The Wind Rises

The Wind Rises (Japanese: 風立ちぬ, Hepburn: Kaze Tachinu; lit. 'The Wind Has Risen') is a 2013 Japanese animated historical drama film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki based on his 2009 manga of the same name. Produced by Studio Ghibli and distributed by Toho, the film stars the voices of Hideaki Anno, Miori Takimoto, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Masahiko Nishimura, Morio Kazama, Keiko Takeshita, Mirai Shida, Jun Kunimura, Shinobu Otake, and Nomura Mansai. The film portrays a fictionalised account of the life of Japanese aeronautical engineer Jiro Horikoshi, in particular his engineering career from his time at the University of Tokyo in 1923 to the first test flight of the Mitsubishi Ka-14 on 4 February 1935. Juxtaposed with the historical events is a fictional romance of Horikoshi's, inspired by the similarly named semi-autobiographical novel The Wind Has Risen by Tatsuo Hori. The film was originally intended to be Miyazaki's final feature film, before Miyazaki reversed his decision and eventually directed The Boy and the Heron. Released on 20 July 2013 in Japan, The Wind Rises was the highest-grossing Japanese film of 2013. Though it caused some political controversy and criticism in Asia, it was met with critical acclaim. The film was nominated for several awards, including the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year, winning the latter.