The anime Haibane Renmei begins to follow the lives of The Haibane, beings born of an unknown origin, with physical traits including a pair of small wings on their back and a halo. The Haibane look, act, and emote, just like any other human being as they live with other humans in the walled town of Glie. These winged people named Haibane are born from cocoons, giant seed-like sacks; and after they break from these cocoons and begin their life as a Haibane they have no memories of who they are, or where they had come from... the only thing he or she knows, is what they had dreamt about while they slept inside their cocoon.

Haibane Renmei was created from the mind of Yoshitoshi ABe, the person responsible for the technologically savvy anime series Serial Experiments Lain. ABe worked on Haibane Renmei’s original plot concepts, script work, character designs and so much more; the of devotion to detail for this anime is remarkable. With such a hands-on approach to a thirteen episode series, I have no doubt that Haibane Renmei will amaze in unimaginable ways.

I've been looking forward to picking up the first DVD volume for quite some time now, and have patiently waited to see the incredible art and to check for the well developed themes that I have heard so much about. The visual art is quite interesting if not awe inspiring, for just as much as the anime has art for the senses, it has some art for the soul. Nevertheless, some people do not favor this branch of the dramatic-fantasy genre of anime, because it tends to run a bit philosophical at times. Personally, this is my type of anime; a feature that has a well structure plot, is presented beautifully, and can make you think.

The general story is a bit confusing to some, but considering that ambiguity is one premiere part of this anime's subject matter I try not to let it bother me. Haibane Renmei begins with the young girl Rakka as she is at first dreaming within her cocoon. Rakka's dream is simple, she's falling; she's falling from somewhere high up in the sky, only she doesn't feel frightened at all, but for some reason she instead feels comfortable. After Rakka emerges from her cocoon (and rests for a few hours), she is greeted by other young women whom she later learns, also emerged from their own cocoons as Haibane at an earlier time. From that point, the anime starts to follow Rakka (which means 'to drop' or 'to fall'), as she gets accustomed to living with wings, a halo that just won't sit straight, and a life without memories.

The animation of Haibane Renmei is very smooth, with very round character designs and a decent number of colors. Although there aren't a plethora of bright and flashy colors, this anime is easy on the eyes. Each (Haibane) character, whether it be the calm and sleepy Nemu, the usually brash but considerate Kana, the gentle and talkative Hikari, the cheerful and innocently young Kuu, the kind-hearted and sisterly Reki, or the newest feather, the timid and reserved Rakka; again, no matter which character you are watching, each one has her own screen presence. Even though this was just the first volume (the fisrt four episodes), each of the six aforementioned individuals is shown enough to give you an idea of what their personal ethics may be. At the moment my favorite character is Reki, a young woman who is very compassionate and sensitive, but in a way, very emotionally distraught.

A side note here; each of the previously mentioned are main characters, as it is my hypothesis that there essentially, is no one main character of this short series. Sure, this first volume began with Rakka's so-called birth, but each character has some symbolic meaning to the greater story. Another point I want to make when concerning the cast of this anime; is the fact that all of the main characters are young females. Not all Haibane are female, but this little fact just keeps wandering around in the back of my mind; I cannot help but think and wonder how come Yoshitoshi ABe, the series creator, would have made an anime with this subjective style (not that I mind it of course, but I’m curious).

And one last point should make on the topic of story concepts; is that the Haibane are not given the same rights as humans. It pains me to see these beings treated as second-class citizens. The objective thinking haibane Kana, states, "...it's the haibane's obligation to use the things that humans no longer need..." I have a feeling that she is not just referring to clothing here...

The director, Tomokazu Tokoro, is an interesting director; so expect to see camera angles and panning shots in this anime that you may not see in others. Although such a change may seem awkward, I think that it is pulled off quite well. There are numerous scenes, both devastatingly emotional and dreamy alike, in which the camera jumps about and moves to accommodate a certain characters actions, but in most if not all cases for this anime, it works just fine. There are some scenes where your heart skips a beat, because of how dramatic the view the audience is given (I would give a certain scene, but that would spoil it for you, really); and there are some scenes such as conversations, where some images are overlapped to give a sense of consistency (psychological or otherwise). Such unique methods of direction can be seen as annoying to some, but I found them very appealing.