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While there are many excellent reviews of this film, I felt that many of them overlooked something crucial to the film: aviation.

More than anything else, The Wind Rises is probably the best film I've ever seen for describing the joy and wonder of flight. Seriously, the anticipation of preparing an aircraft to take off, the awe as it leaps into the sky - this movie nails that damn near perfectly. If you're into planes whatsoever that alone should be a good enough reason to watch it.

And, of course, being a Ghibli film, the animation, music, aesthetic and cinematography are on point - I feel like ... that's to be expected viewing a film from this studio. And, while some people had misgivings about the plot, I would argue it's a well execute slow-burn with interesting themes - without getting into it too heavily.

And just being a great portrayal of the joy of aviation isn't enough, attention to detail with the actual plane sections of the film were super impressive. Most of the aircraft in the film (save for Jirou's dreams) are real planes that flew. Jirou, Count Caproni, Dr. Junkers and many of the other people and planes mentioned are all real - hell, Hans (the weird German dude at the bar) is lifted from the book Der Zauberberg. The techniques (flush riveting) are spot on and you can even see Jinou referencing NACA wing shapes - NACA being the predecessor to NASA and credited with numerous aviation advances during the interwar and WW2 eras.

Overall, I think this a great film. It has some shortcomings but there's a lot to chew on, both visually and thematically, plus there's the added benefit of it being a wonderful aviation film if you're into that. I'd say give it a look and don't be put off by the run time unless you really can't do longer films.

Note: I'm not done, only about halfway through what's been translated in English so far. That said, I think I've got a pretty good handle on this series.

Overall, the series is really simple. The plot revolves around a traveling bar cart which sets up at a new location each episode. Beyond the main character there's a small cast of a few reoccurring side characters and plots are generally self contained within each chapter - though a few extend for multiple.

While it doesn't have a ton going on plot wise it's backed up by a lot of beautiful art and some interesting stories told through ... characters. Additionally the author got everything related to the drinks spot on. Ratios are correct, techniques are shown and even bottles are labeled correctly, it's very cool and pretty accurate.

I would say if you're interested in cocktails or like mixing drinks then I'd definitely recommend checking this series out; I've gotten a few cocktail ideas out of it even**. Also, if you enjoyed the game VA-11 Hall-a then I would also *highly* recommend checking this out because the vibe is extremely similar.

Solid 7/10 from me. There isn't a ton going on but there doesn't really need to be, it's a great looking series interesting stories told through side characters. If you've got the time to check it out I'd give it a look.

**In the first chapter, the MC makes a patron a cocktail containing shochu, Drambuie and lemon juice. 2oz/60ml shochu (barely or rice), 1.5oz/45ml Drambuie and 1oz/30ml fresh lemon juice. Shake and serve neat in a chilled Martini glass - it's a little sweet, a little sour and a little creamy. Alternatively, if you don't have Drambuie you can do 1oz/30ml of Japanese whiskey (Toki or Tenjaku blended is good) and .5oz/15ml of simple syrup. It's less creamy, though similarly sweet and sour.