WINGS OF HONNEAMISE (1987)

Positive Experience/Entertaining? Yes, definitely, but it's not surprising that this movie never "took off" (HA!) in the US. It's very Japanesey in culture and I found myself puzzled at a few things (including an attempted rape!).

Technically any good? Very well animated (standard well done stuff for the mid-to-late 80s), interestingly cast voices (the lead Japanese guy doesn't sound like a hero, but still captures his character's duality well), story is slooowwww... for a movie about a mythical space race on another planet, there's very little going on involving space. It's a very interesting journey of a misfit guy who goes from a guy too undisceplined to succeed in the air force to a guy who is the first human in space. The film also makes some nice (if not a bit heavy-handed) statements about how war is bad and humans need to move on from it since it's obvious we're capable of much more positive things.

How did it leave me feeling? Good, but a little depressed. I understand where the film is going, but again, I think it's very "Japanese" in that it made it's point and left us with no follow-up. We really do come to care about the characters, but we don't know really what will happen next at the end.

Final Rating? SIYL (Well made, but pretty dry, also, there's an attempted rape scene and nudity.)