Jiro Horikoshi Psychological Analysis

Jiro Horikoshi is a dreamer. We see that from the first scene of the film. His dreams are very wonderful, fantasy-laden, and benevolent. All he wants to do is design planes. He studies plane engineering all his life and becomes a bit of a sought-after genius.
This film is anti-war. Note the small, seemingly inconsequential scene where Jiro beats up some kids picking on another kid. He gets home, his mother sees him bruised and tells him fighting is never justified. Jiro is told this straight-up as a child. (Going ahead a bit, also note the small scene in the boardroom as Jiro listens to the demands of the military. Though played for laughs, the military is shown as completely bestial, all shouting at once with eyes that bug out in the same manner as the greedy bathhouse attendants from Spirited Away) …show more content…
Jiro should know that this is a morally shaky decision, but never acts like it is. Jiro continuously seems barely, if at all affected by the horrors taking place around him, always inside his own head. Even in the midst of a horrible earthquake he retreats into fantasy. In one of his fantasies, the Italian aeronautic engineer Caproni asks Jiro if he would prefer to live in a world with or without pyramids. It's a metaphor for the fact that technological advancements can sometimes cause pain, and are often co-opted and commissioned by the powerful to do so. Caproni says he prefers a world with pyramids. When Jiro is asked for his preference, he says, "I just want to design beautiful planes." He gives an indirect answer, delaying the moment of confronting himself with the moral questions and implications of his