"Haibane renmei" (2002) TV series 2002-

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

10 September 2002 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Drama | Fantasy

Plot:

A young girl is reborn as an angel-like creature called a haibane, with no memory of who she once was.

Plot Keywords:

Flight | Group Name In Title | Clock Tower | Halo | Rebirth

Cast

Ryô Hirohashi	...	Rakka (13 episodes, 2002)
Junko Noda	...	Reki (13 episodes, 2002)
Eri Miyajima	...	Kana (13 episodes, 2002)
Fumiko Orikasa	...	Hikari (13 episodes, 2002)
Kazusa Murai	...	Nemu (13 episodes, 2002)
Kumiko Higa	...	Dai (9 episodes, 2002)
Ai Tokunaga	...	Hana (9 episodes, 2002)
Masumi Asano	...	Shorta / ... (8 episodes, 2002)
Miyu Matsuki	...	Child / ... (8 episodes, 2002)
Tsugumi Higasayama	...	Child / ... (8 episodes, 2002)
Akiko Yajima	...	Kuu (7 episodes, 2002)
Chihiro Suzuki	...	Hyoko (6 episodes, 2002)
Tamio Ôki	...	Communicator (6 episodes, 2002)

Series Directed by
Itsuki Imazaki		(2 episodes, 2002)
Jun Takada		(2 episodes, 2002)
Kenichiro Watanabe		(2 episodes, 2002)
Koji Yoshikawa		(2 episodes, 2002)

Series Writing credits
Yoshitoshi Abe		(13 episodes, 2002)

Series Produced by
Mie Ide	....	assistant producer: Pioneer LDC / assistant producer (5 episodes, 2002)
Reiko Matsuo	....	producer (4 episodes, 2002)
Hiroe Tsukamoto	....	producer (4 episodes, 2002)
Nobu Yamamoto	....	executive producer (4 episodes, 2002)
Hideki Goto	....	producer (unknown episodes)
Go Haruna	....	producer (unknown episodes)
Yoshinobu Iwaya	....	producer (unknown episodes)
Akihiro Kawamura	....	executive producer (unknown episodes)
James Yosuke Kobayashi	....	executive producer (unknown episodes)
Yasuyuki Ueda	....	producer (unknown episodes)

Series Original Music by
Kô Ôtani		(unknown episodes)

Series Film Editing by
Masahiro Gotô		(6 episodes, 2002)

Series Art Direction by
Shinji Katahira		(unknown episodes)

Series Production Management
Motoki Ueda	....	production manager (6 episodes, 2002)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Takahiro Ômori	....	assistant director (unknown episodes)

Series Art Department
Tomokazu Tokoro	....	storyboard artist: opening credits / storyboard artist (7 episodes, 2002)
Hiroshi Negishi	....	storyboard artist: end credits (6 episodes, 2002)
Akitoshi Shimazu	....	storyboard artist (4 episodes, 2002)
Yukari Fujiki	....	color key (3 episodes, 2002)
Jun Takada	....	storyboard artist (3 episodes, 2002)
Naomi Endou	....	color key (2 episodes, 2002)
Hitomi Iioka	....	color key (2 episodes, 2002)
Masato Sasaki	....	color key (2 episodes, 2002)
Hajime Satou	....	color key (2 episodes, 2002)
Koji Yoshikawa	....	storyboard artist (2 episodes, 2002)
Takahiro Ômori	....	storyboard artist (2 episodes, 2002)

Series Sound Department
Tohru Kumakura	....	sound mixer (6 episodes, 2002)
Yoku Shioya	....	assistant sound mixer (6 episodes, 2002)
Masahiro Shoji	....	sound effects: Fizz Sound Creation (6 episodes, 2002)
Satoshi Motoyama	....	sound director (unknown episodes)

Series Visual Effects by
Masahiro Matsuura	....	digital paint artist (2 episodes, 2002)
Masato Sasaki	....	digital paint artist (2 episodes, 2002)
Shino Sato	....	digital paint artist (2 episodes, 2002)
Takehiro Sodeyama	....	digital paint artist (2 episodes, 2002)
Mika Harada	....	digital paint artist (unknown episodes)
Akemi Horie	....	digital paint artist (unknown episodes)
Sakiko Kaiuchi	....	digital paint artist (unknown episodes)
Youichi Kono	....	digital paint artist (unknown episodes)
Shihoko Maki	....	digital paint artist (unknown episodes)
Kiyoko Momose	....	digital paint artist (unknown episodes)
Ayumi Nakahara	....	digital paint artist (unknown episodes)
Chie Nakamura	....	digital paint artist (unknown episodes)
Michiko Nakamura	....	digital paint artist (unknown episodes)
Chieko Odaka	....	digital paint artist (unknown episodes)
Yuki Ogasawara	....	digital paint artist (unknown episodes)
Hiroko Ootsuka	....	digital paint artist (unknown episodes)
Fumiko Shibata	....	digital paint artist (unknown episodes)
Mariko Shibata	....	digital paint artist (unknown episodes)
Hiroko Takizawa	....	digital paint artist (unknown episodes)
Daisuke Uchiumi	....	digital paint artist (unknown episodes)
Taiki Ura	....	digital paint artist (unknown episodes)
Yasuko Watanabe	....	digital paint artist (unknown episodes)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Keiko Horio	....	photography: Radix Digital / photographer (6 episodes, 2002)
Atsushi Nakayama	....	photography: opening credits (6 episodes, 2002)
Yoshimi Saito	....	photography: Radix Digital / photographer (6 episodes, 2002)
Yukari Fujiki	....	photography: Radix Digital (4 episodes, 2002)
Ayumu Hatori	....	photography: Sunshine Digital (2 episodes, 2002)
Masaru Hirose	....	photography: No Side (2 episodes, 2002)
Takenari Kubo	....	photography: Sunshine Digital (2 episodes, 2002)
Makoto Nakai	....	photography: Sunshine Digital (2 episodes, 2002)
Takayuki Ohira	....	photography: Sunshine Digital (2 episodes, 2002)
Hiroshi Toyama	....	photography: No Side (2 episodes, 2002)

Series Animation Department
Akira Takada	....	animation director: ending credits / animation director: opening credits / ... (8 episodes, 2002)
Hisashi Ishii	....	key animator: opening credits / key animator (7 episodes, 2002)
Ken Mochizuki	....	key animator: opening credits / key animator (7 episodes, 2002)
Norifumi Nakamura	....	background artist: green (7 episodes, 2002)
Naruse Takahashi	....	key animator: ending credits / key animator (7 episodes, 2002)
Toshiyuki Abe	....	key animator / animation director (6 episodes, 2002)
Taeko Emori	....	background artist: Tulip (6 episodes, 2002)
Toshihiko Fukano	....	key animator: opening credits (6 episodes, 2002)
Yoshihiro Hiramure	....	background artist: Tulip (6 episodes, 2002)
Joung Sun Kim	....	background artist: Tulip (6 episodes, 2002)
Shigeyuki Miya	....	key animator: opening credits (6 episodes, 2002)
Yutaka Mukumoto	....	background artist: Tulip (6 episodes, 2002)
Norikatsu Nakano	....	key animator: opening credits (6 episodes, 2002)
Tsutomu Nishiyama	....	key animator: opening credits (6 episodes, 2002)
Yuri Satou	....	background artist: Tulip (6 episodes, 2002)
Fujio Suzuki	....	key animator: opening credits / key animator (6 episodes, 2002)
Yumiko Tokutake	....	background artist: Tulip (6 episodes, 2002)
Yuka Hasegawa	....	key animator / inbetween animator (5 episodes, 2002)
Genichiro Kondo	....	key animator (5 episodes, 2002)
Takeshi Ohkoshi	....	inbetween animator (5 episodes, 2002)
Ayako Okamoto	....	inbetween animator (5 episodes, 2002)
Keiko Oyama	....	in-between animation checker (5 episodes, 2002)
Chiyoko Sakamoto	....	key animator / inbetween animator (5 episodes, 2002)
Ryo Takahashi	....	inbetween animator / key animator (5 episodes, 2002)
Ayari Wake	....	background artist: green (5 episodes, 2002)
Miyuki Nagaushi	....	inbetween animator (4 episodes, 2002)
Eiji Wakamatsu	....	background artist: green (4 episodes, 2002)
Yukari Watanabe	....	key animator (4 episodes, 2002)
Hajime Yabana	....	key animator (4 episodes, 2002)
Yasuhiro Yamada	....	key animator (4 episodes, 2002)
Daisuke Yaoita	....	key animator (4 episodes, 2002)
Yukari Yasuda	....	background artist: green (4 episodes, 2002)
Eiji Fukuyama	....	key animator (3 episodes, 2002)
Itsuki Imazaki	....	key animator (3 episodes, 2002)
Hiromi Kamiyama	....	background artist: green (3 episodes, 2002)
Emiko Kataoka	....	key animator (3 episodes, 2002)
Ryuta Nakahara	....	key animator (3 episodes, 2002)
Takaaki Osanai	....	background artist: green (3 episodes, 2002)
Akemi Sawai	....	background artist: green (3 episodes, 2002)
Naoko Soeda	....	inbetween animator / key animator (3 episodes, 2002)
Rie Sugiyama	....	background artist: green (3 episodes, 2002)
Masako Adachi	....	inbetween animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Shigemi Aoyagi	....	key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Hikari Daigo	....	key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Kyoko Fujino	....	in-between animation checker / inbetween animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Yumiko Hattori	....	inbetween animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Takumi Honma	....	background artist: green (2 episodes, 2002)
Yoko Iizuka	....	key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Eiji Kamimura	....	key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Junnosuke Kawaguchi	....	key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Takashi Kawashima	....	inbetween animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Hirokazu Kojima	....	inbetween animator / key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Chiaki Kokubo	....	key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Masaki Kudô	....	animation director (2 episodes, 2002)
Hiroshi Kuri	....	inbetween animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Momoko Makiuchi	....	key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Maiko Matsumura	....	in-between animation checker / inbetween animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Shin Matsuo	....	key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Kazuyuki Minoda	....	inbetween animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Takuji Mogi	....	animation director / key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Kozue Morishima	....	background artist: green (2 episodes, 2002)
Minoru Morita	....	key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Hisao Muramatsu	....	key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Takashi Mutou	....	inbetween animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Eri Nakamura	....	background artist: green (2 episodes, 2002)
Masashi Nishikawa	....	inbetween animator / key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Jin Oda	....	key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Satoshi Ohashi	....	inbetween animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Hirofumi Ohyama	....	inbetween animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Azusa Oikawa	....	key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Masaki Okano	....	inbetween animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Naomi Okita	....	inbetween animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Tatsunori Ozawa	....	key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Kozue Ryoke	....	digital paint checker (2 episodes, 2002)
Midori Saito	....	inbetween animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Yoshiaki Saito	....	key animator / animation director (2 episodes, 2002)
Tatsuya Sakai	....	background artist: green (2 episodes, 2002)
Yoshiko Sasaki	....	key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Tadashi Shimizu	....	inbetween animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Takako Shimizu	....	animation director / key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Teruo Takahashi	....	key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Naoko Tanaka	....	inbetween animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Tomoko Tanaka	....	key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Yuzo Tobe	....	key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Kazuyuki Toshida	....	key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Akio Ujie	....	animation director (2 episodes, 2002)
Itaru Yahata	....	in-between animation checker / key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Koji Yamakawa	....	key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Toshinari Yamashita	....	animation director / key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Chigusa Yokoyama	....	background artist: green (2 episodes, 2002)
Shinichi Yoshino	....	animation director (2 episodes, 2002)
Ami Zenke	....	inbetween animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Takahiro Ômori	....	key animator (2 episodes, 2002)
Hiroshi Arisawa	....	key animator (unknown episodes)
Ai Saito	....	inbetween animator (unknown episodes)
Toshiaki Sato	....	inbetween animator (unknown episodes)
Kentaro Takahashi	....	background artist (unknown episodes)
Yoshihide Takenobu	....	background artist (unknown episodes)

Series Music Department
Yuji Saito	....	music producer: IMAGINE (6 episodes, 2002)
Kenichirou Tsutsumi	....	music produced in collaboration with: Lantis (6 episodes, 2002)
Hijiri Yoshida	....	music producer: IMAGINE (6 episodes, 2002)

Series Other crew
Taliesin Jaffe	....	voice director: English voice recording (13 episodes, 2002)
Etsuyo Fukuta	....	production administration (6 episodes, 2002)
Sawako Furuya	....	production assistant: English language version (6 episodes, 2002)
Shinichirou Inoue	....	produced in collaboration with: Kadokawa Shoten (6 episodes, 2002)
Shunji Inoue	....	produced in collaboration with: Lantis / production collaborator: Lantis (6 episodes, 2002)
Rika Kolka	....	translator: English language version (6 episodes, 2002)
Takako Masaoka	....	publicist: Fuji Television (6 episodes, 2002)
Daisuke Nakano	....	produced in collaboration with: Expression Tools, Inc. / production collaborator: Expression Tools, Inc. (6 episodes, 2002)
Akihiro Yuasa	....	produced in collaboration with: Sotsu Agency / production collaborator: Sotsu Agency (6 episodes, 2002)
Takashi Iida	....	publicist: Pioneer LDC (5 episodes, 2002)
Takashi Toda	....	production assistant / production desk (2 episodes, 2002)
Yoshitoshi Abe	....	original creator (unknown episodes)
Shunsuke Ikeda	....	production assistant: ending credits (unknown episodes)
Tsutomu Kondo	....	production assistant (unknown episodes)
Kozue Ryoke	....	digital paint checker (unknown episodes)
Takahiro Uruma	....	production assistant (unknown episodes)
Hiroki Yoshida	....	production assistant (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• Radix

Distributors

• Fuji Television Network (2002) (Japan) (TV)
• Geneon Entertainment (2007) (Japan) (DVD)
• Pioneer LDC (2002-2003) (Japan) (DVD)

Special Effects

• No Side
• Radix Digital

Other Companies

• Ani Village  key animation
• Anime World Osaka  in-between animation
• Bee Train  in-between animation
• J.C. Staff  digital ink and paint
• Kino Production  in-between animation
• Production I.G.  digital ink and paint
• Radix  digital ink and paint
• Studio Mark  key animation
• Studio One Pack  in-between animation
• Sunshine Digital  digital ink and paint
• Tanto  key animation

Also Known As:

"Ash Feather Federation" - USA (literal title)
"Charcoal Feathers Federation" - International (English title) (original subtitled version)
"Grey Wings" - Asia (English title)

Runtime:

USA:25 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

Australia:PG (DVD rating)

Company:

Radix

Quotes:

Rakka:So if I really am a sinner, and I'm not supposed to be here, then please... take me back to the place where I'm supposed to be. This place... this town is too good to me. Everyone is so caring and treats me so kindly. I feel so guilty! If the dream I had is real, I want to go back. I have to go back! I have to apologize!
Communicator:To recognize one's own sin is to have no sin. It is the riddle of the 'Circle of Sin'.

The best animated film I've seen

The best-kept secret in the world of Japanese animation is Tomokazu Tokoro's Haibane Renmei, a thought provoking and very moving 13-part 2002 TV series that is part fantasy, part coming-of-age story, and part religious allegory. Haibane is a creation of Yoshitoshi ABe who designed the characters for Serial Experiments Lain and inspired the science fiction series NieA_7. The story is very simple, yet it is full of understated poetry and rich meaning that can be enjoyed by people of all ages (but may be too dark for children under the age of ten).

The story is inspired by Haruki Murakami's novel Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World in which a man suddenly appears without memory of a previous life in a strange village surrounded by a high wall and ends up working in the library, replacing another who simply disappears. Set in a village called Glie, angel-like people with wings and halos called Haibane or "charcoal feathers" live alongside humans in the town, also surrounded by impenetrable walls. The laws are made by a council called the Haibane Renmie who decreed that the Haibane cannot own anything new, cannot go outside the wall and are forbidden to even touch it. Only the Toga, mysterious masked men who provide for and protect the Haibane, can leave the town.

The Haibane live in an abandoned building called Old Home and have no memory of a previous life, only a vague recollection of a dream they had inside the cocoon in which they were hatched fully-grown. Others live in the Waste Factory and are said to be "rowdy". Every so often, without warning, one of the Haibane disappears beyond the wall to an uncertain destination. This is the "day of flight" that is the fate of all Haibane except those that are "sin-bound" and must remain in darkness. As the series begins, a girl dreams of falling and, when she emerges from her giant cocoon, is named "Rakka" for falling. The early episodes deal with Rakka's arrival and adjustment to life as a Haibane.

Rakka's best friend is Reki who takes care of the younger children and is very protective of Rakka, caring for her when her wings emerge. Reki's name means "stones" because in her dream she was walking on a path of stones. Rakka goes with each of the Haibane to their jobs to see where she would best fit in. Other characters include Nemu who works at the library, Kuu, a boyish-looking girl who is the youngest of the group, Kana, also a tomboy, and Hikari who works at a bakery. Halfway through the series, Rakka must deal with an unexpected loss of a member of the group who has taken flight. Rakka's wings begin to turn black and both she and Reki are haunted by incomplete memories of their cocoon dreams and recollections of committing harm to others.

As the plot slowly unravels, both Reki and Rakka must overcome their feelings of inadequacy before they can move on and the atmosphere often becomes heavy and foreboding. Timeless questions are raised and left for us to ponder, yet the story has the simplicity of a children's book with a sense of mystery and awe about our place in the universe. Is this an allegory of our own after-life or is it about our waking life where no one knows for certain where they have come from and where they are going? Although the story line about sin and salvation strike a more conventional note, to the credit of the authors, they have emphasized personal responsibility and the need for us to take charge of our own lives. Haibane Renmie has just the right combination of magic and realism, and the visuals are beautiful to experience. With a lovely musical score, characters you can identify with, and a story that builds to a moving conclusion, Haibane Renmie is the best animated film I have seen.