Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise

Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise (王立宇宙軍 オネアミスの翼, Ōritsu Uchūgun: Oneamisu no Tsubasa) is a 1987 science fiction anime film directed by Hiroyuki Yamaga, produced by Gainax and distributed by Toho.

Dubbing History
Unusual for a Japanese film of the time, Royal Space Force had its world premiere in the United States under the title Star Quest on February 19th, 1987 at the Chinese Mann's Theatre with the Japanese version of the film premiering in its home country in March that same year. The premiere was attended by animation historian Fred Patten as well as Hollywood legends: Troy Donahue, Michael Biehn and Syd Mead. Information regarding this version of the film is scarce, as after its original theatrical release there was no official home video release of this version in any format (Some claim to have seen a TV broadcast of it in the early 90's, though the few claims that are out there are vague and unverifiable).

Reportedly this version of the film was produced by a company known as Go East Productions and featured drastically altered dialogue, framing the story as taking place on the planet “Eeya” and changing the character names to more American-sounding alternatives. For several years, the only footage to have surfaced online of this version is the opening monologue which was featured in a video created by Mike Toole showcasing the film and other anime titles that’d received multiple dubs and a brief snippet of dialogue between Shiro and Riquinni which was filmed by documentary crew inside the theatre and used in a promotional special which aired on Japanese television a few days before its premiere there. The entire dub would finally resurface on March 31, 2023. It is now currently available to view on Internet Archive.

In 1994, a more faithful translation of the film was commissioned by Manga Entertainment and dubbed by Animaze which was given limited theatrical Arthouse distribution in the United States by Tara Releasing. In 1995, the dub was released on VHS and has been included on every other format the film was released on such as Laserdisc, DVD and Blu-ray.