Hey, You Got Your Charcoal Feathers In My Symbiotic Alien Being [Haibane Renmei and XamD]
In the words of Daisy from Spaced, it’s been ups and downs, ups and downs, ups and downs. Only with fewer drug-fuelled pub sessions and more hectic post-graduation real life bitch slaps. Things are much better now, mind you. I have a job, an overdraft extension and the Internet. It just got a bit dicey there for a few weeks. But frankly who gives a toss. Let us discuss animu.
I feel my rewatching of Haibane Renmei requires a brief word. Yes, I was one of the poor simple fools that discarded it after the first four episodes (DVD volume one), but I’m willing to reassess such misdirected dismissal when enough people shit their pants about a show. Haibane Renmei seems to inspire such affection, and now I’ve seen the whole thing in succession I completely understand why . Reki is perhaps one of the best-realised characters I’ve yet to see in an anime. I’m talking Misato levels of accomplishment here. I know, there’s an obvious theme developing in my love for certain beauteous raven-haired train wrecks, but Reki is a worthy addition (I’m expecting big things from XamD’s Ishu, too, and not just a cheeky flash of her monstrous tits). I loved how understated the show was in making Reki its true protagonist, that it was really her story we were following. Rakka was our vehicle of experience but Reki was the heart and soul, the real weight and depth of the show. Not to devalue Rakka’s importance, though – her existential crisis down the well stands out as my favourite episode and one that concerns itself almost solely with her. It didn’t hurt that it reminded me of Murakami’s A Wind-up Bird Chronicle either, but the comparison is likely superficial as slight gusts of wind remind me of the author (yes, fanboyism shares many parallels with schizophrenia). The one big shame about Haibane was its second-rate animation quality. Yoshitoshi ABe’s artwork deserves nothing less than reverential respect – especially when the material is so personal – and bar the final episode Haibane’s visuals didn’t do him, or his vision, enough justice. It was adequate, but could’ve been something truly special with a bigger budget. All in all, though, my opinion of the show has been greatly improved. Still a little unsure of the Dennou Coil comparisons but on its own merits I officially concede that Haibane Renmei is Special.
In terms of new stuff XamD is the only show I’ve been following with any vigour. This being a BONES show we shan’t waste time swooning on how masterfully consistent it all is, but I will say zomgwtfawesomepie. Not since Last Exile have I been so wrapped up in an adventure sci-fi show like this, and XamD may even peg that particular benchmark by not losing its shit two-thirds in and maintain, y’know, coherent characterisation. It’s still early days of course but my faith in BONES is much less questionable than my faith in Gonzo. I will say I’m getting on a whole lot better with XamD than I did/am with Eureka Seven. Outrageous as this may be to some folk, I find Eureka Seven quite hard going and have more aborted attempts to watch it than I care to mention. Its merits are self-evident as they often are with BONES shows, but I can’t resolve myself with what a tedious shonen cock Renton is and that its aesthetic style reminds me a little too much of Mighty Morphing Power Rangers. Both XamD’s protagonist and visuals appeal to me much more. There just seems to be an underlying sense of maturity to XamD whereas Eureka Seven placated its shonen audiences explicitly. Plus I’m always fascinated by anime that touches on the issue of divorce. It seems so rare for any kind of Japanese fiction not to celebrate domesticity, the power of the family and other such suspiciously socialist things, that when something considers the process of a home falling apart it genuinely sticks out. With XamD particularly it grounds the otherwise high sci-fi conceptualising in reality and makes its already accomplished human characters all the more fascinating. Let’s just ignore the blatant, uh, homages to other shows in much of its design and say I’m having a thoroughly good time watching. A ripping good time if you’re feeling fancy.
Anyhow, that’s enough clumsy non-sequiturs for now. I’ve got a backlog the size of my arm and I want to write at least a few words on Kaiba when I finally get around to watching the last three episodes. I probably won’t episode blog anymore due to time constraints and real life mayhem, but I’ll certainly knock out something akin to this post on a regular basis to keep things ticking over.
September 15th, 20086:30 am at
When you watch Haibane Renmei again (and you will) you’ll find that there’s a lot of foreshadowing you didn’t notice the first time. Like in the first episode, when Reki tells the others that they need to clean the room before the cocoon hatches because it would be a shame to be born in the middle of such a mess.
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.
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September 15th, 20087:10 am at
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September 15th, 20081:35 pm at
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.
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September 15th, 20087:23 pm at
Epic comment coming up. An excellent and long-overdue post like this deserves one.
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.
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September 16th, 20085:08 pm at
@Steven Den Beste: I appreciate the rationale behind the first episodes and agree they aim mainly to lay foundations. I just wasn’t caught enough in them to carry on when I first attempted to watch Haibane. In retrospect they are obviously quite important, particularly Kuu’s screen-time, but it’s a hard sell when most people abide a three-episode rule with new shows. I remember my flatmate, who isn’t a ‘proper’ anime fan, became disinterested around the same point I did. Haibane is brilliant in many ways, but those first few episodes have a lot of problems.
@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.
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