Hiroyuki Yamaga's Wings of Honneamise (1987) is a story of an ambitious space flight program set in a parallel universe. The premise might seem simple, but I assure you that the execution is very complicated. The film touches on dozens of things that it becomes rather hard to summarize it properly. Its dense narrative, fine characters and thoroughly explored themes guarantee a great experience for someone who is willing to dig deeper.The pacing is peculiar in Wings of Honneamise: even though the narrative is dense, it seems as if the film crawls slowly towards the climax. This rough editing actually enhances the film's (especially the climax's) impact on the viewer. There are also great examples of how to use montages in the film - for example the launch sequence is one of the most gripping animated sequences ever. The art design is also rather fascinating. The musical score seemed offbeat initially, but once you got used to it, it actually worked quite well.
Ultimately, Wings of Honneamise is a perplexing film: everything works well, but it was so exhausting that I'm not sure if it's a masterpiece or not.
Score: 8 out of 10
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