Images from Hayao Miyazaki's aviation manga serial "Kaze Tachinu (The Wind Rises)"

by Chris MaGee

Earlier this month we ran a story about how anime master Hayao Miyazaki was going to be writing and illustrating a two part manga serial in the Japanese model kit magazine "Model Graphixs". At that point it was being reported through Nausicaa.net that this serial, titled "Kaze Tachinu (The Wind Rises)", would have the aviation mad creator of such animated classics as "My Neighbor Totoro" and "Porco Rosso" telling the life story of Dr. Jiro Horikoshi, the chief engineer and designer behind Japan's primary WW2-era fighter plane, the Mitsubishi A6M Zero.

Now Ghibliworld has additional details as well as images from "Kaze Tachinu" and while the rumour that it would involve Dr. Horikoshi is true it turns out that it's much more than just a straight manga biography of this one engineer. Along with the story of Dr. Horikoshi, who's depicted as a little piglet by Miyazaki, the serial also incorporates stories from the life of Cesare Pallavicino, the designer of the Caproni Ca 309 Ghibli, whom Miyazaki refers to affectionately as "ojisan" in the comic. Of course many of you will instantly recognize that it was from this aircraft that Miyazaki and Isao Takahata took the name for their animation production house, Studio Ghibli.

If you are a real hardcore Miyazaki fan Amazon Japan has the March issue of "Model Graphix" that features the first half of "Kaze Tachinu" for sale for ¥780. The second half of the serial will appear in the April issue due out March 25th.