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Royal Space Force: The Wings of HonneamisePOSTED BY JASON FETTERS, April 7, 2014 Share
Have you ever thought that you just didn’t measure up in life? Such is the outlook of young underachiever, Shirotsugh Lhadatt, who watches a plane flying while musing over the fact that he barely graduated due to poor grades and thus killed his dreams of becoming a pilot and was forced to accept a lower gig in the Royal Space Force.
Shirotsugh has no purpose in life as he just drifts along in the RSF from one practice session to the next. All the candidates in the RSF also have a low opinion of their dull space program and it doesn’t look like much of a career for anyone.
Following a night out at the local bar with his pals, Shirotsugh happens to walk by the plain and humbly dressed, Riquinni Nonderaiko, who is out on the street handing out Christian pamphlets and urging people to take one. She becomes the only ray of hope to Shirotsugh who is lost and confused and needs direction. Their relationship grows after another astronaut in the RSF is killed. Her gentle and caring nature rubs off on him and he becomes determined to volunteer to be the first astronaut to fly into space.
Shirotsugh focuses all his energy into his astronaut training as he grows and matures. He is recognized by one man seeking an autograph as the RSF gains publicity due to an upcoming space mission to put Shirotsugh into a rocket.
The usual kind and considerate, Shirotsugh, has been spending a lot of time with Riquinni and in an atypical moment, he walks up behind her as she is undressing and jumps ontop of her. She screams to be let go and is forced to hit him in the side of the head and knocking him out. What is odd about this is that the next day as Riquinni is leaving, Shirotsugh, runs after her and begs for forgiveness. She forgives him and is ashamed of knocking him out and hurting him. Would she really recover from such an awful experience so quickly? Throughout the rest of the movie, their relationship continues as if the rape attempt never happened. In fact, the whole rape scene could be edited out without changing the plot. The only reason to leave it in is probably to show that Riquinni is a mature Christian lady who is capable of forgiving a most heinous sin. In fact her Christianity and Bible study influences Shirotsugh who is facing the great unknown. He is unsure if the rocket being made will get him into space or if he will die before reaching the heavens. However he is unafraid of the consequences and is willing to do whatever it takes to be successful.
To see the greatest impact of Christianity in RSF, you need to see the ending, which I won’t spoil here.
Royal Space Force is the first film corroboration for Gainax and Bandai Visual and was written and directed by Hiroyuki Yamaga. It was released in Japan on March 14th, 1987 and failed at the box office and didn’t recoup its $800 million budget. Despite this it did receive favorable reviews from critics from ’87 on. RSF has gained a strong and loyal fanbase throughout the years.
It is a beautiful looking movie with lush and details backgrounds. The story is realistic and could work within a Sci Fi alternative reality universe. The characters are engaging and face real problems that most people endure. The music is an audio treat by YMO’s genius, Ryuichi Sakamoto. Future Gainax director, Hideaki Anno, worked on special effects art. He would later gain fame with his Neon Genesis Evangelion. Yoshiyuki Sadamoto created the character designs and he would also achieve greatness with Gunbuster and Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, as well as, designing the characters for Evangelion.
The true testament to the greatness of Royal Space Force is supreme anime critic and writer, Carl Gastov Horn’s fanzine called Royal Space Force 25th Anniversary Fanzine, which is available here. http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/487410
Royal Space Force is a must have Anime movie that is right up there with Akira, Princess Mononoke, and Ghost in the Shell and should be required viewing for all true fans.
Highly Recommended
5 out of 5 stars
"The Asian Aperture" is ©2014 by Jason Fetters. All contents of Crazed Fanboy are ©2014 by Nolan B. Canova and Terence Nuzum.
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