Many consider Haibane Renmei, by Yoshitoshi ABe, to be one of the most beautiful and thought-provoking anime series of recent memory. It is the tale of a mysterious town surrounded by high walls whose residents are forbidden to leave. Amongst the townspeople of this city are a small community of Haibane, people with wings and halos who have no recollection of life before their arrival in the town in cocoons. The names that they are given are based upon the dreams they had within their cocoons; for example the protagonist, Rakka ("falling"), is so named because her dream was of falling from the sky. After dwelling and working in the town for a number of years, Haibane depart from their existence in the town during their "day of flight."
Many questions are left unexplained in the anime that bear some discussion amongst those who have seen the anime, including
1. What are the Haibane?
2. What do their cocoon dreams symbolize?
3. What is the position of the Haibane in the village? Are they really being protected by the village?
4. What is the day of flight?
Of course, you should not feel constrained by these questions; please feel free to bring up any aspect of the series you would like to discuss.
There is more to the philosophical background to this already deep and layered anime, however. ABe noted once that he
drew much of his inspiration for Haibane Renmei from the writings of famed Japanese author Haruki Murakami. In
particular, the immediate inspiration for the walled town seems to be the walled city from the even-numbered chapters
from Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.
For those who have read works by Murakami such as Hard-Boiled Wonderland:
5. Does Murakami shed light on the deeper meaning behind events in Haibane Renmei in any of his works?
6. How far should one go in using Murakami as a resource for understanding Haibane Renmei?
I'm not sure how well this discussion will go, as Haibane Renmei is not exactly quite as popular as series such as
Inuyasha or Naruto. Also, while Murakami is considered one of the most popular writers of contemporary fiction, it is
quite likely that many members of Minitokyo have not read his works (or may not have ever heard of him either). As such,
amongst forum regulars, there may be little or no overlap between those who have seen Haibane Renmei or have read
Murakami. If this is the case, I highly recommend that you watch Haibane Renmei if you have not yet done so and if
possible pick up a Murakami book, such as Hard-Boiled Wonderland or my personal
favorite, the Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.