Hikari no Kaze no Ama

“Hikari no Kaze no Ama” (Ama of the Light Wind) is an animated short movie based on an original idea by Leiji Matsumoto that had been screened at the theme park Huis Ten Bosch in Nagasaki from 1992. This movie was only available at the Anime Theater in Huis Ten Bosch Anime World. It was planned as a series of 6 episodes, each 13 minutes long, but only the first part, which is 26 minutes long and consists of the first and second episodes, was actually produced.

The story is about the protagonist, Ama, traveling through space on a sailing ship that moves with the pressure of the light of the stars (hence the title). The 26-minute work was positioned as the prologue to a grand story. At the end of the story, Leiji Matsumoto wanted to depict a scene where Ama chases after an enemy that is about to be sucked into a black hole in order to save him. One of the core themes of this work is that “those born in the same universe help each other to survive.”

In an interview, Leiji Matsumoto said, “It has been my dream since I was a child to create an animated movie with small creatures living in nature, especially bees, as the main characters.” He also stated, “I've always loved insects, stars, and dinosaurs… I self indulged and drew all of those things in this work.” He also revealed that one of the themes he wanted to portray was the contradiction in the relationship between humans and animals.

Produced by Toei Animation, the animation director was Yasuhiro Yamaguchi, the music was by Akira Miyagawa (son of Hiroshi Miyagawa, composer of the musics of “Uchû Senkan Yamato” (Space Battleship Yamato) TV series and movies), and Mamoru Hosoda (director of “Ginga Tetsudô 999 Glass no Claire 3D” (Galaxy Express 999)) also participated in the animation. Takamura Mukuo, who was in charge of art, passed away during the production of this work.

In the near future, on an evolved Earth, humans, animals, and plants have become able to communicate with each other and walk a path of mutual prosperity. Insects too have learned advanced culture through interactions with humans and developed their own science. The protagonist, a young bee girl named Ama, is one such scientist.

One day, a shadow of anxiety creeps over the peaceful Earth. Plants are the first to sense the unease and begin to sing songs of worry. Frogs also show signs of anxiety at the strange sounds that begin to cover the sky. A great crisis is approaching Earth.

Queen Beenazca is trying to determine the cause of this anomaly. She is the leader of bees in an era where they have evolved to build civilization and become equal to humans, and as a queen bee, she is also the mother to the entire clan. She orders Ama to rescue a mysterious bee sending telepathic cries of help while trapped in amber.

Thanks to a hibernation system that she developed, Ama manages to release the bee from the amber. She is named Miraiya. Surprisingly, she came from Earth 350 million years ago. During that era, a major catastrophe occurred, the dinosaurs who were at their peak perished, and Miraiya had been sealed inside amber.

Miraiya possesses the ability to travel through time. She thinks Ama might be able to understand the cause of this crisis, and takes her on a journey across time and space to the world of 350 million years ago where she is from.

Through their investigation, the two learn a terrifying truth. The witch planet Carmilla, with an orbital period of 350 million years, is approaching Earth once again. Carmilla is a planet of the solar system with an extremely elliptical orbit, scattering fragments from its surface into space due to its high speed rotation, bringing catastrophe to Earth as it passes by.

While the dinosaurs were helplessly destroyed by Carmilla in the past, today, Ama and her kind have wisdom and scientific power. To save Earth and stop the destruction, the small bees bravely set off into space. Will they be able to save Earth from this crisis?