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Subject:      File: "ONNEAMIS SYNOPSIS"
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ONNEAMIS SYNOPSIS

Subject:  1.) THE WINGS OF (H)ONNEAMIS(E) synopsis by Carl Horn (8/28/92)


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Subject:  1.) THE WINGS OF (H)ONNEAMIS(E) synopsis by Carl Horn (8/28/92)


ORIGINALLY WRITTEN by Carl Horn on August 28, 1992.
RE-FORMATTED by Steven Feldman on September 5, 1992.

Author's note: The following article was originally written for the 1990
TimeCon Japanese Animation program, at which the Sawyer Productions
subtitled version of The Wings Of Honneamise was shown.  The showing was
a success, but the program book, for various reasons, was never released.
In the interests of bringing these historic documents to light--more
importantly, in the interests of blatting about Honneamise--it is here
printed publicly for the first time.  Permission to reprint this article
in whole or in part is granted to non-profit organizations provided
acknowledgement is made of its sources (listed after the film synopsis)
and a copy of the publication in which it appears is sent at no charge
to: 415 Terrace Drive, Houston, Texas, 77586.  Sounds sort of over-
complicated, doesn't it? Maybe I'm destined to refound the C/FO.

THE WINGS OF HONNEAMISE:

     Long before The Wings Of Honneamise ("Honneamise no Tsubasa--Oritsu
Uchugun") made its public premiere, it was marked as an extraordinary
film.  It was based on an original short story by Hiroyuki Yamaga, a 24-
year old writer/director with very little experience who had nonetheless
displayed a brilliant talent.  Together with former co-workers, Yamaga
formed his own production company, Gainax, in 1984 and produced a four-
minute animated short based on his story, with hopes of using it to
obtain funding for a full-length feature.  In May of 1985, Gainax
presented its short and proposal to Bandai, a major Japanese corporation.
Makoto Yamashina, president of Bandai, was interested in a film venture
for his company and authorized a budget of over eight billion yen (then
48 million U.S.) for Gainax's feature project.  By May, Gainax had
assembled a staff of 3,000 animators for the film and that summer key
staff visited the United States on a research tour which included the
National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C., the launch of the Space
Shuttle Discovery at Cape Kennedy, and the study of Post-modern
architecture in New York.  By this time, the film's production involved
the top names in the industry.  Its art director would be Hiromasa Ogura,
of The Castle Of Cagliostro, and among the key animators were Hideaki
Anno of Macross: Do You Remember Love? and Nausicaa Of The Valley Of Wind
and Yuji Moriyama of Urusei Yatsura.  The original soundtrack for
Honneamise would be composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto, who shared an Academy
Award with David Byrne for the score to The Last Emperor.  As the film
neared completion in November of 1986, Bandai began a massive publicity
campaign for the film that would culminate with the extraordinary
decision to have Honneamise's world premiere at the famous Chinese
Theatre in Hollywood.  This event, which was to be on February 19, 1987--
the twenty-fifth anniversary of John Glenn's orbit of the Earth--would be
thoroughly covered by Japanese news and Bandai's own publicity staff and
used to promote the March 14 premiere of Honneamise in Japan.

THE FILM:

     The two words that have been most often used to describe our age are
"nuclear" and "space."  Yet Arthur C. Clarke, in 1984: A Choice Of
Futures, has pointed out that our extraordinary leap into space in the
1960s might be regarded as a mutation, a freak created by the political
imperatives of the Cold War, without which, the development of space
travel might have waited for decades.  The fantastic first steps of the
human race off our planet--the beginning of a new era in history--were
seemingly birthed in fear and hate.  The rockets that sent Yuri Gagarin
and John Glenn into orbit were first developed to carry nuclear warheads.
     The Wings Of Honneamise takes a fresh look at the beginning of our
new era.  Hiroyuki Yamaga created as a setting for his film another
world, of another humanity, with their own distinctive elements of
culture--dress, art, cuisine, architecture, religion, government.
Everything has been uniquely designed for the film, from this world's
spoons to its jet airplanes--and the attention to detail is unmatched in
any other film.  In fact, it becomes apparent to the viewer through the
course of Honneamise that this fantastic, "alien" setting is a dazzling
kaleidoscope, where the bright turning shards are fragments mirroring our
own world.  In a trolley-ticket machine, there is an echo of a Japanese
train station, in a wall poster there are graphics reminiscent of Navajo
paintings, in a ceremonial hat is found Maori design, and in a newsreel
is seen the BBC.
     Honneamise's world is so rich, in fact, that it is a great pity we
are given only two hours to observe it.  But the film's design crew, led
by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, have managed to create a setting which is at once
both a stunning artistic achievement and a firm ground for the
speculations that drive the story.  The Wings Of Honneamise considers
that first step into space in a retrograde dream, returning to the
technology of the 1950s, in a world that was and was not.  It is a fable
making a sublime plea to our time, when, twenty years after Apollo, we
have lost the ability to touch the moon.  It concerns itself with the
decisions of one man, the one destined to be first in space, his journey
from malaise through a complex moral landscape, and his growing awareness
of how his decisions will affect and be affected by all other people, who
make a giant leap with his step: the question of an individual and
history.  It is art's laurel laid upon science and engineering: an
animated film from Japan that is an intensive and fantastic examination
of humanity.  With The Wings Of Honneamise, Hiroyuki Yamaga argues that
we cannot continue to deny that we have a choice--and a future.

SYNOPSIS:

     A boy named Shirotzugh Lhadatto runs across a snowy field, down to
the seashore, to watch, wide-eyed, the take-off of a jet from an aircraft
carrier.  We hear his voice:
     "I don't know if it's good or bad...but I was born into a very
ordinary country family--like so many people who never have any control.
And it was important, although I didn't understand this--that being
middle class, I never knew the problems of the rich, or the hardships of
the poor--and really, I don't want to know.  When I was a kid, I wanted
to be a Navy pilot.  It was the only way to fly a jet. . . . They were so
fast . . . flew so high. . . . To soar through the air . . . oh, there
couldn't be anything better than that.  But . . . two months before I
graduated from high school, I knew my report card was going to show me it
was impossible.  And so . . . that's why I joined the Space Force."
     The credits bring us back to Shirotzugh, now twenty-one and a member
of the "Royal Space Force" of the Kingdom of Honneamano.  He makes a
weary way out from an afternoon nap, late for the funeral of a friend.
Khaidenn, the General who founded and commands the Force--whose eleven
members are now all present--berates Shiro for his lack of respect.
Shiro's friends, however, are of the opinion that the General should hold
himself responsible for the death of their friend, killed in a spacesuit
test, part of the General's ongoing quest to build a "manned artificial
satellite."
     Later, on the roof of the Space Force headquarters building, Shiro
and his best friend, Matti, avoid combat drill while they discuss their
prospects.  Matti feels they're making a reasonably good living, but all
this job is doing for Shiro is filling his belly--"I don't want to die in
a place like this."  Just then, their trainer catches them loafing and
assigns them penalty exercises, contemptuously flipping a coin down as
"overtime pay."
     That night, Shiro and his friends toast in a bar the memory of their
dead comrade, who died "for the sake of a spaceship."  One of their group
thinks that manned space flight is something for the far future.  "Can
our army hold out until then?" asks Matti.  Shiro hopes it will hold
together until he can get another job.  After leaving the bar, the Royal
Space Force cruises to the red-light district, where an exhausted Shiro
is soon left alone amidst the flashy displays.  His attention is captured
by an incongruous sight: a young girl preaching and handing out tracts:
"God is grieving.  People who live impurely shall surely go to Hell.
People who know the path of righteousness but do not follow it . . .
people who commit crimes and lie, and people who are not ashamed of that.
These are all evils."  Shiro takes a tract from her and walks away,
looking back . . . "We were promised a time when we would be lifted from
the Crucible of God.  The Day of Judgement is drawing near.  If we are
not prepared for that day..."
     Shiro awakens the next morning, discovering he had passed out on the
wreathed bed of his dead friend.  It's a holiday, and he decides to go to
the address printed on the tract and attend one of the girl's meetings.
At the place, miles from the city, he meets her again (explaining the
purpose of his visit after she slams the door the first time).  Her name
is Leiqunni Nondelaiko, and she lives alone with a silent, sullen little
girl named Manna.  After tea, she and Shiro discuss the "hateful times"
they live in.  Shiro explains that the death of his friend is weighing on
his mind.  This leads to discussing his job--she's never heard of the
Royal Space Force.  "Are you a soldier?"  "No, we're just a group who are
going into space."  "But that's wonderful!"  "It is?"  Shiro's surprise
is genuine as Leiqunni speaks of the joy of "leaving the troubles of this
world" and traveling to places only dreamed of, but her enthusiasm and
presence soon has him on his feet, proclaiming a newfound sense of
mission.  Leiqunni smiles.
     The next day, Shiro's friends are put off by his uncharacteristic
pep.  Soon afterward, Shiro is the only one paying attention as the
General addresses them, reviewing the history of the Force: he founded it
ten years after reading a book that asserted that space flight was
impossible.  "It is hard to list all the things that have become possible
since then . . ."  His speech is intercut with the cynical comments of
members of the Force--the truth is, we learn, that they've hardly made
any progress at all--they can barely put their primitive satellites up
and failed five times in a row in launching the last one.  Now,
Parliament is on the verge of abolishing their Force entirely.  "However!
However, gentlemen!" interjects the General: "Can't we show them that we
have, just within our reach, the dream of the human race setting sail
into the great universe?"  He has devised a plan to vindicate their Force
by putting a man into space.  He asks for volunteers . . . and only Shiro
stands up.  The General is perhaps most surprised of all.  His friends
try to talk him out of it, fearing his certain death, but to no avail.
     Thus begins Shiro's training, as he is put through an arduous and at
times makeshift regimen designed to simulate the conditions of space
travel.  The General has grudging words of praise for Shiro, and intends
to take this progress and make a trip to the capital to request money for
his project.  He sends Shiro off to a nearby Air Force base, whose pilots
are none too happy about taking him up for acceleration training.  But
Shiro forgets their scorn once in the air--he's reached his boyhood dream
of flying through the sky.  Once on the ground, it's a different matter,
as the pilots mercilessly goad the "play soldiers" of the Royal Space
Force into a fight.  The fray is cut short, however, when a pilot makes
the mistake of hauling up a queasy Shiro.
     The next morning, a bandaged Matti isn't talking, as one of the
Force's technicians, Dhalligann, tells him that picking fights with other
services isn't going to do their cause any good.  He warns them not to
laugh as he introduces them to the Space Force's "secret factory."  But
Matti is overwhelmed by the massive rocket under construction there (He
grabs Shiro: "Great, it's settled!  We'll launch you in this.  You'll
die, but you'll die with a BANG!").  It turns out that all this
represents years of work by the Space Travel Society, a group of now-
elderly scientists and engineers led by the eccentric Dr. Gnnom, who work
in association with the Space Force.  Shiro's engineer friends in the
Force seem newly motivated by his decision to volunteer, and come forward
with help and suggestions on improving the design of the rocket.  Shiro
is introduced to the technical side of the project and discusses the
theoretical aspects of space flight.  He spends more time with the
Doctor, who names his rocket engines.  Shiro thinks it's strange to
regard machines so personally, but the Doctor thinks machines are
intimately tied to people: "Manufacturing brought more equality.  It
widened the distribution of property."
     Weeks after his volunteering, Shiro finally has an evening free, and
rides out to visit Leiqunni.  When he arrives, he finds out that her
electricity was cut off by the power company, but it dosen't seem to
worry her.  He hopes to take her out to look at the stars, but she has
Manna tag along.  He gives an impromptu lecture in astronomy, and shows
her a radio-wave picture of their planet, taken by one of their
satellites.  Leiquinni considers this: "Well, from so far away, the city
lights must look like stars . . . even our fires of war.  And the light
of our sin is indistinguishable from the transparent stars . . ."  She
and Manna start to pray, leaving a frustrated Shiro.
     Training, design, and assembly for the manned space project
continue, and the General at last departs for the capital on his quest
for funds.  Shiro returns to Leiqunni one afternoon, who gives him a
bible.  He tries to use this as an opportunity to get closer to her, but
she only gets up in silence.  "You deny yourself everything, don't you."
says Shiro.  "You should compromise on occasion with your God."
Leiquinni wheels around: "Compromise?"  "I'm saying, be reasonable."  She
is angry for the first time: "I will not 'be reasonable.' Moreover, the
'compromise' you speak of is what has made the world the way it is!"  But
her outburst has made Manna cry, and she quickly turns to apologizing to
the little girl.  Shiro grins.
     One night, one of Shiro's friends, Nekkerlautoh, takes him in to see
the newly-constructed capsule simulator.  Shiro is most impressed, but
Nekkerlautoh warns him "not to break it," as it isn't paid for yet.  He
talks vaguely of the shady network of financing that has kept the Royal
Space Force afloat this far--including the General's personal pull with
the Royal Family and a deal to have their country's largest auto
manufacturer take over the construction of the rocket.  Shiro is too
unsophisticated to comprehend these machinations, and Nekkerlautoh snorts
in disgust.
     But the very next day, they witness the General on a TV broadcast
from the capital: their project has an official blessing and full
funding.  Soon after that, Shiro starts his training in the simulator.
But his routine is interrupted when Leiqunni phones him, making a frantic
cry for help.  He breaks all speed limits getting out to her house, but
finds it a pile of wreckage: the power company bulldozed it to make room
for a new geothermal plant.  Leiqunni explains that she had the house
from her aunt, who in turn had unpaid debts.  Shiro is outraged at her
passivity, and offers to help her pay for a lawsuit.  But Leiqunni
dosen't want to expose Manna to any more quarrels: it was because of her
parents' constant fighting that she left them and took Manna with her.
     Back in his quarters, Shiro turns off the television and opens the
book Leiquinni gave him for the first time.  "When God first made man,
man was as the animals, not granted fire and bereft of it.  With fire,
God lives forever.  One man, Dao, grabbed a burning branch and ran.  Even
this the Protector of the Crucible had forseen, and God cursed the fire.
When Dao returned home, he burned like God and his seven sons died.  God
came before Dao and prophesied: A curse is on man.  Your children will
struggle and sorrow down through the generations, and their suffering
shall spread until the world's end; until the last man has died."
     The next afternoon, Shiro is a witness as Dr. Gnnom tests one of the
rocket engines.  The Doctor assures him of its safety, asserting that his
engines today are nothing like those of twenty years ago, when they, like
his sons, were "insolent, and a real pain in the ass sometimes."  But the
engine blows up on its test stand: Shiro escapes with minor injuries, but
Dr. Gnnom is hit by shrapnel and hospitalized.  Later, as Shiro helps
reprogram their computer--with a screwdriver--Nekkerlautoh suggests the
explosion was sabotage, the work of anti-government radicals.  As before,
this is news to Shiro--he wasn't really aware of any unrest going on.
Their conversation is interrupted when a friend bursts in to announce
that the Doctor is dead.
     Shiro stands with the Force in an honor guard as the Doctor is
cremated; at the funeral scene, nothing is said loud enough to hear and
Shiro silently regards the Doctor's family.
     We see Leiquinni, reaping wheat in a field.  As a jet plane soars
high overhead, she is the only one to stand up and look.
     Time has passed since the funeral, and the media has picked up
coverage of the manned space project: we see in a newsreel Shiro meeting
Honneamano's crown prince, and the members of the House of Lords who are
backers of the Space Force.  The next scene is of the Space Force HQ in
the rain, surrounded by an anti-war rally of the opposition party.
Shiro, working on drafting blueprints, surprises his friends by agreeing
somewhat with the protestors--the government is presenting the rocket as
a "space battleship"--the crowds are shouting that they should build
bridges instead of rockets.  "You can use bridges for war, too," says
Dommrottho.  "You started this!"  Shiro smiles.  "Me?  I don't think so."
     At the factory, Matti cuts his lunch break short when he reads in
the newspaper that a decision has been made to move the launch site
hundreds of miles to the south-west: in fact, to the very edge of their
border with a heavily-garrisoned satellite state of Honneamano's greatest
international rival.  One of the scientists notes that they'll have an
easier launch there, being closer to the equator, but Matti is
incredulous: "They're sending us to a powder keg to light off the world's
biggest firecracker!"  It turns out, however, that the order to move came
directly from the Ministry of Defense . . .
     Late that night, at the Ministry, the General meets in secret with
his superiors, the ones who had originally backed his plans.  He is
shocked to learn that they have no real interest in the success of the
program, but instead plan to wrap up the Royal Space Force by using their
rocket as bait to provoke a border clash, one which Honneamano will
retaliate against with impunity after the enemy seizes the ship . . .
"It's all right," says one of the nobles mockingly to the General.
"They'll come to get what they paid for."  Knowing nothing of this, Shiro
continues to practice in the simulator.  When alone, he reads Leiquinni's
bible: "My son, you will have to leave the market-place soon, unto a
fearful reckoning.  Here, all virtuous become stained with blood.  God
will not keep silent.  This unholy city was created with fire and it will
perish with fire.  Because of evil, none living can ever be made pure.
Therefore, my son, even you must be prepared . . ."  The brighter the
lights of publicity shine in Shiro 's face, the more unclear he is about
his society and himself.
     On the morning of the General's return from the capital, he has no
comment for reporters, while yet another photo session of Shiro is being
held at the Space Force HQ.  One reporter queries him about his sense of
"mission" as a "space hero."  Another accuses the company in charge of
the rocket construction of corruption and suggests that cutting the
budget of the Space Force in half "would give 30,000 people a warm place
to live."  Shiro gets up and walks out, throwing the money from his
pockets before the homeless people camped outside.
     The scene cuts to a news broadcast on the other side of the world,
in the Republic, the international rival of Honneamano.  The President of
the Republic makes a protest through diplomatic channels against the
"security threat" posed by Honneamano's space program.  The Republic is
in certain ways ahead of the technology of their rival, but never
developed long-range missiles.  In private, the President debates with an
advisor whether or not they should seize the rocket.  The advisor tells
him that the Republic's agents are going to buy time to get their forces
ready for the plan with an assassination. . . .
     In the red-light district, Leiquinni continues to preach: "All are
guilty.  God said this, looking at the world.  Our sins will deluge the
world.  We . . ."  She is startled when Shiro comes up to her, still in
his dress uniform, and helps her to pass out tracts.  The next morning,
he awakens in the church where Leiquinni and Manna now live.  He finds
himself alone with the little girl, who still will not talk with him.
Outside, Shiro looks up to see storm clouds shadowing the sacred stone
monolith with the faceless image of God carved into it, to which the
church is a shrine.
     Leiquinni returns in the rain and thunder.  Shiro guides her in, but
is startled to find her secretly hoarding money in her shoe.  That night,
he simply turns away when she offers him a meal.  She reads from the
bible to Manna: "You cannot live on without your daily bread . . . Your
truths become lies when they leave your mouth . . . your good intentions
are made evil when they reach your hand.  In you, there is good, but in
God, there is limitless good.  What can any of you do, outside of prayer?
To pray is everything . . ."  Feeling led by hypocrisy, and pulled by
desire, Shiro walks silently to her dressing stand, when Manna is asleep,
throws Leiquinni to the ground, himself upon her.  He looks into her
eyes, hesitates, and in that moment she knocks him out with a candleabra.
Manna awakens briefly, but goes back to sleep, being used to seeing this
between adults.
     The next morning, Shiro tries to apologize, but Leiquinni wants him
to forgive her for "assaulting" him.  "You're such a fine person, and yet
I hit you.  I know you will forgive me, but I cannot forgive myself.  I
really am very sorry . . ." she says, and runs off to catch the train to
the city.  Shiro is left with nothing but a painful sigh.
     Three days after he walked out of the photo session, Shiro returns
to town in time to see two of his friends off by ship to an observatory
where they will track the flight.  Later, Shiro and Matti walk together
in the marketplace, as Matti tells him of the work underway on the new
launch site.  Shiro tells him that he hasn't figured out if he's a hero
or a villain--what's his role, really?  Matti thinks that if there is a
Truth, it has to contain everyone, even seemingly useless human beings.
"I don't think someone has to try and acknowledge their own necessity,
before they have a right to exist.  If the reason for him to exist should
disappear, so would he."
     Just then, a silenced pistol shot misses Shiro's head by an inch,
and the pair find themselves running for their lives amidst the afternoon
shopping crowd.  Shiro and Matti split up, but the assassin relentlessly
pursues Shiro to a train station, where he is forced to confront and kill
the Republic's agent.
     Not long after, a bandaged Shiro is standing alone in the Space
Force headquarters before a great bas-relief depicting an ancient battle,
when he is joined by the General, who believes that "civilization did not
create war, war created civilization."  For a hundred thousand years, he
says, the human race has been trying to escape the hell it creates for
itself.  He tells Shiro that he wanted to be a historian when he was
young.  Then came yet another war, and he went off to fight to protect
his friends and country.  But he knew that without an awareness of right
and wrong, history would only repeat itself, and as a soldier, he was
ashamed that he knew, and would doubt what he was doing.  Without escape
from the human condition, all that is left is for a person to make his
own decisions carefully, following his heart and duty.  And with that,
says the General, regarding the history on the wall, who knows what we
might see up there one day?
     Shiro smiles ruefully, and regarding the wooden angel, says "A
woman's ass."  The General replies: "Then you're the knothole."
     The astronaut takes the trolley out to say goodbye to Manna--he
knows her sister is at work.  "I'll be going far away for a little while,
and I won't be able to see her for awhile."  "Manna," he asks, "is there
anything you'd like me to bring back for you?"  "A star," says Manna;
Shiro replies, "I don't think so. The stars are really far away . . .
Well, I'm stumped.  What else is out there . . ."  "Out there?"  "Yes.
Here, there, and everywhere."  They finally smile together.  As he steps
back on the trolley to return, Leiquinni steps off.  There is a silence,
and then she smiles.  "I'm going now," says Shiro.  She says, "Come back
soon," and watches as the train moves out of sight.  He watches back,
and his face doesn't have the answer between them.
     On an aircraft carrier at the port, the attitude of the other
branches of the military has changed, as the helicopter pilot flying
Shiro out to the launch site area asks for his autograph.  Shiro looks
out on the city far below, and the ever-turning searchlight above the
red-light district, the beam circling in the air that finds only
darkness.
     In the Republic, the President receives a report that their force is
ready on Honneamano's border.  On the seas off the border area, a Royal
Navy ship intercepts news of the enemy troop movements.  The captain of
the ship, however, wonders if he should even bother passing the report
back to the Ministry of Defense, since he has already been informed they
will receive no reinforcements against the expected attack.  Meanwhile,
Matti has picked up Shiro from the airfield and is driving him to the
launch site.  Shiro's practice of the speech he is to deliver in orbit is
cut short when he spots tanks in the surrounding woods.  But Matti tells
him they're only fakes, being erected by the National Guard.  Upon seeing
the launch tower, Shiro dubs it "the biggest fake of all."
     But the sight of the massive rocket inside cannot help but fill him
with awe, and a little fear as well.  The next few days see the final
assembly of the rocket stages, and at last everything is ready.  The
night before the launch, Lanallan, one of the Force technicians, catches
Shiro mumbling over his planned speech: he tells him a strange fact, that
after the launch, the blast will have uncovered mounds of shells.  In the
Stone Age, the launch site was a dumping ground.  "I guess it's funny,
this modern rocket standing in primitive trash."  "Yeah . . . I'll bet
those people never thought their dumping ground would be used to launch a
spaceship."  Shiro replies.
     Early that morning, the General receives a call from one of his men
at the observatory: the government officials there have made a public
announcement of the exact time of the launch.  Deciding to try and escape
the expected attack, Khaidenn goes to the mission control room and
informs the crew that he's going to move the launch up by four hours--
without telling the government--by trimming the countdown safety
procedures.  There are strenuous objections from the training chief, but
Shiro says he'll go with it.
     On the other side of the border, the Republic's jet fighters receive
their briefing: run air cover for the ground troops who will capture the
launch site.  The countdown begins.  As Shiro suits up and is helped into
the capsule, the planes draw nearer.  In the midst of the pre-launch
checks, an officer of the National Guard enters the control room and
tells the General that the launch site must be evacuated: the Republic's
troops have crossed the border.  The launch site crew has a very short
time before they will be overrun.  Shiro, on top of the rocket, is told
the launch will be suspended.  "Do you think you can sneak away?  They
won't attack the rocket.  They want it!" is his angry retort.  But
they're afraid they'll shoot him down if they do launch.  The General
sees no way out: "If you're disappointed, then so am I. . . . And I
really thought we could do it.  You young people, risking your lives . .
. It's not worth it.  We'll go."  Shiro screams from the capsule, and his
scream is carried over the speakers throughout the launch site: it is
worth it to him, and if they stop at this point, they will truly be
fools--the project is a wonderful thing and history must say they did it.
He says he will show them the way.  "All departments, answer me!"  In
response, the launch crew starts to switch back on their control systems.
Matti, on the periscope, tells the General that the launch stand is
clear.  "Shall we do it?"  He orders: "Resume countdown."
     The launch stand is pulled away, and the countdown runs as the sky
and earth around the launch site crack and flare with people dying.  But
at zero, all the fast little fires stop when the rocket engines ignite,
brighter than anyone has seen before, and all participants in the war are
silent and stare fixed, as if the only true element in the world was this
rising flame.  The first stage falls away, over the curvature of the
earth, and then the second stage, glowing and sparkling in blue-black
air.  Finally, the word comes in from the observatory that the third-
stage motor has put the capsule in orbit--they have succeeded.  Matti
shakes the General out of his trance and the crew falls upon each other
in joy.
     Outside, there are men fallen, in weariness and for much longer.  In
the Republic, the President casts his eyes up, sweating.  But Shiro is
away from all this for a little while.  He is at his point in history--at
this moment, alone in orbit, he is the intercessor between the human race
and infinity.  First he looks down: "City lights . . . where are they?"
He twirls the dial of the radio, many voices.  "They look like earthbound
stars . . ."  Shiro switches the transmitter on.  "Is anyone listening,
down there?  This is the human race's first astronaut. . . . A moment
ago, we set foot in a new world.  Like the mountains and the sea, it once
belonged only to God.  But from now on, it will be our stage, forever.
And we will probably bring here what we've brought before.  We've brought
evil upon the earth, and into the air, and yet, we will ask for another
place, and venture into the universe.  Will there be any limit to
how far we can go?  Please . . . if anyone is listening to me, just
please, give thanks that we've come this far--I don't care how you do it.
Somehow, forgive us, and show us mercy, and at the end of our sinful
history, please don't abandon us to the darkness.  In our despair, give
us one, fixed star."
     Dawn breaks over the edge of the world, and the light enters Shiro's
eyes.  The light dissolves into water, and we see scenes from his
childhood, the drip from a frozen tap and glow of a burning city caught
in air-raid sirens, glimpsed from the countryside.  But this scene turns
to a wasteland, and a family huddling in a cave, making fire, making
pictures on the wall.  It is the past of Shiro's world, and it marches
on, showing the scientists and explorers who made it march quicker, and
all the people, slaves under pyramids and soldiers under banners, who,
just by living, would make Shiro possible one day.  And Shiro's moment is
now here, his capsule above that world, a part of it.
     Below, Leiqunni is still asking passerby to listen to the teachings
of God.  A snowflake drifts down onto her paper gospel, and she looks up.
The snow and the black floor make it look like it is the earth that is
transparent, not the stars.  She is the only one looking up for now, but
there is no escaping the fact that the perspective has been widened, past
her, past the ship, past the earth, on and on into the endless Universe.

THE WINGS OF HONNEAMISE

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER     Makoto Yamashina
PLANNING BY            Toshio Okada and Shigeru Watanabe
PRODUCED BY            Hirohiko Sueyoshi and Hiroaki Inoue
ORIGINAL CONCEPT
AND SCREENPLAY BY      Hiroyuki Yamaga
CHARACTER DESIGN BY    Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
KEY ANIMATORS          Hideaki Anno, Fumio Iida, Yuji Moriyama
ART DIRECTOR           Hiromasa Ogura
PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR   Hiroshi Isagawa
SUPERVISION            Iwa Hachimaki
EDITOR                 Osabashi Ogata
SOUND EFFECTS          Atsumi Tashiro
EFFICACY               Mitsuru Hakuhara
SOUND RECORDING        Shohei Hayashi
MUSIC                  Ryuichi Sakamoto
DIRECTED BY            Hiroyuki Yamaga

This Sawyer Productions English-subtitled version of The Wings Of
Honneamise was based on an original translation of the film by Sue
Shambaugh.  The revised script was written by Carl Horn, with additional
dialogue by Toshifumi Yoshida.  Title entry was done by Mr. Horn; title
editing, programming, and tape editing was done by Bruce Bailey.  Video-
casette recording systems, laser-disc player and Amiga 2000 provided by
Mr. Bailey.  GenLock provided by Mr. "K"; Honneamise LaserDisc provided
by James E. Christiansen; special thanks to Brian Fountain and Matt
Anacleto for immoral support.

Much of the information on the production of Honneamise in this article
was adapted from Animag's excellent article on the film on pgs. 26-35 of
issue 3, vol. 1.  This comprehensive piece by David Riddick, Robert
Nappon, Michael Ebert, Toren Smith and Toshifumi Yoshida covers, among
other things, the film's history, plot, ill-fated English dubbing, and
even contains a short interview with Yamaga and Sadamoto.  A must for
those wishing to learn more about the film: the cover of issue #3 is by
Sadamoto himself.  Other information on Honneamise can be gleaned from
Anime-Zine's issue 2, pgs. 22-29 article by Toren Smith which recounts
the plot and includes interesting comparisons of the so-called
"translation" of Honneamise by the producers of the English premiere
version, Go East; the back cover is taken from one of Sadamoto's posters
for the film.  Issue 3 of Anime-Zine contains on pg. 32 a short article
on Ryuichi Sakamoto and his composition of the Honneamise soundtrack.
Both magazines can be found in direct-sales comic outlets; otherwise,
inquiries may be directed to: ANIMAG, P.O. Box 23651, Oakland, CA. 94623,
and Anime-Zine, P.O. Box 87, Rahway, N.J. 07065.

For those interested in Japanese books on the film, the best overall is
This Is Animation #12: The Wings Of Honneamise (ISBN4-09-101515-8 C0374),
at 1000 yen.  It has 45 pages of color stills recounting the film, 30
pages of design sketches in an attractive blue tone, blue tone, 16 pages
of background paintings, with the remainder taken up by articles on the
film in Japanese.  Highly recommended.  A book of the same size and
price, the B-Club Special: The Wings Of Honneamise, Royal Space Force
Completed File (ISBN4-89189-377X C0074), has a more cursory color front
section (32 pages) but with larger stills.  This section also contains
character backgrounds and background and conceptual paintings.  There are
two additional color sections: a 15-page segment on the vehicles of the
film, with technical specifications, plus coverage of the opening and
closing segments, and a 15-page segment detailing the original four-
minute pilot short and associated concept art.  In addition to this,
there are over 100 pages of design sketches and illustrated articles on
the film.  For the collector is Animate Collection 07: Aile de Honneamise
(ISBN4-943966-07-1 C0274), with a dramatic wraparound cover by Sadamoto,
a 150-page storyboard for the film accompanied by literally thousands of
design sketches (reproduced at a small size) covering everything from
snack food to space capsules, a 20-page color section of background and
concept paintings, a chronology of the film and staff interviews, and a
small foldout poster of the Space Force at the seashore.  1500 yen.  All
of these books are well worth the money, and a good place to get them is
the Nikaku Animart, in the historic Japanese-American area of San Jose:
their address is 615 N. 6th St., the zip code is 95112 and the phone
number [phone].  Send a stamp for a full catalog.  The first and
third books are usually in stock: the second may necessitate a special
order.  You may expect to pay up to twice the current exchange rate for
these books, but, unlike certain other importers, Nikaku staff are
friendly, helpful, and speak English as well as Japanese.

In the summer of 1991, Bandai released a "definitive" 2-disc LaserDisc
set for The Wings Of Honneamise, (BEAL-367).  This contains the entire
theatrical release, plus one minute added that was cut from the original
print so that it could be transferred to a T-120 videotape for marketing.
It also contains the four-minute promotional film "Royal Space Force,"
which contains audio excerpts from Yuri Gagarin's space flight and music
from Wagner's Meistersinger von Nurnberg.  Finally, it includes about
eighty minutes of still shots of background paintings and design sketches
for every aspect of the film.  The audio portion of this segment contains
the entire film music score, excepting one track, including pieces not
available on the soundtrack albums.  Its release price was 14,800 yen.

This subtitled version is only a step.  We won't stop until The Wings Of
Honneamise is properly dubbed, shown in American theaters, and receives
the praise it deserves.

--Carl G. Horn
Houston, Texas
May 25, 1990
(Updated November 1, 1991)
(Revised August 28, 1992--reflecting translation improvements suggested
by Neil Nadelman's new script for "The Wings Of Honneamise")

P.S.  Yeah boyyyeeee!!!!