pick up on what it’s actually showing, you can have a newfound appreciation.

This anime also has the same writer as Lain and Texhnolyze, the same director as Lain and Kino’s Journey as well and also share the same character designer as well. So you can see this as being in the same realm as Lain and Kino because the characters are strikingly similar, which help make you familiar if you have seen the other anime associated. The anime is not always about psychological or the main plot that is going on, some episodes or parts have just their daily lives in this world, showing them going to buy essentials or having dinner so it can make you more attached to the cast as you get to know them. It’s pretty uncommon to have slice of life and psychological going which creates an interesting viewing experience, I think it’s slice of life as well because it doesn’t want to be too heavy hitting in its issues and do it a way that will have you pondering about everything; this makes me super obsessed with this early 2000s anime because it leaves a lot of the thinking to the viewer and many questions that you might be asking throughout. The way they did this storytelling with everything not being directly said or shown but using symbolism is stuff I love in anime and gives me a huge appreciation for the art of ingenious creation.

The art may not be an immediate response that it’s amazing, however that’s where the cutoff point to the open-minded versus close minded as the art may not be amazing because of how old it is, but that doesn’t matter because if anime is holding up in any other aspect or all the rest it shows how great it is and this anime does just that. You can not be persuaded by flashing art or amazing visuals with it just being old anime style, so if an anime is actually good then you can tell more apparent as you’re not bribed by the eye candy which is a big issue nowadays but back then it wasn’t. Also, I can give you fanatic enjoyers who love this era of animation which is great for the industry as they share it to new anime viewers then spread these forgotten gems around that have been under shadowed which is what I am doing now. So, you can add this to your early 2000s anime list hehe.

Another thing, is that the Original Soundtrack for this absolutely beautiful and masterfully done which is rivalled at one of my favourite ost’s out there in anime. The ost is very impactful, and emotional because it fits the theme of the anime so well; that when you see the anime, you immediately think that it is Haibane Renmei. As they are kind of like a village in the country, the music sounds kind of like folk music mixed with classical as well as sounding Italian which is more apparent on certain tracks like Shadow of Sorrow because of the instruments that are used like the accordion is incorporated, having this particular sound just gives this anime its own personality and vibe which is genius as no one would ever think to use these instruments. At times the music is very angelic with having harp sounding strings and chimes which is so genius because of what the characters are and just makes the music so angelic and beautiful like the track called Blight which I expected someone like Beethoven would make because it’s that great. You can tell the makers of this anime and Serial Experiments Lain are genius and not one trick ponies because both anime speak volumes 20 years later and still hold up to this very day. My favourite song from the anime has to be Ailes Grises as it’s the most heavy hitting and emotional song after you watched the anime.

Also blue flow is also tied for first because it may be a very simple song but it best represents the anime and perfect choice for the ending song and another example that ED songs are better than openings. Before you watch the anime and listen to the ost, the ost might sound like a normal classical album but the way the music and the anime is so importantly connected and stylised for everything, makes it one of the greatest soundtracks ever. The music goes beyond anime, it could have been massive back when Mozart was alive because this music is out of this world and everyone who made this anime is very talented. The track Wondering, I should mentioned as well because it has this beautiful vocals and there’s so many amazing tracks that I could go on all day, so I’m telling you to go listen to the whole thing once you finish the anime. I hope this anime becomes a cult phenomenon like Lain as I believe it’s actually miles above the anime, in my opinion but as much as I love the memes and my obsession with Lain, Haibane Renmei is so masterfully crafted that it’s one of the greatest anime ever. If you love Lain and Kino’s Journey then I’m saying right to your face to go watch this immediately, anyone who doesn’t appreciate it isn't an intellectual like us so I am gatekeeping this anime for real ones only :sunglasses: .

Thanks for Reading!

Here's some tracks that I liked