Kiki’s Delivery Service

Kiki’s Delivery Service is yet another title from the now legendary Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. It is a tale of a young witch named Kiki who has to follow the tradition of leaving home and starting her own life in order to become a fully fledged witch. Kiki and her talking cat Jiji leave home one moonlit night on her flying broom to find a town where Kiki can be the local witch.

The first thing that struck me about this film was (as is always the case when I’m watching a Ghibli film) the animation. Despite being made in 1989, the animation is of such a superior quality that it’s easy to think the film was made very recently.
The rich incredibly detailed world is wonderful to behold, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the scenes where Kiki flies on her broomstick with the world below her.
It’s truly breathtaking at times, and as you get to see this right from the beginning of the film, you are easily sucked into this story and its world from the start.

Kiki’s Delivery Service (in a similar vane to Studio Ghibli’s ‘My Neighbour Totoro’) is an exceedingly upbeat and magical tale. The plot is very much a ‘coming of age’ story focusing on Kiki’s life in her new home and the struggles she faces living independently.
She has soon set up her own flying broomstick delivery service, working out of a bakery where she is given a place to stay by the kind owner. It is wonderful to see her overcome each of the problems she faces in her new life, making new friends in the town and seeing her adventures.

Kiki herself is a very endearing character, proving very capable of progressing through life by herself despite numerous events that occur during her deliveries. She is very determined and enterprising for her age.
Jiji, her talking cat, provides a rather comic spin on things and his presence certainly adds to the more humorous moments of the film. There were moments in a certain incident where a delivery goes somewhat incorrectly, that Jiji’s expressions had me laughing a great deal. The rest of the cast all have a part to play in the film, and the happiness it’s clear Kiki feels when she makes new friends is wonderfully evident. You feel very happy for her especially when she comes to the town with just Jiji as a friend.

One thing of note is that although I haven’t witnessed them myself (owning the Region 1 version of Kiki’s), the UK (region 2) version of the film does not have proper subtitles, only English for the hard of hearing.

In Summary

It’s very hard for me to find anything to fault in Kiki’s Delivery Service.
The whole film has a wonderfully magical air to it as Kiki uses her fledgling witchery to progress in life. It’s also a film that shows as long as you put plenty of effort into things, you will eventually reap the rewards. This is something for every one of all ages to enjoy, and a film I feel will make all who watch it smile at least once.