Royal Space Force - The Wings of Honnêamise (movie)

Aside from being the production that got the famous studio Gainax started, Wings of Honneamise also features a musical score by Ryuichi Sakamoto, who won an Oscar for the music of The Last Emperor the same year Honneamise came out.

Gainax's Wings of Honneamise briefly held the record for the largest production budget ($8 million) for any anime at until Akira was produced at a budget of $10 million in 1988.

Wings of Honneamise was a milestone in Japanese animation history. A small group of young animators persuaded entertainment giant Bandai to fund their new studio's first theatrical feature; an intellectual sci-fi drama with no merchandising tie-ins. The movie bombed financially but won critical raves that established Studio Gainax's reputation. Also the movie's video release helped demonstrate the potential and success of Japan's new anime video market.

It's a common and unintended misconception among fans that Shiro dies at the end when in fact some of the sketches underneath the credits depict his triumphant return and subsequent entry into the history books.

One of the reasons the rocket at the climax looks so realistic is that it's based on the Soviet design used to launch many of their early orbital efforts.

Winner of the 1988 Seiun Award in the category Best Media of the Year.