The Wind Rises

Hayao Miyazaki's final feature film before his first retirement offers a quiet, melancholic look at the man behind Japan's most famous fighter plane. The story follows Jiro Horikoshi, an aviation engineer whose lifelong obsession with flight drives him to design aircraft that would eventually define World War II combat. Hideaki Anno provides the voice for the titular character, bringing a gentle intensity to the role of the young dreamer who grows into a brilliant but conflicted inventor.

He is joined by Hidetoshi Nishijima as the mentor figure Honjô and Miori Takimoto as Naoko Satomi, the woman who becomes Jiro's tragic love interest amidst the rising chaos of war. The film avoids typical action tropes to focus on the internal struggles of its protagonist, blending historical drama with a poignant exploration of art, love, and the moral complexities of creation. [edit]

The narrative begins in 1918 with a ten-year-old Jiro Horikoshi trapped inside a train carriage during a storm. He drifts into a vivid dream where he encounters Giovanni Battista Caproni, the Italian aviation pioneer who died in 1960 but appears here as a ghostly mentor. Caproni, dressed in a white suit and standing atop a massive flying machine, invites Jiro to join him in the sky. This encounter ignites a lifelong passion, leading Jiro to declare his intention to build beautiful airplanes. The scene establishes the central tension between the purity of flight and the destructive reality of warplanes.

Jiro grows up in Tokyo and enrolls in engineering school, where he faces academic difficulties and personal heartbreak. He falls deeply in love with a fellow student named Naoko Satomi, but their romance is interrupted when she contracts tuberculosis, a fatal disease in that era. Despite her illness, they share a profound connection, though they are eventually separated by her deteriorating health and eventual marriage to another man. Meanwhile, Jiro begins his career at a shipbuilding company, struggling to get his designs approved until he meets Honjô, a senior engineer who shares his belief that "airplanes are dreams."

The story moves through significant historical events, including the devastating Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. Jiro survives the disaster while helping Naoko, who has since married but remains close to him. His professional life advances as he designs increasingly sophisticated aircraft, culminating in the prototype for what would become the Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter. As the political climate darkens and Japan moves toward World War II, Jiro becomes increasingly conflicted. He knows the planes he creates will be used to kill people, yet he cannot stop pursuing perfection in his craft.

Throughout the film, Jiro is haunted by visions of Caproni, who serves as both a muse and a conscience. These apparitions remind Jiro of the beauty of flight while acknowledging the destructive potential of his work. Jiro's personal life remains tethered to his tragic love for Naoko, who continues to battle her illness and periodically reappears in his life, offering comfort and strength. As the war intensifies, Jiro watches the world around him change, knowing that the very machines he created are being deployed to fight a war he did not start.

The narrative builds toward a tense climax where Jiro must confront the moral weight of his legacy. He balances his duty to his country with his deep-seated belief in the purity of flight. The film does not shy away from the tragedy of the era, depicting the loss of life and the destruction wrought by the very technology Jiro dedicated his life to perfecting. It serves as a meditation on the cost of ambition, the inevitability of history, and the enduring power of human creativity in the face of darkness.[edit]