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Samurai X Trust and betrayal had to be the most touching. spoiler[When Kenshin kills tomme the one who he had falling in love with, who then tries to save him but then he cuts through both her and his opponent.]

xxmiyuxx wrote:

R.O.D.: spoiler[Just that feeling of betrayal, and not wanting to believe Miss Deep would turn The Paper over to the enemy so easily.]

Referring to the OVA, I see. If you think that was hard on the viewers' emotions, you should see the TV series. The storyline there will have you in tears several times before the end. It's a well-crafted end to the story, too - no loose ends.

xxmiyuxx wrote:

Haibene Renmei: spoiler[I actually didn't realize they were all suicides. The thought had crossed my mind, but there were so many children...how could they do that to themselves?!]

Well, I had a discussion (via PM) with our charming and intelligent fellow ANNer, dormcat, about that very subject, and we agreed that the presence of the children are an important and revealing piece of information. Now, it has been repeatedly stated in various more or less authoritative sources (ipse dixit Yoshitoshi ABe, in interviews and collateral material about the series) that spoiler[the adult haibane - the ones that we are introduced to in the story - are suicides. We aren't told the circumstances of all their deaths - except that their dreams relate to their deaths. As her dream and name implies, Rakka jumped. Nemu means "to sleep" - did she OD on sleeping pills? Reki's name ("pebble") relates to the broken stones on which the sleepers of railway tracks are laid. And so on.

However, I don't think it is unreasonable to view the children as a special case. Maybe the haibane are not just suicides - but more generally, people who died unresolved deaths. Suppose that, like ghosts, they have something from their past lives that prevents them from moving on. Being haibane is their "second chance" to reach an accommodation with their unresolved issues. Yet there's a time limit. If they don't complete the process, they lose their halos and are doomed to live out their lives as touga - failed haibane. This would also explain why the adult haibane treat the children with such delicacy. They are trying to shelter them from the hard times ahead - because they know how hard it is to look your worst trauma in the eye.

Keeping that in mind, one would need to ask what horrible experiences could make a child need to live a second life as a haibane - experiences other than suicide, that is. I've thought about this, and what springs to mind is terrible abuse and misery. I prefer not to dwell on this line of thought, but it seems appropriate to the circumstances.

It's an obscure thing to be discussing, but I feel it adds a great deal to the emotional impact of Haibane Renmei.]

-abunai

In addition to many of you guys have mentioned, such as Haibane, R.O.D., Millenium Actress, Porco Rosso, Omohide Poro Poro, SaiKano, Hoshi no Koe, etc., I found Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is extremely touching. This lesser-known (and I would never expected it to be licensed here in US) work is very plain -- like food without salt, but it lets you feel the essense of its true taste.

In a scene where spoiler[Alpha stands in front of the submerged city ruins at sunset, those street lights, either half in water or on the coast of a hill-turned-island, are still functional, and they light up one by one. No one else is around; only winds and waves pounding the shore can be heard.] It is beautiful enough for any audience, but for me it reminds me my days as a coast guard stationed on a remote island. The scene in the anime is almost identical to what I saw whenever I began my night shift in an observation post. Albeit lonely, such scenery creates an environment allowing you to have dialogue with your heart.

abunai wrote:

Well, I had a discussion (via PM) with our charming and intelligent fellow ANNer, dormcat

Good thing that I wasn't eating my lunch when I see this. Laughing

(wiping my saliva on the monitor) Thanks a lot, abunai. (hug)

dormcat wrote:

In addition to many of you guys have mentioned, such as Haibane, R.O.D., Millenium Actress, Porco Rosso, Omohide Poro Poro, SaiKano, Hoshi no Koe, etc., I found Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is extremely touching. This lesser-known (and I would never expected it to be licensed here in US) work is very plain -- like food without salt, but it lets you feel the essense of its true taste.

Ah, we have the same taste in anime ... yes, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (and with it, its sequel) is a beautiful story. This anime and Omohide Poro Poro are the two anime that have come closest to a cinematic ideal that I hold very dear. I call it The Silence (apologies for the dramatic capitalisation, but it looms very large in my mind). I've been stalking The Silence in many different media, for most of my life.

The Silence is the sound you hear when you're lying alone in a field on a sunny day, looking up at the sky and watching the clouds drift. It's behind the sound of wind in a treetop; below the quiet thrum of a slow train on a countryside track. It's the sound of the space between the flash of lightning and the crack of thunder.

The Silence represents a deeply rooted part of the human heart, and as such, it is very hard to capture faithfully, in any medium. I've read books that have come close to doing so. Poetry as well (Stevenson had a strong sense of it, as did Tagore). In film, however, we come closest to capturing it, because film is such an immersive medium.

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou has this zen-like sense of unmoving motion. spoiler[Set in the declining years of mankind, after an unspecified catastrophe, it is clear that this is no longer a world that is going anywhere. It just is. It dwells within itself, a shell of its former active self. Maybe mankind is even on the verge of slowly dying out, leaving behind only their robotic orphans. Yet, there is no sadness to be found in this - it just is. In many ways, it reminds me of Walter Tevis' novel Mockingbird - but where that was a dark tale, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is essentially a happy one.]

It is simply a sweet piece of storytelling.

dormcat wrote:

It is beautiful enough for any audience, but for me it reminds me my days as a coast guard stationed on a remote island. The scene in the anime is almost identical to what I saw whenever I began my night shift in an observation post. Albeit lonely, such scenery creates an environment allowing you to have dialogue with your heart.

Oh, beautifully put!

dormcat wrote:

abunai wrote:

Well, I had a discussion (via PM) with our charming and intelligent fellow ANNer, dormcat

Good thing that I wasn't eating my lunch when I see this. Laughing

(wiping my saliva on the monitor) Thanks a lot, abunai. (hug)

Hohoho, I won't give up until I get you to cover your monitor in fragments of hoagie and Dr. Pepper! Very Happy

- abunai

The Silence? Mmmm...how about the word "Tranquillity"?

dormcat wrote:

The Silence? Mmmm...how about the word "Tranquillity"?

That's a fine word for it, too - but I use the more, hm, dynamic term "The Silence" because I have (as you might have noticed) almost anthropomorphized this sensation.

To put it in other words, "Tranquility" is a passive state of mind, a sense the "God is in his heaven, and all is well with the world". As opposed to "The Silence", which is something that comes and seizes you, much like a wave breaking over you as you stand at the water's edge. It's the difference between being appreciative of a beautiful work of art, and being awestruck by a near-miraculous masterpiece.

- abunai

Yes! Yes! You pointed out the difference! The feeling is like the sound (or any other stimuli) around you is muted or silenced by something awe-inspiring, rather the the state of tranquility, which is much more passive.

Back to the topic...adding two more touching anime: Juuni Kokki and A Little Snow Fairy Sugar. Junni Kokki is simply the most epic anime series I have ever seen (besides Miyazaki's movies), and while spoiler[Youko was rather frail in the beginning, she showed her determination and the aura of kingship near the end of Act Three (風の万里黎明の空)]. As for Sugar, don't be fooled by its kawaii character design then thinking it's nothing but kid's stuff. A story about character development, it is very sweet and heartwarming. My eyes were wet while watching the finale -- a reaction you don't expect from a person who did not cry after watching Hotaru No Haka.

Running away from Abunai and other fans chasing after me and yelling "You heartless, cold-blooded animal!" Anime smallmouth + sweatdrop

Haibane Renmei, for reasons already stated. Some of the philosophy is a bit hard for me to sift out, but the entire series was so beautifully done.

Grave of the Fireflies. spoiler[How Seita and his sister fought so hard to survive in a wasteland of a country and didn't make it in the end. How people didn't even bother helping them, as they were concerned over their own families. But they were children, and it was like people didn't remember the concept of generousity and helping. It reminds me slightly of the Holocaust, and how neighbors would betray their best friends to avoid death. It's terrible.]

Lain. spoiler[At the end, that she was alone. No one would remember her, and she would exist forever without leaving the slightest mark on the world. Her question "If no one remembers, did it ever exist?" hangs over the end.]

X. The tragedies that befall the characters one after another make a brilliant anime. spoiler[Kamui's best friend is born to be he worst enemy. Fuuma is the one to kill Kotori, and he hurts so many other people. Kamui's companions fall one by one, Sorata's destiny comes true. The ruin the Dragons leave in their path is astounding, but it really affects them the most in the end. The world never noticed anything. It's horribly sad.]

Fruits Basket. While the end was touching, what got to me was spoiler[ When Momiji tells of his past. He's so sweet, and that such a thing happened to him when he was young shocked me. It was incredibly moving that someone who had experienced so much pain could be so cheerful. And that even though some memories are best left forgotten, that he wants to remember them all.]

Hum...Yes...Lain could also be a touching anime. The history...is just a bit sadly, but maybe you can feel something inside that makes you...I don't know, it's a strange feeling. And also the same for Boogiebob Phantom. It's just that for consider touching Boogiebob you may really like phantoms and deads.

Also I think that Yuu Yuu Hakusho can have a bit of touching time. Take a look to the first chapter. spoiler[I think watching Yusuke on his dead, and then see how Kuwabara or his mother is so crying...]Well, I don't think it's so much touching, just only a bit Very Happy

Just saw the last episode of Kino's Journey. I was crying my eyes out. Trust me when I say it's right up there with Haibane, Samurai X, etc. spoiler[Kino asks to stay a few more days in a country (something that she never does) that has a bad reputation among travelers but which has treated her extremely well, especially by a young girl that resembles the younger Kino from episode 4. She is told she cannot stay and leaves. That night as she is camping we learn why she cannot stay and exactly why she was treated so well.]

Let's just say, since it's a last episode, there are no promises.

All the Best,

Nani?

GoldHawk021:

Just one small correction about your Trigun post, Knives wasn't Vash's older brother. They were twins.

And, in agreement with many of the posts as of late, Trigun was without a doubt very touching (from about mid-series on). And the music playing while Wolfwood made his final speech just made it that much harder to watch while maintaining one's composure.

Chobits would be, but the fixed it in the end, so i'd have to say Trigun or Cowboy Bebop for reasons already mentioned.

Well.. I've watched Haibane Renmei a few times, and from what I get from it.. I think this is the case:

spoiler[I think that not all of the Haibane deaths are suicides, but rather people that died feeling unfulfilled, or rather people that died untimely deaths. The whole point of them being born again is so that they can come to terms with what they left behind, and move on to the heavens without regret.

This could just be my own opinion, but I also think that only the sinbound Haibanes are the ones that killed themselves. If you actually look at Christian belief, killing one's self is a sin, and considering the angelic appearance of the Haibane, I wouldn't doubt that ABe was shooting for a very Christian-based theme.

You can disagree with me if you like, but I believe that only Rakka and Reki were the ones that killed themselves. It just seems far too fishy that all of them would. Especially Kuu. I know you all have also mentioned the children, which I think ABe threw in there to let you know that they were not all suicides. It couldn't be. ]

That's just my opinion, at least.. Haibane Renmei was a really great anme, by an excellent producer. I just wish they would have answered a bit more of the questions that they raised. I mean.. what was that book that they found? Why are the humans in a place where the Haibane live? Why can humans get, um.. pregnant? I'm pretty sure ABe threw that in there as well.

Just something to think about, I suppose.

The most touching Anime to me is Grave Of The Fireflies. That was the most depressing story ever. Crying or Very sad

To Jerott Vs. World:

I once had the same idea as yours, but at that time I couldn't figure out how spoiler[Nemu died (by keeping sleeping?), until abunai pointed out that she died from sleeping pill overdose, a common way of suicide.

Then again, what is the difference between Rakka and Reki with other Haibane? Why do their wings turn black? As I'm writing this reply, an idea came into my mind: what if Nemu died not by drug overdose, but due to failed anesthesia? That might explain why she resented Reki when they were young, since all others died untimely and eagerly wanted another chance to live, while Reki, on the contrary, ended her life by her own.] Sorry for the large proportion of spoiler tag.

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What Anime have you found the most touching?