American anime fans have been fortunate enough to have Gainax's intelligent and thought-provoking film, ROYAL SPACE FORCE:  WINGS OF HONNEAMISE, available for sale here in the States for some time. Released by Manga Entertainment on videotape format in both subbed and dubbed editions, WINGS opened eyes to what Gainax could produce above and beyond fan service. The beautifully animated film, clocking in at exactly 120 minutes, detailed one country's efforts to get a man into space. Gainax, in essence, created a new civilization to set their story in and the studio's efforts don't go unoticed in the production.
After the inital fanfare to the videotape's release, Manga Entertainment announced a laserdisc version of WINGS. The year was 1995 and the company was releasing a healthy number of titles on laserdisc through Image Entertainment. But by the end of 1995, their supply of titles to the laserdisc community completely dried up and would not start again until the end of 1996, under the Pioneer banner. During that time, many fans waited while others abandonned the idea of a domestic LD release of WINGS and simply sought the original Japanese box set. Finally, in early February 1997, WINGS OF HONNEAMISE was released to an eagarly awaiting market.
Potential buyers won't be excited by the jacket - the design is simply taken from the VHS sleeve and enlarged to fit the expanded size of an LD cover. The result is an altogether unimpressive image that loses resolution and blurs the picture. Also, the cover prominently displays promo quotes, various magazines, and Roger Ebert touting the "fabulous animation and sumptuous designs" of WINGS. The entire outer package of the LD leaves something to be desired.
Rest assured, the LD is in the bilingual format, although the jacket seems to insinuate only the English-dubbed version. The English is on the digital track as the original Japanese dialogue is on the analog track. A closed-captioned sub is available and the dialog is directly from Manga Entertainment's subtitled VHS version.
The print of WINGS is impressive, exhibiting the laserdisc's superior image projection. Although the print is most likely the same as the VHS version, nothing interferes with coloring, resolution, or display. The correct, original 1:1.85 aspect ratio of the theatrical release is kept intact and on a TV screen of 27" or larger, WINGS is an great watch. There is a disappointing lack of features in the CLV LD version, however, including the absence of chapter stops. Stops are only provided for Shiro's opening monologue and the opening credits. After that, each side of the two discs plays entirely through without the convenience of chapter stops at key sequences. I can imagine the video engineers at Pioneer questioning Manga Entertainment, "Are you sure you don't want chapter stops?"
One relief is the exclusion of self-serving commercials on the laserdisc. Manga Entertainment is notorious for includeing pre-presentation ads for their other titles and post-presentation for company related goods, as was the case with their CLV GHOST IN THE SHELL LD release.
WINGS OF HONNEAMISE is a landmark in the world of anime. Its originality and visual festivity should be missed by no fan. Manga Entertainment's LD release provides a relatively cheap alternative to owning this feature in the best format possible. Such luxuries like a deluxe CAV version with some supplemental material, enclosed in a butterfly-fold jacket — like the one offered for GHOST IN THE SHELL — would have been nice. But I suppose anime LD purists will have to settle for Manga Entertainment even releasing this title.

ROYAL SPACE FORCE:  WINGS OF HONNEAMISE © 1995 Bandai Visual & Manga Entertainment CLV LD  $54.95 Bilingual with closed-captioned subtitles 120 minutes Released in North America by Pioneer