Haibane Renmei (Haibine Renmai - Series 1 (DVD))

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Product:	Haibine Renmai - Series 1 (DVD)
Date:	26.02.07 (66 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A quietly moving series that is unafraid to let a story tell itself slowly, with care and humaity

Disadvantages: None, really - though the episodes are quite short

A gem is perhaps the best word to describe Haibane Renmei. Generally, the UK doesn’t really do Anime I find. Only Hayao Miyazaki seems to have gained any form of acceptance, mostly for Spirited Away. Growing up, when Anime first appeared much of what was released was, frankly, of the teen violence-sex-swearing-masturbatory sort. This, and the proliferation of Pokomon nonsense (though it seems the Japanese original is less childish), seems to have coloured the public perception of Anime. Animation is often considered to be cartoons and cartoons are for children, right, and Anime is animation thus it must be for children. If you accept this misconception then stop right here; I’m not convinced anything is going to change your mind, though I would hope something like Haibane Renmei might.

I admit I have something of a penchant for Anime. At its best it can be challenging, disturbing, impressive and intelligent. Even when apparently working with ‘childish’ modes – depressed teens in giant robot suits fighting angels, such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, is actually a very dark, mature work and certainly not for children. Sometimes you have to accept certain generic conventions and if you can’t then to be honest you’re stymied. But then the Japanese clearly have a tradition of placing fears and ideas into genre movies. You only have to think of the Godzillaresque monster movies, Samurai period pieces, violent yakuza movies and of course Anime, to recognise this.

Anyhow, the point is that Haibane Renmei, to a certain extent works within generic conventions, but it is also the ‘type’ of Anime that we need import more of. It is unafraid to tell a story slowly, almost quietly, with a curious, gentle humanity. It may at first sight to be for kids but then that seems more to do with the absence of sex, violence, swearing or just about anything that anyone could find immediately offensive. This does not mean that it is bland, childish, immature or without meaning. If anything the very opposite is true. Haibane Renmei is a serious work and the basis for it seems to be, though never credited, Haruki Murakami’s A Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. Or at least, for those conversant with the novel, it concerns itself with the End of the World side of the novel. The story takes place within the city of Glie that, like Murakami’s End of the World, is surrounded by an impassable wall that circumscribe the existence of those that live within it, whether human or Haibane.

But what are Haibane?

The story opens with a Haibane, Reki, discovering a huge cocoon in Old Home, the dilapidated building where the Haibane live. From this emerges our protagonist, Rakka, who emerges an adult with no memory of any previous life except a dream of falling. Thus, when she comes to, she is called Rakka, meaning ‘falling’. Each of the Haibane are born without memory except for that of a dream, the theme of which becomes their name. What distinguishes Haibane from the humans that live in the town in Glie is that, like angels, they have wings and a halo – the halo, though, provide to them out of a metal mould and which take hold, floating above their heads.

As Rakka emerges, she is introduced to the other inhabitants of Old Home but it is Reki who takes care of her as her wings painfully break through the skin and a fever breaks. Thus a bond is built between the two leads of our story.

And the story runs slowly. Slowly, over thirteen twenty-five minute episodes. This is its great strength; at times the plot barely seems to be moving at all, there are rarely any cliff-hangers or hooks to get you watching next week – there is almost no physical danger, the only peril comes from within the characters themselves. Because of this the story is seamless and if there’s one thing I admire it’s the ability and the conviction of allowing a story to unfold steadily and carefully, without having to rush. Because really the core of Haibane Renmei are the characters, as we follow them, often about their day to day. At, of course, the core of the core there is the relationship between Rakka and Reki (I suspect it’s no coincidence that their names are so similar).

As Rakka is introduced to life about Old Home and the town below them, she is shown how the Haibane are treated with a curious, almost protective, respect. They are not allowed to own anything new, and work almost from a token system; in exchange for their gentle labour they are allowed second-hand items. To track their used purchases they are provided a book by the mysterious Haibane Renmei, an almost shamanistic group who live by the wall and are responsible for looking over (and we suspect, taking care of) the Haibane. They accept them into Glie, are the keepers of the mould from which their halos are formed. The Haibane Renmei are also the only people allowed to communicate with those beyond the walls of Glie, who bring in trade.

I shan’t venture further into the story all that much, because to reveal a little would be to reveal a lot. Rather, as the characters are important to the story this is the best place to dwell, and for the main part the screen time concerns itself with Rakka and Reki’s relationship and their own necessity to get over their feelings of inadequacy and of a sense of sin. Both characters suffer crises; Rakka becoming deeply depressed at the loss of one of the Haibane, Kuu. Equally, Reki is burdened by mistakes in her past and is unable to forgive herself for; if she cannot forgive herself than she is not able to move on. This important as there is a very spiritual edge to Haibane Renmei, there is certainly the feeling that Glie is a kind of limbo, between this world and the next. The Haibane, though they work, are not really inhabitants of Glie, rather it is a transitory place for them. Why they are stuck in this limbo is never fully explained by there are hints at suicide, thus the importance of forgiveness and the sense of being a being burdened by sin. I’m not sure if this is me picking up on this or is implicit in the story as I’m yet to come across a review that mentions suicide, but it would explain a great deal in the story and the manner in which the characters behave. Rakka begins almost to remember, though her remembrance is more a sense of feeling than any physical image that she can bring to mind. When she begins to slip towards recognition of her dream she becomes deeply depressed and closes herself away from the world. Also, at this stage, the Haibane Renmei, who refuse – for the most part - to speak to the Haibane, or for the Haibane to speak to them, takes an interest in Rakka and it is important to them to have her forgive herself.

Though Rakka is the character we follow, the emotional core of the story is Reki. It becomes imperative for Rakka is help Reki escape the past in terms of her dream before waking to Glie, and also her past with a separate group of Haibane who live in an abandoned factory. Rakka must faciliatate Reki’s self-forgiveness, just as Reki has to accept help, which she feels unable to do, believing herself unworthy and sinful. Much of this stems from Reki’s own mentor, who took care of her when she arrived, and Reki’s caring for Rakka is in part an attempt to become caring kindly like the Haibane she so respected and misses. It’s no surprise that Reki’s ‘job’ is to look after the Haibane children of Old Home.

Haibane Renmei is not po-faced; there is a lot of humour, though never laugh out loud; in keeping with the tone, there is a gentle, humane humour. Just as the emotion in the story is kept at a discrete, delicate distance, the humour is often organic and seems to flow directly from each scene. Certainly, a slightly sombre yet delicious melancholy runs through the thirteen episodes but this is often symptomatic of Japanese art in general. There is also something profoundly mystical and mysterious about Haibane Renmei – in part this is due to its refusal to answer all the questions that it raises (and certainly in the bittersweet ending); it discloses its mysteries carefully and reveals only as much as we need to know. I suspect this metaphysical playing of cards close to the chest is one reason why Haibane Renmei is so approachable, and demands re-watching – in fact it improves with time and multiple viewing – because we begin to engage further with the layers of story, with the themes and the mysteries it brings to us. Equally, I think we bring our own mysteries and feelings and beliefs to it. You can view Haibane Renmei as being a deeply spiritual piece of work, or as a more metaphysical and emotional work, dependant on what you believe. Again this can be considered nothing but a strength as it allows the work to be approachable and acceptable to a wider audience: it excludes no one without the weaknesses of being too open a story.

Ultimately, Haibane Renmei is a delicate work, deeply moving and almost serenely emotional. It’s slow unfolding of story and character, its gentle cheeriness and equally seething desperation slip under your skin. It’s not a work to be taken lightly though the tone is often close to whimsical, though it never is. Because we are allowed time to introduce character, themes, plot and often seems to move in almost real time, we feel a connection to the characters. OK, if you’re after a fast paced, exciting story you won’t find it here. The subtlety on show, though, more than makes up for that – the gentle humanity at the core of the piece brings a sense of having watched something meaningful and it is meaningful and moving. I, for one, suspect that I will keep returning to Haibane Renmei as it is not only good Anime and good television but good art. And that, I think, says it all.

Summary: A quietly moving series that is unafraid to let a story tell itself slowly, with care and humaity