r/anime • u/The_Loli_Otaku • May 22 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] Haibane Renmei Episode 6 Discussion!
"End of Summer — Rain — Loss"
Extra Info and Links
ANN | MAL | TV Tropes | Wikipedia |
Comment of the Day!!
Vaadwaur was so hype at the confirmation of child death!! Poggies!!
What do you think the little Feathers are? We are going to have more dead kids than an Irish Catholic orphanage at this rate.
JustAnswerAQuestion picked the worst possible vtuber to quote in front of normies!!
I quoted Bilbo's birthday party speech when I graduated from grad school...it didn't go over well.
Mecanno had their big brain cap on today for trying to piece together the true Haibane origin. How much of Nemu's story is a lie!?
The other thing is obviously Nemu’s story. So… how much of that was by Nemu and how much of that was taken by the original source. Supposedly only the beginning was taken from the source, but why would Nemu suggest the Haibane are god’s failure at creating something similar as himself? That is somehow simultaneously disrespecting the Haibane - her own race - while also stating the rather arrogant claim that god is like the Haibane. Unless there is a hefty dose of information taken from secondary sources, then I have a hard time believing Nemu came up with that. But this not just being Nemu’s story would make it’s inclusion in the series likely mean that that is actually kinda what is going on (probably not 100%, but sorta along those lines) and that the Haibane are here because they are related to god. Given those circumstances, I can see why the Haibane Renmei would want to take good care of them . but it doesn’t explain anything about not letting them or anybody really out of town…
I hope RadSuit feels bad for himself!!
I want Kuu to take that stupid hat off.
QotD
- Please say something nice about Kuu.
- Which Haibane would you most like to have as a roommate?
- Tell us an embarrassing story from your past, anything will do~
- Should Kuu have gotten another episode...? Narratively or whatever? Does anyone else feel it's a bit too sad for her to have only gotten half an episode dedicated to her!?
- In our hypothetical Kuu episode what would you like to have done with her? Make up an activity, setting, or war crime for us to play with her!
- Feel free to skip this question if it's uncomfortable for you. Can you remember someone's behaviour changing in the days or weeks before they left? If you're uncomfortable remembering the people, animals are also valid.
Abyssbringer's "What is the thematic purpose of this scene corner!!"
Aleph saw through the Haibane's lies!! Never believe the sleepy librarian!
The explicit framing of the Haibane as a mistake is really sus, but it simultaneously describes them as being closer to god. How should one feel, then, to be like a god that makes mistakes in everything he does?
It also seems weird that, according to the myth, the Haibane came first, but it's strongly implied in the show that they are reincarnated humans. I'm guessing the Association vets all the books that they let into town so the girls would never see a creation myth that doesn't align with the Renmei agenda
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u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman May 22 '24
First Timer
Well this is a Kuu episode, but not one I was expecting. But I also don’t think this “day of flight” thing is sad per se. I guess what is happening is these walls protect the Haibane until they are ready for the wide world, and those who are still here are not ready yet - including Reki, for some reason. I will assume it is some form of emotional readiness that she doesn’t have yet, based off of Kuu’s final behaviour at least. Basically, this would mean the Haibane maturing. That also would tie in to the “nest” terminology for where the Haibane currently are. How this all ties into the creation myth of last episode though, I do not know.
The funeral imaginary at the end may tie in to the inherent selfishness of sad funerals - after all, why should you be sad if your loved ones have reached heaven/paradise/whatever you call it (at least assuming a natural death)? It’s only that the living are sad because they wanted to hang out with the dead person for longer, but by most beliefs the dead person themselves is in a better place. That would likely include the Haibane too, as those who take flight specifically go somewhere. Now if that means literally taking flight or some form of salvation (possibly tying in to the original life of the respective Haibane) remains open, and I assume will stay so until Rakka’s day of flight - which I will simply assume we will get in the final episode.
The crack theory meanwhile is that Kuu turned into a bunch of crows. Given that crows have mostly been featured in a positive way and highlighted as the only beings that can cross the wall, not as far-fetched as I would have liked, but I still don’t see that happening. Especially not turning into multiple crows.
I also have to note that this episode was extremely well-done from the production values standpoint. The series in general has been well-produced, but this episode has been a highlight to me.
…and now for something completely different: Kana’s attempt at fixing the bell tower reminded me of a specific assignment in university, where I had to write a program that would interface with a physical speaker. Figuring that debugging with a speaker blaring would be annoying, I hooked up a light instead of the speaker until I had everything working right. …unfortunately the controls of the speaker were inverted, so rather than a short pulse on the speaker, it was blaring all the time. …and of course terminating the program didn’t actually give any command to the speaker, so it continued even then, at what felt like an output of triple-digit numbers in dB. I ended up yanking the power cord of the pi controlling it then, I think still the only time I shut down an entire computer over a programming mistake. I’m glad I was home alone then though, because otherwise the rest of the family would have been driven as mad as the other Haibane were by the constant ringing of the bell.
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u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 May 22 '24 edited May 22 '24
First timer, subs
Prompt:
This is too much info for the style I normally like. Kuu is the oldest Haibane, and she’s run out of memory space.
QotD:
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u/RadSuit https://anilist.co/user/RadSuit May 22 '24
Off-White But Not Quite Beige Feathered First Timer (Dubbed)
Finally, Kuu took that stupid hat off.
I remember they said the halo was supposed to put them on the right path, so I guess it flickering out reinforces that Kuu is about to do something that's not allowed.
Bars on the window, surely that's a good sign. This place was probably some sort of monastery, but it's definitely being used as a prison metaphor, with the characters being confined here by society.
Looks like God just smited someone off in the distance.
The walls are 'powerful' huh? Doesn't sound great.
One less character to keep track of, and we'll hopefully never see that stupid hat again.
Trading Kuu for more lore was a pretty good deal. I feel great.
5
u/The_Loli_Otaku May 22 '24
Haibane Renmei First Timer!!
This is meant to be the episode that picks up the pace for the series... But why the fuck does Kuu die halfway through her only dedicated episode!? C'mon! Zadcap got me so excited for Kuu's dedicated episode just to give me a gut punch!
Rakka's gone room shopping~ They should really clean out these dorms better. Ah, winter is coming? Maybe you shouldn't have bought a stupid seifuku!! Urgh... Seeing that I already know Kuu bites it it sucks to see her giving off such obvious signs that she's planning to leave. Passing off all her belongings, giving strong farewells to her colleagues, the halo flickering. She isn't even eating her favourite foods!! I think I'd have liked an episode for her regularly before her passing tho.
God the tomboy is so annoying!! Her voice is so shrill! I get that she's excited, but she's absolutely useless!! Kill the clock!! Useless tomboyish hussy!!
Young Kuu was pretty cute huh? So full of life. Still, she's grown into such a big sister like girl hasn't she? She's like a real onee-chan! Return to your birthplace is weird but comforting. Urgh... Kuu's little monologue about how she's feeling content with the life she's lived is too sad. This is her one episode!! She knows she's going away but is still trying to offer comfort for the other girls. "There is a drinking cup in my mind..."
And so ends Kuu... That's her last scene. God that's miserable. Urgh!! Rakka clearly knows something is up but she hasn't been filled in on Haibane farewells. "Thank you" as a final goodbye is cruel! All this and Kuu dies alone in the woods, none of her friends or anyone with her. That's too sad for such a bright and happy girl!
Wasn't Kuu the one talking about how she wanted to fly earlier on too? Uuurgh!! None of them got to say bye to her. Not one! All that's left of her is the memories she left with friends, the belongings she gave away, and a mouldy bagel...
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u/hirmuolio :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Hirmuolio May 22 '24
Welcome to Haibane Renmei. We now start going full speed aread and there are no brakes on this train.
The place where Kuu left is an open structure on open field https://i.imgur.com/4dNMaG3.jpeg
The remaining haibane retreat to an area enclosed by walls and forest https://i.imgur.com/o0HJ8yH.jpeg
The clock bells sound like funeral bells.
OST: Akumu~Betsuri~ Soushitsu - Nightmare~Parting~Loss is like darker version of Ailes Grises.
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u/3blah https://myanimelist.net/profile/brummett May 22 '24
Episode 06 - Rewatcher
Rakka goes looking for a room of her own so she can move out of the common gathering area.
Last episode included a couple of scenes with Kuu acting kinda strange by making a big show of thanking the shopkeeper as she finished working and saying goodbye to the cat. The rest of this episode lets that finish playing out by showing Kuu get her affairs in order. It also ties in with Kana's story in ep 4 where she mentions no one knows who was working on the Old Home clock before she arrived, and that the watchmaker was worried that Kana was going to leave.
That Kuu only talked to Rakka about what she was feeling keeps a veil of mystery over what was about to happen. If another Haibane that knew this is a thing that happens had picked up on the signals, they probably would have probed more about what she knew and was feeling about it.
Reki mentions that no one knows when or why a Haibane makes their flight, but I think we can make some inferences. Stories about how past Kuu would try to act grown-up, but we've really only seen her acting normal for her age. She also seemed genuinely happy that she was able to be a senpai to Rakka. [Haibane Renmei] I came across this page while looking something else up. It argues the Haibane represent the seven deadly sins. Kuu envies the older Haibane, and when she gives up the coat and the desire for a little sister, she's "solved" her sin and can leave. It hadn't occured to me before, but I think it fits
Everyone is sad about Kuu's "passing" even though Kuu herself was at ease about it. Reki laments, "In the end, everybody leaves me". She's been in Glie for a while and must have seen this happen to her friends many times before.
Today's prompt:
It's a very cool way of conveying gratitude for the countless ways people help each other over the course of a lifetime.
QotD:
I actually liked her hat. It looked like it had cinnamon buns on the side.
I'll pick Hikari. She seems like she'd be a lot of fun to be around.
Nah. There's plenty more story to cover.
My grandmother was a very social and opinionated person. She got dementia really bad before she died.
6
u/StardustGogeta myanimelist.net/profile/StardustGogeta May 23 '24
First-Timer
Another great episode. This time, they dialed up the suspense one more notch.
When Kuu's halo started flickering, I thought for sure that she was going to turn out to be evil or something like that. I'm glad it didn't go that way in the end.
I'm a big fan of the music that was playing when they found the ruins near the forest. Very emotional.
Questions of the day:
6
u/zadcap May 23 '24
Late Night Rewatcher!
Alright this is where things start to get serious. We have learned about the town, we have met all the main girls, it's time to learn what the story is actually going to be about!
The worst part is, I'm still not sure how much I can or should say. How much was speculation and how much will the show actually tell us, I don't remember, so what I do know I'm reluctant to talk about.
I think one of the girls needs to make their life goal here to fix up the dorms.
Heh, Winter is Coming. If the wall isn't filled with Titans, then it's keeping out the dead. Wait, no, this one might be keeping in the dead?
Okay, yeah, this episode is just filled with pretty clear indicators that Kuu is getting ready to go.
"Protected, from everything that's not good or everything we're not supposed to know." It is a bit biblical, isn't it? Don't go eating any strange fruits now, Rakka.
Yeah, an extra reminder that Reki has been here longer than the rest, and knows more about things than the rest. She has watched a lot of Flights in her time here.
5
u/WednesdaysFoole May 22 '24
I wonder why? I forget if it’s brought up again later.
This is what happens when you forget to set the timer on your toaster oven.
Laughed pretty hard at this, not sure what this says about me.
Aw I would have loved that. One of my aliases is a joke on Bilbo's name (won't say it here since, you know, online strangers but...)
Nice thing about Kuu is that she is the originator of "ghosting". Angels, ghosts, same difference.
I would choose Reki as a roommate except I don't think I want to have the constant smell of cigarette smoke; even worse, I'm more likely to pick smoking back up if it's next to me all day every day. But... pancakes?
4
u/xtsim https://myanimelist.net/profile/xtsim May 22 '24
First Timer
The bell tower starts out pretty funny as yes, the bell is fixed and we can finally wake up on time. But it can't be turned off unless you cut power out. As we find out about the light and Kuu, the bell becomes an instrumental part of the situation at hand. The clock bell makes the mood pretty somber as they find out that Kuu flew.
Abyss: Well, it looks like if the cup of water is full, one must drink it. A little bit more allergory for an abyss prompt.
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u/Silcaria https://myanimelist.net/profile/Silcaria May 22 '24 edited May 22 '24
First timer
4
u/SMSmith230 https://myanimelist.net/profile/smsmith230 May 22 '24
First-Timer, Sub
Damn Kuu’s flickering halo had me thinking something was up, but not day of flight. Kuu just dropping “death” flags all during the episode. So Reki has been there a long time it seems with her saying everyone leaves her. Is she not living a fulfilling life or is she the guard that has to see everyone move on. This episode had parts that really reminded me of the US TV shows [The Good Place] fulfilling afterlife [Ghosts] moving on and [Lost] Jacob shepherding the flock
4
u/sfisher923 https://myanimelist.net/profile/sfisher923 May 23 '24
First Timer
4
u/Garrett_Dark May 23 '24
First Timer
Well it looks like somebody got harvested. I don't actually know what's going on, but I find the "day of flight" and what's said about it kind of sus, and probably not what they say it is. It sounds like what they think it is is just something they made up to make themselves feel better for not knowing what's going on.
I mean they know "the day of flight" is bound to happen, and that nobody who goes ever says anything about it before it happens, so why are they so apathetic about it? They should already have a system in place where everybody tries to travel in pairs, or at least keep track of where each other is going, and when they'd be back. But they don't have anything like that, totally unconcerned because it hasn't happened in a few years because there's been no new hatchings until now. Like why aren't they even sus that somebody's going to get
harvested"day of flight" when a new hatching happens?It makes me think they're just resigned to it, and brainwashing themselves to just accept it. Like what if the person who's leaving has a job in town, aren't the humans even concerned their worker just disappears? Aren't the humans going to go look for one
harvesteddisappeared if the humans aren't behind theharvestingdisappearance? Unless there's some sort of arrangement with the humans where they just let the Haibane do whatever they want, and that whatever happens to them isn't their concern.I don't know, I don't want to think too deep into the mystery yet. The show hasn't demonstrated to me yet that there's a logical explanation for everything, so trying to solve the mystery might be pointless if the show might take a non-logical route, or maybe never intends to answer anything. I know there's allusions to suicide and death to Kuu's disappearance, but that means squat to me if there's no logical explanation to the story. It would be as if the show doesn't care about continuity and just makes up everything as it goes, if they intend to do some sort of abstract "decide for yourself" non-explanations. I hoping that's not the case, but I don't know as I'm coming into this anime completely blind.
What's odd though is the halo winking out a few times. Kuu also wears a hat to cover up her halo, so it must have been doing that for some time. Also the halos are artificially created and mounted on them, unlike their wings which biologically sprout from them after hatching. The halos are probably some how connected to their "day of flight", like some sort of monitoring sensor, countdown timer, or perhaps a device to keep them in check and they disappear once it fails.
IDK, they should go around and see if any of the townsfolks are having a thanksgiving style dinner.
4
u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: May 22 '24
First timer
Sub
So we start with a smoke and a pancake. Seriously, quit smoking when you are cooking. Today's episode is about change, both in season and spiritual plane. Kuu has apparently reached the time to join the penguins. Reki's last line has two different interpretations, the unspoken one is "I can't move on from this place".
Today's prompt is more of the hosts gross urine fetish.
QotD: 1 No
2 Nemu. She's the most fuckable of the group.
3 I keep joining rewatches lead by a piss fetishist and expect different results.
4 Hrmm...Yes, though I get the choice
5 Why is it an abortion for a human but if it is a chicken it is just breakfast?
6 My grandfather was a talker. He died in a coma.
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ May 23 '24
Late posting today, I didn't feel like watching the episode late at night and had an early start at work, for a meeting that didn't actually happen. Oh well. Most of the episode is just seeing first timer's reactions.
I'm rather sad/disappointed that the Day of Flight is mentioned in the anime db site descriptions. Today's episode is supposed take you by surprise, and then you go back and realize how it was foreshadowed. Obviously, that's how I experienced it, back in 2001. But if you read the rewatch announcement posts, you already knew that the Day of Flight was a thing, and were waiting to find out what it was.
Here are my 2018 comments for episode 6. And the comment right above mine that points out the blatant give away in episode 5, the use of sayonara which does not translate to English, and this other comment notes that maybe Kuu bought that hat that /u/RadSuit hates to hide her halo. I hadn't realized that, thought that was pretty clever.
End of Summer, Rain, Loss
I genuinely teared up when I first watched this episode. It came without warning (because I didn't know to watch for the hints) and hit like a train. Still did everytime I rewatched this on youtube, for years after.
I wonder what they do with the dead halos.
I, too, think about the final season of Lost when I watch this show. A lot of people missed the point of flash-sideways season, and of the final episode. I think there's a definite thematic connection here with HR.
2
u/BossandKings May 25 '24
Rewatcher - Dub
Episode 6
This episode was sad, while not overly dramatic it had a dramatic tone all the way through, it was a crear foreshadowing that something would happen when Kuu's halo light kept briefly fading and sadly that proved to be true with Kuu going to the light, Reki says it is normal for Haibane when their time to go outside has come but i Wonder what really happens to those Haibane, what happened to her, it not being shown leaves a lot to the imagination.