I had to add this special box to explain the video lineup on the right, as these Yukidiots insist on forcing their worthless ads in our faces and I can't add any more text to my video box because that &*$$@^^ ad box consistently blocks my view so I can't type *pissed* :-(
Anyway, so this workaround, and YukuAds, this finger's for your rudeness! (If anyone knows a way around this extortion, please let me know. I am broke for the time being and can't afford to pay to have their damned ads removed.)

So: The videos at right form a sort of "circular sychronicitous chain" that I discovered when messing around with some various You Tubes. I was able to fit in a partial description of Clip One before the ad-block box prevented anymore typing, so I'll continue from there:

In Clip One, the ingenious patch-worked (and award-winning) AMV clip "Reflections", you will see Rakka who appears to be lip-syncing to the lyrics at the beginning; she is a character from the classic 2003 anime Haibane-Renmei, and drawn by Yoshitoshi ABe (sic) who also designed the characters for an earlier groundbreaking anime entitled Serial Experiments Lain (1998), also included at the end of this set. The genius in this fan-made video lies in the fact that in the scenes, taken from from Kimi ga Nozomu Eien (aka Rumbling Hearts, 2003) the original character of Haruka was excised and replaced by the halo-and-winged Rakka, excised from the scenes of her own series, who takes her position in this love triangle between Haruka, her girlfriend Mitsuki, and Takayuki, the boy they both love.

A brief synopsis to enable better understanding of the video, since I'm pretty certain that no-one here has been exposed to quality anime: In high-school, Mitsuki sees how much Haruka has been smitten by Takayuki, and so, despite her own concealed attraction to him, fixes it so that they meet; they subsequently become a couple. Happy though saddened, Mitsuki watches as their relationship blooms... until one day, she inadvertantly causes Takayuki to be late in meeting Haruka, who is involved in a horrible accident leading her to be hospitalised in deep coma. In the subsequent years, Takayuki goes into a deep depression and Mitsuki, who had gone on with her own life, eventually tries to pull him out of it, to varying degrees of sucess... The series portrays a couple riven by dealing with extreme guilt and post traumatic stress disorder, in no uncertain or unflinching terms. For the curious, the wiki is here.

And so in this indie clip we now see Rakka-as-Haruka, and in the scenes where Haruka was shown, Rakka is now expertly put in her place, seamlessly. But, this new combined video seems to be a retelling of Haruka's story, as if seen from within her coma-dream, or beyond it, and Rakka tells it through her movement through the worlds, watching over Takayuki and Mitsuki as she deals with her feelings of separation, and finally gives her consent through the lyrics of the song, "Reflections", which are on the vid's YouTube page. Unfortunately the previous subtitled version has been pulled, leaving only the original Russian version to be shared. (Note that the embellished non-anime graphics are from the clip's creators, and the whole thing looks much more impressive in full-screen from YouTube's site.)

The last scene of her falling leads into Clip Two, a nine-minute subtitled segment of the first episode of Haibane-Renmei that opens with Rakka falling in her "cocoon-dream". This is such an enchanting series that it's difficult to explain or summarize; if interested peruse the wiki here. Suffice to say that it's among my most favorite titles, and is the one anime (if I had to pick one) that so closely resonates with (my) Lily's story, Unbound...

That last scene of her asking, "Where am I?" leads into Clip Three and the beautiful Opening Theme "Free Bird" from Haibane-Renmei (loosely meaning "Charcoal Feather Federation"). This provides a nice overview of the main characters and their world where Rakka indeed is (or falls into). Essentially, these "not-described-as-angels" angelic beings, all female (the main ones shown here, anyway) dwell in the removed and walled human town of Glie, in a settlement named "Old Home" which you can see depicted here. They all must take jobs in town to be responsible and trade for food, clothing and services, and so you see many of them at work. This is one series that I feel can be safely recommended to anyone who loves a good Story, and its many mysteries to unravel... sweet, intriguing, devastating (but not overly so), and transcendant.

And so we leave our little "angels" to watch Clip Four, a "live" music video of "Duvet", which is the Opening Theme from Serial Experiments Lain, and performed by Boa. Even though it's sung in excellent English I have a hard time making out the lyrics. It's among my favorite Openers, and this extended version allows for the song to be heard in its entirety... quite tasty :-)

Which leads us to the final Clip Five, the actual "Duvet" Opening Theme taken from Lain's first episode. This is a very deep series that deals with the nature of reality, philosophy, and cyberpunk cluture, among other things too involved to go into here; I'll refer the interested to check out the wiki. The main character of Lain is also designed by Yoshitori ABe, and you can clearly see her resemblance to Rakka. At the end of this circular chain of videos, it's almost as if Lain IS Rakka, shown in the life she had left behind before she began falling toward the town of Glie, after the experiences shown in "Reflections". Or, could it be a new life after leaving the town of Glie? But not one of them can pass over the impassable gates until their "Day of Flight"...

Hmm... that might be a happier ending, after all :-D

BTW, "Rakka" is a given name, since these angelic beings have forgotten their original ones and everything about the world and lives they left behind them, and all are given new names according to their cocoon dreams. "Rakka" means "falling", you see...

In Lily's story, Unbound, there is also an angel, and in her intro she is shown falling as well; the first words at one time in the story were "She falls..."
Those who've read the first chapter might recall Lily's intent investigation of a cocoon; later there are larger ones...
And the story was conceived, written, and finally-revised well before I'd even seen any anime at all...
File under: "Isn't Life Strange Dept." :-D

Hope you enjoyed this makeshift series of stories ;-)