Okay, the story. This is what I mean by speaking little as it does not directly give you answers. Heck, some of the answers you won't ever get given, similar to the questions 'Is there a God?' or 'Are there any other beings alive other then the ones on this planet?'. Hence why it is so similar to life. The story is the struggles of accepting oneself, of forgiving yourself when you have sinned. It's a small story, yet it is so big. Get the picture? You go through the emotions of the two main characters, Rakka and Reki. You follow Rakka's journey as a newborn Haibane and from there, you watch Reki's story from her POV. It's quite an interesting way to present an anime if you ask me.
I want to talk a little about how real this is. No, the art does not look realistic, neither do the voices. It's more of the presentation. For example, imagina taking a walk at night (and you're scared of the dark and what's in it of course). You're walking bravely through the night yet inside you await for the worst to happen, a ghost or a burglar to appear. Catch my drift? Well this is how this anime feels like. Some of the scenes you just await for scary things to happen, like it would in a horror anime/movie/book etc. but it never does. Realisations are real as well. Throughout Haibane Renmei, as there are many mysteries, the sudden realisation of something is really a drastic thing. As they are not handed to you, it makes it all the more stronger. It really pulls at your emotions as you just figured out a mystery. Some of it makes you feel sorrow or fear. It's just simply real.
Onto the more negative points of this anime; art and sound. The art, though nice, just wasn't good enough. Some of the faces looked distorted, the transition between scenes took too long and made things awkward and it was also a bit skippy, as in the animation wasn't too smooth. Some of it might feel odd to the viewer, especially up to present standards in art but it's not something that ruins the anime completely. Just a positive thing to say, actually I'm not sure if it's a good thing or not, but some of the episodes looked like a movie. You know when watching anime movies, the lines are slightly blurred and it's widescreen? Yeah it's that. Anime movies took some adjusting to for me coz it made me feel like I was going blind, it was a nice touch.
I mentioned sound as well didn't I? Don't get me wrong, I loved the OP. It spoke more than a song with lyrics ever could. I would've watched the OP more often if I didn't marathon it. I also liked the BGM. I love the violin and it really suits the time the anime was set in. Some of the piano added that sad touch that made you wanna cry. It was beautiful really. What really got to me was the ED and the voice acting. I was unable to retrieve a subbed version and found a dubbed version. I honestly do think that VAs should really try to bring out their own voices instead of poorly imitating a high pitched 'cute' voice that sounds terrible in the first place. Listening to some of the characters speak was like scratching nails down a chalkboard to me. I did get used to it in the end, still annoying though. there was also the ED. I couldn't listen to it at all, not even once through. I usually listen to each OP and ED twice, the first time it appears and the last time. Not with this ED. The voice as incredibly nasally and it really added that creepy tone to it. I'm very easily frightened so naturally I couldn't listen to it. Made me think some undead being was crawling into my room. Bah!! Unfortunately I haven't read the lyrics either so the song holds no meaning for me. Props to the producer if a creepy song was what they wanted to achieve though. But to be honest, I think it was more suited for a horror anime. I have yet to see one, but I think Haibane's ED could easily pass for one.
Haibane Renmei is strongly character driven. As I said before, you follow Rakka as she struggles being a Newborn and you then watch Reki's story from her POV. The two characters present feelings of loneliness, helplessness and despression. Some of their actions seemed to be metaphors for what some people do, but to not spoil anything. I won't say a thing. What they feel is completely real. It's what a lot of people, if not some, feel. It's what makes the story so gigantically big yet so microscopically small. It's big to the individual, just not to the world, just like life. You also have other characters like Nemu, Kana, Kuu and Hikari who are simply likable. You get a bit of background information on them in the first half of the series as well. You also meet other characters that you know and sometimes bump into and get along with. Yes, I am trying to make another point of this being so real but it's true. You have the guy at the second hand clothes store and it's like being a regular at a particular shop. It's really quite cool. You got to see the light things in life and the dark things. I found it amazing.
So a few episodes were a bit slow for me. Episodes 3-5 I think. It was nice watching them but they were the getting to know everyone episodes and it's quite important really. I also really loved how realistic this anime was. It was so real it was scary, and I really do mean it. I was crapping myself watching this. Don't expect anything really scary though, I'm just a wuss. There is a gruesome scene or two but you can easily cover the screen if you don't like watching wings break out of someone's back. I also found this anime very touching to me personally. I really enjoyed this anime. Whether everyone else would enjoy it, I'm not sure. It's a story of Rakka's and Reki's inner self and can also be a story of your inner self as well, simply personified. You might not enjoy dwelling on such things and simply look onwards. It's really your view on life that depends on how much you enjoy this. However, it's not that bad being in someone else's shoes if you think of things differently.
