Haibane Renmei Episode 1
"Cocoon - Dream of Falling from the Sky - Old Home"
Strangely enough, if I were two use two words to describe Haibane Renmei, they would be "sleepy" and "sunny". That seems weird, right? Well, definitely the way characters act and the pacing of the show is sleepy. Lots of pauses, slow pans over lazy scenery (you know the type). On the other hand, the lazy scenery has a real brightness to it, the characters are sad, but bright. Maybe nostalgic is a better way to put it.
Usually I wait to talk about the music, but Haibane Renmei's music is really interesting in its arrangements. There are a lot of old, Renaissance-ish music stylings in some of the tracks, and some instruments that you don't usually hear in modern classical music. It's quite unobstrusive, too, blending into the background, but fitting scenes very well. (Another sunny part of the show.)
As a first episode, we get lots and lots of questions in this one, and absolutely no answers. In this way, we can very much sympathize with Rakka's situation, thrust into a new world with no memory of the past. Rakka has been born again, into the "Old Home", with a bunch of characters that seem to know as little about their situation as she does. It's all very interesting and mysterious, but it's always hard not to notice that a show is moving slowly. Maybe it's just that anime sort of flounders when there isn't a sort of immediate, episodic action.
However, knowing nothing about the show's plot, and going purely on first impressions, animation, art and music, the show seems interesting enough to warrant further viewing.
Rating: B