{"id":2557,"date":"2014-03-01T18:27:23","date_gmt":"2014-03-02T00:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/animationrevelation.com\/readables\/?p=2557"},"modified":"2026-07-12T17:01:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T23:01:35","slug":"the-wind-rises-fly-away-now-bloody-marquis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/animationrevelation.com\/readables\/?p=2557","title":{"rendered":"The Wind Rises: Fly Away Now"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Twitch Plays Engineering<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\tMiyazaki\u2019s latest movie proves to be a bittersweet affair in many ways. It\u2019s both the most down-to-earth and one of the most otherworldly, with the desire to create being examined throughout the movie. Jiro really wants to make planes, even risking his life from the Nazis to pursue that dream. Despite that unstoppable awe he carries, he knows very well that his planes will be turned into bombers for the Second World War. While the war only looms in the side, that stigma always rests in Jiro\u2019s mind. A childhood fantasy of his is turning into a tool to kill. But the war\u2019s why Jiro\u2019s allowed to pursue his dream, bringing up the question as to whether people should reach for greater things if it means others are crushed for that action. <\/p>\n

\tSuch ambiguity drives the movie from start to finish, not just in Jiro\u2019s desire to invent but also in his personality. He\u2019s selfless and na\u00efve at once, believing he can build the best planes he can while knowing they\u2019ll be used as fighters. He questions the ideals of Japanese society, but often follows them when he focuses on his work. There\u2019s a reason why his idol keeps calling him \u201cJapanese boy\u201d in his dreams, because he can\u2019t escape from those boyhood adventures. His head is up in the clouds, in all senses of the term. I would suppose he keeps that boyish charm in order to hide from what his inventions will do.<\/p>\n

\tThat\u2019s not to say he\u2019s foolish. All of the characters, while stern, often cheer him on to succeed. Despite a few rough patches, the movie portrays him as an overall good man. The problem lays in how he\u2019s a good man in a contradictory country. The Japan portrayed in this movie is rundown, with a single earthquake turning sprawling towns into wastelands. The country can get back on its feet without the help of others, but these other countries want Japan to be subservient. There runs the implication that Japan must ally with Germany and be involved in warfare because that\u2019s the only way it can advance as a nation. And in almost every scene, Miyazaki casts scorn on that idea. To him, he sees this as a backwards nation making a deal with the devil, twisting what could have been a purely noble ambition.<\/p>\n

\tAnd yet, the film still wants Jiro to progress with his inventions instead of hide from them. Jiro doesn\u2019t allow himself to let that fear of creating warplanes stop him from his goal. Instead, he looks farther and imagines what his planes will be like when the war will end. He creates with that future in mind instead of the one his employers imagine. That\u2019s the kind of philosophy he invites, that his seeds will sprout into vibrant trees no matter what hell comes to burn them. It\u2019s the kind of ideal only an innocent boy could have, which intersects into other parts of his life.<\/p>\n

\tHis relationship and eventual romance with Naoko add further conflict into Jiro\u2019s life. He wants the happily ever after everyone craves for, but forces are at play to make that bliss short-lived. It all ties back to the basic idea of how it\u2019s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. Jiro could avoid these troubles, but that would also mean missing the apex of his life. These prospects of doom only make the fruit of the forest sweeter and well deserved. In turn, this quite possibly creates the most idealistic message Miyazaki had put in his movies. That even if our dreams end, we should still keep dreaming.<\/p>\n

\tIn interviews with Miyazaki, the presenters make note on how the movie\u2019s more mature than his previous works, specifically saying that it\u2019s more of a romance than his usual fare. Technically, they\u2019re correct. It\u2019s certainly one of the more personal Ghibli films, as Miyazaki has made it no secret how much he strives with his own dreams just as much as Jiro does. He even cast his undergraduate Anno for the role, making their relationship akin to Jiro and his idol Caproni. Dreamers branch out to create further dreamers, just like how Socrates begat Plato.<\/p>\n

\tOverall, The Wind Rises offers another worthy entry in the Ghibli catalog. Despite the more personal tone, the whimsy still exists between the corners. Even if the magic takes a more human form, they still cast surreal spells on Jiro as he grows in the film. Like Nausicaa and Porco Rosso before it, The Wind Rises wants viewers to break away from their limited ground and reach toward the unlimited sky. That may be an old message Miyazaki brings out every now and then, but it\u2019s definitely a good one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Miyazaki\u2019s latest movie proves to be a bittersweet affair in many ways. It\u2019s both the most down-to-earth and one of the most otherworldly, with the desire to create being examined throughout the movie. Jiro really wants to make planes, even risking his life from the Nazis to pursue that dream. Despite that unstoppable awe he carries, he knows very well that his planes will be turned into bombers for the Second World War. While the war only looms in the…<\/p>\n

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