While I am sure there is an infinite supply of this sort of thing out there under the dot-jp domain, this particular Haibane fanart gallery happened to be indexed by google. There are of course the usual obsessions with swimsuits, but what I found much more interesting were the concept art of scenes we never actually saw in the series, such as Reki taking her Flight, and Rakka’s cocoon bursting. And this scene of Raka and Reki in kimonos is just surreal, yet also somehow appropriate…
Of course, the Haibane rock band also, well, rocks. Go, Reki! And I note that the artist has a particular thing for Nemu…
I can attest to the fact that political blogging is draining. I was never a fan of the partisan scalp hunt. Lately I have just lost interest – especially given it all seems to make no difference in teh end. I find myself fighting the same battles over and over again.
I have long had a passion for science fiction, and Steven opened up a world of anime that I can enjoy with my daughter as well. This stuff is fun to talk about. Let other people handle the jihad or crusade or whatever. This just suits me better right now.
Of all the recurring symbolism in Haibane Renmei, that of the circle is the most intriguing. This will be a series of posts. Thefirst of these is teh circle of Glie itself – or rather, the existence of the Haibane.
The circle of Glie is not a physical one that appears on screen, but is implied – the circle of life, death, and rebirth. All Haibane had a previous life, they were then reborn from a cocoon into Glie. The cocoon is the womb, and the painful eruption of the wings is the first draw of breath as a true Haibane.
I shot that video in a department store in Tokyo somewhere, i think in Shinjuku district. I was starving and was already in a mind-altered state as it was.
If your brain didn’t like that, here’s some nice video of shinkansen to ease your suffering. Ahhh… geek service.
What is especially striking about the Hitchhiker’s Guide to eth Galaxy is how insightful it can be on matters of religion, given that DNA was(inhis own words) a militant atheist.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy movie was a travesty. And it’s entirely because they tried to capture the humour of the series – which comes across beautifully in print and on the radio – without acknowledging the realities of the medium.
Consider that most of H2G2 is simply untranslateable to film. I mean, how on earth could you justify the following scene? (wherein Arthur debates with Prosser about the official plans to demolish his house) :
My daughter and I have been intermittently watching Bottle Fairy – I’ve only seen episodes from the first disc, but she’s bounced around between both discs randomly. From what I gather, aside from the ending, there doesn’t seem to be much difference in the discs. However, the ending lends itself to a dark interpretation.
via Shamus, here’s the opening credits for Haibane Renmei on YouTube:
The momentary glimpses of each character really give you a sense of their styles and personalities, especially Reki. And the music accompaniment is enchanting – the theme stays with you. I am also very fond of the opener to Sugar now, though in contrast to HR it tells you almost nothing about the characters at all. Excepting Greta, that is. I did however cringe the first time I heard that doo wop chorus, though…
I have to disagree with Pixy that most live-action openers are focused on the characters, however, at least for science fiction. The opening creds for BattleStar Galactica are a good example of an OP that really establishes the visual style, and atmosphere. That’s not surprising given that Ron Moore, the producer, also did Deep Space Nine – a series whose opening credits were basically a visual ode to the space station itself, as the main character. Not since the scene from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, where Kirk takes a visual inspection of the refitted Enterprise has such devotion been paid to a thing on screen rather than a person. I think that science fiction shares with anime the need to sell the setting and mood as much as the characters. In that respect, the opener to Galactica is very anime-esque.
Steven noted that the opener/closers may suck for good series, but has anyone observed a very well done opener and closer for a terrible series? Maybe the rule works only in reverse.
well, that’s how every episode of Sugar: A little Snow Fairy opens. My almost-four year old says this about a dozen times a day now.
Overall, the series started out slow, and then kept layering on the character development piecemeal until by the end you really felt you knew them, without consciously realizing how attached you were. This is different from Haibane Renmei where the main characters are immediately captivating – in fact, for the first 30 minutes of disc 1, I rather disliked Saga.
This post is kind of a compilation of some of my observations from throughout. Continues below the fold…
