Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise

Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise
Original Title	王立宇宙軍 オネアミスの翼 (Ōritsu Uchūgun: Oneamisu no Tsubasa)
Original Language	Japanese
Dubbing Studio 1	Candlewick Productions
Dubbing Studio 2	Magnitude 8 Post
Voice Director 1	Steve Zuckerman
Voice Director 2	Kevin Seymour
Translation & Adaptation	Yūki Nakajima Budd Donnelly (Go East Dub) Taro Yoshida Nobuhiro Yahashi Neil Nadelman Mary C. Mason Kevin Seymour (Animaze Dub)
Recorded	1987 1994
ADR Production	Go East Enterprises (1st Dub) Animaze (2nd Dub)
Dub Country	United States
Original Country	Japan
Year	1987

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.

Synopsis In an alternative history, the Kingdom of Honnêamise plans to put the first man in space, but at the same time is engaged in a war with a neighbouring country. One of the kingdom’s space cadets, Shiro develops a connection with a religious women named Riquinni who inspires him to be the first man in space. However, the government, unconvinced of the mission’s success has other ideas.

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).

An excerpt from the magazine Anime-Zine #2 detailing differences between the original and Star Quest versions

Reportedly this version of the film was produced by a company known as Go East Enterprises 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. The dub was also directed by former Sesame Street composer Steve Zuckerman. 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.

Cast

Image	Character	Seiyū	Dub Actor
			Go East Dub	Animaze Dub
	Shirotsugh "Shiro" Lhadatt	Leo Morimoto	¿?	David A. Thomas
	Riquinni Nonderaiko	Mitsuki Yayoi	¿Katie Leigh?	Heidi Lenhart
	Manna Nonderaiko	Aya Murata		Wendee Lee
	Matti Tohn	Kazuyuki Sogabe	¿?	Bryan Cranston
	General Khaidenn	Minoru Uchida	Herb Ellis	Steve Bulen
	Dr. Gnomm	Chikao Ōtsuka	Hal Smith	Michael Forest
	Kharock	Masato Hirano	¿?	Hank Crowell, Jr.
	Darigan	Hiroshi Izawa	¿?	Stephen Apostolina
	Domorhot	Hirotaka Suzuoki	Steve Zuckerman	Jan Rabson
	Tchallichammi	Kōji Totani		King Wilder
	Majaho	Masahiro Anzai	¿?	Tony Pope
	Nekkerout	Yoshito Yasuhara	Stan Wojno	Daniel Woren
	Yanalan	Bin Shimada	Steve Zuckerman	Richard Epcar
	Space Force Trainer	Shōzō Iizuka	Hal Smith	Steve Blum
	Professor Ronta	Ryūji Saikachi
	Professor Dekro	Hirowo Oikawa	Herb Ellis	Jeff Frayer
	Denta	Tetsuya Yamazaki	¿?	Jonathan Fahn
	Vice-Minister Nerredon	Willie Dorsey	Hal Smith	Simon Prescott
	Nerredon's Secretary	Frizanki Belloto	Herb Ellis	Dan Lorge
	Air Force Sergeants	Ichirō Murakoshi		Jonathan Fahn
		Keisuke Yamashita	Stan Wojno	Steve Blum
		Kazuo Hayashi	¿?	Joe Romersa
	Nobles	Gorō Naya	Herb Ellis	Hank Crowell, Jr.
		Mikio Terashima		Doug Stone
		Tetsuya Kaji	Hal Smith	Steve Blum
	Tenz Kovikh	¿?	Steve Zuckerman	Ellyn Stern
	Prince Toness	Kazuo Kumakara	Herb Ellis	Kevin Seymour

Additional Voices

Go East Dub Herb Ellis Shawn Levy Hal Smith Stan Wojno Steve Zuckerman

Animaze Dub Stephen Apostolina Arlene Banas Steve Blum Hank Crowell, Jr. Mari Devon Dyanne DiRosario Gary Dubin Dorothy Elias-Fahn Richard Epcar Jonathan Fahn Tom Fahn Jeff Frayer Wendee Lee Dan Lorge Jill Lyons Tony Pope Simon Prescott Joe Romersa John Santacrose Kevin Seymour John Snyder Ronnie Sperling Ellyn Stern Doug Stone Thomas White Mimi Woods Daniel Woren

Notes & Trivia

• In order to achieve a PG rating, Manga Entertainment removed the infamous attempted rape scene from the original 1995 UK VHS release. All later releases of the film are uncut, however.
• The funeral song is left undubbed in the Animaze dub.
• Name changes in the Go East dub include:
  • Shirotsugh Lhadatt - Randy Wilson
  • Riquinni Nonderaiko - Diane
  • Manna Nonderaiko - Holly
  • Matti Tohn - Tony Barolli
  • General Khaidenn - General Dickson
  • Dr. Gnomm - Dr. Moss
  • Kharock - Carson
  • Darigan - Steinberg
  • Domorhot - Reynolds
  • Tchallichammi - Walker
  • Majaho - Dorfman
  • Nekkerout - McCarthy
  • Yanalan - Carlos Sanchez
  • Professor Dekro - Dr. Leclair
  • Vice-Minister Nerredon - Prime-Minister Scorco
  • Air Force Sergeant B - Jerry
  • Tenz Kovikh - Major Starky
• The Go East dub re-uses the titles from the Japanese version. As such, the voice cast is uncredited. What is known is that Steve Zuckerman, who's worked as a music composer on Sesame Street and various other children's productions, served as the director for that dub.
  • Zuckerman would also confirm the involvement of Herbert Ellis, Shawn Levy, Hal Smith, and Stan Wojno.
• Tenz Kovikh is dubbed with a male voice in the Go East dub, despite the character being female.

Videos

Video 1	Video 2
A Japanese TV Special promoting the film c.1987, featuring a brief clip of the Star Quest dub at the LA premiere.	Video by Mike Toole showcasing anime redubs, the monologue from Star Quest is compared to the more accurate Animaze dub.

Video Releases

Note that only the Animaze dub has ever been released on home video.

Distributor	Year	Format	Region	Country
Manga Entertainment	1995		NTSC	United States
	1997
	2000		1 NTSC
Sony Music Entertainment	2001			Canada
Bandai Visual USA	2007			United States
		+
			A DVB-T
Sentai Filmworks	2013		1 NTSC
			A DVB-T
	2019
	2022	+

External Links

• Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise at Internet Movie Database
• Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise at Anime News Network's encyclopedia