The War of the Wind: The Rising Controversy of The Wind Rises (2013)

A children’s animation retelling the tale of one of Japan’s greatest airplane architects might not be the reason you’d expect to see a beloved animation studio under fire. Yet, in 2013, the release of the Academy Award winning The Wind Rises sparked endless debate among avid international audiences.

The film explains the story of Jiro Hirokoshi, the builder of a fighter plane which was utilized in WW2, as well as his romance with Nahoko, his terminally ill love interest. Containing the historically inspired story of Jiro and Nahoko, the movie may be viewed as an inspiring, tragic love story between two doomed lovers.

Yet, the film’s historical context places it in a confusing stance. Set in World War II, Jiro’s position as the protagonist sways the audience to view Japan’s role in the war in a positive light. After all, the planes that genius Jiro manufactures are utilized in inhumane attacks in the following battles. With hints towards Jiro’s alliance with the enemy, the children’s film alludes to the airline industry’s enormous role in the conflicts of World War II.

Still, is the war even the focus of the film?

Featuring Jiro’s almost comically fantastical childhood dreams of airplanes, the film is centralized around the theme of the tortured but striving genius. At the root of it all, the film is a portrait of how Jiro’s artistic and mechanical aspirations grew to the point where he saw everything around him as a lesson to push him forward. These realizations are strengthened by the meeting with his future wife, Nahoko. As adult life grows monotonous, Nahoko, the wishful but ill-fated painter, leads him to appreciate his surroundings and “how wonderful life is.”

Yet, let us consider the context. During the film, Jiro envisions meeting Giovanni Caproni, a famous Italian airplane designer, who accompanies him in his dreams from his benevolent imaginations of planes to his gloomy, muted-colored dreams in his adult life. Although they may be unpleasant to realize, Jiro’s qualms regarding his role in the war are navigated through these unreal conversations which delve into how quickly his dreams can fall into nightmares.

By establishing the story in the setting of WW2, the fate of the movie in the public eye was set up at the start. Not only was Jiro associated with the hostility of the war but he also created one of the deadliest fighter jets manufactured, based on the true planes used in WW2.

It is possible to view the story’s context alone without observing Jiro’s moral hesitancies in the film, but does it make sense to do so? As phrased by Sheila O’Malley, reviewer of the Roger Ebert organization, the film portrays “a boy who looks around him and understands that what he fantasizes about can become a reality.” At the end of the film, will the children recognize the story as a thrust toward the unfavorable side of World War II, or will they remember the electric journey of a persevering dreamer’s exploration of his passions?