The Wind Rises – GTGC – #169

Sadly, Dear Listener, our Brig-a-thon must come to a close. The Anime Express rolls into the station as we go full circle and take a look at The Wind Rises. The Wind Rises marks the end of an era as it is Hayao Miyazaki’s final film at Studio Ghibli. A studio that launched thanks to the success of his 1984 work, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind –  which we discussed to kick off this marathon.

Now, you may be asking yourself, “How do I get these idiots to talk specifically about the movies that I want them to talk about?” And, that my friend, is a very good question. All you need to do, is head over to Patreon and become a supporter. Now, we are sold out of our $15 a month package for the year, but you could still do the $10 a month package which would allow you to pick a movie for us to watch at some point within the year.

Sorry for the spiel, now back to business. This week on the show, the table is nearly empty as Dustin and Caleb are the only two who survived to the final week of Anime. Our fearless hosts do play a game this week, as they talk about their favorite dream sequences in film. They both show a breadth of knowledge as they cite films from multiple decades. We then move into analysis. Caleb takes an auteur approach, discussing how Miyazaki is reflected in the film’s main character and how it has a lot to say about the state of current Anime trends. Caleb postures that Miyazaki is putting current Anime trends on blast for what they’ve become. Dustin then takes the reigns and discusses The Wind Rises as a left-leaning work that criticizes militarization and war.

Dear Listener, we hope you’ve enjoyed this Patron-presented marathon. It has certainly challenged and stretched our hosts as they’ve looked at this GoodTrash neglected genre. But now, the controls are in your hand. Have you checked your engines? Is the propeller ready? Because I think its time to hit play.