Review of Haibane Renmei: Complete Series Box Set (Review)

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Introduction
Of all the employment opportunities in the afterlife, being an angel has to be the prize gig. Lazy days of sitting on clouds strumming harps and eating low-fat cream cheese - with the odd field trip to the mortal plain to smite Egyptian first-borns or stalk Dennis Quaid's ex wives - it sure beats the other high-profile hereafter jobs. Perhaps with the exception is the guarding of the gates of Hell; there are many people who'd quite happily spend their post-mortem years as 3-headed hellhound Cerberus, whose responsibilities only extend as far as chasing evil postmen, licking his evil balls and shepherding society's most evil non-living citizens - lawyers, politicians, people who put marmalade on scones - into the fiery lungs of Hades.

'Haibane-Renmei' is all about those darned lucky angels. Sort of. Well, not really. It's about human-type beings with halos and wings, but they're not particularly angelic. It's quite difficult to put a finger on just what they are, although they sure display the sweetness and innocence of the celestial variety. Called the Haibane (hi-ban-ay), or Charcoal Feathers, they live on the outskirts of a quaint, cobbled town populated by humans. While they interact and work with the townsfolk when they have to, they keep to themselves for the most part, holed up in an old schoolhouse. Our window into the world is Rakka, a new Haibane who arrives, like the rest, birthed through a giant cocoon with no memory of who she was or where she came from, save that she was someone and came from somewhere. As she embarks on her new life as a Haibane, she begins to ask questions and seek answers into who the Haibane are and why they're here. What is their purpose? Why are they not allowed to venture outside the town's walls? Who are the mysterious Haibane-Renmei organisation who seem to know the Haibane's every move and keep watch over them? And perhaps most importantly, will Rakka and the Haibane be ready for the answers?

From the mind of Yoshitoshi ABe ('Texhnolyze', 'Serial Experiments Lain') and based on his self-published Manga of the same name, 'Haibane-Renmei', originally broadcast in Japan in the fall of 2002, is another bold episodic series experimenting with hidden themes, ambiguity and interpretation, pushing the limits of what viewers expect from the wonderful medium of anime.

Episodes:

1. Cocoon/Dream of Falling/Old Home
2. Town and Wall/Toga/Haibane-Renmei
3. Temple/Communicator/Pancakes
4. Trash Day/Clock Tower/Birds Flying Over the Walls

5. Library/Abandoned Factory/The Beginning of the World
6. Ender of Summer/Rain/Loss
7. Scar/Illness/Arrival of Winter

8. The Bird
9. Well/Rebirth/Riddle
10. Kuramori/ Haibane of Abandoned Factory/Rakka's Job

11. Parting/Darkness in the Heart/Irreplaceable Thing
12. Bell Nuts/Passing of the Year Festival/Reconciliation
13. Reki's World/Prayer/Epilogue

Video
Presented in 1.78:1, 'Haibane-Renmei' gets a particularly soft transfer, which on first glance, doesn't hold up well against some of MVM's more recent releases, particularly as each volume is squeezed onto a single-layer disc and there's the odd appearance of artefacting. However, while the animation and character design are uniformly unambitious, the art direction with its subdued, burnt palette - dusty sepias, browns, greens and yellows - is a refreshing change to a more low-key art style that suits the ethereal delicacy of the characters and the story.



Audio
Dolby Digital 2.0 in either native Japanese or an English dub with accompanying subtitles. Both tracks, on a technical level, are decent stereo tracks. The Japanese original will be the choice of many, thanks to the typically over-performed English dub sounding a little stilted, forced and cartoonish. The native track, while unlikely to fall upon many fluent ears with this release, is still considerably superior in terms of discernible qualities - pitch, tone, delivery, etc. The show is steeped in fantastic music from K tani, with frequent use of effective scoring. The opening theme 'Free Bird' by tani and the Masum Ito arranged closing song 'Blue Flow', with their delicious melodies, are well composed and add to the whole aural aspect of the show being a real treat.

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