Upon release, this film was marketed as Miyazaki’s swan song and the first hour is as good as anything Studio Ghibli has done. The protagonist, Jiro, can be viewed as nothing less than a self-insert for Miyazaki; always dreaming, totally consumed by the act of creation with little regard for real world concerns. The love subplot and general lack of third act introspection betrays the probing questions about creation and culpability explored earlier, but for the inquisitive viewer the space left unexplored perhaps instigates reflection that would have felt out of place or insufficient within the context of the movie.
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