Haibane Renmei｜Anime

2022.11.17

“Haibane Renmei” is an animated television series that aired in the late-night slot in 2002. It was directed by Tomokazu Tokoro, a Japanese male animator, animation director, and animation supervisor.

Tomokazu Tokoro’s representative works: Aura Battler Dunbine, Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, Hikaru no Go, Fullmetal Alchemist Alchemist, Genesis of Aquarion, Chihayafuru, Black Butler, The Seven Deadly Sins, Macross Zero, and many others.

Synopsis

The setting of this story is the “City of Gris,” a city surrounded by walls on all sides that is said to exist somewhere in the world. There, humans and “Haibane” (ash wings) coexist and live together.
The “Haibane” are beings that resemble human beings except for the gray wings and angelic halo on their backs. Their birth, however, is very different from that of humans, and they are born from cocoons that appear out of nowhere. They are also named after the dreams they have seen in their cocoons.

One day, in “Old Home,” the home of the Haibane, a girl is born as an ashwinger. The girl is named “Rakka” after her dream of falling through the sky, and she comes into contact with the ashwings living in the Old Home and adjusts to life in the city of Guri.

Haibane Renmei | Recommendations

This film is not well known, but it is a work that will bring tears to your eyes from the very beginning. My first impression is that it is much better than I had imagined.

The charm of “Haibane Renmei” lies in the deep emotional portrayal of its characters. The true value of this work is brought out only by focusing on the subtleties of the emotions of the Haibane who live in the diorama-like town.
At first glance, the Haibane seem to lead very peaceful lives and seem to be happy beings who suddenly disappear before you know it. Nevertheless, each of them has their own anguish and sins, to which we, the viewers, are left wondering, “Why did this person think this way? Why did this person act this way?” We think about these questions.
By doing so, we can come into contact with the warmth and teachings of this world, and find the meaning of the work “The League of the Ashen Feathers” within ourselves.

Also appealing is the way the pale, old-fashioned pictures are painted and the baroque music that captures the atmosphere of the city of Gris and the delicate music that brings us closer to the inner world of Haibane.
As a physical attraction, I think you will get a better sense of the world if you actually see and feel the work.

The warmth of this work, its view of life and death, and its affirmation of the value of receiving help from others will give you a sense of great salvation.
Although it is not explicitly stated in the work, there are also references to self-injury and feelings of hopelessness in the real world, so it is by no means a straightforward happy story. It also depicts the loneliness felt by those who are in a happy environment, and it was very thought-provoking.

That is why when I let my dark feelings go round and round without any reason. Or when you are faced with the death of someone close to you. Or when I feel that I cannot relate to others positively… When you feel that you cannot relate to others positively….
I am convinced that “Haibane Renmei” is the anime that will save you in those times.

Toward the final episode, the story is rather full of life, as if the viewer can see the way out of a long story tunnel, as it resolves the context of the small foreshadowing and casual appearances.