Ranked #697

Toaru Hikuushi e no Tsuioku

What to say about this movie. It at once delighted me with a well paced story and gorgeous dogfights. The growth of our two characters was detailed in the moments of downtime. I was sucked in by its premise, and treated to the most superbly done forbidden romance that I've seen in awhile. If my score confuses you, this film committed one cardinal sin, however. It resolved nothing. The story it was telling was certainly not finished, and frankly the ending epilogue was insulting. Understand something. If the theme of the movie was nationalist racist bigotry meant to cultivate that turn of the century feeling, we should have spent the movie on that. One downtrodden pilot and a pampered princess cannot carry that story arc unless you make it clear. The princess didn't have to overcome that boundary in the movie. From the get go she was pure and noble in her intentions toward the pilot. Even from childhood it seemed. Her growth was in her own strength of will and experience. She moved from completely dependent to independent. She never once hated the pilot for his race. Likewise, the pilot was overcoming his own feelings of self worth by undertaking this mission. And by the end of it knew he wasn't just a worthless dog out for money. All symbolized in the romance by a girl falling for the boy who taught her to fly and a boy falling for a girl realizing he could be a man worthy of her affection. I absolutely was baffled by him flying off into the sunset and the princess off to marry some idiot prince. The boundaries won! They failed to overcome their respective roles, settling for the most society would allow them. And then the movie tells us the princess worked hard to end discrimination. Big deal. We don't care about this fictional world. We only care about the characters, and the fact that the movie thought it could placate us with a three sentence epilogue was horrendous. This isn't world history. Its a fictional drama. The story was ultimately defeated by its own incompetent ending. I have heard from some that it defies cliche in that regards, but this is not a good thing. Perhaps the only way this could have succeeded is if the two did end up in a relationship, or at least tried. Again, when your story is about these two characters growing, you must show where they grew at the end. The pilots end is much like his beginning and it is doubtful he even changed - always kind, always willing to serve. He still didn't reach out and grab what he wanted, and according to the epilogue just disappears. Wow. Or are we to believe he just wanted to complete his mission? He didn't even do that without the princess! The princess was supposed to take charge, but at the end runs off to marry the prince. And she fights for peace apparently. Does she do that in tea parties I wonder? How pointless. She could very well be doing the same thing after one horrific battle without the pilot. Her stance would have fit if she'd become an independent nation leader. Heck, marry the pilot and put down the warmongers by defying their expectations. Realistic? Not really, but story wise it makes far more sense. And really, do we expect anything to be realistic in this drama of two people from opposite ends of the social strata to undergo a romance? Nothing in this movie is real or even remotely reflects reality so I suggest that the story needs work. The ending ruined this movie. read more

Tales of forbidden love are common, yet we are constantly drawn to them and empathizing with their characters. Perhaps it is borne from a desire to experience something so simple yet beautiful. Or perhaps it is to remind ourselves of how lucky we are to be able to love without having the world turn against us. "Toaru Hikuushi e no Tsuioku", or "The Princess and the Pilot", can do both of those.

It was originally published as a single volume light novel in 2008 and was considered a runaway success. Although Inumura Koroku was already writing a different novel series at the time, this novel became his breakthrough and most well-known work. Inumura left such an impression on his readers that the novel reached tenth place in the annual "Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!", or "This Light Novel is Amazing!", poll conducted on the Internet. It spawned a subsequent "Hikuushi" series which encompasses two additional spin-off series of the same "Toaru Hikuushi e no" title.

There are a number of predictable formulas for characters involved in forbidden love. In this case, we are introduced to mercenary pilot Charles Karino and Juana del Moral, fiancée of the crown prince of a powerful empire. Their story and the conflict that is in their hearts are set within a greater conflict: relentless warfare between two neighboring empires. The conditions also beg of the question of whether it is right to sacrifice a world's peaceful future for the selfish desires of two people. The juxtaposition of these two elements presents a love story that is timeless and refreshing. While it is something we've read before in stories like "Romeo and Juliet", the tale does not fall into the trap of creating a predictable ending, but rather an inevitable one. In fact, when the reader begins to understand the fate of the two characters, he or she can still be impressed by the way their relationship is developed.

With the story focused on only two noteworthy characters, it can be easy to assume that watching their interaction will boring. On the other hand, one can easily empathize with the strong feelings of the characters. Each time pilot and princess are torn between duty and personal affection, even the reader feels can feel torn as to which decision they should make. One can sense that the two are close in their hearts, yet a gap as wide as an ocean separates their conscience. As both characters begin to open up to the feelings of each other, we become more invested in their relationship.

Madhouse presents its viewers with an artistic presentation that is both appropriate and experimental. Heavy use of the color blue is obvious from the theatrical poster alone as it represents the vastness of both the sky and the ocean. It does not, however, drown out the other colors that are also presented, and certain environmental details make this anime movie as realistic as possible. Madhouse also presents a sound mechanical design for aircraft technology in the film. Aerial combat is presented with great detail in the movement of each airplane as if one were watching a World War II reel, complemented by a rich portfolio of sounds that realistically replicates an propeller airplane's engine.

While the film's soundtrack may not be very memorable, Niizuma Seiko presents us a touching theme song with lyrics that reflect the longing of both characters. As an ending theme, it provides an appropriate closure for a story with mild pacing. Conflicts in the plot came at the appropriate times and keep the viewer interested through a film that could easily have bored viewers if done improperly because of its length.

"The Princess and the Pilot" is a simple story set in a rich universe that shines through the human interaction that is neither exaggerated nor lacking. While it can be enjoyed as a standalone work, reading the novel will also present a richer understanding of the distance that separates Charles and Juana and the affection that binds them. read more

I absolutely loved it. This movie perfectly shows how you can take something really basic and simple and make it into something complete and special. There aren't many stories on piloting, but there are plenty on flying and wars. Of course, with the theme of flying and war comes the theme of freedom, and when you put a woman and a man together, you get romance. This movie isn't any different in those basic ideas, so if you are looking for a genre breaking show, this isn't the right one for you. However, don't skip it just because it's conventional.

This didn't bore me at all, and in fact, it's so much more refreshing than most of the anime aired these days. If you are like me, who need occasional breaks from tsundere and yandere girls and harem loving boys, come and watch this please. I wouldn't call it serious or deep, but it's real. Yes, it's real as in, it's how real people are. I'm not trying to offend quircky and crazy characters or random and insane plot twists. It's like I said, I need a break sometimes.

I digressed from the review a little bit, but honestly, if I say one little thing about the plot or characters, it'll basically ruin the series for you, since everything is as straightforward as they can be, and should be in my opinion.
The soundtracks and animation are really good, and the fighting scenes are very well made. It's like one of those studio ghibli's works, simple but solid, and in my case, will be remembered fondly.
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I gave this movie a 7 very reluctantly, I mean if I judge it subjectively I'd say I enjoyed it a lot even though the premise of the story is fairly straightforward, Pilot transports Princess, both develop feelings for each other, I mean come on you knew that as soon as you read the title.

The art is nicely done, everything looks pristine especially the horizon during the scenes that are set in the air, the character designs are detailed and the environments look stellar.

The soundtrack never felt out of place, we were even given the usual "song/melody" that turns out to have some significance to both main characters, a bit macross-esque and incredibly cheesy, in fact this movie's plot is incredibly cheesy I mean I feel bad about marking it down because of this but this is something we've seen before.

Regardless of this I would still advise people to watch it, I mean the thing about recycled plots is they're recycled for a reason, they make us happy when executed properly, and I can't complain about the execution this time around.

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First impressions on this anime. Wow. I didn't want it to stop. This type of story has been done many of times. When I say that, I mean the idea of forbidden love has been used since the time of William Shakespeare with his masterpiece "Romeo and Juliet".

In many ways, this resembled Shakespeare's work of absolute beauty but had the "modernized" (if you want to call it modernized) twist to it. But on with the actual review.

The story starts strong, with images that really bring you into the story. The story takes shape quickly and doesn't give you that much time to react, so you'r first thought is the best thought.

Although the story was amazing and drew you in, the ending was abrupt, but still took hold well. It will end with you wanting more and you have a big chance of re-watching it.

All in all, the anime has a great story line with some modern twists. You will have to sit through some points that probably wont mean much but in the end, it will leave you wanting more! read more

It is the unfortunate case that I found this movie to be a dreadful bore. My biggest gripe with this movie is the sheer number of cliches. It felt as if the screenwriters compiled a list of common cliches used in anime, and used them all. It made the movie too predictable and laughable at best. There were moments when I joked with my friend that X would happen (jokingly), thinking it would never happen, and it actually did.

The movie had difficulties focusing on the main characters; we were introduced to a variety of characters that came off as being important, but than never appeared again. The reasoning behind the choices made do not seem realistic b any stretch of the imagination, and the fact that someone whom had no real experience flying, only flew in a simulator, and could barely be trusted. Was given such an important mission is just baffling to me.

For anyone who watched Jurassic Park should at least be able to recall the meme or joke on how such a large dinosaur (T-Rex), can just sneak up on people without them noticing. Well, this movie seems to add that same ideology in some how being able to consistently hide massive ships and always know exactly where to be.

If not for all the sheer number of cliches, the really poor decisions made (that come off as unrealistic), and plot-holes with irrelevant characters, this could have been a better movie. Sadly, that is not the case so I cannot give it a better review. read more