Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise

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Wings of Honneamise
王立宇宙軍 オネアミスの翼
(Ōritsu Uchūgun: Oneamisu no Tsubasa)
Genre Drama, Military, Science fiction
Animated film
Director Hiroyuki Yamaga
Producer Shigeru Watanabe
Toshio Okada
Composer Ryuichi Sakamoto
Studio Gainax
Released 14 March 1987
Runtime 125 min

Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise (王立宇宙軍 オネアミスの翼 Ōritsu Uchūgun: Oneamisu no Tsubasa?) is the first feature-length anime movie produced by Gainax in 1987. It is directed by Hiroyuki Yamaga. The movie was a critically acclaimed Gainax classic, but it sold only modestly domestically and overseas[1]. A sequel was intended to be released set 50 years later, but due to lack of funds, Gainax abandoned it part way through production.

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[edit] Plot

The story is set in a parallel version of Earth, where an industrial civilization is flourishing amidst the backdrop of an impending war between two bordering nations.

Shirotsugh Lhadatt is an unmotivated young man who has drifted into his nation's lackadaisical space program. After the death of a fellow astronaut, he nurtures a close acquaintance with a young religious woman named Riquinni Nonderaiko, whose loyalty to her faith has seen her through many of the problems in her life. Seeing Lhadatt as a prime example of what mankind is capable of doing and the godliness and ground-breaking nature of space exploration, she motivates Lhadatt, who is then inspired to become the first man in space.

His training as an astronaut parallels his coming of age, and he and the rest of the members of the space project overcome technological difficulties, spiritual doubt, and the machinations of their political masters. This results in the eventual space launch taking place in what is essentially a demilitarized zone with the hope that the enemy nation will act to seize the rocket before launch, giving Lhadatt's country a pretext for war.

The launch sequence is indeed interrupted by a vast combined arms invasion by the enemy nation, which results in a visually stunning finale as propeller-driven Pusher configuration fighters duel with primitive jet fighters analogous to Korean War-era jet fighters high above an armoured advance towards a defensive trench network. Despite calls to pull out, Lhadatt, already in the space capsule, convinces the vulnerable ground crew to complete the launch. The launch stuns both sides into inaction as Lhadatt goes into orbit. With no more reference to the world below (beyond a slight suggestion that both nation's plans for war have been foiled by the successful launch), Lhadatt prays for forgiveness for humanity.

In a symbolic moment, Lhadatt's capsule is suddenly bathed in sunlight, and a montage of his world's history and achievements flash (presumably) through his mind. Meanwhile on the planet's surface, Riquinni witnesses the first snow fall and gazes into the sky thinking of Lhadatt.

[edit] Trivia

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[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Considered one of the top 10 films of 1987 by Japanese film critics, The Wings of Honneamise is a bittersweet, introspective tale of an incompetent space program staffed by slacker astronauts who are despised by society at large. It was made by an iconoclastic band of talented twentysomethings who called themselves Gainax. The name is a self-mocking contraction of a Japanese word for great with the English word max." "Heads Up, Mickey: Anime may be Japan's first really big cultural export", Issue 3.04 - Apr 1995, Wired Magazine

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