𝙾𝚁𝙰𝚂

Isn't the world of REANIMAL not just a "hell-like place," but hell itself? Or perhaps a limbo. All the inhabitants there are dead. That's why the children's coffins are there. The children have already died in the war. The bus driver looks like a ghost because that world is the afterlife.

I don't know if there's a similar word in English, but in Japan there's a phrase called "因果応報." This means that if you do good, good things will come your way, but if you do bad, bad things will come your way. I feel like the same phenomenon is occurring in the hell of REANIMAL. Those who are punished for the sins they committed in life. A place where murderers are killed. Or perhaps they are unaware of their deaths and are continuing the massacres and carnage they committed before in the afterlife.

In any case, I think the giant animals in REANIMAL might be the vengeful spirits of animals persecuted by humans. The birds, spiders, and fish (?) attack the younger brother because he had killed them in the past. The pigs and whales don't attack because they remember the younger brother comforting a frightened pig and giving eyes to a blind whale. But the kind pigs end up trapped in the burning shed to save the children…

If that place is the afterlife, why is there no coffin for the older sister but a coffin for the rabbit? Moreover, unlike the other children, there is no depiction of the rabbit dying.

Is it possible that the older sister is a rabbit, not a human? Perhaps she isn't wearing shoes because her true identity is that of an animal?

For example, how about this story:

Unlike the other children, she didn't die. But she came to hell of her own accord, thanks to the mysterious powers of animals. In the world where the children lived, rabbits were considered sacred animals, and she remembered how the children had protected her very dearly. That's why she came to save the children who had fallen into hell.

But the children cannot leave hell. According to the idea of ​​reincarnation, dying in the afterlife is the same as being reborn in this world, but these children are unable to do this. Perhaps they don't know how to atone for their sins in life. Or perhaps their bodies have rotted, making it impossible for them to be reborn. Or perhaps they are being punished by waking up in hell no matter how many times they die.

The rabbit lived. But the sister had remained in the world of the dead for so long that her body was dead. She could no longer return to her body. She could only return to this world through reincarnation.

So the children took their sister to the well (womb) to send her back to earth. The children tied her up because if they didn't, she would become violent and say, "I won't abandon you all. I'll stay here." The children stole their sister's mask in order to take away her mysterious powers. If she were reborn as a human, she would lose her memories of her past life and would no longer have any desire to come to Hell. The sheep gathered around the well are the dead who cannot escape Hell. They are jealous of their sister, who is leaving Hell.

However…at the bottom of the well, the sister met some animals. Perhaps they were animals freed from anger and hatred. The animals gave their sister, who wanted to save the children, a rabbit mask. So no matter how many times she is thrown into the well, she is reborn as a rabbit and returns to Hell.

The sister is angry that the children pushed her down the well, but she is worried about them, so she asks her brother, "Where are others?" and immediately goes looking for them. The children love her, so they tell her, "You should leave," and "Why did you come back for us?"