Studio Ghibli: Uncovering the Realism Behind "The Wind Rises"

Hayao Miyazaki has blessed us with an incredible collection of classics that transcended the medium of animation. Just look at YouTube and see how many people have made a wide variety of content on the countless creatures, worlds, and themes he has brought to life. A true cinematic icon! With the recent announcement that Miyazaki is set to release his final film, How Do You Live? In the summer of 2023, it made me look back at his filmography, and there is one film that will stand out from the rest once more time has passed on his legacy.

That film isn't Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, or Princess Mononoke, which are regarded as benchmarks in animation and incredible cinematic achievements, and rightfully so, but the one film that Miyazaki didn't make for children. The one film that isn't carried by endless and wonderful imagination, but lifted by the winds of realism. ‘The Wind Rises’.

But what exactly do I mean by ‘Realism’? Realism is defined as “the quality or fact of representing a person or thing in a way that is accurate and true to life”. Unlike most of Miyazaki’s films, The Wind Rises isn't a fantasy epic with princesses, fantastical creatures, or fairy-tale existences, but a semi-autobiographical story about Jiro Hirokoshi, an aircraft designer who designed the Mitsubishi A6M Zero that the Japanese Empire used during the Second World War.

Even though it is a highly fictionalized account of the early life of Jiro Hirokoshi, it remains anchored by the reality of its protagonist, as we follow his journey to becoming one of the most innovative airplane designers of his time. The Wind Rises isn't your typical Studio Ghibli project, nor is Jiro your classic Miyazaki champion. Themes of industrialization, unlikely heroes, consumerism, and nature versus industry are not as prevalent here as in other Miyazaki films. Instead, the audience is engulfed in a world of military propaganda, natural disasters, mortal love, and the realities of war. This isn't a world based on the fantasy of its maker, but on the realism that shaped him.

Part of the Realism that encapsulates The Wind Rises is how it chooses to represent the historical accuracies of the time and its characters. Studio Ghibli isn’t a stranger to stories set in war-ridden Japan, namely with Isao Takahata’s ‘Grave of the Fireflies'. However, the Wind Rises takes a different approach to that realism. Instead of the usual child protagonists that we see in Ghibli, the story centers around an adult Jiro who creates weapons of mass destruction for an aggressor nation of Japan. We overhear characters discussing the bombing of nations and the consequences of going against a totalitarian government.

However, apart from Jiro, another character based on real life is the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, which Jiro designs throughout the film. The similarity that The Wind Rises has with Miyazaki’s other films is the focus on flight. Miyazaki’s love for everything aviation is no secret. Having grown up around his father, who was the director of a company that helped manufacture airplane parts during the Second World War, his exposure to the aeronautical world began at a very young age. For some reason, I just can’t imagine Hayao Miyazaki as a child. But let's get back to the video. This fascination is in all his works, in both conventional ways, such as in Porco Rosso and The Wind Rises, but also in creative forms, such as the unbelievable flying structures in ‘Howl's Moving Castle’ and ‘Castle in the Sky’.

Characters themselves can fly, such as Haku in ‘Spirited Away’ or Kiki from ‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’, releasing a beautiful rush of emotions dominated by a sense of wonder and possibility. Anything is possible in these worlds! Another character that can fly is the A6M Zero, but the ‘Zero', as it is often referred to, doesn't just symbolize the auteur's passion for flight, but a capsule of reality from a bygone era of war. In an interview with Asahi Shinbun, Miyazaki says “Japan went to war out of foolish arrogance, caused trouble throughout East Asia, and ultimately brought destruction upon itself. For all this humiliating history, the Zero represented one of the few things that we Japanese could be proud of”.

Jiro’s fascination with flight mirrors Miyazaki, especially in the opening sequence of the film, where a young Jiro soars through the sky of his hometown. As mentioned by Miyazaki, Zero represents and symbolizes that a sense of fantastical wonder and possibility became a reality for his generation, the same way that his other characters did in his films. However, the spectacle of flight doesn't come without a cost in Miyazaki’s films. For example, in Castle In the Sky, the flying castle is used as a weapon of mass destruction, and in Porco Rosso, the flight is shared between the powers of good and evil. This negative side of the flight, or a fantastical element, is taken to a more realistic level in ‘The Wind Rises’. Once again, we witness the realism that circulates this film, like Ki energy around a Super Saiyan, showing itself.

This brings me to one of my favorite scenes in the movie. In one of the many dream sequences, Jiro and Giovanni Caproni have a conversation on top of the top wing of one of Caproni’s planes. With a gorgeous sunset-kissed sky behind them, Caproni poses the question to Jiro: Which would you choose? A world with pyramids or a world without? What do you mean? Humanity has always dreamt of flying, but the dream is cursed. My aircraft is destined to become tools for slaughter and destruction. I know. But still, I choose a world with pyramids in it. Which world will you choose? I just want to create beautiful airplanes. Even though Jiro doesn't directly answer the question, he loves their craft but understands the reality and purpose of their creations.

These creations will ultimately cause the death of millions. The Wind Rises includes a few, if at all, signature fantastical elements that accompany one of Miyazaki’s films. Instead, the only taste of that would be the scenes where Jiro meets his engineering idol, Caproni. Throughout the movie, Jiro experiences several dream-like sequences where he encounters the Italian aeronautical engineer, Giovanni Caproni, who Jiro sees as his hero and inspiration, someone who acts as a mentor and guide within Jiro’s torn mind. Yet, even these dream-like illusions are tainted with realism, displaying the tug of war in Jiro’s mind, as his passion for creating beautiful planes clashes with his duty and loyalty to his country. As in previous Ghibli films, flight does carry a heavy burden; in Jiro’s case, it is the murder of lives.

The realism that The Wind Rises carries within it extends past the constraints of the film and into the real world itself, something that other Ghibli films have not done similarly. The film’s release was met with significant controversy, as the pacifist nation of Japan was heading toward a political crossroads. Japan’s policymakers were considering changing ‘Article 9’ of the Japanese constitution, which would allow the country to remilitarise. Hayao Miyazaki further added to the controversy by publishing an essay criticizing the decision of Japan’s right wing. The fact that the Wind Rises even has political controversy surrounding its release is again a demonstration of how different its legacy will be compared to its more famous and critically received counterparts. However, seeing how relevant a story set during the Second World War was to the present at the time further demonstrates how timeless the realism of The Wind Rises is.

Other Ghibli films carry many elements and themes of realism, but The Wind Rises feels like a movie that brings these elements into the forefront, removing the veil of fantasy hidden beneath. Imagine Miyazaki stopped hiding his messages behind fantasy characters and instead placed them in front of our eyes to see! Even the different shots displayed across the movie are reminiscent of live-action cinematography, to the point where I could easily see a live-action adaptation of ‘The Wind Rises’, a testament to the talent of Atsushi Okui, who was in charge of cinematography.

On a different note, as much as I love this movie for being such an outlier in Miyazaki’s filmography, I can’t help but feel frustrated and disappointed by the lack of empathy the story displays for the victims of war. Even though Jiro acknowledges that his planes are used for the killing of not just soldiers, but innocent lives, he never truly expresses any form of sympathy towards the victims of this war. Instead, Jiro mourns the death of his plans and the corruption of his dream. The recurring theme of the struggle between aspiration and reality almost becomes trivial and naive when you consider the wider context of war, echoing the lack of acknowledgment of a nation on its crimes of the past.

Understandably, The Wind Rises won’t be the film that people think of immediately when they go through their favorite Studio Ghibli films. When Miyazaki’s final film comes out this summer, it may fall even further in the pecking order of people’s Ghibli watch lists. However, what separates it from the others is ultimately the constant doses of reality that resonate throughout the film.

As mentioned earlier, this doesn’t feel like a story that originates from the mythical halls of one of Japan’s most well-known animation studios, but of a live-action period drama competing at the Academy Awards for ‘Best Picture'. Yet as much as we love Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, it is difficult to ignore the lack of empathy that the film displays for victims of war. The realism surrounding The Wind Rises separates it from the previous work of the auteurs, creating a unique yet tainted chapter in the colorful world of Studio Ghibli.