Story 10/10
First, what I really like about the story is how, although the movie is only 2 hours long, it really shows all the key moments in Jirou's life. Starting from when Jirou is just a little boy reading magazines about airplanes to when he's an adult leading a whole team of engineers on building an airplane he designed himself. I really like how the movie is told in chronological order like this so that the audience can follow Jirou's pursuit of his dream from start to finish.
However, another theme of this movie is the romance that forms between Jirou and his love interest Naoko. I don't want to spoil what happens, but I will say that I cried for this beautiful love that forms between them. Just holding someones hand can be an immaculate expression of love.
Characters 9/10
Jirou: What I like about Jirou is that he's never discouraged or beaten down; even when he fails, we see how his failures haunt him, but he doesn't let them get him down and instead uses them for inspiration to try harder and look at a problem from a new perspective. I also love how much he cares for Naoko and will drop everything immediately to go be with her if she needs him.
If I had one complaint with Jirou, it'd be he may be too positive. I know I said I liked how Jirou never gives up, but at the same time I think it might have humanized him more if there was a scene where Jirou at least thought about quitting.
Kirou: Kirou is Jiirou's best friend and colleague who in many ways is the antithesis of Jirou. While Jirou views airplanes as these flying works of art, Kirou views them more as just machines. What I like about Kirou is how, throughout the movie, he reminds Jirou of the reality that the planes they're building are going to be used for war and thus most will not return while also reminding Jirou of the limitations of Japan's current technology as compared to Germany's.
Kirou helps keep the movie grounded in reality while also providing some exposition about the current state of Japan in the 1940's and WW2.
Naoko: Naoko is Jirou's love interest and while I will say she isn't the most original character I still love how devoted she is to Jirou and the risks she puts herself in to be with him.
Art 8/10
I really admire Miyazaki's depiction of nature which is why the scene with the earthquake is one of my favorite in the movie. Miyazaki really captures the destructive power of nature with how the earthquake just uproots the entire city of Tokyo and damaged shown in the aftermath.
Also, it's clear Miyazaki did a lot of research on airplanes for this movie by how detailed the designs of the planes are, from the individual rivets to the variety of planes shown in the movie.
Finally, I like how the movie creatively shows Jirou's ideas; for example, Jirou will be working at his desk when suddenly the room disappears and we see the wind blowing through Jirou's hair and the airplane Jirou's designing right now flying through the air.
Overall 9/10
While the Wind Rises isn't my favorite Ghibli movie, I would say it's about as good as Ghibli's other movies like Spriited Away and Princess Mononoke. The reason I didn't give this movie 10/10 was just because the movie is just the life of this man who wants to build airplanes, no epic fantasy adventure with magic and monsters and other worlds like with some of Ghibli's other movies.
If you want to see an exciting adventure than don't watch this movie;
if you want to see a man's pursuit of his dream, then definitely watch this movie.
