YMMV / Porco Rosso

• Adaptation Displacement: Not many know that the film was based off of a manga Miyazaki made called Hikōtei Jidai.
• Awesome Music: Courtesy Joe Hisaishi as usual, most notable in the scene where Porco does aerobatics for Gina and Gina's resulting flashback.
• Cult Classic: It is far from Hayao Miyazaki's most popular film and outside of Japan, where it did very well at the box office, it flew under the radar for many people. Over the years, however, it has obtained a dedicated cult following who consider it to be one of Miyazaki's best movies due to its more mature and grounded tone, making it stand out compared to the bulk of his work.
• Fridge Brilliance:
  • The scene in the movie theater where Porco watches the cartoon that depicts an evil, overweight pig (meant to evoke Bluto from the Popeye cartoons) kidnapping a Betty Boop lookalike and then the evil pig is beaten down and then knocked into the sky by a heroic Mickey Mouse lookalike becomes an incredibly painful Tear Jerker when you realize that the cartoon is a symbolic reflection of how Porco sees himself - as a vile, despicable fiend who doesn't deserve any happiness. Porco's self-image is further implied when he punches Curtis in the face for saying that Gina loves him.
    • Also, considering that Porco is a wanted fugitive in Italy, the cartoon can also be interpreted as propaganda by the fascist government to demonize Porco.
  • Le Temps des Cerises is not only a nostalgic song about love and the pains it can inflict, but also a classic among left-wing and antifascist groups that hails as far back as the Paris Commune. While Porco and Gina's exact political affiliations are unclear (or non-existent), Porco's anitfascism is explicit and it makes sense that Gina share it since they have been such close friends for such a long time.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Gina laughing at the prospects of a "President Donald".
  • Tom Kenny voicing Ferrarin, Porco's ally that would help him escape from Fascists could be this when Kenny ended up voicing Benito Mussolini in Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • "You're stupid. I like that in a man".
  • "Better a pig than a fascist!"
• Signature Scene: Porco in the theater, telling his friend who's still in the military that he'd "rather be a pig than a fascist".
• Tear Jerker: Porco telling Fio about his time in the war, when his entire squadron was shot down. Afterwards, he experienced a heavenly vision of his friends flying towards heaven, while leaving him behind. He even begs one of his friends to stay for his wife (Gina), asking to go in his stead.

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