@lelangir: I will sit down and give Eureka Seven a fair chance one of these days. Too many people with tastes I respect like it too much for me to dismiss it out of hand. And while that epic length allows for a lot of rewarding involvement it’s also pretty intimidating to make a start on. Especially if the show doesn’t immediately grab you by the balls. It will be done one of these days, though. I haven’t seen any of Kimi ga Nozomu Eien. . . might have to have a wee investigation, as I’m obviously gay for the broken homes.

@Martin: Haha, I’m glad you commented on this post. I thought as I wrote about Haibane that if it didn’t tempt a response from you then I would’ve failed. I’ve actually read the original doujinshi – I went straight to them when the first DVD didn’t set my passions alight. I love ABe’s manga but the self-consciousness commentary grates a little with its false-modesty. Still, loved it and might have a reread as a farewell epilogue to the series. Duly noted on Natsume Yuujinchou. I really want this season to be not as shit as it is, so any recommendation is welcome.

Eureka Seven is fantastic, but its length requires a lot of investment in terms of time (which means I probably won’t be able to rewatch it any time soon) and in terms of sticking by Renton, especially through his early immature phase. If it hadn’t aimed for a young audience who dug the surfer chic aesthetic, I think we would have ended up with another show accused of ripping off NGE again (which reminds me, my RahXephon defence rant is long overdue). I dug the Kawamori mecha designs being the Macross fanboy that I am though, and there’s a lot of references to politics and pop culture (the Joy Division reference for instance gave me the chills). The characterisation was superb though – there’s the Renton/Eureka pairing of course but Holland/Talho and Anemone/Dominic left just as lasting an impression on me.

Xam’d does seem to correct some of E7′s shortcomings – it’s shorter, the characters are a bit more mature and the family issues are an interesting addition; the two shows are similar enough to make me confident in it however. I’d also recommend the currently airing Natsume Yuujinchou in terms of relaxing comedy-drama with a supernatural slant – Mushishi-lite is the best summing-up I can give it right now.

I can only agree with your appraisal of Haibane though – I’m just glad you appreciate it as much as I do because it really does deserve to have the term ‘Special’ capitalised. The animation quality really does make me glad it’s not an action-packed series – check out the original doujinshi if you get the chance because the gorgeousness of ABe’s artwork will make your eyes bleed fanboyish adoration. If only the magic of his artwork could be captured by pictures that actually *move*…

The levels of meaning and symbolism are virtually unparalleled I think, yet pretty accessible for a show that drifts just off the maintstream. There’s this serene and timeless iyashikei atmosphere that’s tempered so well with the dark shadows lurking around the edges that really appeals to me. I think it’s one of the very few series or films that resonates with me on every level – the themes, character interaction, art style (minus that cheapish animation) and music just clicked in a way that few others have done. I tried to put my reverence for it into a blog post a while back, but only partially succeeded.

And welcome back again. This sort of post reminds me how eerily similar our views are, right down to “…there’s an obvious theme developing in my love for certain beauteous raven-haired train wrecks…” *laughs* Honestly, it scares me; someday we’ll find out we’re long-lost cousins or something.

Plus I’m always fascinated by anime that touches on the issue of divorce.

Jokingly, then, Kimi ga Nozomu Eien becomes utterly fantastic.

Unlike Author I ended up marathoning Dennou Coil; the hige episode was the best filler ever, on par with the weirdness (awesomeness) of Kure-nai‘s episodes 6-7. In any case I’d probably say Haibane Renmei is Special, as you put it, or at least more so than DC.

As for Eureka 7 and it being my favorite…well…I don’t know why it’s my favorite, even with it’s weird (terrible?[-ly paced]) ending ‘n all. I guess the whole 50 episodes thing really does draw you in, in perhaps a way I’m hoping LoGH will, that is once I have the motivation to start it. Though Xam’d is only 24 or so episodes long it may still be able to have that “epically long” effect as TTGL did – in that case I think it was a good part to have the breadth of the story span a number of decades.

Anyway, it’s good to see you’ve gotten an internetz again.

There wasn’t any emphasis on that line, and I bet you didn’t even remember it until I pointed it out just now. But now you’ve seen the show, you understand how pregnant that line really is.

The first four episodes seem to be filler, but they’re not. They’re filling in story and laying groundwork and letting us get to know characters, so that when the story really starts, in ep 6, we are ready to understand what we see.

I was astounded by how much different the show was for me the second time through. It’s as amazing an experience as the first time, but a different experience.