Castle in the Sky: Thinking About Pazu’s Memorable Quote, ‘The wind there is blowing in the wrong direction.’

“Castle in the Sky(Studio Ghibli Official)” is an animated theatrical work directed by Hayao Miyazaki, released in 1986. I believe it’s one of the most popular films among Miyazaki’s works, and I think it was the Miyazaki film I watched the most when I was in elementary school.

Studio Ghibli was established in 1985, meaning this masterpiece was created in about a year, which is honestly hard to believe. Hirokatsu Kihara(wiki, in Japanese), who was a production assistant at the time, has written a production documentary titled “Another ‘Balse'(もう一つのバルス, in Japanese)” about these details.

Now, this time, I want to think about a line from Pazu that I personally love: “The wind there is blowing in the wrong direction.”

For some reason, this line has stuck with me since I was a child, and it’s a line I really like. Why does that line strike such a chord with me? First, let’s reflect on Pazu’s life.

*This article is an English translation of the original Japanese article, “パズーの名台詞「向こうは逆に風が吹いている」を考える。“.

Pazu Before the Main Story of “Castle in the Sky”

Days of Building an Ornithopter Night After Night

What is indispensable when talking about Pazu is the self-made airplane (ornithopter) in his home. He endured hard work under his boss while diligently working on the ornithopter night after night. The key to understanding why he lived such a tough life is, of course, his statement about his father:

“My father was treated like a fraud and died.”

It’s said so casually that you might miss it, but it must have been a rather harsh reality for young Pazu.

Here, we should imagine a situation where no one believes what your own father says.

In such a situation, could Pazu have innocently believed his father’s words? Of course, perhaps he did right after his father returned from his journey. However, amidst the cold reactions of those around him and his own mental growth, it would be natural for him to doubt his father’s words.

Considering this, Pazu’s desperate efforts to build the ornithopter night after night, fighting off sleep, were not because he believed his father, but because he wanted to believe his father, I think.

The characters in Miyazaki’s works never show expressions of suffering, not because they aren’t suffering, but because they don’t make their suffering visible to others.

Pazu is a good man. But shouldn’t we try to understand the suffering behind that smile?

The Gospel of Sheeta, and Uncle Pom

For Pazu, who was living such difficult days, how heart-pounding must the fact that “Sheeta fell from the sky” have been? The definitive moment when what he “wanted to believe” was elevated to “might actually be true” must have been that instant he discovered Sheeta.

The reason Pazu tries so hard to protect Sheeta seems to stem from this. If he could unravel the secret of why Sheeta fell “slowly” from the sky, he might be able to restore his father’s honor and reclaim his own life.

This means he tried to protect Sheeta for completely selfish reasons, but I think it’s a more understandable reason than “love at first sight.”

As a result, Pazu learns Sheeta’s secret name, “Lusheeta Toelle Ul Laputa.” How many people had Sheeta revealed this secret name to, a stranger? Well, it might not have been the first time, but it probably wasn’t countless. Pazu, through his obsession with Laputa, managed to get Sheeta to utter the word “Laputa.” After that, Pazu is overjoyed, his face breaking into a wide smile, and he shouts, “Alright, let’s do it!” Naturally. However, even before that scene, Pazu had obtained extremely important testimony. Of course, this is Uncle Pom’s testimony.

Uncle Pom tells him that “the stones are stirring because Laputa is in the sky above.” Here too, we should imagine. How many people around Pazu spoke positively about the existence of “Laputa”? There must have been zero. Some adults might have said nice things to young Pazu to please him, but considering Pazu’s words “treated like a fraud and died,” it’s reasonable to assume there were none. Uncle Pom was probably the first adult to affirm “Laputa.” Pazu’s joy at this time must have been immense.

Thus, with these three elements:

Laputa must have changed for Pazu from “something he wanted to believe” to “something whose existence he could be sure of.”

However, just being sure of its existence isn’t enough; things aren’t that simple.

Pazu’s Unforgettable Words

Thanks to Sheeta’s and Uncle Pom’s testimonies, Pazu was able to truly believe in Laputa (or so it seemed), but there’s a considerable gap between “Laputa existing” and “his father having seen Laputa.”

However, Pazu witnessed a definitive phenomenon. That is, “the wind there is blowing in the wrong direction.” In other words, at that moment,

It’s impossible for us to imagine Pazu’s exhilaration when he saw the “Dragon’s Nest.” His father’s treasure, denied by the world (society), was right before his eyes. And the fact that his father truly saw it is proven by the words his father left him: “The wind there is blowing in the wrong direction.”

Pazu at this moment is invincible. What he had tried to believe in, even amidst harsh labor, turned out to be true.

And Pazu then said,

With these words, he persuaded the crew of the Tiger Moth (of course, he had earned their trust through his labor before that). The Goliath crew foolishly just followed the “light of the Aetherium” and “Muska’s orders,” but Pazu truly believes in “Laputa’s existence” and is confident he can return. Personally, this is a famous scene I can’t watch without tears.

This is why I like the line, “The wind there is blowing in the wrong direction.” You did well, Pazu!

Appendix: The Mystery of Uncle Pom

Kihara, author of “Another ‘Balse'(もう一つのバルス, in Japanese)” introduced at the beginning of this article, mentions that during production, Director Miyazaki asked him, “Kihara-kun, do you understand how important Uncle Pom is?” Kihara-san’s response was exceptionally brilliant:

“Uncle Pom is a descendant of the Laputians… Is that… wrong…?”

[Omitted]

“Sheeta is a descendant of the Laputians, and Muska is also a descendant of royalty. The story has these two in a chase centered around the Aetherium, but I thought there should be one more Laputian from the working class, who used to mine Aetherium, in the story.”

The exchange with Director Miyazaki continues after this, but Kihara managed to answer all of Director Miyazaki’s relentless questions.

Kihara’s explanation is extremely understandable, and yet it’s something I wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t pointed it out. While realizing my own foolishness with a “I see~,” I also feel a futile sense of rivalry towards Kihara, wondering, “Isn’t there more to Uncle Pom’s importance than just that?” I’d like to write a little about that.

As mentioned in the main part of this article, Uncle Pom made an extremely important testimony. However, the person who should have originally made that testimony is someone else. That is, the bearded old man who saw Laputa with Pazu’s father. It’s too strange that this old man doesn’t appear in the work “Castle in the Sky.” That’s not to say that “Uncle Pom is that guy.” His age is too off.

If that old man had appeared in the story, what would he have done? Perhaps his role would have been to tell Pazu, “I really saw Laputa.”

Of course, this is something he should have done as the sole ally when Pazu’s father was doubted by everyone, but realistically, it’s difficult to assert “I really saw it!” in the face of overwhelming doubt. But the “past of not telling the truth” might torment him.

Therefore, he would have appeared as an old man with lingering regrets of “not doing what should have been done when it should have been done,” and this time, he would have told Pazu the truth.

Isn’t this, indirectly, what Uncle Pom did?

This is a bit of a digression, but there are other characters who mysteriously don’t appear in Laputa.

For example, Pazu’s mother, the bearded old man, and Dola’s lover.

Pazu’s mother and Dola’s husband only appear in photographs. As for Dola’s lover, it’s usually impossible to find him, and even if you do, it’s made so you can’t tell who the person in the photo is (the lover’s photo is hidden in a jewelry box under the famous picture or painting of a young Dola).

Dola’s lover aside, it’s still strange that Pazu’s mother and the bearded old man don’t appear.

So why don’t they appear? The reason is, “If they were included, the story would become too messy and wouldn’t fit into a roughly two-hour movie.”

Something important about this is also written in “Another ‘Balse'(もう一つのバルス, in Japanese)”.

In the initial storyboards for the scene where Dola brings Sheeta to her room, there was a photo of a young Dola and a mysterious man sitting in a chair. When Kihara-san asked about that person, he was told settings like that person actually built the Flaptter, or was a priest. And the storyboard even had the description “Dola’s lover.” Then Director Miyazaki said,

“But suddenly introducing this person here, who is he? It won’t work if he doesn’t play an active role. So, we’re cutting this.”

It seems that the work was actually produced while cutting various other things, but Pazu’s mother and the bearded old man “don’t play an active role.”

Returning to Uncle Pom, he may indeed be a “descendant of the working class,” but I think he also carries the role that the bearded old man should have originally played.

In other words, by just having Uncle Pom appear, the inconvenience of adding another character is resolved. I think this is another aspect of Uncle Pom’s importance, and there are probably other “Uncle Pom-like existences” lurking in other scenes, fulfilling similar roles that we haven’t noticed.

The images used in this article are from “Studio Ghibli Works Still Images”.