From what I’ve been hearing, it looks like it could be the key to many of Miyazaki’s other films. From the first time I saw Nausicaä I thought it was inspired by Miyazaki’s life on the island of Japan, but as I dug into his life, I realized how autobiographical it was–how much WWII had affected the story.

All that to say… I can’t wait to see TWR.

Well, I’m not a big traditional anime fan, so maybe that’s the difference? I thought it was superb.

I can’t wait to hear what you think of it when you do see it! Please email me with your thoughts!

Wow, thanks, Brittan! You’re a verifiable Japanese expert, so I appreciate your kind words! <3

I completely agree! You should definitely give the others a watch. Whisper of the Heart brought some tears to my eyes (happy tears!).

Whoa, whoa, “Running their mouths”? I’m talking about anime podcasts which are well versed in reviewing and have been doing so for years with an upwards of over 200+ podcast episodes. They deserve just as much respect as any other reviewer. I’m really glad to hear Morgan’s positive review, and it’s still a film I’ll be judging for myself eventually. And I actually do believe this is one of Miyazaki’s typical tropes. He’s very antiwar and in love with planes/flight. From their reviews and reading a synopsis, it’s very obvious Miyazaki almost entirely dodges that this is a war plane being developed. (And he apparently fictionalizes the main character entirely when compared to the real Jiro Horikoshi who was very proud of helping Japan in the war). They’ve all just said that overall the film is boring.

Okay, but let’s remember that all those films that you listed: Grave of the Fireflies, Whisper of the Heart, My Neighbors the Yamadas all have 1 thing in common. They weren’t directed by Miyazaki. The anime fans who are running their mouths about this movie expect him to stick to one of his two tropes: ‘alice down the rabbit hole’ or ‘environmental message’. This film is unusual. It breaks his usual mood. To get a fair judge of this film, don’t look to anime fans, look to people who can judge a Miyazaki film without rose coloured glasses. For example, Morgan, who, from what I have seen, doesn’t watch a whole lot of anime. Or from a good number of NA critics.

Grave of the Fireflies is a tear-jerking masterpiece, and I love it but haven’t seen the others you mentioned. Studio Ghibli should really try more narrative type movies for the sake of diversity.

There’s quite a few Studio Ghibli films more narrative based. Studio Ghibli is more recognized in the West for fantastical films; however, Grave of the Fireflies, Whisper of the Heart, My Neighbors the Yamadas, etc. are all narratives. And they’re all highly esteemed. (Especially Grave of the Fireflies which is a movie you only need to watch once every decade. It’s exceptionally depressing.) Anyway, I’ll watch The Wind Rises eventually. Glad to hear that Morgan really enjoyed it!

I think that because The Wind Rises is so different from Studio Ghbili’s other films in that’s it’s narrative-based instead of being an experimental film, those who are not big on anime will enjoy it better and vice versa for anime fans. If my hypothesis is true, then I have to check this out. Anime fans tend to have a taste in movies very contrary to my own.