Rating: 
Summary: A Euro-nihon story
Review: I think the key things about this anime I find interesting are the odd juxtapositions of technology and rural life. The story line is pretty shojo - people and relationships and feelings - but since I like Fruits Basket... I like this.I think for me the animation was pretty good, I don't mind the CG... I did mind some frames here and there where they did some cheap tricks for the drawn animation. However, my son and I like this story... the characters are people you grow to like... though the development of Rakka takes some time. I tended to like Reki off the bat. I think for Japanese audiences this may have seemed more exotic since the setting was like a Franch village and the Judeo-Christian symbolism and the dualism of sin and evil... not like the more sophist/Zen outlook in Japanese settings. In some way, I find it amusing when Japanese artists use crosses (like the one character's gun in Trigun) or stage fights in decrepid cathedrals (like Beebop and Outlaw Star). So I kind of found this movie less exciting in the exotic sense. I guess I like Japanese settings because then I learn more about another culture (like Fruits or Kenshin). However, I did really enjoy this movie overall, I just find some of their choices puzzling for the setting... reminded me of Myst.
Rating: 
Summary: carrots, pancakes, really really mundane jobs!!!!!
Review: I wanted to like this. I love studio Ghibli works. I am generally not a watcher of "let's blow it up" or "lets put two bugs in a jar and shake them" plots. There were a few intriguing plot elements (the dreams, the communicator guy, the taboos, the walls), but very little time was spent on that. Instead, we are treated to discussions of ...pancakes, carrots, house cleaning and some very menial jobs (bacon roll! buns!). It seemed very mundane to me despite the fantastical elements. Mind you I only watched the first volume and I couldn't bring myself to order the next ones...perhaps it gets better. However, I enjoy carrots and my pancakes don't have holes in them...my own life is also a good deal more interesting than what goes on in this fantasy reality...
The animation was also very poor - the type where when characters are talking, the camera pans around the landscape because its too costly to animate a face. Then there are lots of places where a person is talking and their head and body does not move...or people are standing around and they are just paralysed in place while another character is moving.
Also, most of the conversation consisted of o-o-o-o and heh and sigh and oh and uh...if you turned the picture off it would be mistaken for another genre entirely.
Rating:
Summary: Very promising...
Review: I was highly anticipating this DVD. I went out on its release date bought it and sat back and watched. The first episode was wonderful. The animation is beautiful, the music crisp, clean, and etheral. This series, from what I've seen of this disc, is very promising and I think will be one of my favorites, when its all realeased. It was a little slow in the middle (around episode 3) but overall this is a DVD worth picking up. Especially since I hear that the series is amazing all together, but has some slow parts toward the beginning. This disc is very full of substance, I think. Although you do not yet know much about the Haibane, they are very interesting and you feel the mystical feeling as one does when watching a Miyazaki classic, like Spirited Away. The only downfalls? Like I said. Its slow in some parts, and that you must wait till October 28th to experience more. But I think that could be a plus, too. Cause after seeing this you're not going to want to wait to see more. Very recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Provocative in Thoughtfullness
Review: If you're one to drool over, mainstream action adventure, this could leave you high and dry. If you have a natural disposition to things out of the ordinary, Haibane-Renmei, most likely is for you. This anime, is beautifully composed, (my only dislike, is the incorporated CGI of the windmills) of breathtaking scenery and characters. I like how the series starts out, with exceedingly limited knowledge of who the main character is, and just what the Haibane are. Many people may be thrown off at the sudden introduction of information, but that is real life. If you've ever moved, and meet people, they want to help you, each in their own way. It's just far to much for you to handle. This creates a total encompassing world, where you feel not threatened, but overwhelmed. It just takes time, and you become adjusted to it. Because this story line is so, lifelike, yes you can see the hints dropped along the way, that something is going to cause Rakka to try and leave. But perhaps, it's not in the manner everyone thinks it's going to be. I for one know, that an anime that can keep you on your toes (Eva excluded) is worth buying.
Rating:
Summary: Slow start, but good to the last drop
Review: In the town of Glie, there's an abandoned dorm called Old Home where several creatures with grey wings and glowing halos live. They're neither human nor angel. No one knows how they came to be living there in the first place and no one seems to really care either. The story begins with the birth of a new haibane from a cocoon. She dreamed that she was falling so her name came to be Rakka (which means "fall"). This is the story of the haibane of Old Home and how the live and work in Glie. This is one of the most awesome anime ever. It's not spectacularly amazing, but it feels that way. It more than makes up for ABe's lain, which is really pale in comparison to this. It is similar to ABe's works in that it features a young girl trying to find where she belongs in life. It's what NieA_7 would have been if it were serious and had a plot. I would strongly reccomend this anime if you like dramatic anime or if you liked some of ABe's previous works. If you think ABe is just all about lain and you thought it wasn't good at all, give Haibane Renmei a try and you'll be glad you did.
Rating:
Summary: Deep, thoughtful, sometimes dark, wonderful anime
Review: Like his earlier work "Serial Experiments: Lain", "Haibane Renmei" starts out apparently slow, then builds like the proverbial snowball to an astonishing finish. The web of drama and mysticism in this series has to be one of the tightest I've seen in anime. Almost every conversation reveals, in the most subtle manner, the hopes and fears of the characters involved. At first, the town of Guri seems to be an idyllic paradise. Then... This is "real life". We get to know the characters in "Haibane Renmei" like we do our own co-workers and neighbors: one encounter at a time, day by day, each day a little more revealing than the last. For some of us, our life goals and beliefs about God take years to understand; it is the same for Rakka. "What are the Haibane?" is a question that is asked, and never quite answered, throughout the series. That's the point. It is up to us to take in all the information and decide. This series is not for mecha-lovers, or for impatient action fans, or for anyone who can't sit still for 13 episodes without a building blowing up or a legion of aliens taking over. This is a series to ponder. Like life, it must be experienced forwards, but can only be understood backwards. That is why multiple viewings are common among HR fans: there are so many layers to delve through. We start, as Rakka does, confused as to where we are, what our purpose is. We experience incredible highs and devastating losses. We find friends who know what we've been through, and other well-meaning people who love us despite our weaknesses. We don't quite understand some of the processes, the "ground rules", of the world around us. And we learn that the world is not always a safe place. Probably one of the most "human" animes ever produced.
Rating:
Summary: Deep, thoughtful, sometimes dark, wonderful anime
Review: Like his earlier work "Serial Experiments: Lain", "Haibane Renmei" starts out apparently slow, then builds like the proverbial snowball to an astonishing finish. The web of drama and mysticism in this series has to be one of the tightest I've seen in anime. Almost every conversation reveals, in the most subtle manner, the hopes and fears of the characters involved. At first, the town of Guri seems to be an idyllic paradise. Then... This is "real life". We get to know the characters in "Haibane Renmei" like we do our own co-workers and neighbors: one encounter at a time, day by day, each day a little more revealing than the last. For some of us, our life goals and beliefs about God take years to understand; it is the same for Rakka. "What are the Haibane?" is a question that is asked, and never quite answered, throughout the series. That's the point. It is up to us to take in all the information and decide. This series is not for mecha-lovers, or for impatient action fans, or for anyone who can't sit still for 13 episodes without a building blowing up or a legion of aliens taking over. This is a series to ponder. Like life, it must be experienced forwards, but can only be understood backwards. That is why multiple viewings are common among HR fans: there are so many layers to delve through. We start, as Rakka does, confused as to where we are, what our purpose is. We experience incredible highs and devastating losses. We find friends who know what we've been through, and other well-meaning people who love us despite our weaknesses. We don't quite understand some of the processes, the "ground rules", of the world around us. And we learn that the world is not always a safe place. Probably one of the most "human" animes ever produced.
Rating:
Summary: Ignore the Amazon.com editorial review
Review: Normally I don't review things on Amazon.com, but that editorial reviews just makes my blood boil! "These mini-episodes are cute, wistful, and dull, with passive, uninteresting characters."
That is SO untrue. Maybe it take a certain taste to like this anime, but I found it one of the most creative and original anime out of all the more recent anime I've watched.
But I though this was a beautiful anime that deserves more respect! Ok, that was my 2 cents.
Rating:
Summary: Great stuff.
Review: Okay, so I've only seen the first four episodes. It has never happened to me before where I immediately buy the first four episodes of a series I've never seen in its entirety while eagerly awaiting the release of the remaining nine. This disc is great. Really. If you're looking for a garishly colored series with scantily clad large breasted women with blue hair wielding the controls of giant robots with action sequences that would cause epileptic shock and humor suitable for 12 year olds, you may wish to look elsewhere in the anime section. If you're looking for a compelling storyline, excellent character development with a huge dose of imagination thrown into a fully realized world (not to mention strange beings that grow wings and wear a halo), I'd whole heartedly recommend seeing at least the first four episodes. You owe it to yourself to break away from the stereotypical anime and check out something truly unique. The only other anime that I loved this much would be Ghibli works such as Princess Mononoke, Spirited away and Grave of the Fireflies. Highly recommended to anyone with an attention span greater than that of a gnat. Thank you for taking the time to read this, Bill Smith
Rating:
Summary: A town of mystery...
Review: Rakka was born out of an egg, becoming one of the newest Haibane, a angelic-like being. That's right, she develops wings and is given a halo. She finds herself in a walled town, with humans and Haibane coexist. But she has no memories of her life, only a dream she had while in the egg. While she learns the ropes of being a stranger in a strange place she starts to question everything. What is beyond the walls? Why can't anybody, angel or human, go outside the walls? What is her purpose or the purpose of the town?
The DVD is great, holding four episodes and a art gallery, plus the previews, non-credit opening and the original Japanese opening. I really enjoyed this first episodes, as I am a fan of Carrie Savage who plays Rakka, the main character. Also, I found out that Wendee Lee, who I am also a fan of, shows up in episode 10 as Kuramori(so I have to watch the whole series - DUH).
The first episodes on this DVD are as light and soft, like a feather, but there are darker shadows in background. Will they come to the front in the next DVD or stay just beyond our reach?
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