Route 20: Galactic Airport

Route 20, the Trailer

Just as Gainax produced a 3-minute trailer to shop Wings of Honneamise around to sponsors, at some point they produced another 3-minute trailer, for a film called Route 20, comprised of production art and about 30 seconds of animation set to "The Crystal Ship" by The Doors. This is speculation, but I assume that Route 20 (as well as another planned film, Aoki Uru) never found a corporate sponsor because Gainax had dropped the ball with Honneamise, business-wise. Also, it might have been too similar to Akira, which ran in manga form throughout the eighties and debuted as a film in 1988.

Route 20, the Manga

Sadamoto later created five chapters of a Route 20 manga, serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Newtype from 1991-92. The manga presented a story similar to the trailer, but with different character designs and possibly a different story (we'll never know!). Although only about 65 pages were ever produced, what remain are a fascinating glimpse into Sadamoto's head, motorcyles and all.

Utsuo, a high school slack-off, joins the scooter/motorcyle gang led by tough-guy Ushiji. The city they live in is surrounded by a massive dome that keeps out the pollution, which is supposedly so toxic, it can cut your lifespan in half. Inside the dome, life is constant and boring; the climate is held steady, so seasons never change, and Utsuo's family life is similarly bland. His older siblings are only interested in studying and their careers, his mother never says a word, and his father is so busy at work, he's never around. The story starts off when a crane crashes into part of the dome, creating a hole to the world outside and rousing the curiosity of the bikers.

Characters

		Utsuo New to the biker gang, Utsuo ends up repeatedly in the shit through no fault of his own.
		Erika Hangs out with the biker guys, dates around, is into drugs, and lives as she pleases. What's not to love?
		Domenico, Chief of the Energy Police Cool, carries a sword, and can't stand biker punks like Utsuo who disturb the peace. Domenico seems to have some sort of prosthesis on his head to allow for his enormous brain. Either that, or he's a robot (it's unclear).

Notes