If you’re waiting for amelioration, this post has it: I find some things to like here, finally.  Also, experimenting with pure twitter-blog at the end.  That is, if you check, I’m actually not finished with the episode yet, and will update periodically throughout viewing.

EDIT: Okay, finished now.  If you prefer your blog-reading to be normal, and not avant-garde in medias res, you can go on and click now.

Episode five:

It’s funny how a little thing like shoes will get me thinking more than the big, sweeping shots of the town.  High heels, in this world?  What kind of world is it, that allows for what we’ve seen and high heels that aren’t considered odd.  They have electricity, but no cars that I’ve seen — or did I miss one? 

Now, books.  Here’s a real way to deliver setting.  Can you handle the heat, Haibane Renmei?

This is the reason I probably shouldn’t work in a library: I would just read the books.

Which means they’re being censored; got it, check.  Not a, uh, sports metaphor for greatness, HR, but a sports metahor for okay-ness.  

Dude, the frogs in Coraline.  You really need to see that movie, in 3D if possible.

>>Obligatory Hell’s Angel reference here<<

Also, there are all the guys.  I’d been wondering.

DVD subbing shouldn’t have more grammar mistakes than fansubbing.

INTROSPECTION.  @Pontifus, this probably would work better as a novel.

Comparative mythology for the win!

Yes, always leave the room or find a book when someone’s reading what you wrote.

Yeah, that shouldn’t still be in your hand.  Cats take, they don’t, uh, not take. 

While not as interesting as clocks, at least this involves a desire as well.

And that picture looks an awful lot like Dante’s depiction of Satan.  O_o

Break:

Well, this is sad, but I’m getting more into it — but at the expense of the main character.  When the episode focuses on someone else, it’s more interesting.  This doesn’t seem like a recipe for success.  I may loathe some protagonists for certain things (Shinjiiii!!), but at least they’re dramatically interesting.  

Episode six:

God, I hope this one doesn’t follow the glasses girl.  And that’s saying something, I love meganekko.

I’m not sure I see any thematic importance to living off second-hand stuff, other than a social allegory.  Maybe it’s something to do with social norms?  Anything in Japanese or Asian culture to explain?

Well, I guess western culture has beggar religious sects and so on, so it could make them more holy. 

Door fail!  Door fail!

There should have been a hint of this in, say, episode two (re: fading halo). 

There can’t be two null personalities in the camp.   There’s only room for one absence!

They have gas scooters, don’t they?  That would imply cars, somewhere.  

Hey, it’s Goku! 

See, this is conflict.  This is how drama works.

Its pacing is still terrible.  Seriously, stopping the drama to talk about the weather? Oh well, it’s back on track now.

Technically, that’s also how lightning works, but yeah, let’s go with that.

Not bad, HR, not bad.  Of course, I never would have seen this if left to my own devices, since your first episodes are still shit.  But still, not bad.  

Your ED is still terrible, though.

Break:

Oh, Macbeth and HR.  What strange bedfellows.

Episode seven:

At least she’s not in a bathtub.  But then, she also doesn’t have awesome red hair.

It does feel a little strange, all the grief — given we didn’t get a chance to attach to Kuu.  Or maybe I’m just an asshole.  Well, both can be true.

Also, GASP COLOR CHANGE I AM SO SURPRISED.

“Dear Mother in Heaven…”

CONGLATURATIONS!

Don’t tell anyone about that, it’ll just go away on its own.

Uh, which stage of grief is this again?  How long will it take her, seriously?

Aside: there’s a great scene in an episode of House where House writes the stages of denial on his symptom board for the doctor, not the patient.  Awesome.

Don’t subtitle the writing, professional fucking company, that’s cool, there’s no significance to what she’s looking at AT ALL!

Okay…  I was wincing, thinking she was going to come in with bloody, hacked-up wings.  Could still be an option, I suppose.

When her wings go entirely black, does she become the Antichrist?  What if one drops off, could she be Sephiroth?

There has to be some One-Winged Haibane fanart somewhere on the interwebs, right?  Challenge:  find some, tanomu.

Mm, delicious conflict. 

Sin eaters?  Woo!

Of course, it is vaguely irritating that the one sin eater is also the one smoker. 

I would rejoice at calling the painting thing, but it wasn’t exactly hard to guess.

Yes, the proletariat will one day realize they are chained, and on that day they will rise and crush the oppressor!

Or they will hug fluffy wing covers.  Same thing.

Break:

Show is now hovering at “okay” status for me.  If the show had started this way, I would have no qualms about it.  Will postpone epic post on nature of fantasy, secondary worlds, and poor modern execution of same (protip: get going early) until later.

Episode eight:

Lines around the eyes signal crazy.  You know it does.

Well, that’s convenient, getting covers right after hacking your feathers off.  

Wouldn’t you have to bleach black feathers to get them white/grey?  Not dye them?

INTROSPECTION! 

I cite Sartre.  No I don’t, but he’s the only existentialist I can remember right now.

Set the kids free, would you?  That would be awesome.

Also, crows.  We know.  I mean, I like crows, but are there any other birds in this town?  Seriously.

I wonder sometimes about the really quiet lines with subtitles — are they actually loud enough to be heard?  I didn’t even hear noise from some of the characters during that.

Shinji powers, activate! Shaky camera, go!  Panting, go!  Random-stranger-magnet, full strength!

Whoa!  Slow-mo is new.  Funky funky!

This existential dilemma really doesn’t seem to have been sparked by all that much.  The world doesn’t make sense to her anyway, so why does the color-change thing affect her as much as it does?

Yes, listen to the bird.  He is wise in the ways of…  uh…  Symbiotic scavenging.

So is Rakka going to start coming out of televisions when people rent VHS movies now?  Did they even release this show on VHS?

Also, clearly I was correct to be reminded of The Ring by the OP.

Is this going to be like Air, with the protagonist not really being around for the last few episodes?  Probably not.  But the crow thing connects them.  Which I hadn’t thought of until now.  Way to go, only being reminded of thematic similarities, and not obvious plot element connections, Cuchlann.  Smooth.

Okay, the long conversations about what you mean to do in just a minute?  Those are unnecessary.  Don’t talk about looking for her, just look for her.

So the Haibane are all Hitomi from the Escaflowne movie, then?

Or Rakka is, anyway.

Viewing session two end:

Okay.  This still isn’t fabulous.  I’m probably going to have lunch and watch something else.  It’s not efficient, but I want to take a break.  There’s that new Minami-ke that I haven’t watched yet, so that sounds pretty good.  And then more thesis work, as though you care.  ^_^