Haibane Renmei, ep. 05-07

[oyceter]

The plot thickens!

I am really liking this. I like the details on the everyday life of the Haibane, from their meals to their work. I also really like how the series is slowly introducing more information about the Haibane, but in a way that feels very natural.

Also, contrary to my icon, there are no heads in jars, birds of DOOM, flowers of DOOM, or giant flying walruses. Just Rakka trying to figure out what it means to be a Haibane.

I really loved the story Rakka and Nemu wrote together, particularly the last bit about the god falling asleep and the Haibane getting out.

I'm intrigued by Reki! She was my favorite character to begin with, and now she is even more interesting! What's up with her and that guy? And wow! Born wrong?

Btw, I'm mostly taking the series' co-opting of Christian mythology as its own mythology, since it's pretty non-religious, with the exception so far of the god in the story. And I suppose sin could be religious, but also could not (also, I feel trying to map the series on to actual Christian theology would be somewhat brain breaking, though am always happy to be proven wrong).

And oh man, the Kuu storyline. That was excellent and really well done, especially considering that so far, there's only been forty-some minutes devoted to it. I just love the imagery of the Day of Flight, along with Reki's despair ("Everybody always leaves me in the end").

Speculation:

Spoil me and die! I.e. do not answer any of the questions, do not hint, do not confirm or deny any of it!

My current speculation is that Rakka's black spots are appearing because of her inability to let go of Kuu. Since the Day of Flight seems to be triggered by a Haibane's full acceptance of herself, maybe the opposite of acceptance triggers the black spots. And much as I love Reki, I can see how she'd be the Haibane least inclined to accept herself.

I wonder what the other Haibane's Days of Flight will be triggered by.

My other guess is that the series is going to end with all the Haibane disappearing from the town; it will be a release for them, but also a sad thing for the town, which seems to generally like their existence.

Comments

[fireriven.livejournal.com]

The Kuu storyline was so happy and sad, all at the same time.

What are your speculations on where the Haibane come from?

[oyceter]

Huh! I keep thinking that the Haibane are people who have existed previously, a lot because of Rakka's vague memories and her sense of unfamiliarity with the current town. I wonder with the Day of Flight and the black spots and all if the Haibane are kids who previously died or something while not liking themselves or not being able to accept something, ergo their reincarnation as a Haibane.

[the_rck]

I'll be curious to see what you think when you get to the end of the series. I watched it last year and have been wanting since to discuss it with someone else who's seen it all.

I did like it very much.

[oyceter]

I am very curious too! And sad that there were only three eps on this disk.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

I love the god falling asleep story. In fact, I want to think that they've accidentally hit upon the true story of the origin of the Haibane.

What you've seen so far of the Kuu storyline is among the reasons why, ignoring finer distinctions, I could not understand how someone could say this series is not sad.

Since I don't want to spoil you, instead I'll babble randomly.

How long did it take for you to realize that Kuu was a girl? For a long time I thought she was a boy.

I thought the little Haibane trying to teach Rakka how to flap her new wings was very cute, and I was amused by her trials with unruly hair and a misbehaving donut halo.

Huh, I wonder how Hachi would make out as a Haibane?

[oyceter]

Huh, I wonder how Hachi would make out as a Haibane?

Heeeee! I suspect she would be irked by not being able to have lots and lots of clothes ;).

I guess I can sort of see why people wouldn't say the series is sad, but more with the finer distinction of thinking of it as bittersweet. It's clearly not happy-happy-no-problems the entire way through, but it's also not depressingly sad, thankfully.

I think I thought Kuu (and Kana) was a girl from the very beginning. I'm not sure why -- maybe her pronoun usage? Or the subtitles referring to it? I can't quite remember anymore, but I had just assumed that all the older Haibane were girls. So I was actually started to see the guy Haibane who knew Reki!

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

There's ways in which the story does seem to have some Christian themes as well as imagery, and ways in which it's decidedly non-Christian.

Some of the themes, elements of the premise, and the atmosphere remind me a lot of some of C. S. Lewis' non-Narnia works, like the idea that profound spiritual struggles and experiences can occur in completely mundane settings and be expressed in very domestic, non-traditionally heroic ways. I'm particularly thinking of The Great Divorce and The Screwtape Letters, both of which strike me as very psychologically apt even though I don't believe in his theology or often agree with his politics.

[oyceter]

Some of the themes, elements of the premise, and the atmosphere remind me a lot of some of C. S. Lewis' non-Narnia works, like the idea that profound spiritual struggles and experiences can occur in completely mundane settings and be expressed in very domestic, non-traditionally heroic ways.

Oh huh! That makes me want to read them.

I do think the series has a lot of Christian imagery (what with the halos and all), but I'm still undecided about the Christian themes... so far, it seems to co-opt Christian vocabulary for themes, but I don't know if it is a Christian theme per se. Though the black spots and Reki's story are a little reminiscent of original sin, but... in a very non-religious sense.

I'm really interested to see how they'll develop it.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Youve now seen as much of the series as I have. I really need to go get the rest of it from Scarecrow someday soon, since I liked it very much.

[oyceter]

I am liking it a lot too, and curious about the end!