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| Surprisingly, I enjoyed a good chunk of this episode; particularly when Reki revealed her "feelings" toward Rakka (quite the unexpected occurrence). But then it was all ruined, when the staff elected to go for the feel good, happy ending. I feel like this show should have featured Reki as the MC. Her jealously toward the other Haibane would have been far more entertaining than plain Jane Rakka simply being happy for everyone. |
| Really loved the show, very emotional at times and generally warm and welcoming. It's one I've watched a couple of times before joining MAL as it helps me ride out really low moments due to my MH. 9/10, would highly recommend but can see it not being for everyone if your not into some of the slower just nice episodes. |
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| Safe to say that this Anime was extremely disappointing. Bad characters, lifeless narrative, sluggish pacing, stiff animation, distasteful music and a plot that leaves too many answers to the viewer. I liked Reki a bit, but the rest of the cast was abysmal. The plot was uninteresting and gave too many answers instead of letting the viewers figure it out for themselves. |
| I do not know what score I should give this, for now I will leave it without a score until I can decide. |
| Beautiful animation, I joined sentimentally with this anime and more in the end I could not help but cry and feel completely captivated. |
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| I don't know, I'm not a big fan of the finale. I wish they explained the actually mystery rather than focus on some characters. I still liked it tho. 8/10 |
| Reki is a stepping stone instead run over It's all kinda made sense in a way, why Reki being Reki Almost too real for me, the jealousy, the stubbornness of a "stepping stone" They can't ask for help, it's too much for their pride I'm glad Reki could go away instead of being run over I guess it's symbolized reincarnation or heaven, we'll never know :P The ending still not quite a click for me But maybe it's because the episodes are too short :( |
"Signature removed"   |
| What a beautiful ending to a great show. I'm relieved things ended well for Reki. |
| What a good show. Indeed a beautiful show. It is one of the anime that will make your mind goes wild thinking this and that. While i do not fully understand this anime, but i think the questions left unanswered are supposed to be left unanswered. Philosophy as thematic seems very strong. |
Bay_Mar 12, 2022 7:10 PM
| The philosophy here seems to be very deep. I have a high suspicion that this was a purgatory, a way to tell the tale after suicide so that the soul can heal from its wounds and hardships. What a pretty way to put it, too. Each character is a little bit off. They're given a new chance to live again a normal life of healing, of living. Among society with regular common folk. Although I'd figure maybe some just died tragic deaths. From Japanese society, I can see this pain from miles away, poor Haibane. Anime like this are way more rare now, where it's become a business concept and the art has largely been forgotten. But you must remember that arty anime was largely and likely a coincidence of End of Evangelion/Evangelion tv series. I guess people thought budget for art could make money for a while. So now we have isekai. This is a damn beautiful anime series which I connected with on a deeply personal level. It really is so lovely, everything today is trash shounen like the 80's. Just common regular carnival anime with fun colors and speedy animation. Today's anime is barely a few steps away from the dating shows back then. (Except society has regressed severely because of technological disruption and the world economy (eg globalization)). It was really such a peaceful time for the west and its neighbors. I could slide into this nostalgia tub for the early aughts pretty quickly, but it was a really shitty time to be a teenager. Culture was so bad. I feel like the conflicts of the anime are right on target. |
| The scene with the train suddenly felt that every haibane's were actually given a second chance in their life(reminds me of angel beats atm). Could have been suicides or death with some heavy feelings. Maybe this is way too convenient explanation. However, it felt good to watch such heavy/deep anime and at least be able to understand some part of it. Mostly I am better off watching some anime which doesn't makes me questioning myself about life and people. |
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| Very beautiful and sad, but also hopeful and peaceful. The scene with the train was well executed. This is one of those series that made my cry a lot. Which is good, it's healthy to cry sometimes. |
| Rife with symbolism that makes no sense, is kind of depressing and definitely quite boring. all the requisites to make it a favorite among anime elitists. Best thing about it IMO was the setting, the world-building. I feel like I lived there for a while and am familiar enough that I could find easily my way around the big house they live in. |
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| Ending was stunning, so the city is a purgatory and the haibane killed themselves in their "previous" lives (for example Reki with a train) feelings are so strong this anime was absolutely great |
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| It strikes me that Reki's flashback of "betrayals" is just as easily interpreted as her betraying others rather than the other way around. She betrayed Kuramori's love by becoming a self-destructive mess as soon as the former left Glie, Nemu's friendship by taking out her sadness at Kuramouri's departure on her and running away, Midori's little-sisterhood by trying to abandon her to escape Glie, and Hyouko's love by no longer seeing him after their failed escape attempt. After that, her cruel words to Rakka (proven lies by her diary) are a betrayal. She betrays herself by hating herself and wallowing in the circle of sin. You could even say she betrayed the town itself by trying to force her way out instead of playing by the rules. |
FronzelJun 13, 2020 8:51 PM
| Rewatched this show for the first time in 15 years - still love it! Gives me such a peaceful feeling to watch all these characters living their lives, helping each other. Reki and Rakka’s relationship is incredible, and the last episode cements it as one of my all time favorites. Having read Murakami’s “Hard-Boiled Wonderland” now, it stands out to me how this feels nothing like that book. Some of the dream-like atmosphere is similar, and of course there’s the setting, but the tone of Haibane is hopeful and peaceful, where Hardboiled struck me as a bit nihilistic. Funny to me how many comments in this thread are like “wow this is deep, such symbolism” or “wow this is pretentious”. I don’t think it’s either! The story is straightforward. Of course there are unexplained mysteries baked into the setting (what are the walls/why are the haibane here?) but neither is especially important to the message of the story. At the core of it, it’s a nice story about forgiving others, growing as a person, and learning when to help/when to ask for help. And of course, a great character story. |
| Well, it's over. I wasn't expecting this series to take the direction that it did, but I'm fine with that since it turned out infinitely better than what I was expecting. However, while I'm a huge fan of Yoshitoshi ABe, I can tell from watching this that he's way better at character designs and atmosphere then actually telling a story. The first half of this show completely failed to grab me. Ironically, all the worldbuilding and character development was for naught, since it wasn't using the setting or characters in a particularly meaningful way. It was only from episodes 7 - 13 that things actually began to feel developed, and by then it was rushing the narrative to catch up with all the time it had wasted. I'm not afraid to admit that I didn't fully understand this show. It was only at around episode 9 that I began to seriously think about what was happening, and by then I was already too far behind. I do have an appreciation for what I did manage to understand, though. While I've never suffered from it myself, depression is something which has been stripped of its meaning and romanticised over the past few years, so seeing it being represented in a way which felt authentic was quite refreshing for me. |
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| Well, this show was beautiful and truly heartwarming, no doubt about that. But it is also flawed, so flawed... I don't think it's that bad but I still find it important to explain where my issues are. Actually, they reside in two departments : the pacing and the characterization. And both are heavily connected when it comes to such a show. Before explaining in more depth, I want to aknowledge that I do not pretend to perfectly know what makes a good show. I just have my own view of things and that's probably a view that can be shared by others. So, my issue is that while the characters' struggles are portrayed in a very realistic and sincere way, the way the characters themselves are portrayed doesn't really work in my opinion. To be more precise, I'm actually mostly referring to the main characters, Rakka and Reki. I don't have much issue with the others, they aren't amazing but they played their parts well and not a single one of them wasn't likable (I especially liked Hyouko and Midori). First, I'll talk about Rakka. Despite what I said in episode 8, she actually does have a personality, it's not a strong one but she doesn't need to have a strong personality. My issue is that her development has been rushed. In just one episode, she went from happy and sweet to depressive and suicidal, and then went back to happy mode but with more confidence in herself. I perfectly understand what the show wants me to understand, but everything happened too fast, without us getting to see how it truly happened. While I can totally understand that Rakka went depressed over Kuu's "death", I don't believe that her feeling worthless to the point of thinking she had to disappear made sense, at least not to such a degree. Yes, we've been told that she was lonely and suicidal in her past life and that it explains her current state, but I needed to know more, to know why was she in such a depressive state in her past life, what led her to become that way and how could that explain her sudden depression as an Haibane. Basically, I needed to know who Rakka used to be. The show apparently deliberately choose not to fully reveal the characters' backstory, but I believe this was a mistake, because for me, backstory is an important part of characterization, especially if said backstory is essential to understand the character's current behaviour. With a character like Rakka you cannot just gloss over such important details. Also, while I get that Rakka's change of behaviour after her misadventures in the well was due to the dead bird, I really think it was too abrupt, she went from depressive to optimistic in one minute and that's far from enough. Now, I want to talk about who I consider to be the best character but also the most flawed one (yes, apparently that can be a thing, I am myself surprised by that) : Reki. Well, my issues with Reki are pretty much the same as the ones I have with Rakka, but to a much more important degree. We got to see Reki's backstory. But we got to see her backstory as an Haibane. Her past life hasn't been revealed to us, we only know that she apparently has been betrayed and crushed by people, at least that's what her name as well as her status as a Sin-Bound imply. But how did it happen ? What happened ? And who was she before that happened ? What kind of person is initially Reki ? Here we get to see exactly why the show's choice not to focus on backstories is a mistake. Because backstories serve as explanations. They are what gives weight to a character's current behaviour. Without them, our view of a character cannot be complete. My view of Reki isn't complete, because I only know her as a depressive girl who doesn't believe in herself. She was like that even before the Hyouko incident but we don't fully know why. And I haven't been real reasons to understand why she doesn't trust others since I haven't actually been shown Reki being betrayed by others. Midori rejecting her wasn't betrayal given the situation, and nothing in Reki's portrayal can explain that she could've interpreted it as such considering how she blamed herself for everything. Furthermore, everything went too quickly. We have always been told that Reki has a difficult past (it's easily noticeable anyway), but it's only in episode 8 (in a show that lasts 13 episodes) that we got to know about the curse and it's only in this last episode that we got to see things from Reki's point of view... And something didn't work. Because just like Rakka, my view of Reki has been shattered in an instant. But it's not for the same reasons as Rakka. The reasons are that Reki turned out being way more tortured and tormented than she's ever been displayed as, I once again understand the show's intent but once again, I think it should've handled things a different way. Here I didn't manage to feel truly invested in Reki's character because this version of Reki is a character I truly only just met. I didn't actually feel the build-up that could've made that "Help me" moment so impactful. Yes actually I think that's what feels wrong : the lack of build-up. And all those flaws in Reki's character made her come off as, I can't believe I'm gonna say it for this show, edgy. And I know Reki isn't an edgy character, but that's why I believe the show didn't handle her as well as it could've. Because I can see how people who work on this show knew what they were doing with Reki, I can see they wrote her with a real sincerity, perfectly knowing what depression is, but something fell flat because they went for a flawed narrative. I still really like this show and actually give it an 8. I don't think I even need to explain its qualities, I'm pretty sure almost everyone has seen them. But it was important to also talk the issues out. |
FafetteNov 23, 2020 4:15 PM
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| What a story to behold and experience. While it's message of forgiveness, growth, and support, are pretty straightforward in theory, it's executed so blissfully that it allows such messages to carry with great impact and emotion on it's viewer. All in all, almost 20 years since it's airing is much too late for me to witness such a beautiful story, but I'm glad I was able to experience it. |
Celest__May 4, 2022 10:20 PM
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| Solid 8/10 I'm really surprised that a lot of people found religious themes in this show, it never occurred to me (aside from the character design) until I read online discussions although it still doesn't change my own interpretation of the show I personally don't think sin-abound Haibane is linked to suicide in their previous life...that just does not sit well with me. I think the spotted wings indicate their own unresolved traumas from their previous life which unfolds through triggers or from inception(Former for Rakka because the loneliness she felt from Kuu's flight resembled what she felt in her previous life, latter being Reki where her difficulties carried over instantly cause of the largeness of it) I can understand now why people interpret the circle of sin from a religious angle but I'm glad that it's not confirmed explicitly and left to the viewers again Discovered that this was inspired by Murakami's book which I happen to own but haven't read, looks like it's time |
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PyrokidSosa said: ...This could've easily been a quick one-off film instead of this borefest lol.  Very well I will go along with this |
| That was a very good ending. I'm glad it ends on a note of hope, with Rakka running to inform the others about the cocoons, just like Reki ran in the first episode. I'm glad Reki was forgiven and given the help she deserves. As a whole, I think this show is decent. Personally, I found it hard to relate to it's themes of depression and loneliness but I felt that it did it very well. But while I liked that, I didn't really get invested that deeply into this. The world is a vehicle for Rakka and Reki but I didn't really care for Rakka that much. The more interesting aspects of this anime weren't really relevant in the long run and the other characters aren't very interesting. Overall, 6/10. |
| This anime had a strange tempo, first half of it is a filler what is ridiculous because it's only has 13 episodes and not like 26 for example. Also 6-7 episodes obviously weren't nearly enough to represent all of characters in adequate way. So on one hand this anime feels slow in terms storytelling and events but on another it's also too rushed in terms of development of characters and local world lore. Maybe it's just another typical example of low budget problem. Anime has pretty original fantasy setting but it's also kinda superficial, we don't even know who all these people from town, why so big focus on ravens, how different are little "angels" from adult, are they all died from suicide or some of them died in a violent way so they can't rest in peace, etc. I have a feeling that author of Angel Beats was inspired by Haibane Renmei since Angel Beats didn't even have actual angels or wings but had that ending with the same theme from Haibane Renmei - "graduation" after peace in a soul. Of course Angell Beats is different on many levels but isn't it pretty common thing to make something new from something old by changing style and some details? Don't even know how to rate such sentimental but light-hearted series which should be a good full-meter anime with less characters in focus or should be a series of 26 episodes with full description of everyone and everything. |
| I want to disappear from this world just like Reki |
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| My 12th completed series chronologically. For the record, I extended it a 10/10 rating. |
| A nice story of self discovery, friendship and acceptance, I think I would have given it full marks in my nihilistic days lol. Music was lovely, animation was pretty crap even for 2002, though there was a subtle charm to the art. I wouldn't have said no to more answers to a few things, even if it's not the point of the show and it's underlying message. 8/10. |
GakutoDeathGlareSep 5, 2021 3:34 AM
| Great ending, probably the best chapter in the show. I also think that Reki and Rakka committed suicide. The other Haibane... I think they just died young. Of course, the show is abstract, so I just can suppose, but... even so, it's pretty enjoyable, and I think it can be enjoyed without really understand what have happened. |
| I'm usually not a big fan of these very chill and peaceful shows but this one had a feeling of mystery that kept me going and it was really worth it. 8/10. |
 .Go watch Gintama boyo/grill My discord server for gaming and anime/manga: https://discord.com/invite/4mqXfNEJ9A |
| well god damn this felt fucking underwhelming. Reki's departure was like the only thing done well so far and everything else just felt like attempts at making this story sound symbolic and shit around this dumb excuse of a plot. What's even the point of that final scene? |
| I have not cried this hard in a long long time |
| KYSODT ALWAYS and FOREVER infinite. |
| Positives - Haibane Renmei is a very unique and very well done anime. - It is a captivating story and it made sure to never feel stupid. - Haibane has a great mystery with the walls, the priests. - This anime shines when the priests are involved. - I like how, in a way, this anime shows us why immortality is not a good thing, because then youll see all of your loved ones move on, and youll be left all alone for eternity. Negatives: - I was disappointed that we didnt get to see whats on the other side of the walls. I was really intrigued by it. Although at this point, its most likely giant Titans on the other side of the giant walls xD - Those first 5 episodes were slow and mostly dull and uninteresting. I can definitely see many anime fans not sticking around because of these 5 episodes and I dont blame them. - Even though the anime started to get interesting in episode 6, it didnt get entertaining till like episode 9 or 10. - I do wish the anime was 10-episodes and not 13-episodes, to speed up its pacing. - Even if the anime started to get interesting from episode 6 till the end, the pacing was still very slow. - Due to the slow pace of the anime, this anime has no rewatch value. Overall, Haibane Renmei is an anime that you will never drop because it was a good mystery with the walls, the Haibane, and the priests, however, its a very slow and dull anime. |
oooo3333Mar 1, 2023 1:23 AM
| I'm really into this kind of stuff, so 8/10 as enjoyment, pretty good at catching the emotional, a well executed premise of acceptance, regret, nihilism and forgiveness. I cried, really cried. However, the pace at times was... slow. But unlike Lain I felt really glad there wasn't a random god-complex incel dude in the background telling random pretentious nonsense. At times I also felt the drama was... exaggerated. To be honest I didn't bother for explainations like what's on the other side of the wall? My hypothesis: That's the world render limit, there's nothing outside. And last but not least, the soundtrack is a solid 10. Overall: 8.6/10 |
 MOKUSHI KUSHIMO SHIMOKU KUMOSHI MOSHIKU SHIKUMO. |
| Show finished on the 2 year anniversary that I started watching this. Rakka and Reki feel so intertwined in their struggles of their past lives, Rakka unable to fully realize her support in her past life, resulting in heartache and pain for that person that cared deeply for them upon her suicide. Reki is unable to confide in others due to her constant feeling of abandonment, feeling that she will be left behind and not remembered. Reki could not have overcome her suffering and find salvation without Rakka to support her in her darkest moment. I wish I could watch this again for the first time, I remember the great emotion this show gave me like it was yesterday. Despite this, it was still impactful. All of the symbolisms and messages if anything carry with a stronger meaning this time as I was more understanding this time around. This show will always hold a place close to my heart as a reminder to myself in any dark times I may occur in my future. |
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| This is the first anime I'll be giving a perfect rating to. I went in getting told by people that this would be some overly esoteric and abstract work, as if it was overly cynical and oozing proudness of its own writing in every scene. What I got instead was a cohesive, thoughtful, passionate and heartful story that chained itself to the confines of no expectations — relaying a message that no one should commit themselves to being forever tied to being a victim of circumstance, and that they can move on and find salvation in how they act from then on. There was nothing particularly difficult to understand or discern a basic meaning from (even if you can't quite read the writer's mind). Rakka being dropped into a confusing new "paradise" and learning the truth of things could've easily been written as a race to the bottom, where it's revealed that everything is actually awful, and no one is happy and they all die horribly in the end; but that vein of subverting expectations is debatably even more shallow than playing it straight. Instead, she is harrowed by some of the sorrowful aspects of being a haibane, but is eventually pulled out the rut by her friends, and she returns the favour even after Reki tries to ward off help by claiming ulterior motives. I'm fond of fiction which can feasibly nail down some optimistic themes, and Haibane Renmei does that, while still leaving some bitter flavouring around to play off of. Have to mention that the visuals, music and atmosphere were brilliant too. |
  ｲ乇刀乇乃尺ﾑ乇 ㊎   ㊰☽ Shaded Horizon ☾ |
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