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My first long-defunct thread-bump!
I've done this for two reasons: one general, in that there seems to be a resurgence of anime-related interest here in FTVT of late, which I want to encourage; and one specific, in order to talk about one of the best new series of recent years, Haibane Renmei. Created by Yoshitoshi ABe, creative consultant on Serial Experiments Lain among others, it's a show with every bit as much depth as Lain, but in my opinion much more inclusive, emotional and rewarding.
This show begins with a girl dreaming of falling... only to awaken within a cocoon in an abandoned room of a partially-ruined building. Discovered, birthed from the cocoon and nursed into consciousness by the several other young women who inhabit "Old Home", she learns that she is, like them, a "Haibane" ("charcoal feather"): an outwardly normal human with the appearance of an angel, including nonfunctional little wings (which sprout bloodily some time after "birth") and a halo (forged of metal in a dinky ring-shaped blacksmith's pan).
The newly named Rakka ("falling" - all the Haibane are named after their cocoon dream, prior to which they have no memory) learns more about her new world as the days go by. Old Home lies close to an everyday human town, and both are surrounded by an impenetrable wall, contact beyond which is forbidden by a rarely-seen, but sinister in appearance, class of priests. All of the Haibane work in the town for food and favours, and the first few episodes are light and airy as Rakka samples the others' job - baking, librarianship, tower-clock repair - while deciding what path to take. There are darker matters afoot, however, as Rakka's mentor Reki conceals both a mystery illness and the true nature of her cocoon dream, and the childish Kuu prepares for the "Day of Flight"....
I should confess that to date I have seen only half of this 13-part series. I still want to recommend it to everyone; it's so wonderfully made and so inspiringly non-stereotypical. (Not that this is one of those "show this to your anime-sceptic friends and see the scales fall from their eyes!" reviews, or shows.) Shot in a lovely early-autumn palette of greens and browns, without a single fight scene or fan-service shot, Haibane Renmei is also exceptionally well paced, scripted and plotted, with details about the characters and their world emerging in a careful, rather than haphazard or miserly fashion - something that too often mars other "enigmatic" series.
As I often do, I'll let someone else's better chosen words do my last bit of work for me in recommending this series - in this case, something Diz said elsewhere re Spirited Away:
what makes Spirited Away more exciting from a feminist perspective is that things are structured in such a way that the "soft," civilian traits of compassion and diligence in everyday domestic work are valued above the usual patriarchal traits like, oh, say, the willingness and ability to engage in combat.
If, like me, you read that and thought more anime shows would be more interesting if more anime directors thought that way, give this series a try. |
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