Haibane Renmei, ep. 01-04

[oyceter]

This is a dreamy and odd little series. The Haibane (literally "charcoal feathers") are a group of teenaged girls/young women and kids who have small haloes and grey wings. The young women are called the Older Feathers and the kids are the Young Feathers. We're introduced to them via a girl falling from the sky; later, we see her hatching out of a cocoon.

The premise sounds bizarre, but the series itself is actually not cracktastic at all so far. So far, it's about the newest member of the Haibane, Rakka, figuring out the strange rules of her existence. The town the Haibane live in is one of those vaguely 19th-century European places, a la Miyazaki. It's small and comfortable, and while the Haibane don't quite belong to the town, they are generally looked at kindly by the townspeople.

There's also a mysterious group called the Haibane Renmei, who somehow enable the Haibane to live in the town.

There are some hints at a greater mystery: where do the Haibane come from? Who were they before becoming Haibane? What exactly is the Haibane Renmei and what does it do? And what is up with the crow imagery?

But mostly, I am just relaxing and enjoying watching the Haibane interact and watching their quiet and small little world.