Hmmm.... I don't think the Heibane Universe is very Christian. Of course superficial similarities exist as they always will if the story is not about alien intelligences with emotional and behavioural patterns totally unlike ours. Still, we have at least 1) reincarnation and 2) doing time on Earth as a Heibane, which should be non-canonical concepts to say the least. If one were still in early years of Christianity, one could have some fun in injecting Heibane ideas into the General Mythology though.

Now Anime is used for preaching ...

>>4

hey, it's better than fapping.

While it's a stretch to parallel the Heibane universe with traditional protestant Christianty given their simplistic view of heaven and hell, it may be more reasonable to relate it with Catholicism, although I'm not very familiar with their views of life after death. But I can confirm many aspects ring true with at least one denomination of restorationist Christians.

>>5
No. No it's not.

>Plus how do you go about reconciling the notion of suicide with the Christian faith which considers it an unforgiveable sin?

Nobody committed suicide in Haibane Renmei.

>>8

Reki, almost.

>> 7

Yes.

Dangerous use of Haibane Renmei. He's making profit of work of ABe. Anonymous feathers are watching you, be carefull.

>>12

>anonymous feathers

Now i have to erase that mental image. Thank you.

>>8
I've always been under the impression that [spoiler]all the Haibane committed suicide in their previous lives.[/spoiler]

>>14

not all, just black-winged ones.

http://cff.ssw.net/main/faq.htm

> 4.2.4. Are all the haibane suicides?

> No. Reki is the only one who clearly killed herself in her former life. Although all the
> haibane names used in the show could be interpreted as some kind of suicide, there
> are far too many indications that this is not the case for me to agree with this theory.

> For starters, Reki is the only one born with black wings. She is set apart from the other
> haibane from the very first, and this continues throughout the show. She's also the
> only one who displays any actual self-destructive behavior, her smoking. She
> also views the town very differently than the other haibane, who are rather happy there.
> Remember that in the Judeo-Christian tradition suicide is a major sin. This is why
> Reki was born with black wings. The other haibane were not. Rakka is kind of a special
> case, but I still don't think she was a suicide, at least not in the same way Reki
> was. Reki threw herself in front of a train, but judging by Rakka's reactions in the show,
> she more likely died from self-neglect. Whatever was troubling her in her former
> life, she probably did much as in the show; ran away and acted without thinking about her
> own safety. To compare it with Reki's actions, Rakka probably did something on the
> order of stepping out in front of a bus because she wasn't watching where she was
> going.

> The suicide theory also doesn't explain the younger kids. They are set apart from the
> older haibane in a couple ways; they go to school rather than work, and their names tend
> to be about what they want to be rather than about things from their cocoon dreams. They
> are explained much better by Glie being Limbo, the destination for the souls of
> unbaptized children.

Hm. This seems potentially interesting. Haibane is a film with a lot to say on human spirituality, so a deeper look from a specific tradition might be insightful. If I'm the first to check this out, I'll post back with impressions. But I'm a slow reader, so I'm sure someone else will beat me. In which case, please post back with your impressions!

As far as Christianity goes, I think it works. Haibane's approach is more mystical than anything, so what matters are the underlying lessons, not the trappings used to understand them.

Anyway, thanks for discovering this, Anone.

>>Remember that in the Judeo-Christian tradition suicide is a major sin. This is why Reki was born with black wings

No. Reki wasn't born with black wings; she was born alone in a dark, cold, boarded up part of Old Home, where she surely spent a number of hours until her wings sprouted, with nobody in sight to care for her. She then lay there on the ground, covered in blood, probably in great pain, still cold and very much alone in the dark, boarded up room, until a Haibane found her. Wouldn't you feel like nobody in the world cared about your or wanted to help you? That's why Reki has black wings, and that's whys she's sinbound. It isn't that she was BORN that way as a Haibane. if she had been born normally, she may very well have developed just as well as any other normal Haibane. But she had the unfortunate luck of hatching out of her coccoon in a cold, empty, dark room with nobody around to care for her. It subconsciously reinforced to her the idea (to which she was already susceptible) that she really is alone, and that, in fact, nobody really cares about her. That's why she has black wings. It's not because she committed suicide.

As for the other Haibane, I don't think anybody would argue that EVERY ONE of them is a suicide, but I think the case for some of the Haibane having committed suicide is pretty good, particularly Rakka.

http://cff.ssw.net/main/faq.htm

> 4.2. Spoiler Questions
>
> Note that this section is going to be mostly my opinion.

>>19

I like the site where the guy said Haibane represented the seven deadly sins. I lol'd at the idea of Rakka representing gluttony.

>>20
that IS funny

I feel like I'm the only one who prefers to just accept the mystery of Haibane Renmei.

Nah, you're not alone. I think it's actually easier to understand that way.

Late to the game, I am, but there HAS to be some sort of copyright issue here...

Suicide is not unpardonable in most Christian tenets. (See Samson) The only unforgivable sin is the denial of Christ.

>>22
Definitely, Haibane Renmei must be perceived intuitively, not intellectually.

>>18 It could have been more than hours, maybe a day or so. Rakka (I assume) was broke out in the morning, and her wings didn't come through till that night. And Reki had enough time for the wings to grow, dry and turn black.