7.5 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
One of the most acclaimed films in Japanese anime, The Winds of Honneamise tells the story of a group of would-be astronauts on a planet that is not Earth, but not unlike Earth. While an eager young pilot named Shilo dreams of making his nation's space program a success, his leaders are not sure of the project's viability, and shortages of money and technical know-how threaten to keep space flights on the ground. Will Shilo and his friends buck the odds and take their ship to other worlds?
Starring: Chikao Ōtsuka, Shôzô Îzuka, Hirotaka Suzuoki, Masahiro Anzai, Gorō NayaForeign | 100% |
Anime | 86% |
Sci-Fi | 17% |
Drama | 8% |
Action | 8% |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.74:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
It’s not every anime Blu-ray release that includes a pull quote from Roger Ebert, but there is the vaunted Pulitzer Prize winner’s imprimatur emblazoned across the back cover of Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise, praising the film's visual sweep. The kind of interesting thing about this kind of critical acclaim is that Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise took the better part of a decade to matriculate from its native Japan to the United States, and even after it (star) trekked to this side of the pond, it was largely met with barely stifled yawns by an uninterested public. It’s kind of interesting to contrast Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise’s long journey into public consciousness with that of Akira (due very soon in a 25th Anniversary Edition from FUNimation Entertainment), an anime which came along a year after Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise’s 1987 Japanese debut, but which skyrocketed to international acclaim much more quickly. Akira is seen as one of the most seminal of feature film anime, which may leave some fans of the other film asking (rhetorically or otherwise), “Hey, what’s Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise, chopped liver?” While Akira trafficked in the post-apocalyptic genre which has become such a recurring trope in anime, Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise is at least a relatively more optimistic enterprise. The culture it depicts is definitely dysfunctional, and there are hints that things could soon tip into an apocalyptic maelstrom, but the film has a rather unique spiritual underpinning which seems at least a bit more sanguine about Mankind’s future (even if the species being depicted may or may not be actual humans). Gorgeously drawn in that very distinctive old school Japanese style, Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise follows the adventures of young would be astronaut Shirotsugh (nicknamed Shiro) Lhadatt, a kind of disheveled slacker type who would seem to not possess an inherently recognizable quantity of “the right stuff”. Shiro shows up late to the funeral of one of his colleagues who has perished (in a a debacle involving the unlikely cause of a leaking urine bag, but which may remind some of the Apollo disaster), upsetting his commanders and causing a bit of good natured ribbing by his buddies, who seem to have gotten used to the fact that Shiro isn’t exactly the most disciplined young space jock in the program. When a series of events gets Shiro to volunteer to be his kingdom’s first man in space, things become more serious, as Shiro suddenly finds himself an unwilling celebrity and an example for a cause that may have some sinister undertones.
Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Maiden Japan with an AVC encoded
1080p transfer in 1.74:1. This is a kind of odd video presentation, windowboxed instead of letterboxed or pillarboxed. Fans
of this anime will remember that Bandai Visual actually released this title on Blu-ray several years ago, and my memory is
that that version did not have this same anomaly (see below for a note on the Bandai version). My hunch is this may have
been sourced from an older master that in turn was sourced from some slightly problematic elements. Aside from more
expected issues like age related wear and tear, there are some slight
spikes of noise in a few scattered (darker) scenes as well as a recurrent milky wash that permeates the bottom of the frame
at intermittent intervals. Grain is very healthy, especially in opticals (the film has a large number of montages). Colors look
just slightly faded some of the time, though some of the film's bold primaries do pop at least relatively well. Line detail is
generally very sharp, though this film has a rather soft overall look due to its old school hand drawn technique, which is
frankly a large part of its charm.
Note: A database I maintain on the discs I have indicates I have the older Bandai Visual release of Royal Space
Force: Wings of Honneamise, but it wasn't where it should have been when I went to look for it today to do
some
comparisons (what else is new?). I'm going to search through some additional storage places I have for discs, and if I'm
able to find the first Blu-ray release, I'll append some extra screenshots to the existing review and also revisit the video
analysis with some comparisons to the first presentation. If/when that occurs, this section will have a bolded
Update section, so stay tuned over the next week or so.
Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise features both an English dub in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 as well as the original Japanese track in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Perhaps surprisingly, there isn't that much difference in the overall aggression of these mixes, if only because the film only has some sporadic opportunities for big sound effects. The Japanese track is in fact mixed with slightly less overall amplitude than the English mix, which may also play into the perception that not all that much is going on in terms of surround activity. There are some nice moments, including a couple of launches and sounds of jets panning through the soundfield, but the 5.1 mix is a relatively restrained affair. However, both of these tracks offer very good fidelity and decently wide dynamic range.
Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise is a weirdly, almost criminally, underappreciated anime that deserves the same sort of mass market appeal that has accrued to some much less well realized fare over the years. A lot of people tend to default to Akira when a "newbie" asks them what anime feature film they should initiate their anime experience with, and I confess to having fallen in that trap myself more than once. I'm going to hopefully ameliorate that situation going forward, and I'll start by giving this release (despite some passing issues with the video and a lack of supplementary features) a Highly recommended.
Ōritsu Uchūgun: Oneamisu no Tsubasa
1987
王立宇宙軍 オネアミスの翼 / Ōritsu Uchūgun: Oneamisu no Tsubasa
1987
王立宇宙軍 オネアミスの翼 4K / Ōritsu Uchūgun: Oneamisu no Tsubasa 4K | 4K Remaster Memorial Box w/ Storyboards Limited Edition
1987
機動警察パトレイバー 2 the Movie
1993
トップをねらえ! 劇場版
2006
トップをねらえ! / Aim for the Top! GUNBUSTER
1988-1989
機動警察パトレイバー the Movie
1989
機動警察パトレイバー アーリーデイズ / Patlabor: The Early Days
1988-1989
2006-2008
イノセンス / Inosensu
2004
レドライン
2009
人狼
1999
Evangerion shin gekijôban: Ha
2009
トップをねらえ2! 劇場版 / Top wo Nerae 2!
2006
ストレンヂア 無皇刃譚
2007
2000
High-Definition Disctopia
1987-1991
1988
includes Minipato / WXIII 機動警察パトレイバー / ミニパト
2001
Evangerion shin gekijôban: Jo
2007
Metoroporisu / メトロポリス
2001
Ginga Tetsudou 999 / 銀河鉄道999
1979
Essentials / 交響詩篇エウレカセブン
2005-2006