The Wind Rises

Jirou Horikoshi’s poor eyesight keeps him from flying, but it doesn’t stop him from pursuing his dream of designing airplanes like his idol, Italian aviation pioneer Giovanni Battista Caproni. Leaving his hometown, he enrolls at Tokyo Imperial University to study aeronautical engineering. Shortly after arriving in the city, the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 strikes, and amid the chaos, he rescues a maid working for the family of a young girl named Naoko Satomi. The disaster foreshadows decades of turmoil that will culminate in Japan’s defeat in World War II. Over the years, Jirou pours everything into his work, eventually creating the Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter. But as he witnesses the impact of his designs and grapples with personal hardships, he’s forced to reckon with the price of his ambitions. Through joy and sorrow, he must ask himself: how much is too much to sacrifice for a dream?