Miyazaki Rises

It's been five long years, but Hayao Miyazaki finally has a new feature coming out (for the record, I *loved* Ponyo). "The Wind Rises," a World War II era drama looking at the production of bombers during the war, took the #1 spot at the Japanese box office this past weekend and is predicted to hit at least $100 million over there, but its drawn some criticism from the conservative Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and his fervent supporters as being unpatriotic. Perhaps Miyazaki's comments surrounding the film drew much of the ire saying that he "had a strong feeling in [his] childhood that [Japan] had 'fought a truly stupid war. At a time when social systems and ways of living are going through huge changes, it's impossible for anime alone to remain the same as before and produce fantasies. It is time for us to move into a new direction." At any rate, the new trailer looks beautiful: