Personally, I would like to fly some more into space. I like flying. My biggest wish is to fly toward Venus, toward Mars, which is really flying. - Yuri Gagarin the first man to go into orbit around the earth

On my quest to watch every available Gainax work I first stumbled upon Ouritsu Uchuugun or Royal Space Force. A package that delivered way more than I was expecting to. Quite surprised that unlike other works like TTGL or EVA not much is known about this little gem.

The story isn't hard to follow we're lead to believe that we're in some alternate world of the present where Japan is working on a space program, the only one in the world and their plights in raising the staff of the force, the public's less than favorable attitude towards the program itself and foreign interest in the technology. The film does a good job of emulating a cold war esque atmosphere, but frankly tries too hard to drive the point home with some pretty unnecessary action scenes that could be used to flesh out the side characters. But surprisingly the show deludes you into thinking that the movie is about the RSF, when it's really about something much deeper and much more interesting, and with each of the scenes we see the MC change and attain some new state of being allowing for a very character driven and interesting exploration of the human condition. The conflict explored is simple and yet hard to answer: Should we favor progress and move forward no matter what the costs, or should we halt progress and work on our current and immediate happiness that is already far out of reach?

The art is very good for its time, the animation is slick and the various backgrounds fit the current on goings extremely well. It has this aesthetic look of synthetics, if that makes sense, whether it be a bustling city, a frantic carnival, a country side home or a chase scene through downtown. Gainax is already my favorite but I am pretty amazed at the quality of the animation. Though with that said it still is extremely dated so you might be put off by the retro feel of it which to be perfectly honest makes the show to me more enjoyable.

Sadly enough the soundtrack is only okay, there is nothing that stands out except maybe the ending theme, the music sometimes feels out of place and does not really fit with the atmosphere at all, however sound just like art is pretty subjective so you might like it. Objectively it's not of bad quality itself, however, I felt as though it really didn't fit the movie

Unfortunately, the format isn't friendly towards developing a large cast, as can be exemplified in this film. The main character grows up along the viewer and matures as a person. In adverse everyone but the protagonist gets sidelined for some very stellar but ultimately misused actions scenes, that in my opinion would fair better in fleshing out the other cast members. That being said, at no point does the movie try to fool you into thinking that it's not a commentary on the whole of humanity through multiple characters rather than this one and in this sense it's rather comforting.

Well being somewhat of a studio Gainax fan, I went in with high expectations, that were delivered upon. Definitely a classic worth checking out, if nothing else.
Bonus info: there is a sequel in works, release date maybe soon, maybe not, still something to look forward to.