Anime: Toaru Hikuushi e no Tsuioku

Review
Toaru Hikuushi e no Tsuioku (The Princess and the Pilot) is an interesting movie that presents us a different kind of setting, much like what happened with Last Exile. Instead of the darker, complex, and bizarre world presented there, however, here we have a simplistic view a fantastic land, where airplanes and air carriers are the main military force of its kingdoms.

The movie starts as the kingdoms of Levamme and Amatsuvian are at a dragging war. In order to help morale of the soldiers and give the people of Levamme something to cherish, the army decides to transport Fana del Moral, engaged to to prince Carlo of Levamme, so they can consolidate their marriage and solidify the political structure of the kingdom. This mission, however, must be swift and secret to avoid the many enemies in the path, and to such end the military chooses Karino Charles, a lowborn of Amatsuvian origin, but the most skilled pilot of the regiment, to perform the deed.

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1. A beautiful art direction
   The world of The Princess and the Pilot is beautiful in its simplicity. Most scenes happen in open sea, so sky, water and airplanes are mostly of what you will see during the movie. Fret not as the vastness of this world is decently portraited, especially when backed by a charming character design that takes us back to the late 90's.
   
   A charming couple
   Basically, the tale is about the interaction between the highborn Fana, a charming young girl who never had a similar adventure in her life, and the ace pilot from the lowest caste. It's a charming swift love tale where they both need to join forces to succeed, as enemies from Amatsuvian are in their tail every now and then. They both are great characters, decently presented in this short time of a movie and nicely explored as far the tale allows.
   
   Sadly it's just one mission
   The Princess and the Pilot, unfortunately, is just a tale of a single mission and you don't exactly get a major closure. Things do wrap up in the end, but with this interesting world presented and the two charismatic protagonists you will certainly expect more to be shown. Even though this is a movie, perhaps a better pace where events unfolded further in could've made the tale more complete and fulfilling.
   

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Comments
The Princess and the Pilot is not a Miazaki's level piece of work, but it is a decent movie nonetheless. The two protagonists are likeable, the setting is interesting, the atmosphere is warm, and the artistic job is great. The limited scope of the tale, however, provides little fulfillment to the viewer and in the end you have basically a teaser of a work that is never done.

The later Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta series further explore the world, but there you don't have the loveable couple that is presented here and the experience overall is more akin to please typical otaku fanbases. It's a pity that this happens, because if the show felt more complete it could've been an awesome and remarkable piece of animation.