Synopsis: Jirou dreams of flying and designing beautiful airplanes, inspired by the famous Italian aeronautical designer Caproni. Nearsighted from a young age and thus unable to become a pilot, Jirou joins the aircraft division of a major Japanese engineering company in 1927. His genius is soon recognized, and he grows to become one of the world's most accomplished airplane designers.

Key historical events deeply affected the course of Jirou's life, including the great Kanto earthquake of 1923, the Great Depression, the tuberculosis epidemic, and Japan's plunge into war. He meets and falls in love with Naoko, grows and cherishes his friendship with his colleague Honjou, and innovates tremendously, leading the aviation world into the future.

My Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Title: The Wind Rises (English), Kaze Tachinu (Japanese)

Episodes: Movie (1)

Genre(s): Historical, drama, romance

Air Date: July 20, 2013

Producers: Studio Ghibli

To start off with, a quick note: I normally title these reviews based upon what the work's most popular name is. For the last Ghibli movie I did, it was the Japanese title that comes up as being the most searched. For this review, the English title appears to be more popular. And, so, I will refer to this movie as The Wind Rises.

Now, on to the review portion...this movie was...well, unique to say the least. It was very fitting of Miyazaki's last movie, that's for sure. Did I love it? No. Did I hate it? Also no. Did I like it? Questionable. It wasn't terrible, nor was it amazing, in my honest opinion. It was decent. It was something I did, in the moment, enjoy watching. But it was nowhere near my favorite Studio Ghibli movie, and it also isn't something I would run to tell my friends in excitement that I watched, unlike other Ghibli movies.

Things I liked about this movie include the usual Studio Ghibli main character adventure and self discovery. Jirou has one of those, and the way this movie goes about it is very realistic and enjoyable. It's something that the viewer can connect to, despite the time period that this movie is set in. Each character is unique and likable and in The Wind Rises there is no one character like the other. The attention to detail, as is famous of any Studio Ghibli movie, is amazing. Whether it's concerning the way a character shakes his leg under a table as he works, the way a paper airplane flies, the way the real planes fly, or the way a suit crumples when sitting down—it's amazing and wonderful, and it's the magic of Studio Ghibli movies. The art and colors are beautiful and are paired wonderfully with a symphonic soundtrack throughout the film that often fits the mood very well. Attention and detail to nature, grass, clouds, and how wind reacts with the environment is amazing and can only be expected of Studio Ghibli.

Despite all that, I felt this movie was slow and dragged on for quite a long time. Despite having a very steady sequence in which the story follows, the pace at which things moved seemed very slow. The Wind Rises spends a lot of time going in and out of real life and Jirou's dream sequences, and sometimes this is a hard difference to decipher. The first time Jirou was dreaming, after the initial dream sequence at the start of the movie, I had no idea what was happening. I suppose, on that note, this just means that Studio Ghibli did an amazing job in allowing the movie to flow along and continue without abrupt dream sequences. However, I do feel that the dreams could have been...well, just slightly more abrupt in that manner due to the fact that real life often flowed into a dream state and it was hard to determine which was which until certain characters and happenings gave it away—and for me, that was often 2-3 minutes into the dream scene.

The movie's take on the time period and the historical events are amazingly done, and are beautiful. While the ending is bittersweet, it is a respectable ending and it is also an ending where you can't expect much else to happen, because how could it go any other way? Although that fact is a sad one, it is one that is easily accepted too. Overall, to me, this movie wasn't horrible but it wasn't the greatest. I liked it enough that I would watch it again, though not anytime soon.