The Wind Rises, Kiki's Delivery Service and Princess Mononoke Blu-Ray Now Available in North America

It's a great day for Studio Ghibli fans in the US and Canada, as Tuesday 18th of November sees the debut home release of Hayao Miyazaki's feature swansong The Wind Rises. Not only that, but Princess Mononoke, his 1997 classic is also re-released, making its first appearance in High-Definition in DVD and Blu-Ray combo-pack. Interesting observation: Princess Mononoke was originally released under Disney's Miramax banner (due to it's darker content) but it's 2014 release is under plain-old Disney. Since then, much darker films such as the Pirates Of The Caribbean series have been released under the Disney name, so Miyazaki's opus no longer seems so out of place. On the other hand, the more 'mature' The Wind Rises is under their Touchstone banner. Last, but by no means least, Kiki's Delivery Service, perhaps one of Miyazaki's most unsung films also makes it's bow on Blu, making it a triple-bill to be reckoned with.

We've reviewed the first two of these (as they were released in the UK before their American release) and think they're thoroughly worth picking up. The Blu-ray transfers are beautiful too, so even if you've already got the DVDs the upgrade is worth your while.

Studio Ghibli has been receiving a lot of coverage following Hayao Miyazaki's honorary Oscar award last week.  Following the award, he confirmed that he would continue to work on shorter animations, and was quoted on saying he planned to work "Until I die".  This isn't really news to us, as it was always specified he was retiring from features but this subtle distinction was missed by much of the mainstream coverage at the time. Still, it's nice to hear it confirmed. He also confirmed that no film was currently in development at Ghibli. Again, this shouldn't really be taken to mean the studio has closed it's doors for good, as we reported months ago they were planning on taking a "brief pause". Check out our Wind Rises review here and Princess Mononoke here, and you can check out all our Ghibli coverage right here.