ANI-MOVIES, *Royal Space Force

Studio Gainax, famous for Evangelion, Nadia, and Gurren Lagann, got their big start with this, their first ever theatrical production. Royal Space Force, or as its also sometimes called: The Wings Of Honneamise, was an parallel universe tale about mankind’s first attempt at space travel. Hiroyuki Yamaga directed this as his premiere project, although he went on to quit Gainax early on during the production of Gurren Lagann. This movie was first released on DVD and VHS by Manga Entertainment, but then again on a pricy DVD/Blu-Ray by Bandai Visual.

Taking place in an alternate version of Earth, a faction of the military called the Royal Space Force has been practicing on and off to gain proper funding for their space program. Shirotsugh Lhadatt is part of the RSF, and is mainly just in the military for laughs with no real direction. However, when one of their crew dies in a test, he becomes concerned with his direction is life. While out drinking with his crew, he runs across the religious girl Riquinni who invites him back to her place the next morning. She’s not some Jehova’s Witness though, but seems a little to faithful to her religion to the point that it leaves her very clueless about how the real world works, like paying her bills. Lhadatt gets inspired by her devotion, and decides to live up to his lot as an astronaut by volunteering for the first planned orbital flight, otherwise the whole space program would’ve been shafted. The military takes over a large portion of this project claiming the rocket is a warship, and it becomes viewed by the neighboring country as a threat, so much so that Lhadatt gets targeted by some rather creative assassins. The situation escalates to where the actual launch site becomes the focus of a full blown battlezone, and the entire thing gets cancelled by the government, but the RSF decides to brave the odds by continuing with the launch. Lhadatt finally achieves his space flight, and reflects that all the hostility and wars humanity has going on seem pointless since from where he sees the world now there are no borders.

This movie is considered to be the crowning achievement in Gainax’s long history. The world it takes place in is modeled after own, but redone in fashionable steampunk way. It pools elements from several of our cultures into it, and seems to really dig neon lights in ways that Las Vegas never did. Gainax outdid itself with this, and set the standard for their future productions like Gunbuster. It has some of the most memorable animation you’ll ever see in sequences you have trouble telling the difference between them and live-action. Royal Space Force was a real game-changer.