Haibane Renmei: The beginning of the world.

[Watermaster2]

Hey, everyone! I'm on my first trip through the anime "Haibane Renmei" and I just finished watching episode 5.

[spoiler="Haibana Renmei episode 5"] We all know how the Beginning of The World book (Bible) was too torn apart to be read, therefore Nemu wrote some of the rest herself. After hearing it all, I thought of making this thread.
Let's go deeper into her version and really look at it from a real life stand point by having some trivia about it. Such as...

Why do you think God made the Haibane to look like angels?
Why do you think God was not happy with the Haibane?
How do you think the Haibane fell from grace like us humans? (Which I guess I can kind of relate to question 2)[/spoiler]

These are just a few to get you started, feel free to list more for others to answer. ^^

P.S. If we learn most of this in later episodes, let me know and you can delete this post.

[rocklobster]

Haibane Renmei is not really meant to be a Christian anime first of all. Second, that's really just Nemu's interpretation of the Christian creation, and shouldn't be taken at face value.
And third:
[spoiler]The town the Haibane are in is commonly theorized by fans like myself as a sort of purgatory. I believe that the Haibane are humans who are being given a second chance to prove themselves worthy of Heaven before they receive their final reward. It's a little bit on the wrong side, because those who are in purgatory are supposed to all be able to get to Heaven. How long it takes is debatable, especially when you consider the fact that time doesn't even exist, at least not the way we perceive it.[/spoiler]
Thanks for taking my recommendation, Watermaster!

[ClosetOtaku]

I would recommend watching the series through its entirety before coming to any conclusions about the symbology of the series. Anything I would say at this point would be spoiler-ish, and I don't want to lessen the impact of the experience.

When you're done watching, let's discuss. There are layer upon layers of this anime to uncover!

[Atria35]

Haibane Renmei is not really meant to be a Christian anime first of all. Second, that's really just Nemu's interpretation of the Christian creation, and shouldn't be taken at face value.

Well, this for the most part, but I think it's clear from what they do have that is intact (not just the parts they made up) that they don't actually have a Bible. It's something similar, but because Haibane is a fantasy world, it would be wierd to have a Bible.

Also, don't read Rocky's spoiler yet! I would love to have you finish the series and come to your own conclusions and share them without being under the influence of certain interpretations. Those will affect your viewing.

[TWWK]

Just to add to this - and I've mentioned it before - there's a great monograph about Haibane Renmei. Called "Set Apart," it addresses most of the Christian themes and symbolism in the series. Basically, it's a study guide that one can use as he or she watches each episode to start discussion or stir thought about one's faith.

The book's a very cool idea, I think - anime-focused (but Christ-centered) small group/Bible study.

[Watermaster2]

Thank you all for the help! I'm going to go watch and finish the anime and I'll return when I'm done. ^_^

[A_Yellow_Dress]

I love this series.