I think the Zero was a turning point in Japanese manufacturing and development - and directly leading to skills and people who were mightily influential in the

I think the Zero was a turning point in Japanese manufacturing and development - and directly leading to skills and people who were mightily influential in the post WWII economy. As Americans, we lionize the B-52 bomber, the fighter jet, and other tools of our trade of war. I think that's why they remember it so fondly, with a little footnote at the end about how it was a great example of Japanese engineering and effort used for a horrible end. This film definitely is uncomfortably close to an intangible border of "war atrocity"; and, considerably more so considering the Zero's usage in the end of WWII and Japanese atrocities. Considering Miyazaki's anti-war stances and efforts, I always was inclined to take his thoughts and messaging on this with a positive light. By the way, did you know that in Japan, this film was viewed extremely negatively by Japanese nationalists? So, there may be something culturally lost in our interpretation as well. I remember coming out of that movie thinking, "well, that's kinda fucked up". And yet, my understanding of that movie is contrary to the man's many decades of outspoken commentary. So, idk. I think I just didn't "get it". > The movie’s subject dovetails with an issue currently under heated debate in Japan: the new prime minister’s plan to amend the country’s constitution to allow for the building of a full-fledged military, boosting the limited self-defense forces put in place after the war. > Miyazaki, a venerated cultural figure in Japan, published an essay last month objecting to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s plan, in the process raising the ire of some Japanese conservatives, who on Internet message boards labeled him “anti-Japanese” and a “traitor.” > Miyazaki’s movie, which is seeking U.S. distribution, reflects his pacifist stance. In the subtitled trailer above, he depicts Japan in the years leading up to WWII, when it faced some of the same problems that have plagued the country in recent years, including a devastating earthquake and economic stagnation. The character of Horikoshi appears as a contemplative young man, tossing paper airplanes with a girl, gazing at the Japanese countryside from the window of a steam train and working in a factory, until the war hits and the tone shifts, with a plane breaking up in the sky and blood falling to the ground.