Someone told me that Hayao Miyazaki may retire after this one as he feels he can't top this.
It's been forever since I've seen a 2D moving illustration on the big screen, it felt a little weird, but this was definitely the movie to bring us all back to that. Miyaazaki did fine work to make sure that was not the case. I've seen dramatic anime where the animation does nothing to push the story along but Mr. And the planes! the animation team did a great job of making the entire layout of the airplanes look fantastic. The Dream sequences worked very elegantly, just naturally seeming through. The scene portraying the great Kanto earthquake of 1923 made the ground feel like it was coming to life as a giant wave just took out an entire city. The animation takes a very surrealistic approach to telling this drama without making it seem cartoonish like Mickey Mouse. All of this could have been done in live action, but the craftsmanship of fame director Hayao Miyazaki makes you think otherwise. I also loved how the story gives us a perspective of Japan pre-World War 2 through the life of Jirou. They all help to make you feel like Jirou had a real posh life. It's a 12' x 12' giclee print in a limited edition of 50 for 35.
All the characters in the movie who supported Jirou, from his little bratty sister, to his firm but fair boss, to his best friend and rival at work. The 'Porco Rosso' inspired 'Flying Like A Pig' by Fabiocs, is a new limited edition print from Hero Complex Gallery, that was part of the exclusive prints they had on show at this year's WonderCon. Jirou also fines love in the movie with a young girl name Naoko. Years later Jirou lives his dreams and designs airplanes for a manufacturer who sells his beautiful designs to be used for the Ugly art of War. Jirou who as a boy met his hero, airplane designer, Caproni in his dreams was inspired to become an airplane designer. It's a very simple story that could have been done in Live-action. I had no idea what the movie was about, but when I saw the movie, I discovered it was about one of my Favorite subjects, Airplanes.
So when I first saw that an anime called the Wind Rises was coming to theaters I could not wait to see it simply because it was an anime coming to theaters.