To Aru Hikūshi e no Tsuioku
| To Aru Hikūshi e no Tsuioku | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original title | と あ る 飛 空 士 へ の 追憶 | |||||||||
| transcription | To Aru Hikūshi e no Tsuioku | |||||||||
| genre | Air combat, romance | |||||||||
| Light novel | ||||||||||
| country |
 Japan
|
|||||||||
| author | Koroku Inumura | |||||||||
| illustrator | Haruyuki Morisawa | |||||||||
| publishing company | Shogakukan | |||||||||
| First publication | February 19, 2008 | |||||||||
| expenditure | 1 | |||||||||
| Manga | ||||||||||
| country |
Japan
|
|||||||||
| author | Maiko Ogawa | |||||||||
| publishing company | Shogakukan | |||||||||
| magazine | Get the sun | |||||||||
| First publication | August 12, 2009 - February 12, 2011 | |||||||||
| expenditure | 4th | |||||||||
| Anime movie | ||||||||||
| Country of production |
Japan
|
|||||||||
| original language | Japanese | |||||||||
| Publishing year | 2011 | |||||||||
| Studio | Madhouse | |||||||||
| length | 99 minutes | |||||||||
| Director | Jun Shishido | |||||||||
| script | Satoko Okudera | |||||||||
| music | Shirō Hamaguchi | |||||||||
| Sequels | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
To Aru Hikūshi e no Tsuioku ( Japanese と あ る 飛 空 士 へ の 追憶 , Eng . "Memories for a certain pilot") is a novel from 2008 by the author Koroku Inumura , which was also released in 2011 as an anime film with the English subtitle The Princess and The Pilot .
action
prehistory
The setting of the story is a fictional world with an ocean 12,000 km wide, through which a 1.3 km high waterfall runs in the middle, which connects the western continent with the "Holy Empire Levamme" ( 神聖 レ ヴ ァ ー ム 皇 国 , Shinsei Revāmu Teikoku ) separates from the eastern continent with the Japanese-based "Amatsukami Empire" ( 帝 政 天 ツ 上 , Teisei Amatsukami ). Since ships did not gain great importance due to the waterfall, these are essentially replaced by aircraft, including warships and aircraft carriers which also have flying counterparts of the same size.
60 years before the start of the action, Levamme conquered the San Maltilia peninsula ( サ ン ・ マ ル テ ィ リ ア , San Marutiria ), which has since been an enclave within the area ruled by the Amatsukami ruled by the del Moral family. The former residents of Amatsukami are considered 2nd class citizens or are placed on the same level as animals.
action
One night starts Amatsukami a surprise attack on the property of the Del Morals with the aim of an attack on the Duke and his daughter Juana del Moral ( ファナ·デル·モラル , Fana deru Moraru ) that the Crown Prince Carlo Levamme ( カルロ·レヴァーム , Karuro Revāmu ) was engaged to perpetrate, in which the duke perished. Also surprising for Levamme's military leadership is that the primitive Amatsukami has used the last 60 years to develop the Shinden ( 真 電 ), a fighter plane that is far superior in all respects. The Crown Prince then sets up his own air fleet to bring Juana home. Two weeks later, Charles Karino ( 狩 乃 シ ャ ル ル , Karino Sharuru ), the best pilot of the defenders of San Maltilia, was entrusted with a secret mission called "Operation Seagull": the air fleet was completely destroyed, which, if known, would damage the reputation of the Crown Prince and the War weariness would give a boost. Therefore, although he is a mixed race at the socially lower end, he is supposed to fly the future Empress Juana in a single two-seater thousands of kilometers through enemy territory to Levamme, where she is received by a warship that is passed off as the heroic last survivor of the air fleet should. In return, he is given the latest Santa Cruz reconnaissance seaplane . Charles accepts the mission, not because of the promised reward, but because he wants to help Juana, whom he still knows from childhood, since his Amatsukami mother worked as a maid for the del Morals and the young Juana helped him despite her class differences as the only one treated like a person.
The next day he takes off with Juana while his comrades fly a diversionary attack on a nearby Amatsukamis air base. After a while they encounter an enemy air fleet and during the night during which he charges the metal hydride battery with seawater, they find enemy airships again, searching the sea with searchlights. Charles suspects that Amatsukami cracked Levamme's military encryption keys, but knows that the military would never transmit a secret mission like his, even over encrypted channels. Juana tells him that the Crown Prince regularly sends her love letters via the military telegraph and that the last one detailed on five pages his concerns about her well-being with a description of the mission. On the other hand, Juana slowly thaws towards him. After they were able to evade further patrols on the second day, they are surrounded by an enemy fleet on the third day, supposedly protected by thunderclouds. Charles succeeds in eliminating an enemy destroyer with a skilful maneuver using its own target-seeking "air torpedoes" (missiles), but is then attacked by 14 Shinden . Since he can recharge his batteries at any time by contact with the water, he sees his only chance of survival in making the Shinden give up by luring them as far away from the porter as possible. Wounded in the hail of bullets, Juana's persuasion is the only way he can remain conscious before the Shinden give up and they reach the great waterfall and finally a nearby group of islands. On the island, Juana decides to change and give up her self-imposed passivity and no longer just do what others expect her to do, and she cuts her hair as a new beginning. When Charles talks about his childhood, she learns that the Amatsukami maid, who gave her the necessary security as a child and who was eventually released for this, was his mother. Juana offers him to live with her on the island, but Charles refuses out of a sense of duty and tries unsuccessfully to get him to dance with her. Eventually they both set out and shortly afterwards they are caught by another patrol. After he manages to outmaneuver their formation several times, their leader Takeo Chijiwa ( 千 々 石 武夫 , Chijiwa Takeo ) offers him a duel, with Charles recognizing his machine as the one responsible for his only kill. In the course of the duel, Chijiwa turns out to be a superior pilot at every opportunity. When he sits down behind Charles to shoot him, however, he is bewitched by the sight of Juana for a brief moment, which she uses to fire the on-board machine-gun, whereupon Chijiwa has to withdraw with damaged wings. The next day they finally have a rendezvous with the Levamme battleship El Bastel , which Juana is supposed to bring to the capital. Juana tries again to convince him to come with her, which Charles refuses on the grounds that he cannot abandon his comrades. When a dinghy of the battleship reaches them to give Charles his five kilograms of gold powder as a reward with disgust, they drag Juana away, who desperately asks for him to be taken away. After Juana is out of sight and he has taken off, he makes the decision to say goodbye to her properly and flies around the airship. Juana rushes to the upper deck and Charles begins to dance in the air with his plane in goodbye as he scatters the gold in the air.
epilogue
The original version of the novel closes with the statement that Juana, as empress, ultimately ensured a reconciliation between the two nations, while the further fate of Charles remained in the dark and both probably never saw each other again.
In the new edition it is again described that Carlo was ousted after a short reign and Juana took over the rule as consul in Levamme, abolished the class and racial segregation, concluded an armistice and then peace with Amatsukami.
publication
The novel was written by Koroku Inumura, who, after various video and role-play adaptations, published his first novel in 2007 with Leviathan no Koibito . To Aru Hikūshi e no Tsuioku was published on February 19, 2008, ISBN 978-4-09-451052-2 in Shōgakukan's light novel - Imprint Gagaga Bunko in Bunkoban format (DIN A6, 15 × 13 cm) with illustrations by Haruyuki Morisawa . In the annual ranking of the publishing house Takarajimasha Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! In 2009 the book came in 10th place and in 2nd place in the Daigaku Dokushojin Taishō University Audience Award sponsored by the Japanese book industry .
Inumura's inspiration for the work was the films A Heart and a Crown ( Roman Holiday ) and The Castle in Heaven ( Tenkū no Shiro Laputa ).
Due to the success, other novels followed, set in the same world, but each with different main characters:
- To Aru Hikūshi e no Koiuta (と あ る 飛 空 士 へ の 恋歌 ), 2009–2011, 5 volumes, 2014 adapted as an anime series
- To Aru Hikūshi e no Yasōkyoku (と あ る 飛 空 士 へ の 夜想曲 ), 2011, 2 volumes
- To Aru Hikūshi e no Seiyaku (と あ る 飛 空 士 へ の 誓約 ), since 2012
Shortly before the film was released, a revised new edition ISBN 978-4-09-386309-4 of To Aru Hikūshi e no Tsuioku took place on August 14, 2011 , with the manga-style illustrations aimed at a young target group being removed and a neutral one Cover and the larger Shirokuban paper format (19 × 13 cm) was used. In addition, the plot has also been changed in individual details, especially to create a transition to the subsequent novels. In particular, the modified epilogue describes the setting in which the successor To Aru Hikūshi e no Koiuta plays and in which Juana appear as regent of Levamme and Charles as an anonymous pilot. In addition, the character of Charles's opponent, Chijiwa, had no first name in the original novel, which was also changed in the new edition, since Chijiwa is the protagonist in the third part To Aru Hikūshi e no Yasōkyoku .
Adaptations
Motion picture
A conversion of the novel as an anime cinema film was announced in December 2009. The 99-minute long film, adapted by Studio Madhouse , was released in Japanese cinemas on October 1, 2011. Directed by Jun Shishido and written by Satoko Okudera . The character design was adapted for the anime by Hidenori Matsubara and the planes by Katsuya Yamada, who used designs from World War II . The Santa Cruz is based on the Nakajima A6M2-N with Spitfire cabin, the Shinden from Amatsukami is based on the real prototype of the same name, and the fighter aircraft from Levamme, Aires II , as a mixture between Spitfire and Bell P-39 Airacobra .
The music was composed by Shirō Hamaguchi . The opening title Toki no Tsubasa ( 時 の 翼 ), however, was composed by Keiji Inai, lyrics by Ayako Ikeda and sung by Seiko Niizuma , who also had a small speaking role as Charles' mother.
The film was released in Japan on February 24, 2012 by Bandai Visual on DVD and Blu-ray, the latter as normal and limited editions. In the USA it was licensed by NIS America , which released it on May 14, 2013 as The Princess and the Pilot with English subtitles. In May 2014, the film was also acquired by Manga Entertainment for the United Kingdom and is due to be released on October 20, 2014.
synchronization
| role | Japanese speaker ( seiyū ) |
|---|---|
| Charles Karino | Ryūnosuke Kamiki |
| Juana del Moral | Seika Taketomi |
| Takeo Chijiwa | Takeshi Tomizawa |
| Carlo Levamme | Daisuke Ono |
For the then 16-year-old model and actress Seika Taketomi and the comedian Takeshi Tomizawa, these were their first voice acting roles and for the former also their first leading role in a movie and so far (as of August 2014) their only role in an anime.
Manga
Maiko Ogawa adapted the novel as a manga , which appeared in Shogakukan's Get the Sun magazine from issue 9/2009 (August 12, 2009) to issue 3/2011 (February 12, 2011). The chapters were also summarized in four anthologies ( Tankōbon ):
- January 12, 2010, ISBN 978-4-09-122089-9 .
- June 11, 2010, ISBN 978-4-09-122360-9 .
- December 10, 2010, ISBN 978-4-09-122618-1 .
- September 12, 2011, ISBN 978-4-09-123138-3 .
reception
Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy rate the film in The Anime Encyclopedia as:
“The animation, especially the aerial combat sequences, is nicely done and a rival to Sky Crawlers, the world is well realized in an understated, unfussy way, and the characterizations are touchingly good. Without flinching from the ugly face of racism the script doesn't judge it; [...]. Films about good people in bad circumstances are a dime a dozen, but this one neither preaches nor takes refuge in fantasy. Quality entertainment for grown-ups is rare: don't miss it. "
“The animations, especially the aerial combat sequences, are nicely done and can compete with Sky Crawlers , the world is well implemented in an inconspicuous, no-frills manner, and the characterizations are touchingly good. Without shrinking from the ugly face of racism, the script gives no rating; [...]. There are a dime a dozen films about good people in bad circumstances, but this one neither preaches nor takes refuge in fantasy. Rare quality entertainment for adults: don't miss it. "
Web links
- Movie website (Japanese)
- US website of the film (English)
- Entry in the Anime News Network (English)
- To Aru Hikūshi e no Tsuioku in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ こ の ラ イ ト ノ ベ ル が す ご い! 2009 . Takarajimasha, Tokyo 2008, ISBN 978-4-7966-6695-4 , pp. 18, 26 .
- ↑ 過去 の 大学 読 書 人大 賞 . 2009 大学 読 書 人大 賞 （2008 年 10 月 ～ 2009 年 6 月） . In: 大学 読 書 人大 賞 . 出版 文化 産業 振興 財 団 / Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture, accessed August 24, 2014 (Japanese).
- ↑ Koroku Inumura: 犬 村 小 六 氏 メ ッ セ ー ジ ("Message from Koroku Inumura"). (No longer available online.) Amazon Japan, archived from the original on May 28, 2008 ; Retrieved May 29, 2014 (Japanese). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ A b The Princess and the Pilot: Flight Log . Supplement to the US Blu-ray
- ↑ To Aru Hikūshi e no Tsuioku Light Novel Reportedly Gets Film. In: Anime News Network. December 4, 2009, accessed May 29, 2014 .
- ↑ Manga Entertainment Announcements at London Comic Con. In: Anime News Network. May 24, 2014, accessed May 29, 2014 .
- ↑ Jonathan Clements, Helen McCarthy: The Anime Encyclopedia: A Century of Japanese Animation . 3. Edition. Stone Bridge Press, 2015, ISBN 978-1-61172-909-2 , entry: Princess and the Pilot, The .
