MovieChat Forums > Haibane Renmei (2002) Discussion > Does Anyone NOT Like this Anime?

Does Anyone NOT Like this Anime?


Hello, I hope you are well.

My girlfriend and I started watching this anime after reading rave reviews online, including the 9/10 rating at IMDB. We were looking for a short anime to watch, and because Haibane Renmei was only 13 episodes-long, we figured we'd give it a try (with high expectations, actually).

I enjoyed the first few episodes, mainly because of the entire mystery that the writers came up with. Who were the Haibane? What existed outside the town? Who were the ones in charge of the town? I thought the anime would center around those topics. However, when we finally got through the anime, we realized that we'd wasted our time.

I know that there are people who like the story and what it stands for symbolically, but my girlfriend and I were bored most of the way through. All the while, we were expecting the end to be spectacular and surprising, something that would make up for the hours we sat through watching the anime. The ending, however, felt completely empty.

13 episodes is very short for an anime, but for Haibane Renmei, they did not need 13 episodes to tell this story.

Does anyone else not like this anime? Yes, I know people will bash me to no end, and that's fine, but let's stay on topic, if possible. I've already read some other threads about why this anime is good, and I'm glad others enjoyed it, but this thread is for people who did not.

Thank you.

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Hi there, I dont want to be rude but may I ask how old are you and your girlfriend? And which animes have you enjoyed most?

Happy endings are just stories that haven't finished yet

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Age doesn't really have to do with people's opinions.

I myself have found this anime very boring so far and I'm finding myself forcing myself to watch the rest of it.

And I'm only on the fifth episode.

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It really doesn't pick up until the 7th episode - and even then it is a very "girly" series. The 'mystery' sort of picks up - but it is a different sort of anime. I enjoyed it.

http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=42385905

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I do not respect his infantile opinion. I am not obligated to respect people's opinions. Calling something "boring" is not a sufficient reason for not liking it. How was it boring?

Moreover, why does boring have to entail a poor rating?

It's the same thing with Andrei Tarkovsky. My friend called Stalker boring, so I showed him the door out.

http://rebirthofreason.com/Articles/Hawkins/Not_Respecting_Opinions.shtml

I don't have time to pat the backs of superficial teenagers that always want to be entertained. No thanks.

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"I enjoyed the first few episodes, mainly because of the entire mystery that the writers came up with. Who were the Haibane? What existed outside the town? Who were the ones in charge of the town? I thought the anime would center around those topics. However, when we finally got through the anime, we realized that we'd wasted our time."
I agree. Those were the only interesting aspects of the series. The rest of it was cheesy and boring and didn't seem to have anything really worthwhile to say. I also agree that it could have been fit into a much shorter series and was really dragged out.

Don't attack my lack of appreciation for "intellectual" or slow-paced anime, either; I'm a big fan of Serial Experiments Lain and Texhnolyze. Haibane Renmei really was just sub-par.

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Here's one more that don't like this anime. I don't care if an anime is slow as long it's entertaining. But, as mastavic commented, I found it boring besides slow.

It's just my taste, of course. It's clear we're minority. But I'm ok with that, there are so many great animes no matter your preferences are... for example, after trying H.Renmei I watched "12 kingdoms" and it's one of my all time anime favorites, one of these animes that causes important sleeping problems. Non sleeping problems, to be more accurate.

Regards.

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A complete waste of time indeed. I watched Haibane Renmei because of a recommendation in the Serial Experiment Lain forum mentionning that it was from the same artist. (not really lol)

Well, the anime is completely empty. There's absolutely not a hint of an explanation of what the Haibane are, why the walls are supposedly magical, the Toga is mentionned like, once, even though they are the only people able to cross the walls, and the whole thing feels like a one-shot manga that got stretched far too long. And that's not even going into details such as how such a small village with such limited technology can have flashlights, or even skateboards for that matter.

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Now I get people that say the anime is slow and boring, to each their own, but your criticisms seem to come more from lack of understanding (maybe it was too boring to hold your attention and you just missed it) than anything actually in the anime. Everything you complain about is explained pretty well in the series, here's a quick recap:

The Haibane are souls that died before they learned what they needed to learn in order to move on to the next plane of existence.

The town (and its walls) are a sort of magical safe haven where these souls are put, encouraged, and gently tested in order for them to learn what they need to learn and become what they need to be to move on.

The Toga are Haibane that didn't figure it out, and so they're stuck as servants/keepers of the town.

Lastly, the town isn't a real town, its a place outside time and our world, its not heaven, its not purgatory, its not the twilight zone, but its something similarly otherworldly and thus worrying about where they get their skateboards is a pretty petty criticism.

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I agree withnowayjose-8. I think the reason for your discontent can be found in one of your opening statements, and the expectation it implies: "I thought the anime would center around those topics."

What is telling is that you presupposed the show would center around those questions, so when the principal story arc kicks in around ep 5-6, naturally, you would be disappointed in the shift. It seems to me you were expecting an exciting unravelling of the show's mythology as opposed to a character-driven narrative. As it turns out, the show is capable of both.

"Who were the Haibane? What existed outside the town? Who were the ones in charge of the town?"

These questions are answered. You just didn't pick up on them, perhaps because the story answers them implicitly... even so, they are ALWAYS implicit in the main conflict of Rakka and Reki and so it shouldn't very hard for attentive viewers to come to the conclusions themselves.

Adding to what nowayjose-8 has already said, the Haibane are reincarnations of children and teens who have died prematurely in unfortunate circumstances. Their dreams and the naming traditions are clues to how they died; Hikari (means light - a fire or lightning?), Kana (river fish - drowning?), Kuu (air - asphyxiation or falling from someplace?), Nemu (sleep - coma?) etc. In the case of Rakka and Reki, their circumstances were self-effaciveness to the point of letting oneself die and a violent suicide. nowayjose-8's description of the town and the Toga is pretty spot on, too.

I'm sorry to hear you didn't enjoy HR, but it's not due to a lack of exposition on the show's part. It could just be the wrong type of anime/storytelling for you and your gf.

chilicheeze - I'd like to know why you think HR is "girly" and how that devalues it?

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"chilicheeze - I'd like to know why you think HR is "girly" and how that devalues it?"

The only things I can think of is that there is no guns, explosions or plane crashes. Also, most of the story revolved around the characters interactions, feelings and the slow development of their knowledge of themselves.

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Yes I dont like this anime.It was so boring it put me into coma for 3 years :(

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Without medication? damn!

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I just found it dull and pointless. Also Rakka really annoyed me.

I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar.

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I love this show. But I can totally see why a lot of people wouldn't like it.

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Much like the others who have been disappointed by this series I decided to watch Haibane Renmei because people recommend it if you like Serial Experiments Lain, Kino's Journey, Paranoia Agent, Ergo Proxy... It turns out it's nothing like any of those. It's a bad recommendation in terms of the shows aforementioned.

I'm only six episodes in so perhaps my opinion isn't valid yet but I can say that I'm not enjoying it. I find it too (sorry, can't think of a synonym) 'girly' and too... anime-y... I guess the main problem is that I'm simply not getting enough out of it. The episodes are leaving me feeling indifferent, like I wasted my time.

Although I'm not liking the show I don't actually think it's bad, per se. I was just expecting something more because of the high ratings and the comparisons to the animes I listed earlier which I personally rate much more highly.
I probably should have chose Texhnolyze instead. It seems like a more appropriate recommendation.

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I feel similarly. I was recommended this series because I love Evangelion, and Renmei is supposed to be just as emotionally impacting. While I didn't find it a bad series, there really wasn't all that much happening to catch my interest. I finished it, enjoyed it, and would recommend it to somebody else, but it just didn't grab me the way a show should.

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