Haibane Renmei general discussion

To those who haven't heard of the show, it shares most of the SEL cast, and in some ways they're very similar. Heavily reccomended, especially for its demagogic meaning. This thread is for general discussion of the anime. I'll kick the bucket. Spoilers ahead. Now most of stuff is left without an answer on purpose... So what follows is pure speculation. I'm trying to understand who on earth is the crow that forgave Rakka's sin. The way I interpreted it: haibane's are in a sort of terrain Heden. It all looks similar to the top ring of Dante's purgatory, and the "flight" looks a clear passage into an higher stage to me, like some paradise or some enlightened land. Location aside, we can all agree that haibanes are there to atone for something they did (or they didn't do) in their previous life, like to find completeness, mature, give their contribution to something, etc... Those who are sin-bound, Rakka and Rei, they both seemed to be passed away after a violent death, probably involving suicide. And here we are: the birds, they are the only ones allowed to go over the wall. The crow is said to be someone close to Rakka, who went there on purpose. Could it be that Rakka killed herself out of desperation for the loss of someone that was close to her: whomever was the crow in its previous life? The crow, came back from the other side reincarnated as a bird, to help her. The idea she grieved for Ruu's flight, the fact that her feathers were staining again. It's kind of like she was reviving her "sin", the one of shutting herself in, abandoned to sorrow and depression, not moving on, until her final act. I'm saying this since few months ago I actually was close to a case that reminded me of Rakka's case.

>>7900 Gonna watch this after I finish watching Texhnolyze.

It was pretty enjoyable when I watched but can't for the life of me remember details like the whole thing was a dream. I feel it has more similarity to Kino's Journey (the original anime not reboot) than SEL. Both have a sober sadness and joy to them with an ethereal visual.

>>7908 ah nice, that's the next one in list for me, I heard it's a lot darker then Haibane I always found unsettling the way Yoshitoshi Abe depict humans, those expressions, those stills taken in the middle of some movement or action, uncanny almost. >>7910 I never heard of Kino's Journey. I'll give it a shot

>>7908 >>7919 I stopped watching ABe stuff after Texhnolyze. I couldn't watch Haibane because it felt boring and superficial in comparison. Something to consider in watch order

>>7908 Ok that was a while ago but I finally watched it. Spoilers ahead. >>7920 It's different from Texhnolyze, I thought the beggining to be extemely boring in comparison. It just felt like the "surface" from Texhnolyze, you know? Everything is nice and pure and there's no conflict. Rakka is also boring in comparison do Ichise and Lain, in my opinion the only cool characters were Reki and the one's that had history with her (Nemu, guy with baseball cap and Midori). It was not as epic as Serial Experiments Lain and not as atmospheric as Texhnolyze. I liked the ending, but I wished for something more "grey morality" instead of this "oh she is good, no she's bad, oh, wait a minute, she's actually good." I remembered that russian movie Stalker, I think the Writer says something like "What do I actually wish for? I wish everyone to be vegetarian but I also wish for a juicy piece of meat." I think that they could have played more with Reki's contradictory feelings instead of showing everyone's boring workplaces in the beggining of the anime. It was cool, but I didn't enjoyed it as much as Lain and Texhnolyze. When I saw that fuarrrking wall the first thing that came to me was "This is a prison like super fuarrrked up soykaf that creepy guy with a mask is like a nazi or something" but I was so wrong lol. I think it's stupid to try to understand the lore of the anime, I think everything is in a more symbolical and abstract level than in a literal and solid level.

>>8320 >>7920 It really is fascinating how just the sequence of viewing the series affects the whole totality that arises from them. I went from SEL to Haibane to Texhnolyze, and oh boy, was it a heavy blow to me emotionally. Lain was/is an interesting, comlex and sometimes even a mysterious character, but all of this complexity going around with the character and her surroundings kind of made it overwhelming - not necessarily emotionally, but like cognitively; you are constantly trying to figure out what's going on, trying to fit puzzle pieces and keeping up with all the whirl and fuzz of it all. So watching Haibane after SEL made it actually a comfortable viewing experience, because you could take things a little bit slower with a calmer attitude. However, coming back from that calm and slow vibe to Texhnolyze levels was plainly and brutally spirit-crushing. I dunno. Even starting to talk about Texhnolyze just feels like a chore. It sure was a ride. Great shows all of them.

>>7900 does anyone know what the letters stand for under the 'logo' i guess? im not really a weeb so idk whether they;re japanese letters or if its actually 'c f f'

>>8334 It is this series subtitle: "Charcoal Feather Federation".

>>8335 thanks lainon. asked cos i kinda wanna get it tattood but wanted to make sure the cff part wasnt anything retarded

>>7900 https://hanagasaitayo.wordpress.com/2017/06/10/critical-review-haibane-renmei/ Excellent analysis here. Really clears up a lot of the symbolism, it made me enjoy and appreciated it even more.

>>8342 Interesting read. I feel like the writer is forgetting Reki doesn't "move on" until she forgives herself for committing suicide in her past life. To me, this goes beyond "self-awareness", or finding a kind of balance. Maybe we would have different things to say about what "forgiveness" means, and is getting at that in a weird Freudian way I don't understand.