Haibane Renmei (SPOILER ALERT)

[Cyrus]

ok so i just watched the whole series and i understand that these Renmei are sin bound either cus they committed suicide in their previous life or whatever....

now what i was wondering is did anything figure out or think they figured out what the Haibane Renmei are and also if they became humans after they took flight or whatever...

What do you think

[vegeta76]

as i said in my review. the ending to haibane renmei really depends on your religion/beliefs. there is no definite answer given in the anime, the viewer is left to determine that themselves. thats one of the many things that made the series so good

[pKjd]

Actually Reki was the only haibane that we are almost certain had killed herself in her former life (since she was the only one of the bunch who was born with black wings. I mean we all know that in Christian tradition, suicide is considered a major sin, hence the dark wings)... Rakka might of done the same as well but we're not so sure.

The 'Haibane Renmei' is the order or union that looks after the haibane, or the not-quite-human people that live in that human city (although the word 'haibane', according to the kanji used, literally means 'ash wings')... Also, about where they had gone or become after they're flight, that mainly depends on the viewer I guess. Your theory might be influenced by your religious faith as well. In other words, you may believe they had either gone to heaven or were reincarnated. Personally, I lean towards the 'reincarnation' theory ^_^

[kcpacman]

Personally I have think that where the city is a kind of Purgatory .

This link explains some aspects of the show.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haibane_Renmei

[dmr456]

Once again wikipedia to the rescue! XD ... But seriously, all that information is very useful in helping one try to understand the concept of the show a liitle better. But please take note, articles written on wikipedia are written by fans like us. Just 'cause it's written on there, doesn't necessarily mean it's fact. ABe, like the other guy earlier stated, created an ending that will always be open to various theories from different viewers.

Some fans have made the conjecture that the Haibane are, actually, children of our world who committed suicide and were reborn into this world to atone for their sin... an interpretation of the characters names ("Sleep", sleeping pills or coma; "Light", died in a fire; "Ice Lake", frozen; "River fish", drowning; "Falling", suicide by jumping...).

Hmm, interesting but...

ABe is reported to have denied this idea, but still encourages readers and viewers to come to their own conclusions.

^_^

[pKjd]

Once again wikipedia to the rescue! XD ... But seriously, all that information is very useful in helping one try to understand the concept of the show a liitle better. But please take note, articles written on wikipedia are written by fans like us. Just 'cause it's written on there, doesn't necessarily mean it's fact. ABe, like the other guy earlier stated, created an ending that will always be open to various theories from different viewers.

Some fans have made the conjecture that the Haibane are, actually, children of our world who committed suicide and were reborn into this world to atone for their sin... an interpretation of the characters names ("Sleep", sleeping pills or coma; "Light", died in a fire; "Ice Lake", frozen; "River fish", drowning; "Falling", suicide by jumping...).

Hmm, interesting but...

ABe is reported to have denied this idea, but still encourages readers and viewers to come to their own conclusions.

^_^

[Cidien]

Obviously I have little background in this, but how exactly does reincarnation work? Does anyone here believe in this? Obviously there must be many animals made into people because the growth rate of people is staggering. Whether you're good or bad determines what you will be in the next life I assume, but how does it determine if an animal is good or bad or what you (or an animal) needs to do to be a human again. I suppose if an insect can become human it would make more sense since there are so many insects in the world. We as humans don't even come close to touching the numbers of insects.

This is part of the reason I think any religion is fairly stupid, because it fails to even try to address what was here before. In Christianity we die and go to heaven. Alright, fine. Where were we before? What were we before? Sure Christianity has a "beginning" story but that really only creates more questions then answers. Most religions say you must believe on faith and say life is a test merely because they have no other answers for you.

[Amethyst]

Obviously I have little background in this, but how exactly does reincarnation work? Does anyone here believe in this? Obviously there must be many animals made into people because the growth rate of people is staggering. Whether you're good or bad determines what you will be in the next life I assume, but how does it determine if an animal is good or bad or what you (or an animal) needs to do to be a human again.

Ok, first off, this is just my opinion, so nobody jump on me because I mis-phrased something or didn't make it quite clear... and yes, I believe in reincarnation and karma, and no, I don't have to prove any of it just because someone wants proof... it's called faith... the belief in something you can't readily prove exists, so I'm not going to argue about it or have to defend myself.

Reincarnation is where you as a soul (souls are neither male or female (but may have a preference) and chose what sex they wish to be before birth) are reborn onto the Earth (or other planets, you can believe this or not as the case may be) many, many times. Each lifetime is a chance for atonement from previous lifetimes and/or an opportunity to learn and grow to better yourself. Eventually you will reach the point where you no longer have to be reincarnated into a new life. The Good and Bad part is Karma which simply stated you get returned to you what you give out to others, it may not be in this lifetime, but in the next or even farther down the line, whether good or bad... but you do have to account for yourself.

Now my religion taught that only humans can be humans, and only animals can be animals.. etc. But I personally believe that humans can be animals, and vise versa... (because at the time the question was raised, I don't think most people in our group could handle that kind of information of possibly being an animal in a lifetime, for that matter, I don't think most people could handle it either) I think when a human is reincarnated into an animal, it is a sort of simplified learning process or a time off from trying to strive for perfection... since animals are usually about surviving...but some are just for giving unconditional love, and if you look at the reverse, there are some humans that just don't seem to fit in as humans, these would be animals reincarnated into human form... as to why, I suppose they need to accomplish something they couldn't as an animal, or it could be because animals are becoming scarce and so can't reincarnate back into another animal form and so must choose human form.

Let me state something else... Animals or humans for that matter, are neither good or bad... it is their actions which are good or bad, and that is based solely on others pre-conceived notions of good/bad, or even on one's own belief of good/bad. For example... a dog bites someone because it is afraid and trying to protect itself... we would term it a bad dog because we got bit... but is that necessarily the case?

Perhaps it has to do with the individual consciousness... we make choices every day that may be good or bad, and even if we know that it is bad or wrong, we still have that choice to do so... There is no definitive scale for good/bad, although there are plenty of things that most people would agree to as being either good or bad... with plenty of gray areas in between...

[Nina182B]

It's interesting that wikipedia mentions: "In an interview in the magazine Animerica, ABe stated that the series was inspired by Haruki Murakami's novel Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, which takes place half in a walled city with no apparent outside." Hard-Boiled Wonderland is like two stories combined into one.. the same main character guy has a "life/story" in a fantasy world and a story in the "real world." If Haibane is based on that concept and how the novel went, the characters from Haibane Renmei probably end up getting reincarnated back into the real world. I think that conclusion is clearer in the novel than in the anime. In Haibane Renmei, it really leaves a lot to the viewer to decide.

[Cyrus]

Ciden simply put the Bible explains that we don't exist untill we are created namely our souls in our mothers womb.

So basically we just don't exist at all untill our souls are created then we are born and so forth.