Wings of Honneamise

Before I begin the review, a word of warning: this will be a completely serious review, free of wisecracks and of notes scattered here and there (dream on. – Tribal’s note)

It was the year 1987 (what? Have the years taken up jogging? – Goku’s note)(isn’t he referring to Hideaki Anno? – Ryo’s note)(OK! I get it. Whoever read the preface to this review, forget it. – WDIM’s note). I must have been about 11 - 12 years old and, apart from watching Hokuto no Ken, I don’t think I did much with my life (why, and now…? – Ryo’s note, extremely sarcastic). While I was happily clowning around, Wings of Honneamise came out in Japan. Some shady characters from a newborn animation studio (Gainax), some with a background in Macross (Anno, Yamaga), others only with amateur films and the openings of Daicon III and IV, managed to scrape together funds from Bandai (lots of funds. – WDIM’s note) to bring the film project to completion.

The story revolves around Shiro Lhadatt, a member of the Space Force, a group under military command. The Space Force does not deal, like the other military branches, with war, but with space launches. The branch’s only flaw is that it has never managed to get a shuttle off the ground, and all the members of the Space Force, Shiro included, are in it because they have nothing better to do (it reminds me of certain people… – Ryo’s note, who is making sarcasm his reason for living). One evening, during leave, Shiro meets Riquinni, a young girl who hands out religious leaflets in order to spread the word of God. Shiro, struck by the girl (not at all by her topics of conversation)(though she did have other, more convincing arguments… – Ryo’s note), accepts the invitation on the leaflet and the next day turns up at the girl’s house for what is supposed to be a deeper look at the ecclesiastical subject (and here a myriad of jokes would come to mind, but I won’t make them because I wouldn’t want to seem blasphemous… – Ryo’s note). What should have been a talk turns out to be a meeting of three: Shiro, Riquinni and Mana (Riquinni’s younger sister). During the conversation the girls learn of Shiro’s profession, which strikes Riquinni as very inspiring. It must be said that the Space Force was looked upon favourably neither by the population, who thought it useless, nor by the other soldiers, who considered fighting wars more important than wasting time chasing the stars. For this reason, Riquinni’s enthusiastic speech had a surprising effect on Shiro. From listless and idle (who? WDIM? – Tribal’s note) he became a determined and convinced member of the Space Force (the only one, to tell the truth), going as far as volunteering for the project of the first real space launch.

The story continues, showing Shiro’s physical training, the design of the shuttle, the problems in obtaining funds from the central government and the evolution of the relationship between Shiro and Riquinni, which will lead to a change in the protagonist’s view of the world. Shiro’s problems do not end there: he also has to deal with a nation hostile to his own, which does everything it can to prevent the launch of the space shuttle and to seize it, offering intense action scenes that will end in open conflict between the two nations, naturally before the long-awaited launch.

From a technical point of view the film is monstrous, especially considering the period in which it was made. The animation is excellent; the lights and the not-too-bright colours help create the strong sense of reality that is one of the film’s main characteristics (the scene of Shiro’s first flight is magnificent). The space launch scene, for which the Gainax people even went to NASA to study the complex mechanics of space launches. Sadamoto’s character design is atypical, made of rounder, less angular lines, resulting in a more adult look, perfectly suited to the work, even though at first glance it may seem strange.

Ryuichi Sakamoto’s music respects the atmosphere of the film without being anything particularly exceptional, apart from the piece that plays under the final scenes of the film (after all, one was entitled to expect more from the man who won the Oscar for the music of Bertolucci’s “The Last Emperor” and who has worked on so many important works).

So, all good then? Well… For many people who have seen the film, the main problem lies in the structure of the story, which can seem weak in places. The main difficulty is following the protagonist’s thoughts. Whereas in works like Gunbuster or Evangelion the protagonist’s feelings were evident, in Honneamise Shiro’s thoughts are not expressed in words, but in the form of looks and certain attitudes that change as the story goes on, until the prayer Shiro speaks in space. So some scenes may seem obscure, and others, like the rape scene, purely gratuitous.

Another symptom of a weak structure is the function of the nation opposing the empire in which Shiro lives. It seems to exist only to liven up the film between one dialogue and the next and to show off Gainax’s technical abilities with a large budget at their disposal (see the final clash near the launch pad). Honneamise no tsubasa, in short, is a film worth seeing, if only for the way it was made, especially if you are a Gainax fan. Personally I only came to appreciate it fully after seeing it 3 times, so I recommend watching it at least a couple of times. A couple of curiosities: the original title was meant to be “The Royal Space Force” (Oritsu Uchugun), but Bandai felt the title should be slightly more grandiose, something like “Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water” or “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind”, and so it became “Wings of Honneamise”. Kenichi Sonoda (author of “Gunsmith Cats” and “Gall Force” – Ryo’s note) also worked on Wings, drawing some parts of the city, after the plates he was doing as mecha designer were rejected for being excessively fanciful. So, did it turn out a serious review? What do you say, Ryo? Ryo…?!? Ryo, will you stop laughing?