 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
A girl dreams of falling, and awakens inside an enormous translucent egg. From outside the egg she can hear the excited chatter of young women preparing for her "arrival". When she emerges, she is named "Rakka" (falling) for her dream.
|
In the days after her arrival, wings emerge painfully from the
flesh of her back, and, as she recovers, her new companions
present her with a halo. The halo emerges from a mold, and
needs to be tethered while it learns to "stick". When Rakka
goes into the village to obtain second-hand clothes, a tailor
installs vents for her wings.
Haibane renmei is Japanese for "Charcoal feather federation" (perhaps more lyrically translated as "Ashwing League"), a creation of Yoshitoshi ABe, who did the character designs for Serial Experiments Lain and whose work was the inspiration for NieA_7. Haibane live in an isolated old building (referred to as "Old Home") outside a small town (of humans) that sits isolated inside a huge walled enclosure. The wall is too high to see over, and the only people who are allowed to go outside are the silent, mysterious (and somewhat ominous) masked Toga. The Toga also provide for the haibane, who are not allowed to own new things, and may only use what people have cast off. In the first few episodes we accompany Rakka as she learns about this new world she has been born into. All the (non-child) haibane have jobs, and Rakka accompanies each of them, looking for a place for herself. It is clear that the haibane are outsiders, and there are many traditional restrictions on how they may deal with humans, and how humans may deal with them. As the series progresses, we learn more about the world of the haibane. With the fifth episode, the series begins to explore the notions of loss, loneliness, and redemption as it reaches a beautiful and poetic climax. |
Fans of Haibane Renmei may wish to look at two books by novelist Haruki Murakami:
Voice talents:
