is a 1987 Japanese animated science fiction film written and directed by Hiroyuki Yamaga, co-produced by Hiroaki Inoue and Hiroyuki Sueyoshi, and planned by Toshio Okada and Shigeru Watanabe, with music by Ryuichi Sakamoto. The story takes place in an alternate world where a disengaged young man, Shirotsugh, inspired by an idealistic woman, Riquinni, volunteers to become the first astronaut. The film was the debut by the studio Gainax, and the first anime produced by Bandai.

Plot

In the Kingdom of Honnêamise, on an alternate steampunk version of Earth, Shirotsugh Lhadatt is an unmotivated young man who once aspired to be a fighter pilot. He instead joined the Royal Space Force, his nation's fledgling space program, which has been demoralised by numerous failures. After a fellow astronaut dies in training, Lhadatt befriends a young religious woman named Riquinni Nonderaiko, who spends her days street preaching and lives with a sullen child named Manna. Seeing the groundbreaking nature of his work, Riquinni inspires Lhadatt to volunteer for the Space Force's last attempt to send the world's first astronaut into orbit.