Synopsis
In a long forgotton walled town, humans coexist with the Haibane, angelic-like beings of unknoen origin. Rakka becomes the newest Haibane, after she awakens from a strange dream and finds herself hatching from a massive cocoon. With no memories of her previous life, Rakka struggles to adjust to her new surroundings, however burning questions remain in the back of her mind. What is Haibane and what is their purpose? What lies beyond the huge, forbidden town walls? Thus, Rakka begins her wistful journey of self-discovery and wonderment.

Review
Okay, I’ll say this right from the start. This is not an anime for someone who wants to see fights, explosions and characters superdeformating every thirty seconds and can’t be satisfied with an anime series unless something big is occurring every five minutes.

This is a very subtle series. The entire story is laid out little by little. You don’t learn everything about the characters all at once. You get to know the characters in ‘Haibane Renmei’ like we do our own co-workers and neighbors: one encounter at a time, day by day, each day a little more revealing than the last.

It is also not an anime that you can watch only once. After one viewing, I just wanted to watch it again, to catch the little things I missed. The original concept for this series was done by yoshitoshi ABe, and it shows. Haibane Renmei reminded me alot of ‘Serial Experiments: lain’ in the way that it starts out slow, but you just KNOW in the back of your head that something big will happen…and you want to keep watching to find out what it is.

Although slow moving, and very subtle, Haibane Renmei is very addicting. I can’t wait to get the second volume just to see how Rakka’s relationship with the new world she is thrust into (and the new people she has met) will develop.

The Breakdown
I really enjoyed watching this. Even if this sort of anime isn’t your cup of tea, I say give it a shot. You may just be pleasantly surprised.