[slideshow_deploy id=’18935′]
It’s party time again. Time for another round of The Versus Show. This time though, I’m not content with limit myself with shows with the same rating so I bend the rules a bit (Heck, even though I was the one who made that rule to begin with). After all, rest assured that my utmost intention is to pick a tight matchup for you guys here. This time it’s a match between Haibane Renmei (94/100) and From the New World (90/100).
While these two shows at first seem like a weird match, there are many elements that these two shows share more than meets the eyes here. While I always consider Haibane Renmei to be bright and From the New World to be dark, this is not always the case as well, as if you would remember the last few episodes of Haibane Renmei is as dark and twisted as any From the New World’s moments. Both world depicted in the two shows is a closed society that have walls, barriers that meant to protect our group of characters, but actually hints that these barriers are meant to shield those characters away from the rest of the world. Within that society, there are many rules that should not be broken. Both series follow the group of characters with “special abilities” and how they live in their world. They share many themes together as well: how to cope with the loss of a friend, the identity of themselves, the well define but always mysterious world they inhabit (and most famously they trust the audience enough to not spill out everything, instead letting us slowly realize that world by ourselves), the notion of God; religion and the living race. Now without any further ado, let’s run them down:
Habaine Renmei
Studio: Radix
Season: Fall 2002
Episodes: 13
Source: Other
MAL Rating: 8.08
All Rakka remembers before emerging from her cocoon is the sensation of falling. Confused, she is welcomed into this new world as one of the Haibane, a group of youth with small gray wings and bright halos. Together, they live in the Old Home on the outskirts of Grie, a quiet town where wingless, halo-less people live. (from MAL)
Psgel said in his original review:
“Haibane Renmei truly is one of the best slice-of-life series I have ever seen! It first takes four episodes of building up, introducing its unique setting and its characters, and then it waltzes the viewer down with one of the most amazing storylines, perfectly fitted for 13 episodes.
The thing is, that I’m having a lot of trouble finding anything bad to say about this series. Most series have obvious flaws, like dragging on too much, spending little time on their settings, making no sense, but Haibane seems to have done everything right. The only thing you should note is that you need to get through the first four episodes, which are nice to watch, but nowhere near as emotional as the rest of the series.”
Versus
From the New World
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Season: Fall 2012
Episodes: 25
Source: Novel
MAL Rating: 8.53
Following a sudden outbreak of psychokinesis in 0.1% of the population, a rapid transformation swept the world. The godlike ability to manipulate matter remotely turned many power wielders to violence, inciting a long period of upheaval. Finally, after a chaotic era shaped by the rise and fall of oppressive regimes, the psychic humans were able to achieve a fragile peace by isolating their society, creating a new world bound by complex rules. In the town of Kamisu 66, 12-year-old Saki Watanabe has just awakened to her powers and is relieved to rejoin her friends—the mischievous Satoru Asahina, the shy Mamoru Itou, the cheerful Maria Akizuki, and Shun Aonuma, a mysterious boy whom Saki admires—at Sage Academy, a special school for psychics. However, unease looms as Saki begins to question the fate of those unable to awaken to their powers, and the children begin to get involved with secretive matters such as the rumored Tainted Cats said to abduct children. (from MAL)
psgels wrote that:
“It’s hard to really talk about the story without spoiling, but let’s just say that you should not think that even though there are kids in this series, it’s kid-friendly. Shin Sekai Yori is DARK. It uses a lot of build-up to get to where it’s going, but when it’s there it makes one hell of an impact. It has created this unique setting for itself, and it takes a while to set everything up, but that also makes this series quite varied in its mood. The setting has got a lot of depth to it, and the creators actually managed to pull a ton of potential out of it.
It’s definitely not a show for everyone. Let alone the dark parts, this is a show for people who are looking for something experimental. A show that isn’t afraid to trip itself up over and over for its vision. And believe me: the vision that this series has is amazing.”
From the New World seems to have a slightly bit of advantage, being 25 episodes and just aired from the last few years. But our blog always has had a big veteran crowd and people who watched Habaine Renmei really do love it. So I think this is a tighter match than you would think.
Now to the result of the last poll, while Steins;Gate had always maintained a very comfy lead, the end result here is actually tight. As of this writing, there are 191 people who anticipated (I will keep the poll open for any late-comer, so if you missed it, don’t worry). Well 54.5% to 45.5% is not bad at all, huh?
As zeroyuki92 nicely summarize it: “This time I quite decisively pick Steins;Gate, though. Madoka quality overall is more balanced, and yeah S;G early part (and side arcs) is rather weak. However, the ultimate payoff of S;G is much more rewarding compared to Madoka.”
Shout out what you think on the comment section below, and we’re welcome to any suggestion as well. The last thing that I want to stress we’re here to provide a positive atmosphere as much as possible, so please respect other reader’s comments.
That’s all for now, HAPPY VOTING!
I didn’t watch From The New World as it first came out, as I had other obligations to deal with. But when I actually watched it…it didn’t quite hook me. Granted, I did eventually finish it, and I liked what it had to offer, including the infamous episode 8, but…I never felt like I could bring myself to care about the characters, and the show honestly felt like a chore to slog through. I really wanted to like it more than I did, though.
On the other hand, Haibane Renmei is another story, and I had a much better time with it. I know some people may find the first few episodes to be boring, but I honestly liked that it actually gives a durn about worldbuilding and giving the audience time to spend caring about the characters rather than just throwing us into the conflict like that. Plus, all of the conflicts are more internal than external, and every single character is interesting and relatable. Some may find it boring and arbitrary, but I remember loving Haibane Renmei when I first watched the (admittedly awesome) English dub for the first time. I even bought the DVD set when FUNimation re-released it. I should really re-watch it sometime, as I’ve been in a bit of an anime slump/burnout for the past few months. So my vote goes to Haibane Renmei.
That was a nice comments. Thanks for sharing your thoughts FireChick. I agree that one of the main difference between the two shows is Haibane Renmei focuses more on internal conflicts, while From the New World explores the external struggles (especially that third arc).
I had a much better time watching From the New World than you did, and I still think the show offers one of the best ending I’ve seen in a while (and I always pay extra attention when it comes to ending. The ending that wraps up neatly everything that come before is crucial in my book)
But then again, Haibane Renmei is a stunning work. Both explore the world-building without spoon-fed us, at the same time develop its main characters and the whole ride is emotionally satisfied. Well, my favorite anime of all time is Serial Experiments Lain so you basically have an idea which one I voted for, right?
I tried to watch Lain years ago, but I didn’t like it. If you like it, that’s okay! I definitely agree about New World’s ending being awesome, and I do think Squealer is a pretty awesome villain. Plus, my all-time favorite anime ever is a little known and underappreciated anime, Shounen Onmyouji.
Shounen Onmyouji is indeed an unusual choice. I’ve heard about it but never watched it. I will give it a watch when I have time and will tell you what I think about it.
Don’t let the cliched first half of the show fool you. The second half is where the show really shines. But again, everyone has different tastes, so that’s fine. Feel free to watch at your leisure.
This is definitely an interesting matchup. For me it’s from the new world all the way though. Haibane was a show that I was extremely excited to watch and was almost positive I’d love it but after actually sitting down to watch it, it just didn’t really do anything for me. I can admit that it’s a beautiful show but for some reason I can’t explain it didn’t leave a lasting impression on me. I even feel bad for being so indifferent about it haha
From the new world on the other hand had me hooked from episode one. It baffles me that some people say that it takes a while to get going because I think there is a good amount of interesting stuff going on from the very beginning.
Thankyou for putting that into words! Haibane left me with the same impression. I couldn’t find any faults but also couldn’t pick anything spectacular, but knew I liked it because I finished it in two sittings. I also ended with a pretty indifferent feeling and keep trying to think of reasons to recommend it.
New world left me with completely different feelings after each episode. It was so thought provoking watching on a weekly basis and I was overall pretty captivated by the story. Then the random dark episodes scattered everywhere were crazy on my emotions.
Now I know why, I can vote for New World conscience free 😀
My vote goes to Haibane Renmei, without a shadow of a doubt. The way Haibane Renmei manages to tackle his themes and convey things is much harder to pull off than your average info dump Shinsekai Yori is unfortunately filled with. Almost everything is internal and implied in Haibane Renmei with the help of the, now almost extinct in the anime medium, “show don’t tell”, regarding both the psychological as well as the philosophical aspects that are present in the show, not only is it thematically sound but it is also a true breath of fresh air to have a show that trusts its viewers that much (it doesn’t always pay off since a whole lot of people seem to claim that watching HR is like eating air), but for people that are willing to put some effort into understanding HR, it easily remains one of the most rewarding and emotionally impactful experiences you’ll ever come across in the anime medium.
Shinsekai Yori reminded me of Ergo Proxy to some extent, a whole lot of cool ideas flying around that never really amount to anything cohesive in the end which causes everything to be forgotten soon after finishing the show.
And like Firechick already said, Shinsekai Yori felt like a real chore to slog through. On the other hand, despite having a rather slow start, Haibane Renmei watches like butter (it also helps that Haibane Renmei is half as long as Shinsekai Yori).
The characters weren’t the best either (apart from the villain) and certainly can’t compete with Rakka and Reki’s legendary relationship.
I certainly don’t expect Haibane Renmei to win this versus, since it is older and way less popular than Shinsekai Yori. But as far as I’m concerned, Haibane Renmei not only is the best of the two, but easily one of the best anime ever created.
It’s interesting that when you look through to people’s personal top 10, Haibane pop up more often than FtNW. But popularity does help, as aside from the ones who think FtNW is better, those who have no strong favor between those 2 would end up voting for FtNW anyway.