A aeronautical engineer dreams of building the perfect plane. Slow and meandering, this film's central conflict is more technical than human, more a matter of engineering, an aspect into which the audience has no reference, than universal. While there are some sections in which we get fine interpersonal conflicts, the majority of the film involves Jiro conversing with his dream characters, and there's little to stand in the way of the love plot, thus little source for conflict. Many critics have written about the film's beauty, and I can't see what they're referring to. Many times I thought that the film didn't take advantage of all the creative liberties that animation could allow. Overall, when characters' central conflicts relate to their jobs, the audience must be able to participate in the suspense, and that's not the case with The Wind Rises.

Hayao Miyazak's final picture is a wonderful film about the life of Jiro, a dreamer of becoming a plane engineer, creating designs to fight in the war. Along the way, he has visions of a visionary plane engineer who has inspired him, and he meets a girl he knew from the past who does not have much time left. This film will bring tears to your eyes, purely out of the sheer truth it has surrounding it. It is surely deserving of it's Oscar nomination. The story is very well told, the American voice actors do a great job, and the visuals are fantastic as always. It may not be my favourite anime, but I really loved watching it. I do believe that the film would have been boring without the romantic subplot, so I am glad it was in there. Overall, it is genuine with all of it's intentions. "The Wind Rises" is a beautiful picture, I highly recommend this film.