Ôritsu uchûgun Oneamisu no tsubasa (1987)

(Written by Kim Newman under the pseudonym Jack Yeovil)

Now that animé has secured a market niche in the UK we're starting to see examples of the form that seem more alien than the cyberpunk of Akira or the splatterfest of Legend of the Overfiend.

A big budget release in Japan, this is technically superb, with animation equal to anything from Uncle Walt, an epic feel and a terrific score. It's deliberately bewildering, set in a world the equivalent to ours but definitely not the same.

Set in the kingdom of Honneamano, which combines the hierarchical monarchy of traditional Japan with the militarist technophilia of America in the 50s, this has our hero, Shiro Lhadatto, as a young idealist who has joined the Royal Space Force, an outfit ridiculed after 20 years of failing to launch a successful rocket. The only man who volunteers for a space flight, Shiro goes through intensive training while various of enthusiasts build a missile-like spacecraft. Meanwhile, the political masters of the kingdom use the programme as part of a scheme to provoke a war with a rival superpower. Under the influence of his religious and chaste girlfriend, Shiro questions the morals of his mission.

The story is complex, with obvious meanings for a Japan troubled by its World War II militarism and post-war military expansionism, but also has a great many universal insights into the tragic scrambling of scientific and political interests. It's also a deeply humanist film, with very subtle characterisation of a pretty stock cast. The message might be simplistic, but this is one of the most intricate and involving science fiction movies of recent years.
JACK YEOVIL

First Published In: Empire no.66 (December 1994) p.36 (UK)

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