The English trailer for The Wind Rises, the last film from Hayao Miyazaki has been released. I can tell already from the small segments shown in the trailer that Miyazaki has only gotten better at his craft with age.
I was able to keep it together for mostly the entire trailer, until the "Farewell Masterpiece" came up.
Then it hit me.
This man, whom I have never met, has been telling me stories and taking me on journeys since I was 12 years old, when I watched Princess Mononoke for the first time at a friends house. He has told me tale after tale, and now he is finished. I took him for granted all this time, and I never thought that he would really stop. I've learned a lot in that time, and some of my morals have been shaped explicitly by some of Miyazaki's films.
I learned leadership skills from Naussica, I finally figured out how to make someone laugh from Lupin, and through nearly all of them I was indulged in my passion for flight.
Now in his final piece, he is waving goodbye. Someone I never met, wrote or spoke to has given me years of lessons and is now waving his hand as he departs this medium.
It is sad to see him go.
I am reminded of a poem by Christina Rossetti
Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you:
But when the leaves hang trembling,
the wind is passing through.
Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow their heads,
The wind is passing by.
Farewell Miyazaki, thanks for everything.
