HAIBANE-RENMEI #2: WINGS OF SORROW - DVD review

"Haibane Renmei" (Charcoal Feather Federation) is a thirteen-episode TV series created by Yoshitoshi ABe (spelled correctly). I consider him to be pretty gifted, and have greatly enjoyed some of his other series, most notably "NieA under 7". Like many other anime series, "Haibane" started life as a manga (Japanese comic books). Unlike most manga, "Haibane" was a self-published manga from Yoshitoshi ABe that he started writing, decided to redo the story and so restarted under a similar name, then decided that "Haibane" should really be an animated feature, published a final issue to explain such, then made one last issue with some of the back-story. The resulting series is a wonderful mix of weirdness and warmth. This second volume contains three episodes- "Library- Abandoned Factory- The Beginning of the World", "End of Summer- Rain- Loss", and "Scar- Illness- Arrival of Winter".

The series began with a girl falling through the sky, head down and eyes shut. A crow flies up to her and caws, waking her. She notes that, although she isn't afraid, her heart is cold. The crow seems desperate to stop her fall, cawing at her and trying to halt her decent by grabbing the hem of her dress. "It's useless," she says. "But thank you." With one last caw, the crow lets go, tumbling up into the sky. The girl continues to fall.

The girl awakes, thinking she was dreaming, but finds herself inside a cocoon. After breaking free, she finds herself in an old house, surrounded by five other women (teenage and older), each with small wings and a halo. For lack of any other name, the winged people call themselves Haibane. They have named themselves individually after the dreams they had while in their own cocoons. She can only vaguely remember falling, so they name her Rakka. The rest are Reki, who takes care of the young Haibane; Kuu, the youngest of the "adult" Haibane; Nemu, who works in the town's library; Kana, who works in the town's clock tower; and Hikari, who works in the town's bakery.

They work in the local town to help support the dozen or so children Haibane. Haibane are not allowed to own anything new, possess money (they use checks), or leave the walled town, Glie. They must also not linger by the walls. A group calling itself the Haibane Renmei regulates what the Haibane can and cannot do. The group is represented by a single speaker. How exactly the Haibane Renmei enforces its edicts is not shown in this disk.

Rakka continues to work with the other Haibane, trying to learn her place in Glie. She's still haunted by the thought that she used to be something, or somebody, else. We also learn that there's another group of Haibane that stay at an Abandoned Factory. There are adult male and female Haibane there, although how many and whether the men all live away from Old Home by some sort of rule isn't shown on this disk.

When one of the Haibane leaves Glie, they do so on their Day of Flight. It seems to happen once they've fulfilled whatever their purpose in Glie is. Their halo goes out and they vanish in a pillar of light. On the other end of the spectrum, Haibane that are failing are said to be Bound by Sin, and their wings start to blacken. It's probably a little ethnocentric of me, but I still see Glie as a kind of Purgatory. I wonder if the Haibane are sent there to atone for their past lives, or to heal from them. Maybe it's both.

Video:
The video aspect ratio is 1.78:1 (full-screen on 16:9 monitors). The colors are fairly plain, with lots of greens and browns. Everything the Haibane wear and use are used, so their possessions are all pretty shabby. The character design is signature ABe, with emphasis on realistic-looking people. The town, clothing, and artifacts all blend together to make a believable, internally-consistent society.

Audio:
You can watch the show in either Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo Japanese or DD 2.0 stereo English. There is an option for English subtitles for either just signs or everything. I chose to watch the show in Japanese DD 2.0 with full English subtitles. I especially like the music. Since I'm hardly a music expert, I'm going to describe the music as folksy, and just hope that's a real word. It nicely reflects the rustic world of "Haibane Renmei".

Extras:
For some reason, the previews for the next episode that usually come at the end of an episode or in Extras, and not part of the main feature. There is also a Non-Credit Ending and two TV Commercials.

The Art Gallery feature has forty-four images that proceed at the viewer's pace. There are design sketches of the various objects used in the series, as well as several shots of Old Home and various locations in Glie.

--Miscellaneous--
The DVD comes a mini pencil-board. The front side shows Rakka and Kuu standing by a window. The reverse shows a few small scene fragments from a Day of Flight. There is also a single-page, fold out colored insert with chapter listings on the back. The DVD cover is reversible.

Film Value:
I'm afraid "Haibane Renmei" is one of those weepy shows. Just from the characters interacting, it's hard not to feel a swell of pity and sadness for them. Rakka especially has a hard time adjusting to her strange new life. I can't wait to watch the next disk to see where this is going.