By all rights and reasoning the intriguing premise of the story, solid production values, and likeable characters should make this anime rank as an 8 or a 9. Unfortunately, the suspense in Haibane Renmei is late to the party. There is a ton of mystery just sitting everywhere in plain sight, mixed in with what should be intriguing symbolism from the first minute on. But none of it gets properly developed until more than half way through the 13 episodes. Instead, the first half of the series just has the camera follow bland characters (only a couple characters in the series get developed in a meaningful way, and not till later) around the village during their extremely bland days. A couple of times in each episode something actually happens or a mystery is touched on, but there is a definite feeling that there is 5 minutes of show and 15 minutes of filler.
Fortunately, Haibane Renmei doesn't totally waste its potential. Around episode six there is a real personality injection into the story, and a handful of truly suspenseful moments over the rest of the series leads into a well done and suspenseful ending. Its enough to redeem what starts out feeling like an abysmal failure.
In the end, Haibane Renmei is probably worth a watch, especially if you like a very slowly paced series peppered with moderately thought provoking content. But there will almost certainly be a moment of frustration once it becomes clear just how good it almost was. Too many "mysterious" events and symbols that just sit unused and underdeveloped. Too many characters sit mostly idle in spite of receiving a fair bit of screen time. And a shameful waste of a rich atmosphere while the camera lingers in bakeries and thrift stores. If this is your preferred genre then rent the series, put a cup of coffee on to help with the first 5-6 episodes, and enjoy an adequate payoff at the end of your anime day.
