eda62 - 2017-07-12 07:44:25

The original slice of life movie that started it all.

kaylee72 - 2017-02-19 15:34:18

Kiki’s Delivery Service is what I like to refer to as Totoro 2.0. They are both imaginative coming of age stories and lack straightforward plot lines, but Kiki’s connects better and pans out with stronger purpose. Why does it connect better than Totoro? The characters, primarily the protagonist and her internal conflict, and the mirror of reality, especially the cynical, anti-child town and the difficult realizations you make as you grow up.

Kiki is an amazing protagonist. She’s a young teenage girl just coming to be woman, making life on her own through a rite of passage as a witch. What’s more, she chooses a cynical, modernized town that has all but forgotten witches, and has to make a name for herself with next to nothing. The kind-hearted Osono takes her in and offers her free room, board, and a telephone. Kiki’s initial kindness she discovers is over-shadowed by Tombo’s aggressive attempts at friendship, being written up by a cop, a rude girl at a dance, and a chance rainstorm. With these realizations, she becomes disillusioned to the city life and her place as a witch, which ultimately leads to an internal conflict. Kiki discovers her own meaning in what Miyazaki loves to evoke in his works: imagination and wonder in the world. Instead of focusing on the negative and how out of place she feels, Kiki finds a place in her new town, friends, and a purpose. Watching her go through all of that is done masterfully because we follow her the whole story and never lose that focus. She is the focal point of this story, and that point doesn’t fail because the attention to her actions, emotions, and dialogue encompasses her character beautifully.

The themes here, as I’ve already mentioned, relate to growing up, specifically coping with the harsh realities of the world and becoming an independent adult, and rediscovering your motivation, which applies to any human of any age. No duh. Obviously both of these themes are extremely relevant to anybody ever. Addressing them in this movie is part of what makes this film – like many by Ghibli - so impactful. Then, there’s the fact that the movie actually focuses on them without changing direction or moving on to a myriad of other possible themes. They keep it simple, like Totoro, but more relevant. Kiki’s excitement, which quickly turns to struggle and hardship as she enters the new city, is so relatable. Who hasn’t been in a similar situation with a new job, a new town, or a new anything? It’s awkward and you feel like a green thumb. Then, to see her frustration followed by her discovery that there’s still beauty in the world, now that’s a great story.

I’m sorry, I don’t make a habit of this, but I’m probably raving at this point and sound like a soppy fan girl. I would criticize this movie, although that would first require me to find something wrong with it, which is rather difficult. My biggest complaint, the first time I saw Kiki’s, was when I didn’t know what to expect or what the story was about. Nausicaa is clearly about saving a small town, Castle in the Sky has to do with a giant floating castle (in the sky), and Princess Mononoke is about crazy spirit animals versus humans. Even Only Yesterday and Ocean Waves are undoubtedly romances. Then, you have Kiki’s and Totoro which are harder to classify and predict because they don’t fit a genre or have an explicitly stated purpose. They are both slice of life with the former more grounded and themed, and they came out consecutively, which is why I call Kiki’s “Totoro 2.0.” if you are like me, you will probably be in for a re-watch if you want to get the most out of it because the first viewing will form your expectations. Back to what it does so well.

The characters are interesting, with snarky Jiji (well, snarky in the dub, whereas more pragmatic and empathetical in the sub), energetic Tombo, free-reigning painter Ursula, and one of my favorite’s, the quiet Fukuo. Miyazaki has a gift in this department, making quirky characters that are so varied, dynamic, and alive that they each kindle a spark in the raging infernos that his works become. And, with attention to the very minor characters, well, they are recurring and just as unique, if lacking the attention to highlight their personalities.

The score in Kiki’s is flat out awesome. The pouncing strings and sonorous melodies exude a sense of Europe, which the setting mimics, and enhance the emotional moments. Of course, Miyazaki does a great job with using silence at times, not always using sound effects and music to keep the audience entertained.

The background art is absolutely incredible, too. Each scene feels like it’s the cover of a puzzle box by the likes of Kincaid. The detail is crazy and they have a sketchy, painted feel that gives a warmth to the scenes, and more impressive, they keep this up for the entire movie, minus a few scenes. Okay, first criticism, one of these scenes is when Kiki is on the train approaching her future city and the movement of the train is captured in a pan with trees and landscape that look childish compared to the rest of the movie. That part is bad, not going to lie, though it’s forgivable, considering how top-notch the remaining animation is.

So, when you put all of these together: a story driven by it’s simple themes and familiar lead and a stunning musical score, animation, and set of characters to breathe life into the world, well, it’s difficult to ask for anything more. Kiki’s Delivery Service is a beautiful creation in the animated movie medium, and probably one of the best.

fromaguera - 2015-01-27 16:54:08

One of my first childhood movies, Kiki's Delivery Service was/is an AMAZING movie and i Highly recommend people to watch it! The story is completely amazing. Maybe its my childhood talking, but this is one of the best movies i've ever seen in my entire life.

ullrich.blair - 2014-12-13 03:45:03

Once this movie many times when I was younger, even before I knew what anime was, let alone Studio Ghibli.

karen.hayes - 2014-12-12 06:54:42

Holy fucking shit this movie is boring. If I wanted to watch 2 hours of a prepubescent girl be disappointed by the people around her and continually fail in all attempts for attention, I would just go to Younow.

But seriously, it's a fine kids movie, but entirely too slow for me, mostly because I hate Slice of Life.

I mean at least that balloon climax is kind of exciting even if that catch should have fucking Gwen Stacy'd Tombo.

cale.raynor - 2014-08-05 03:59:20

Kiki's Deliery Service has an inspiring story that might resonate most with preteens, despite it's story which may seem intended for a younger audience.

parisian.santino - 2013-10-30 22:25:51

"We each need to find our own inspiration, Kiki. Sometimes it's not easy," Ursula easily sums up the main theme of Kiki's Delivery Service in one sentence.

The story of this wonderful work is quite simple - the titular witch has to leave home at the tender age of 13 and find her own purpose in the world. The story is rather slow (but not dragging) to pick up and suddenly speeds up in the other half which lowers the perfect score. Animation though was flawless (as expected of Ghibli) with detailed backgrounds, characters and even background characters. A special mention goes to the songs - they had a nice, pleasant tune, fitting with the overall mood. I watched it English dubbed and it was good, although the laughter felt forced (but boy oh boy Japanese voice actors are not exempt from this too). The only real let down (let down is a bit too strong for this) are the characters and Kiki's love interest deserves a special mention as being one hell of an annoying nerd. All the other characters were archetypes (not stereotypes) however the lack of real stand-out characters (except for Kiki) actually drags down the score.

However at the end of the day all that counts is how much you enjoyed the anime, and here I can full-heartedly give the highest score. You know the enjoyment runs high if you don't even want to over-analyze the plot and characters. This truly is a beautiful piece that has a lot of heart.

If you're looking for something similar in concept, I might recommend Little Witch Academia, although it suffers from severe pacing problems. If you're looking for something similar in feeling, then just search up other Ghibli work.

williamson.urban - 2013-05-18 10:39:36

"Kiki's Delivery Service" is a typically fun to watch family anime from Studio Ghibli. Though it's instilled with imagination like their other productions, it isn't nearly as outlandishness as the likes of "Spirited Away" and "Princess Mononoke". This is probably due to the unusual lack of whacky character designs like Totoro and 90% of the characters in "Spirited Away", however it doesn't prevent the characters that are in "Kiki's Delivery Service" from having that "Ghibli charm". It's just as well, as "Kiki's Delivery Service" more about the characters than some complicated plot. The idea itself is simple enough - a young witch named Kiki has reached the age where she must venture out into the big wide world to fend for herself - but it's the execution that makes it count, and "Kiki's Delivery Service" certainly succeeds in being heart-warming and delightfully charming. The artwork in "Kiki's Delivery Service" looks dated but is still of passable quality that's easy on the eye. The real strength on the technical side though, comes from the fantastic music found in the movie. The director Miyazaki has a tendency to pick great music to go with his movies, and musically this has got to be one of his finest, kicking off with a bouncy and infectiously catchy theme that caught my attention right away and put me in a great mood to watch the anime in. There's not much to complain about. One thing the comes to mind is that "Kiki's Delivery Service" ends rather abruptly, though the epilogue after the ending credits does repair this to some extent.As with most of Miyazaki's films, "Kiki's Delivery Service" is not really my type of thing, but I did enjoy it nevertheless. It has to be said though, that this isn't one of his more memorable movies, as I saw this years ago and can't really remember much about it at all. It's missing that spark provided by, say, the adorable cuteness of "My Neighbour Totoro" or the emotional poignancy of "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Winds".