Director Hayao Miyazaki is set to retire from making feature films after his latest project The Wind Rises which was released in Japan on July 20th 2013. The announcement was delivered by the President of Miyazaki’s production company (Studio Ghibli), Koju Hoshino, at a news conference at this year’s Venice Film Festival (2013).

Watch The Wind Rises trailer:

The news of the academy award winning animator retiring leaves a huge and saddened gap in the animation community. Miyazaki started to establish himself in the animation world in the 1970s in anime for TV, according to the Los Angeles Times. Miyazaki eventually went on to make several feature films, winning an Oscar for his film Spirited Away in 2003 as well as the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival in 2005.

Hayao Miyazaki had not attended his international premiere for ‘The Wind Rises’ according to the BBC but how did his last ever film fare at the festival? Since the film’s premiere it has received mixed reviews.

Xan Brooks of The Guardian commends the precision in the visual animation, writing “naturally the animation is a joy to behold. The film's crisp colours and commanding lines summon up a ravishing portrait of pre-war Japan” but issues arise internally as “the film itself is genteel to a fault. It's too polite, it needs more bite. It lets enigmatic Horikoshi off the hook, bobbing out to the clouds, forever out of reach”.

However, Robbie Collins of The Telegraph admires the work of Studio Ghibli, as he thought Miyazaki achieved a depth to the characters, “the real love story here is between a creator and his creations, which Ghibli’s team of animators render in head-spinning detail.”

Hayao Miyazaki may finish his career on a film blended with positive and negative responses but the legacy he leaves behind is one of success and acclaim.