Wings of Honneamise  Highly recommended
Publisher
Manga Entertainment
Director
Hiroyuki Yamaga
Production
GAINAX
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Film
Running time
125 mins
Year
1987
Wings of Honneamise VHS
By John Huxley
23rd May 04  Wings of Honneamise was originally titled Royal Space Force - a more sane title and one that is actually pronounceable. Honneamise doesn't actually have anything to do with the story whatsoever. Stupid name aside, this is one of the most acclaimed anime from public and press alike, despite becoming a box-office disaster in Japan and costing immense amounts of money to produce. Despite this I feel that Wings of Honneamise more than lives up to the reputation, regardless of the oddball theme and strange direction the film takes. The story presents us with Shiro Lhadatt. Shiro's dream was to pilot an aeroplane, something he could only do by joining the Navy. Unfortunately his grades never matched up to the Navy's requirements, so his only option was to join the Royal Space Force, the laughing stock of the entire military. The Space Force was deemed to be a waste of time and money, going nowhere and achieving nothing but humiliation and the possibility of death for anyone who dared to risk themselves at the helm of a space rocket. With no astronauts and no real funding, most of the Royal Space Force's time is spent drinking and gambling, wasting time and generally not doing much at all. That is, of course, until Shiro Lhadatt meets a young woman offering religion to anyone who will take it. Inspired by the woman's devotion to her cause, Shiro finds his own reasons and follows his own path to become the first man in space. All sounds a little too deep, doesn't it? Well, don't worry, Wings of Honneamise never treads over the line of being obnoxious; always staying the right side of amusing. And that's what keeps it all together - for every serious moment your presented with a light-hearted situation. Even war and death never seem to get too theoretical, or at least not notably so. The characters are great, especially Shiro and the rest of the space force with their sick sense of humor and complete lack of faith in their own positions. Wings of Honneamise takes and odd direction. Everything - from the characters to the designs right through to the music - is given a slightly (and I emphasize slightly) alien feel. This is a world that's obviously very similar to our own, but everything is different, even the telephones. The design of this alternate earth is extremely well realized. Architecture is inspired (but not stolen) from 20's and 30's popular art, while the costume design looks even older and the vehicles seem more futuristic. This mismatch of periods is well planned, giving everything a purpose while remaining exceptionally attractive to the eyes. The animation is decent enough to back this up, but I wouldn't say that it is Akira or Disney standards. Just good enough. I thought I wouldn't like Wings of Honneamise, being a fan of the more action and violence-orientated anime like Devil Man, but it really was a pleasant surprise the first time I watched it. And every time since then, Wings of Honneamise has done nothing but grow on me. Very, very good stuff.
-- John Huxley 23rd May 04
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