The Short Version:
(+)The subtle suspense soon turns palpable.
(+)Every episode gives to some new answer and question about eh world and characters.
(+)It’s kinda beautiful on an emotional level.
(-)Definitely a slow starter.
(-)The art will throw some of you off.
The Story (7/10): The show begins with a young girl falling head first toward the ground, with a crow (or raven, whatever you prefer) trying to stop her fall, but the young girl isn’t afraid of her seemingly impending doom. Which perspectives and we witness an older lady discovering a massive cocoon thing taking up an entire room. This is your jumping off point into the world of the Haibane, boys and girls who have wings popping out of their backs and halos over their heads. From this point on I hope you pay attention, because there’s a lot of subtle details to take in before the show ends.
If there’s one undoubtable thing I like about this show, it would be its ability to slowing stack layers of anxiety upon your mind, and all the questions of what the fuck is going on that comes with it. Some of these question are answered within the episode they arise, others take the entire bloody show to be answered, some don't get answered at all, but it’s the theorising you commit on your own that makes that waiting for those answer all the more fun.
The Characters (6/10): The characters of the show are likeable enough but there are some that are rather underdeveloped, one of the characters that’s introduced at the very beginning of the show I felt didn’t really get much development before *spoiler* happened. There are other characters in the latter half that aren’t even named that I can’t help but feel the need to ask the question, “Are you guys really necessary?” Even some of the core cast of characters I felt should’ve been more developed than they ended up being.
Reki: The older lady I mentioned from the first paragraph, and the real mother figure throughout the show.
Rakka: The young girl/main character of the entire show and the more or less vessel most of your information will come through.
While the two characters above really dominate the show’s runtime, that’s the exact problem I have with them, there’s other core characters we could be seeing this world through that we ultimately only glimpse. That being said I wasn’t entirely bothered by either of them as the written characters they were.
The Art & Sound (5/10) & (8/10): This show aired in 2002 so I expected the art to be dated but not quite as dated as it actually was, maybe that’s just my brain that’s been tuned to expect Production I.G., ufotable, levels of quality from everything. BUT. I will admit that while the actually style of the art wasn’t that appealing (to me), the imagination behind what’s actually shown on scene was more than enough to find some enjoyment in it.
The sound of the show was my favourite part, particularly the OST, the background music is excellent and one of the pieces used for the sadder parts of the show will definitely stick in my mind for a while yet. Every other element of the show; the voice acting, sound effects, etc. Was entirely standard for me however.
What do you think of this show?
I ended up buying it, don’t know if I’ll ever open the box, but I still bought it.
Would you recommend this show?
Do you need a show to casually watch when it’s raining or something? Or want something to think about for a while? Then this show has got you covered.
Gopdbye my brethren, see you in the next one.
