Art of Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise
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Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise is an animation movie written and directed by Hiroyuki Yamaga, co-produced by Hiroaki Inoue and Hiroyuki Sueyoshi, and planned by Toshio Okada and Shigeru Watanabe in 1987. The story takes place in an alternate world where a disengaged young man, Shirotsugh, inspired by an idealistic woman named Riquinni, volunteers to become the first astronaut, a decision that draws them into both public and personal conflict.
The film was the debut work of anime studio Gainax, whose later television and movie series Neon Genesis Evangelion would achieve international recognition. Yamaga and Okada had become known through making amateur fan-oriented short films, particularly the Daicon III and IV Opening Animations, but their pitch for Royal Space Force argued that growing the anime industry required a shift away from works that pleased fans on a surface level but reinforced their isolation, advocating instead for a different type of anime that attempted to engage with fans as human beings who shared in the alienation issues of a larger society. The making of Royal Space Force involved a collaborative year-long design process using many creators, including some from outside the anime industry, to construct an elaborately detailed alternate world described as neither utopian nor dystopian, but "an attempt to approve existence".
Royal Space Force's collective approach to filmmaking, its deliberate rejection of established anime motifs, its visual complexity, and the general lack of professional experience among its staff were all factors in its chaotic production while increasing uncertainty about the project led to what has been described as an attempt by its investors and producers to "fix" the film before release, imposing a late name change to The Wings of Honnêamise, and a lavish but deceptive publicity campaign that included misleading advertising as well as a staged premiere at Mann's Chinese Theatre. Although receiving some support among domestic anime fans and the industry upon its release in Japan (including praise from Hayao Miyazaki and Mamoru Oshii) the film failed to make back its costs at the box office, but eventually became profitable through home video sales. Hideaki Anno would later describe the reception Royal Space Force received as having had a major impact on him both personally and as a creator.
The pictures on this page are a collection of artworks created for this movie.
THE STORY
In the Kingdom of Honnêamise, a young man named Shirotsugh Lhadatt recalls his middle-class upbringing and childhood dream to fly jets for the navy. His grades disqualifying him, Shirotsugh ended up instead joining the "Royal Space Force," a tiny unit with poor morale whose commander, General Khaidenn, dreams of human spaceflight, yet is barely capable of launching unmanned satellites. One night, Shirotsugh encounters a woman named Riquinni who is preaching in the red-light district. Riquinni Nonderaiko, who lives with a sullen little girl named Manna, surprises him by suggesting that humanity could find peace through space travel. Inspired, Shirotsugh volunteers for a last-ditch project to keep the Space Force from being disbanded: send the first astronaut into orbit.
Riquinni gives Shirotsugh scriptures to study but becomes upset when he touches her and angry when he suggests she should "compromise" with God. Riquinni feels such compromise is to blame for the evils of the world, but Shirotsugh suggests it has made it easier to live in. The General arranges a shady deal to help finance his project, and tells a cheering crowd that the orbital capsule will be a "space warship". Soon after, Riquinni's cottage is foreclosed upon and demolished; not wishing to expose Manna, whose mother was constantly abused by her husband, to any more conflicts, she rejects the outraged Shirotsugh's offer to get her a lawyer. He begins to read Riquinni's scriptures, which assert that humanity is cursed to violence for having stolen fire…
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