Haibane Renmei
Sep 27, 2020Angels. The afterlife. Sin, guilt, redemption. These concepts explored in Haibane Renmei evoke Christianity, but as the story unfolds, there is little connection to Christianity in substance. Clear Christian references are made like the creation myth and “clergy,” but the messages, particularly about sin and redemption, are non-Christian. Overall, the anime seems to align more with eastern spirituality, such as the haibane’s past lives, names, and dreams (even the fact that they celebrate New Year but not Christmas). Although there were some aspects (strong references to this) and scenes (like this one) that I could relate to, I don’t really find the message any more Christian than Angel Beats or Colorful (2010).
Why do I care how this anime is portraying Christianity at all? Let’s take an example. In Glie, only certain haibane are born as sinners (as opposed to in Christianity - all humans are sinners). Furthermore, they don’t have memories of their wrongdoings. In other words, the haibane live in a world where sin has affected a select few and they can be culpable for acts without memory of them. I find this misuse and appropriation Christian terminology harmful because of the association with Christianity the anime tries to create. I could maybe see an interpretation where you just disregard the Christian elements or synthesize them with other philosophies. But even apart from a Christian lens, how could this world even be applicable to us?
Technical thoughts:
- Story/Pacing: Exposition is somewhat long, as other people have mentioned. There is a great deal of world-building and calm moments that provide atmosphere. I actually don’t mind the slower first half, but the second half doesn’t build to a message I resonated with.
- Music: I found it repetitive and unmemorable. They use the OP theme in different variances and that in itself is generic-sounding. But I liked some nice instrumentation choices like choir, organ, and harp to set the mood.
- Art: Brown.
- In other words I don’t really find anything redemptive (lol) in the other aspects.
Conclusion/TL;DR: This anime would be harmless if it was simply a fantasy with Christian aesthetics, but it flagrantly misused Christian terminology alongside it. Again, I’m not criticizing it for having non-Christian messages. I’ve enjoyed my fair share of magical realist media (“angel” books/manga: [1], [2], [3]) but the combination of Christian symbols, references, and terminology are meaningless if they are merely re-purposed. Might as well just watch Jesus and Buddha run around...
(Shoutout to Nekus, who recommended this anime and listened to my rants which eventually became this review :) and Qplayer, who helped edit/refine it.)
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There's a lot I could say about this anime but it'd take a while to write and probably involve a rewatch at some point. The tl;dr version is that I thought that its message was thought provoking and socially significant, and the very human emotions about guilt, forgiveness, and redemption were depicted with respect that is rare in other media. I thought everything from the worldbuilding to the character animation supported director's vision of how he views people's capability to overcome seemingly inescapible guilt.
I didn't watch it with a mindset that it was trying to utilize a Christian or even eastern spirituality/shinto worldview, but that Abe combined elements of both eastern and western philosophy to try and convey his own message utilizing a world with its own rules. While like you I don't agree with his entire view on sin or the nature of redemption, certain elements of forgiveness and release from burdening yourself with guilt really resonated with me. Maybe it wouldn't do so much on a rewatch, but I think it was the right anime for me at a certain time in my life.
This ended up being a really long tl;dr LOL
Good review, hope to read more! ^_^