Saturos

Mar 11 2016, 10:34 PM

Haibane Renmei ep 6

Wasn't a huge fan of this episode or the last, between all the melodramatic shots and characters yelling, and the predictability of some of the stuff.
I was actually trying not to laugh when everyone was standing dramatically in their black robes in the rain at the little grave/monument while the bell tolls dramatically in the background. Perhaps watching Angel Beats before already primed me for this kind of story (and I always love 'passing on' things, see Clannad or kind of Hachikuji but not really), but I was a bit skeptical of that. I'd been expecting it from basically ep 1, and this episode's sudden focus on Kuu (with the dramatic closeups on Kuu's shadow fading, her halo fading out, and so on) made it p clear that she was going to be passing on this episode.

I think one of the things that can make SoL so effective is its ability to tackle very deep or complex psychologies in really subtle ways, through facial expressions and body languages, or subtle camera positioning. So far, most of the characters seem to boil down to a personality quirk+their job. Nemu is sleepy and a librarian, Hikari is proper and a baker, Kana is tomboyish and a clock tower worker, Kuu was chuuni and... whatever, etc. Reki is probably the best character for how many things she's involved in, being the grumpy but compassionate caretaker who's also a teacher who also has everyone leaving her behind and also a rebellious past.
But I think with the little amount of focus on Kuu, I just found myself not really caring that much that she poofed off.

I do think that, being almost at the halfway mark, there's plenty of time for the other characters to develop or get into who they were before (if that comes up), but yeah. I do really like the crow symbolism/their appearances, and am intrigued by why the Wall itself is dangerous for Haibane, who they Haibane Renmei are, the deal with the Qoga, etc. So there's still lots of space for the show to go into areas that I'm intrigued by.

The idea of identity being so tied up into work is very Japanese though, haha, plus all the overtime/early starts/sleeping/drinking on the job/importance of greetings. Very true to life, which makes me laugh, hah.

simplechild

Mar 12 2016, 01:22 AM

Saturos

Mar 11 2016, 10:34 PM

Haibane Renmei ep 6

Wasn't a huge fan of this episode or the last, between all the melodramatic shots and characters yelling, and the predictability of some of the stuff.
I was actually trying not to laugh when everyone was standing dramatically in their black robes in the rain at the little grave/monument while the bell tolls dramatically in the background. Perhaps watching Angel Beats before already primed me for this kind of story (and I always love 'passing on' things, see Clannad or kind of Hachikuji but not really), but I was a bit skeptical of that. I'd been expecting it from basically ep 1, and this episode's sudden focus on Kuu (with the dramatic closeups on Kuu's shadow fading, her halo fading out, and so on) made it p clear that she was going to be passing on this episode.

I think one of the things that can make SoL so effective is its ability to tackle very deep or complex psychologies in really subtle ways, through facial expressions and body languages, or subtle camera positioning. So far, most of the characters seem to boil down to a personality quirk+their job. Nemu is sleepy and a librarian, Hikari is proper and a baker, Kana is tomboyish and a clock tower worker, Kuu was chuuni and... whatever, etc. Reki is probably the best character for how many things she's involved in, being the grumpy but compassionate caretaker who's also a teacher who also has everyone leaving her behind and also a rebellious past.
But I think with the little amount of focus on Kuu, I just found myself not really caring that much that she poofed off.

I do think that, being almost at the halfway mark, there's plenty of time for the other characters to develop or get into who they were before (if that comes up), but yeah. I do really like the crow symbolism/their appearances, and am intrigued by why the Wall itself is dangerous for Haibane, who they Haibane Renmei are, the deal with the Qoga, etc. So there's still lots of space for the show to go into areas that I'm intrigued by.

The idea of identity being so tied up into work is very Japanese though, haha, plus all the overtime/early starts/sleeping/drinking on the job/importance of greetings. Very true to life, which makes me laugh, hah.

Spoiler: click to toggle

I guess it feels that way because nothing particularly dramatic happens until the second half of episode 6, but that scene is not in the least melodramatic and the brief moments of yelling were not out of character.

Personally it was much less about the fact that Kuu was sent off and more about how it affects the group, most specifically Rakka and Reki. You already get the feeling that the rest are essentially the supporting cast, and it's not like the focus on Kuu was anything unnatural to the tone of the story. Her strange behavior is motive enough to get Rakka asking about Kuu, which then allows the rest of the cast an excuse to give a bit more insight on her life before she passed. Not that it really fleshes her character out, mind you, but I was fine with Kuu's passing because the story needed to make an example of it and she seemed like the best candidate.

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... Also, I typed that as "Sekkou Boyds" at first.

Saturos

Mar 13 2016, 11:28 PM

ep 6

I didn't think it was OoC, no, but I think you noting that nothing really dramatic happens might explain it, that it seemed OoC for the show.
Also, the kind of manufactured drama of Rakka noticing that Kuu's halo was futzing in and out, and never mentioning it to Kuu/Reki/or anyone else - and that this never happened in front of anyone else, either.

She was defs the best candidate, because she was so annoying 8)

anyway my feelings on that episode changed because

Haibane Renmei ep 7-8

THESE two episodes though, completely restored my faith and interest in the show. Cinematography and animation were pretty fantastic, Rakka's depression/inability to cope, the sickness (probably linked to her depression/mental state - I imagine the reason why everyone is so nice to the Haibane and gives them work/a place is to keep their mental states healthy.

There was lots of good worldbuilding in that exchange with the tailor/used clothes guy, and then the obnoxious customer - it would've been cool to see some of that attitude beforehand, but I guess it was a bit jarring.
And, insofar as the niceness of the town in eps 1-5 was probably a reflection of Rakka's mental state/how she views it, I guess it makes sense that she's/we're now seeing it from a different light.

Silvy already mentioned the art being fantastic/Lain, but I want to call out in particular the camera lense focusing, the double-visioning, and blurriness in general.
Also literally like replace Lain telephone wires with crows and you have Haibane B) it's great

My current theory as to what's happening is that the Haibane ARE reincarnated crows, or crows that go to live among people. Hence the familiarity of the crow in the well, and Rakka's dream ending with her falling into the well, is Rakka looking at her own crow body/past life.
I think there's enough here to foreshadow this, like Rakka thinking the crows want to be friends, the intelligence of the crows, how the Haibane scavenge everything they use, how the crows can freely go beyond the walls and how a Day of Flight is the day where a Haibane is finally able to go beyond the walls, etc. Plus crows are a pretty constant presence in the show.
Maybe Rakka's wings darkening are actually they reverting to their normal crow state, and Rakka will have to accept that that's who she is? As the paradise/happy illusion fades away.

Also the OST continues to be pretty fantastic.

So yeah tl;dr eps 7-8 saved ep 6, or rather, recontextualized it from a melodramatic/unfitting context for the show into something more serious.

I also really like the portrayal of Rakka's depression and grief, and inability to move beyond it.

UltaFlame

Mar 15 2016, 02:51 AM

The devil is a part timer.