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In the walled town of Guri, Rakka, a young woman, wakes from
a dream to discover that she has grown wings and is sporting
a natty halo. As such, she becomes a member of the Hailbane
society, a group dedicated to the protection of the town.
But why has she grown wings and just who are the Hailbane
society...
Volume
Three of Hailbane (2002) covers episodes eight
to ten of a thirteen part series. Okay, it's a very odd anime
series. The main characters are a bunch of cigarette smoking
thirteen year old girls, who look like angels. It's the kind
of weirdness that the Japanese do so well, or as my wife would
say: "Look out. It's all gone David Lynch on me". This is
a slow thoughtful story with some great animation. It's gentle
in its story telling and very very weird, though the animation
isn't as sumptuous as in say Ghost in the Shell. Rakka
is named after her recurring dream, in Japanese it means 'a
fall'.
In
episode eight (The Bird) Rakka is still uncertain why
she has been turned into one on the Grey Feather Alliance.
Devoid of any knowledge of who she was prior to her transformation
she follows a bird into the woods looking for answers. In
the woods "it all goes David Lynch" on her; she's
got to stop taking those mushrooms.
Episode
nine (Well, Rebirth, Riddle) continues the general
weirdness. Still stuck in the well, Rakka, is rescued by a
backwards speaking dwarf. No, just kidding. But she is rescued
but someone just as weird - some kind of ninja style Native
Americans who only speak in sign language. I told you it was
weird. Things don't get a whole lot better when she runs into,
and is further rescued by, a man who looks like he has a hi-tech
toilet seat on his face, who explains the meaning of sin to
her; believe me you need to be dead sober to listen to their
interchange.
Episode
ten (Kuramori, Hailbanes of Abandoned Factory, Rakka's
job - not even the titles are making sense now) sees a
new member of the Hailbanes taken into the woods by Kuramori
to see the toilet faced guy who renames her 'Reki' meaning
'small stone' - for no real reason that I could fathom. Then
there is a lot of stuff about going beyond the walls and the
sinful taking the flight from toilet seat guy - can't say
I made any headway on making any sense of that either. Rakka
is taken by toilet man into the wall (now "it's all gone
Pink Floyd" on me) who continues to speak an endless
stream of deep and meaningful nonsense.
The
extras on this disc are a little better than some of the other
recent releases. You get the promotional trailer, which basically
does what is says on the box; a very short new program commercial;
an art gallery - consisting of forty concept art drawings;
and some short episode previews. If that wasn't enough for
you then there's the trailer, stuck where trailers should
be, in the extras.
Audio
options are the usual Japanese and English stereo, but they
do the job well and the picture remains sharp and clear. Great
opening track, by the way, complements the nonsensical opening
shots, but sets the gentle tone of the story well.
I'm
sure that if you saw the whole series then something gentle
and deep in meaning is going on, most probably about an angel's
fall from grace, but taken in isolation Volume Three
seems like some kind of Alice in Wonderland acid trip.
Charles
Packer
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