Wings of Honneamise--great or greatest?
- Thread starter Neopeius
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I tried watching this when it passed on the local cartoon network, many years ago. I don't recall much except that I got confused, then bored, then changed channels. Maybe it's something only for the anime-initiated.
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
Love this film. A quiet masterpiece. I have an old VHS copy I taped from Sci-Fi back in the day. Search Amazon, you can get it on DVD.
IIRC the original version contains a scene of attempted rape by the main protagonist. Perhaps it's a cultural thing that I don't get, but I'm glad they removed that particular scene from later releases.
Excellent review
However, I remain squeamish about the deleted scene. I'd certainly hesitate to show the uncut version to a small child. It certainly made me feel unsympathetic to the main character, Shiro -- the first version I saw in 1992 was the censored one, which I thought was astounding. I think the "assault" could have been handled more delicately, perhaps with Riquinni rejecting a more tentative and much less violent attempt at physical intimacy, and the story would still have retained its integrity.
Excellent review
In its defence, it was never supposed to be a kids film. In the supplemental booklet, it mentions that GAINAX's aim with the film was to step away from the family anime mindset, the prevailing fashion of tailoring anime to cater for as broad an audience as possible much as Hollywood animation does today. Honneamise was distinctly intended for a more adult audience. To it's credit, it also didn't go down the route of simply adding sex, violence and gore by the bucketloads as a shorthand for adult animation. The fact that the excision of a single 30-second scene is enough to reduce the rating from a 15 to a PG in the UK is testament to that. Nevertheless the story, themes and emotional content in the film are definitely meant for a more mature audience.
There's this article that analyses the offending scene, and it makes a lot of sense to me. Which is why I believe that by removing it, the film is gutted. It's a pivotal character moment for Shiro and Riquinni, that in essence reflects what the film is about. It's supposed to be distasteful.
I saw it a few years at an anime showing night. And I loved it. I'm especially fond of the end scene...
...where we zoom out from the female character (can't remember the name sorry) looking up towards the sky, continuing up, past the sapceship, out into space, and all the time the music starts slowly and then the beat kicks in as we go to black and then the credits.
Thanks for the link. I think it confirms what I thought was the rationale behind making Shiro behave that way -- a product of the increasing materialism of society and his own nihilism and selfcenteredness. He does redeem himself in Riquinni's eyes, but he still appears diminished in mine (but who cares about that
). I guess I can accept only a certain degree of character flaws in a hero. Perhaps the sensibilities about such matters are different in Japan.I thought it was till readily available through Ebay and Amazon. There's been a rerelease on DVD too.
I liked it, I didn't realise the rape scene added so much, but then I never "get" films really I guess.
I don't think it's ever been released on DVD in region 2. I shelled out for a region 1 version.
I haven't seen this movie in a long time, but I was quite impressed with the story, the designs, and the animation.
"The Wings of Honneamise is the best animated movie ever made, and from me that's faint praise."
I should hope you meant to say "that's not faint praise."
That said, I saw this on VHS probably ten years ago now, and I really liked it. One of my favorite animes. What's this about the rape scene being cut?
I quite agree that the scene is critical to the story, but I disagree with the reviewer's analysis.
For one thing, Shiro does *not* rape her, and it is very clear from the movie that he wasn't *going* to rape her.
At that point in the film, Shiro is thoroughly demoralized, certain that his mission is a sham only to be used as a tool for inciting a war. On the one hand, he has a celebrity's malaise while at the same time, he feels for the poor and starving protesting his mission.
He's very fond of Riquinni, but he sees her as shackled by her beliefs. So he's desperately lonely and he just wants her to *respond*, damnit.
His attempt to force himself on her lasts all of three seconds, and before the candlestick hits his head, you see the shock and disgust on his face at what he's done. I think Riquinni saw it too. The first think Shiro does when he comes to is apologize.
What I love about the movie is the profound effect Riquinni has on saving Shiro's soul, as it were. By the end, even Manna likes him.
People who hate Shiro and dislike the movie on the basis of this scene are missing the point, I fear.
Perhaps so, but I interpreted Shiro's assault as more about fulfilling his needs that about any empathic concern for Riquinni's state of being. That might be how Shiro rationalises it after the event, but a first attempt at therapy by sexual assault is a little extreme IMO. A similar controversial example was Dennis Potters' Brimstone and Treacle.
Oh, I never said it wasn't a selfish act. And at no point does Shiro do anything but apologize and try to atone for the event, not rationalize it.
Shiro was lonely and despondent and desirous. He had a moment of weakness that lasted three seconds. Riquinni forgave him. I'm inclined to as well.
Haven't seen it, It came out before I was a fan, I think. Although, I have engaged the time machine and seen many many anime classics and staples, this hasn't been one of them. I've heard of it but I've never seen a DVD arround anywhere.
As for seeing it on the big screen...
...like that ever happens. Sadly, I've only been to 5 anime films that even got a limited screening (although there'll be a 6th soon) and I had to drive all the way to Minneapolis for that. Those were Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Steamboy, Howl's Moving Castle, and Paprika with Sword of the Stranger comming out here theatrically Febuary 8th.
As for seeing it on the big screen...
...like that ever happens. Sadly, I've only been to 5 anime films that even got a limited screening (although there'll be a 6th soon) and I had to drive all the way to Minneapolis for that. Those were Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Steamboy, Howl's Moving Castle, and Paprika with Sword of the Stranger comming out here theatrically Febuary 8th.
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