It is filled with aircraft from the 1920s (heavily modified by Miyazaki) and their technical details, as well as with the men (good-hearted and silly) who love them.

It has about sixty pages and includes the manga, several airplane vignettes, resin-kit models of aircraft, photos of some real counterparts of the floatplanes which appeared in the film, and some interviews with Miyazaki regarding airplane model kits.

Other than being a "retired Italian Air Force pilot", Porco's past is not discussed, although the rise of fascism and the sentiment against it are mentioned.

Mamma Aiuto, who Porco saves in Part One, is also the name of a seaplane pirate gang in the movie.

Air pirates with their seaplanes plague the sea, attacking ships, robbing money, and kidnapping women.

Porco Rosso saves a girl from the air pirates, the Mamma Aiuto gang.