Wings of Honneamise is a piece of artwork that chronicles man's first journey into space, set in a different world that is very close to our own. Shiro is a man who is part of the Royal Air Force. The Royal Air Force is laughed at by just about everyone, the public and the government. Without funding and support, the Royal Space Force is pretty much a joke and the men feel that they will never reach space. However, Shiro Lhadatt, a member of the Royal Space Force is determined to become the first man in space after meeting the a religious woman. This woman makes Shiro push himself to his destiny as being the first man in space. However, opponents of Shiro's country see space travel as a potential threat to their safety. Shiro and a team of scientists must complete the space shuttle and launch before Shiro or the shuttle is destroyed. I don't know what this movie is supposed to be. A sci-fi movie or a space documentary? This movie is good but it just seems a bit messy. First, let's start with the bad things. The movie is well, boring. I know this is supposed to be a thinking movie but the movie dragged on and on. Maybe because I am not old enough to appreciate the space race but I was bored. The movie is over two hours long and is filled with unnecessary dialogue and unnecessary scenes. The plot tries to mimic the politics and corruption that when along with the space race and it does that well. However, the movie's pacing ummmmmm sucks.

MAY BE A SPOILER! SKIP TO END OF SPOILER First, Hiro talks about wanting to fly but his grades aren't good enough to join the air force so he joins the space force, which is a joke to him. Then he meets a religious woman and after their talk he is determined to make something of himself and join the space force. Then we see scientists building a spacecraft. The building of the spacecraft just takes waaaaaaaaaaaaay to long and they drone on it forever. Then we have an action scene out of nowhere. Then we have him talking to the woman again. Then Shiro goes to look at the space shuttle being built again. Then Shiro is ready to launch into outer space. We have war trying to stop the liftoff. Then Shiro finally reaches space. We see two minutes of him in space then it's the end. Umm, the whole movie is building up to him to reach space, then we see him there for about 2 minutes, not cool at all. END OF POSSIBLE SPOILER

Too much time is spent on watching the shuttle being built and not enough on Shiro's journey into space or the characters. The woman is so complex yet the movie just breezes over here. Why is she so religious? What about her past? What about more of Shiro's past? The girl's little sister...what about her? Why is she like the way she is? Also, the dialogue tends to drag on too. Some of the dialogue seems unnecessary and really extends the movie into a half an hour longer than it should be. Now the good things. Wings of Honneamise is a gorgeous movie. The art and animation is fantastic and really sucks you into the world of Honneamise. The imagery seems like works of art. The character designs are nice. (However, Shiro seems to have an unusually large forehead.)

The details of the politics and everything that happened during the space race is great. It feels like we really are in the time during the first space launch, but the movie also feels like a history lesson, becoming more of a documentary, rather than entertaining. The voice acting is really good too. The characters are convincing. A good premise that seems to be messed up. I would have enjoyed this movie if it was shorter and focused more on the characters. You'll like Wings of Honneamise if you like complicated movies and you are into history. Being interested in politics and such might help too. I tend to like movies where I have to think. This movie didn't really make me think. Perfect Blue is a movie that made me think. Usually if movies aren't action packed they are thinking movies but this movie is pretty bland and didn't really make me think in any way and it's pretty boring. It's a good movie with good intentions but fails because it doesn't seem structured. At least rent it, it is worth that because I don't think you will want to watch it twice.

In the end, it almost just seemed too realistic. Wings of Honneasmise seems like a visionary piece of animation and I think I would've liked it much better if it was more surreal, however, it's just too much like a history lesson for me.