Haibane Renmei Anime Review

Quick Review

• Reviewer: Matt
• Review Date: 2004-04-17 (updated 2004-04-17)
• 3 stars out of 5 (?)

Haibane Renmei is a tough series to peg down, even after seven episodes. That's hardly surprising, since it's from the mind of Yoshitoshi Abe, best known for the Lain series. There's a whimsical, down-to-earth feeling to the show which I liked and the characters are simple and realistic. Toward the end of the second volume, an event happens which greatly effects the cast and I ended up feeling their emotions--not an easy thing to do in any entertainment medium. They only reveal a little story every couple of episodes and I found the concepts they presented pretty interesting.

My only real concern is where the show is going. It's completely up in the air. As nice as the whimsical feeling to the show is (for me, others may find it tedious) they can't keep it up and expect to come to some sort of decent conclusion. Having been burned by anime endings (or non-endings, as the case may be) in the past, I can't help but feel a little nervous about what the latter half of the series will be like. However, my instincts tell me the project won't end up collapsing on itself.

Read the full-length review...

Full Review

• Reviewer: Matt
• Review Date: 2004-04-17 (updated 2004-04-17)
• 3 stars out of 5 (?)

Haibane Renmei is a tough series to peg down, even after seven episodes. That's hardly surprising, since it's from the mind of Yoshitoshi Abe, best known for the Lain series. There's a whimsical, down-to-earth feeling to the show which I liked and the characters are simple and realistic. Toward the end of the second volume, an event happens which greatly effects the cast and I ended up feeling their emotions--not an easy thing to do in any entertainment medium. They only reveal a little story every couple of episodes and I found the concepts they presented pretty interesting. I also found the interaction between the Haibane and the humans refreshing. There's some conflict between a couple Haibane groups but on the whole they all get along and the humans in the town accept them with open arms. It's nice to see compassion, acceptance and other decent human traits instead of the negative ones.

My only real concern is where the show is going. It's completely up in the air. As nice as the whimsical feeling to the show is (for me, others may find it tedious) they can't keep it up and expect to come to some sort of decent conclusion. Having been burned by anime endings (or non-endings, as the case may be) in the past, I can't help but feel a little nervous about what the latter half of the series will be like. However, my instincts tell me the project won't end up collapsing on itself.

Regardless of where the story goes, the show is wonderful to look at. While a few scenes go a little overboard with the digital look, causing some of the designs and animation to look flat and artificial, the majority of the art is lush and detailed. The character animation is quite serviceable and the backgrounds look wonderful--particularly since the show is shot in widescreen. Even better than the art is the music, which is orchestral and very nice sounding. It perfectly suits the scenes in question: whimsical, emotional, happy, etc. The lyric-less opening best showcases how wonderful Haibane Renmei's soundtrack is. I can only speak for the English acting, which was also serviceable. I liked the casting, particularly Reki, who I thought hit the role just about right from the start. Carrie Savage grows into the title role Rakka well after a few episodes, as do the rest of the actors. For the first few episodes the acting was kind of flat but the cast was up to the task during the above-mentioned emotional scenes in the second volume.

I'm definitely looking forward to taking the rest of Haibane Renmei's journey. I'm all for experimental stuff, be it in anime, independent films, TV shows or what have you. I've seen enough of them to know some turn out fantastic, but I've also seen enough to know they can be an exercise in frustration. I hope Haibane Renmei is part of the former category. From what I've seen it looks like it will be worth watching.

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