Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise

Whug, long week, and I spent a lot of it on Hayate (the Second Season is so different from the first...) and watching an episode here and there of series I don't want to fully review.

But I've had this movie sitting in my "Unwatched" folder for a month or two now so I figured it was time to finally watch the first piece of work Studio Gainax made under the name Studio Gainax.

Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise:  B

First impressions were meh.  The pacing is pretty slow, it's a grown up movie, the kind my parents would like.  It reminded me of The Right Stuff, which I saw when I was like 11 and didn't really know how to take, this is back when I wanted to be an astronaut, like all kids did, before I realized how much kinda boring work it is.

But as I kept watching it, it grew on me.  The main character, Shirotsugu, is a soldier in the eponymous Royal Space Force, which, much like our own modern space program, has fallen on hard times, unlike our space program, this one has not yet gotten off the ground, hearkening back to the days of rocketry and launch pad explosions.  As the story progresses, Shirotsugu finds religion (odd for a Japanese movie), struggles with his own identity and humanity, fights back against the apathy infesting the space force and the political intrigues surrounding the planet's first manned space mission.

It is a very mature piece, that I felt like I got right away and hit the nail on, very much about adult emotions finding one's place, not only a man's place in life, but humanity's place in the universe, and if it can hold your interest, it's a very touching story.

The animation style is jarring, compared to the beautiful people we are so used to seeing in modern anime, the characters have a rough and almost ugly look to them, but the old, plainly hand-drawn cells have an expressive quality of shading which one doesn't see often outside of Studio Ghibli's work (and if it reminds you of a Ghibli production visually, it should, most of the animators worked at Studio Ghibli before working at Gainax).

Overall, if you can get into a very human, political story, it's an excellent movie, but if you're looking for a couple hours of action-packed explosions and fan service, look elsewhere.