Haibane-Renmei: Episode 6 Commentary
End of Summer. Rain. Loss.
There’s a graveyard on the way to the council’s temple. Is this a graveyard for humans, or for haibane who never left?
This DVD release’s episode previews being in the extra materials section has been the best thing for me. Episodes are much less predictable before seeing them, as I have no episode preview to build expectations from at the end of an episode. The previews themselves are short, but keeping them out of view rather than at the end of an episode makes for a better experience for me. Some series, such as Piano, add worthwhile dialogue during the episode preview, but I may have to consider in the future skipping the episode preview where the dialogue isn’t worth hearing to see if the improved experience works for other series as well.
Kuu’s “day of flight” brings about questions about the halos the haibane wear. When Rakka is given a halo, she’s told it’s to guide her. Kuu’s halo began to lose its glow now and then. She left in a grow of light, and her halo remained, unglowing. What happens if a halo loses its glow and a haibane doesn’t leave? Where does a haibane go after leaving? If Kuu has left the town’s protective walls, is she outside the walls, or did she reach the end of her life? If the later, then why was she reborn as a haibane to begin with? Was it to complete something left incomplete in her former life?
Reki gives a comment about everyone eventually leaving her. Haibane come and go, and a new cocoon appears connected with a day of flight. When the new cocoons stopped appearing, the days of flight ceased. With the birth of Rakka, another day of flight has come to pass. Perhaps Kuu finally has reached her dream of flying.
It’s shown that Kuu knows what’s coming, as she gives her coat to Rakka—while also passing on knowledge of what winter is like within the walls—and she makes sure to prepare for her leaving. She tells Rakka that it’s because of her that she’s finally able to leave, even if she doesn’t say it in so many words. Kuu’s final acts showed her maturity, such as cleaning the kitchen for Reki. And by recommending Rakka move into the room Rakka was born in, she’s created an extra, lasting memory of her for Rakka.
Early on, Reki asked Rakka if there was anything with her in her dream while in the cocoon. Rakka is unable to remember the bird, although it appears in later dreams. There’s no mention of any such “companion” in the dreams of the others, so it’s unknown if Kuu was also guided by the birds. Rakka has an understanding of the birds, even if it’s just a feeling, or an omen.
I figured either Rakka or Kuu would achieve flight by the final episode. It would have to be Rakka, as she’s the main character of the series. This is her story we’re watching. With Kuu’s day of flight shortly before the midway point of the series, this gives another six episodes to prepare Rakka. Either she’ll prepare for a life in Old Town for some time longer, or she’ll prepare for her own day of flight. But, can her day of flight arrive without another cocoon, without another hatchling, appearing first?
Using the bell worked nicely for this episode. It was well prepared. I’d already forgotten about Kana getting the tools to fix up the clock, probably due to the following episode’s focus on events in the library.
At first, Kana doesn’t believe in the day of flight. She considers it a myth. She was around when Kuu was born, as she comments to Kuu about how Kuu’s cocoon wasn’t as big as Rakka’s. If Kuu’s cocoon appeared a few years prior (according to Reki), wouldn’t there have been a day of flight for one of the haibane within the months following Kuu hatching from the cocoon? It could be that one of the Old Factory haibane left at that time, and Kana could have been the one born most recently before Kuu. This would keep her from having been around long enough to have seen many other haibane “disappear”.
Looking back on the subtitles, Reki says there was “a period of several years”; if this is at least four years, then what age was Kuu when she was born?
The light into the clouds is called a myth by Kana, but Reki knows what it means. Is there any documentation, are there any writings about this sort of thing? Or is all this knowledge passed on from one haibane to another? One would think this is exactly the kind of information you’d want to keep track of, perhaps one copy in the library, another kept safely in Old Home. It could cover everything from cocoon hatching to halo giving to wing crowning to daily life for a haibane to the day of flight.
Back to Reki’s comment on everyone leaving her, is this simply a general comment on all who have left, or does it relate directly with her running away with Hyohko when she was younger? This also brings into question why Reki and Nemu have been around as long as they have, but Kuu left after only a few years. Kuu looked to be having such a good time, being a few years older than the Young Feathers, but still younger than those around her. Old enough to take on responsibilities, and go around on her own, and work jobs, but young enough to still be a child and have fun.
Was it ever made clear whether Kuu had a specific set job, or if she just helped out at random places? When a haibane leaves, does the council send a messenger to the establishment where the haibane worked, and tell them, “Oh, by the way, Kuu’s left us. Sorry for the short notice and all, but you’ll need to hire a replacement”?
Returning to the halo, it’s said to be a guiding item. When Kuu left, her halo stayed behind. What makes a halo glow? Can a halo glow for anyone, or only for the one it’s originally placed above? For that matter, what happens if a halo is placed over a human? Can the halo be removed once set over ones head, or does it become a part of the wearer until their day of flight?
With Kuu gone, it’s up to Hikari and Kana to convince me which should be my favorite character now. Neither can replace Kuu, of course, but an episode is always for fun when it has good scenes involving your favorite character.
Perhaps Kuu will appear again in the final episode, to greet Rakka on Rakka’s day of flight.
The walls near the forest are said to be extra powerful. The haibane are not allowed near the gate where the Toga come through for trade. Is this true for the humans as well, or are the haibane specifically given extra restrictions on approaching the wall?
Early on, Kuu wanted to be grown up like those around her. Even when Rakka learned about the Toga, Kuu retained her childhood innocence, calling out a thank you when she shouldn’t be speaking out. No mind over rules and best practices, she was expressing her gratitude. By watching Rakka learn and adapt to being a haibane, Kuu was able to see herself. After all, she and Rakka had the same kind of dream, and Rakka treated her equally, not as a child. Was the last sugar cube to the cat a farewell? And she made sure to say goodbye to the person she got the sugar cubes from. How long did she know she’d be leaving? She seemed to say to Rakka that it was only that day when the “cup” in mind mind was “full”.
And why did that sugar cube man call Kuu a boy in the last episode? (I’m going by the subtitles and dub here, as I haven’t carefully listened to his Japanese dialogue to see what he says there.)
Is the beam of light the glow of Kuu’s halo bursting out, one final flash of light, before the halo becomes useless? With a series as short as Haibane-Renmei, it feels as if there hasn’t been enough time, as if Kuu should have appeared more, should have been seen doing more things, imparting more wisdom on Rakka, having fun more.
Kuu may never see her friends again. They may never see her again, even if they find their way outside of the walls. She may still live on, but to the haibane, she is gone.
My lasting memory of Kuu will be her scene in the library, where she’s acting a part from the story before the kids, but is snapped out of it hearing her name mentioned, and she quickly appears to help out as a substitute teacher. Still a child, but she’s mature at the same time. Filled with wonder, but also ready to help out. That’s what made Kuu such a great character.
December 7th, 2008 at 3:41 am
The booklet included with the boxed set states that, as of the start of the series, Nemu has been a haibane for 9 years; Reki, for 7; Kana, 4; Hikari, 3; and Kuu, 2. It’s very much a surprise that Kuu took flight as early as she did. Also, since Rakka’s is the third cocoon since Kana’s, and no haibane have taken flight from Old Home in Kana’s time, the link between cocoons and days of flight isn’t too tight; nest populations aren’t kept constant. (Indeed, while Reki was living at the Factory, Nemu was the only haibane at Old Home, apart from the Young Feathers.)
Information on days of flight, and other aspects of haibane life which it would be a spoiler to mention here, seems to be passed down orally among the haibane. There are written texts on the subject in the library, but none in the nests themselves. And yes, at first sight that’s a bit strange; even if none of the haibane as individuals ever thought of writing down what they knew, one would think the Renmei would have a textbook and put copies in the nests …
December 7th, 2008 at 9:46 am
As I save the booklet for reading, any information from there I’m lacking when watching through the series.
Since I watch at least one episode in advance of what I post, to help avoid if someone puts a spoiler in a comment, next episode’s commentary covers when I’ve started to get the age thing down. Especially with a series like this, I can see it being difficult to comment on it if one has seen it some time ago, because it can be difficult to remember what happened when.
December 7th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
I hope you forgive me a selfish reminder, but did you see the special friendship between Rakka and Kuu? If yes, what were the signs? Because what happens to Rakka thereafter seems almost inexplicable to me with this important link _mentioned explicitly_, but not acted out in the first 5 episodes.
I’m sorry for the spoilers. From now on I won’t attempt to answer your rhethorical questions. I’ll only correct any mistakes related to the past episodes, with one exception: Regarding your notion that Rakka is the main character, I see it differently. For me, Reki is the main character, whereas Rakka is the narrator. Of course Rakka’s story is very important in its own right, doubly so because her struggle frames her perception of Reki’s story, and thus what we see too. But I think that the anime is about Reki, in the final reckoning.
It’s an interesting question why Kuu knows about the Day of Flight. Someone told her about it, but since nobody told Rakka, it’s safe to assume that Reki and Nemu are negligent regarding the haibane education. It must have been some event — perhaps Kuu observed a flight departed from the Abandoned Factory.
IMHO, Kana does not think that the flight is a “myth” at all. She just does not want to accept the fact, that’s why she called it that.
The period when a haibane senses the flight lasts for about two days. Maybe a bit longer, if they are well attuned to their halo. I think it’s impossible for [someone] suddenly roll out of bed one morning and explode into the light. Such kind of people would undoubtedly fail their second chance problem or even not selected for Glie at all.
Many people, myself included, have hard time realizing that Kuu is a girl (even Kana was easier to accept). It’s true, and is intentional from ABe’s side: same happens to the shopkeeper of the cafe who employed Kuu.
Edited to fall under “general audience dialogue” guidelines. Thanks for your understanding. Management
December 7th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Author, I’ve always assumed that Kuu was guided just by her attunement to the halo, and didn’t need to be told anything about Days of Flight to know what to do. IIRC Reki’s explanation in this episode implies as much.
December 7th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Author:
Let’s see, where to begin here. About Rakka and Reki, as I’ve seen within six episodes, the series clearly follows the events of Rakka, and to me is about Rakka. There are allusions otherwise, as there are things told about Reki that Kana and the others simply do not have about them within the scope of the story. (There is a reason for including a screenshot of Reki alongside the “lonely” line.)
If anything in following commentaries I post contradicts this view, please keep in mind that I buffer these posts so I don’t have comments spoil things, and therefore my future commentaries lack mention of prior comments. As such, I must apologize that as I saw this episode, it was before your comment to watch the two closely. I frame my comments in the context of “having watched the series up until this point, and no further”, and will do so now. This is simply a side-effect of posting about series many people have already seen, as opposed to series that everyone is watching together for the first time.
Up to this point, the connections I’ve placed with the two are fairly limited. They have the same dream of “falling” (while otherwise their dreams may have been very different, simply both being about falling). The two spend time together, and Kuu acts as a mentor to Rakka. They quickly become close friends, probably in part because of that mentoring. Kuu is the youngest of the haibane at Old Home–excluding the young feathers–but Rakka is the youngest “haibane”.
Looking at Kuu’s flight, what could have held her back was the need to be a grown-up. By being a mentor to Rakka, Kuu now was a grown-up. She was still a child as human years go, but she’d matured greatly as a haibane.
It’s impossible (for me) to miss the friendship between Rakka and Kuu, but if there’s something you feel I’ve not seen in the time the two have spent together (in the context of up to episode 6, to avoid spoilers if anyone is watching the series, and reads these commentaries and comments!), I would love to know what it is.
Michael:
I could see it going either way, but I’m going to have to lean to your view of it here. It’s possible Kuu could have learned in the library while trying to be more like Nemu at one point, but I wouldn’t expect the details of how one knows their time is drawing near to be documented. Kuu’s “cup” is possibly her own personal way of understanding what’s happening, and other haibane may have different experiences with their last days in Glie.
January 31st, 2009 at 4:06 pm
About the next-episode previews. The Japanese DVD release has them off in a separate area as well. However, the ones on the US release are very different. The Japanese previews were whipped up quickly by Ueda (the producer) in a 3D CG software package. They tend to have little to do with the next episode and are very punny, but he said he was never satisfied with them, so we got different ones in the US release. Main thing I missed from the originals was some sign-language from the Communicator, allowing people to figure out a key for the language (although one of the insert booklets with the DVDs eventually included all the basics).
The series also didn’t air normally. The first five episodes were shown one per week, but the rest were shown in pairs every other week. The station they were running on was doing some kind of maintenance, as I recall. You may have noticed the extra footage before opening or after ending themes, and that’s what was aired instead during the paired episodes.
January 31st, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Ah, I did notice those bits of footage, and they seemed to stand out in some way, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Were I to rewatch the series, I imagine I’d see it more clearly how those were originally used.