This is the new movie from Studio Ghibli and I think the first to make it the US theaters, I don't remember seeing any others. From that studio I've only seen Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away (Probably my favorite movie), and Princess Mononoke. Using only those as references, this movie is a different step for the studio. All those movies have one certain thing, magic. This movie has “magic”, but not in the traditional sense. This time it has the magic of airplanes and flight. Along with that, its set in a specified time frame, WW2, I believe right before and maybe during. Another aspect the other movies has is a love story. This is no different and of course its got its twists and turns. This movie is also pretty long, at least 2 hours. It took about 30 million dollars to create this and in Japan alone they made 113 million, I figure thats pretty damn good since its nearly quadrupling your money, but I looked up the three movies I've seen and they all cost less to make and made almost double, box office. So hopefully it does well here or wherever else. I really love this studio and hope this won't affect them too negatively. That being said its nominated for Academy Awards, Oscars, and maybe more. This is Miyazaki's, the director and co-founder, final movie as he announced retirement in 2013 so I wish him well.

 I really like the movie, my girlfriend on the other hand was a little disappointed. Its not as fast pace and action packed as their other movies, so the length is easy to feel. If your a fan of Ghibli, definately at least check it out. I really like the chances they took with it, but some may not. If anyone still hated Japan for Pearl Harbor, this movie may take away a little of that, at least pointing at certain areas and off them as a whole. It read that main character is at least based off a real person, whether any of this is true I won't know.

When I went to see it there was one other group and they brought their little kid. They probably regretted that. Theres constant smoking (One guy searching through an ash tray for a halfie, I've been there), a hard “Fuck” (By hard I mean its really distinguished. I had to check with my girlfriend that it just said that cause I don't remember any swearing, at least fucks, in the other movies), and hint of sex (Not outlines or anything, but an invite to a women's bed). Now, the kid could have missed the middle one and more than likely didn't get the last one, but they may have had a problem with the first. I just found it amusing cause they probably thought its animated let's bring the kid, probably not looking why its rated PG-13. 

Yeah. Don't know if it's playing anywhere around here, but I definitely want to see it.

Its not as hard to find, at least in MA. I saw it at a small showcase cinema. I'm happy to hear it did well, at least by Japan standards and not the studio's. I'm guessing it didn't do as well because of its step away from traditional magic. Since its Miyazaki's last movie, any thoughts about how the studio will do in the future?