Welcome everyone to another episode of Haibane Renmei! This week’s episode is one of the more unique ones, though the solo title alone probably gives that away. Is this a good thing? Bad? Lets dive in and find out!
First up, what do I mean by unique? What makes this episode different from the rest and how does the title factor in? Doing my best to explain it, I think it has to do with the episodes focus. Previous episodes of Haibane Renmei seemed structured in three acts, acts that corresponded to the three titles. And each of these acts felt like the progressed the episodes story in some way. A clear beginning, middle and end so to speak. Yet this episode, with only one title, feels almost… stagnant. Like it’s one long act. One where the last episode introduced us to Rakka’s depression, this episode carried it through and fully explored it by giving it the time it needed, and next episode will begin to resolve it. Or maybe I’m just letting the singular title get to me and seeing differences where none exist. I liked it regardless.
That said I should probably get to what the episode is actually about: Rakka spiraling deeper and deeper into her depression. I thought it was all rather nice, Haibane Renmei did a good job of depicting her struggles! Well… not nice, it’s all rather sad, but it was presented in a compelling manner! Rather than having Rakka experience only the bad, falling deeper and deeper, Haibane Renmei showed the waves depression actually comes in. We got to see the moments of beauty in Rakka’s day, like troughs in the wave. Scenes like the kids playing in the store or the beautiful fields outside Old Home where Kuu liked to spend time. Only for the depression to peek through again such as with the crows or the old man, invading her happy times like a constant reminder even if it isn’t always overpowering her.
Of course all of this may still be a metaphor for sin like I talked about last week. But I prefer the idea that this is regular, every day mental health. Sure, it was caused by the strain that religion can put on a person as they try to live up to those impossible standards. Well that and the grief of a lost friend. But depression can come from many sources and most people experience it at some point in their lives. I mean… for goodness sake, the episode ends with Rakka literally trapped in a dark well with no way out on her own burying the symbolic representation of her dream. The only way out being her friends and family, those around her taking notice and doing their best even if they don’t understand how she got down there. It doesn’t get much more straight forward than that.
For the sake of argument though lets take a look at a few more reasons why I think this is depression. The first being the crows KAW KAW. To me, these things are Rakka’s own personal demons. She seems them so often, with no reaction from anyone else, and in such specific contexts that I can’t help but wonder if they are even real. It’s like they are figments of her imagination, representations of her own degrading psyche. And of course since they come from her own mind, from her dream, she trusts them implicitly. At least enough to follow them deeper and deeper into a dark forest and down a well. But these things, these inner demons, don’t have her best interests at heart. If anything they are just isolating her from everyone around her. Pushing her to abandon her support group and just… die.
Speaking of death, this brings me to another concern I have: Rakka’s dream. What’s it about? Is falling through the sky to the world below some kind of metaphor for death? For being sent to Limbo or Hell? I want to believe that it’s just a dream and mostly symbolic. All of the other girls had their own dreams after all. And yet, each of them could be a manifestation of their own death. If I were to stick with the theory that these girls were sent here to seek redemption as a last chance to enter Heaven, it would still fit if these dreams were connected to how they originally died (or lived). Whatever ends up happening, I’m curious about what the dreams mean and I hope that Haibane Renmei doesn’t disappoint me with them.
Finally lets talk about some of the small cutesy stuff and where I see Reki going. The whole thing with the kids and tailor was just like I said, cute. It’s always nice to see more of how the town treats and interacts with the Haibane and this is no exception. But it did make me wonder: Is this how Reki earns her Day of Flight? By taking care of other people? She’s Sin-Bound of course so we don’t even know if its possible. But I fear that where Rakka’s story is one of falling to hell, Reki’s is of rising to Heaven. That through taking care of Rakka, Old Home and the Children she will find her own repentance and be allowed over the Walls. It would be an interesting juxtaposition to whatever Rakka’s story ends up being, and perhaps a beacon of hope for her own future.
So yeah all in all I would say this was another good episode. Maybe it felt a little slow to some, the entire thing is focused entirely on Rakka after all. But Haibane Renmei has done enough leading up to it that I’m invested in the characters. That entire episodes devoted to their mental states don’t feel “slow” but rather “engaging”. And I think that’s the crux of it for me with Slice of Life shows. If I care about the characters, if I come to like or connect with them, then I don’t mind the slowness. I don’t mind seeing their daily lives just like how I don’t mind hanging out with my own friends. But when those characters are uninteresting or poorly written, like 90% of Slice of Life anime out there? Then they become an absolute slog to get through.
Lucky for me that Haibane Renmei is better than that.
