Haibane Renmei - New Feathers (Vol. 1)
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DVD details
Actor: Howard Clarendon, Josh Phillips (II), Noah Matisoff, Sharon McWilliams, Tamio ÔkiDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); English (Original Language); Japanese (Original Language)
Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 25 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-08-26
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Geneon [Pioneer]
DVD Reviews of Haibane Renmei - New Feathers (Vol. 1)
DVD Review: Frustrating
Summary: 3 Stars
Haibane Renmei is, to me, a very frustrating series.
First of all I will say that the first episode here was excellent. In fact it may be one of the best opening episodes of any anime's iv'e seen. The scene in which Raka grows her wings is not only heart wrenching but is so well concieved you can practically feel the pain with her. I also, might add, that it does a good job introducing what would be an incredibly interesting plotline.
However, what annoy's me is that after an amazing begining the show basically goes nowhere with these begining episodes. The concept is so interesting and potentially amazing, but in the end it all falls flat. This is what I mean by frustrating, I wanted so much to really love this title but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Not to say that I dislike it but I certainly think it could be worlds better. The main problem lies in how harmless it is. Look, this is just me, if you love harmless anime then be my guest, but its just way too uninvolving. For a plot like this to soar there has to be some kind of conflict. I'm not necessarilly saying it has to be a whole bad guys vs. good guys senario but I would like some sort of conflict present, and i'm talking about more than just trying to reseolve the fact that the haibane children won't eat their vegetables.
The main problem with the disc I will say, which mainly cocenrs what's said above, is episodes three and four. Epsiode two was at least interesting and provided some plot points to look foward to. But it's episode three where everything turns stale. And when I say stale I mean exactly that. After Raka is established in the community as a Haibane everything just basicaly loosens into her trying to find her place in their world by getting a job. This could very easily open the door for some kind of compelling story or situation to arise, but ultimately it fails by dropping its viewer into a neverending string of boring, uneventful, to artsy for its own good, situations. Theres nothing intersting present,and its way too artsy, everything just drones along, with characters who are, in my opinion sometimes are way too overly happy.
Aside from that however in general the characters are fairly likeable. Raka is actualy a very likeable lead, not being your typical, run of the mill girl character. But best of all is Reki who is acually extremely likeable, and once again not the typical run of the mill girl characters. Everybody else is alright not giving into many of the anime achetypes so often seen, but yet alot of them are just too overly enthusiastic, no one has any kind of edge to them, which can be a litle grating.
Th animation in the show is absolutely stunning I will say. the color scheme fits the overall feel of the show very well, and the character design is also comendable as well as diverse. The backrounds as well are very detailed and well done. Visually this show is top notch.
The music is also very good, although very subtle. Don't expect any heavy meatl or rock here.
The dubbing here should also be recognized. This show was extremely well cast providing not so run of the mill voices for it's characters. Everyone is, for the most part, either normal pitched or mellow, which is exactly perfect for the show's mood. The standout performance here is Reki's voice over. It captured the character perfectly and was also extrmely well acted. Kudos to the dub.
This is a tough title for me, and maybe it is slighty unfair for me to complain about the show's lack of conflict. Its possible that that's what Abe had intended; just a mellow, kind spirited series. But I guess what I'm trying to do is warn people who don't want that kind of show, and are looking for something more edgy. However I will commend Haibane for being very different, its it's own show which in it's own way makes it deserve alot of merit, and even though I usually go for that type of anime, this just wasn't for me. However not all hope is lost, I actually picked up volumes 1 and 2 at a convention for five bucks a piece, and despite having problems with volume 1 I will be watching the second one, basiclaly out of curiosity. I still want desparately want to like this series and I'm not about to give up yet. I guess I'll see what happens.
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