Anime: Majo no Takkyuubin

Kiki’s Delivery Service is another one of the lovable Ghibli classics and, if anything, it is a simple story done nicely. Although nothing important happens in this film, it is presented in a dynamic and cute way, so it can work just fine for the kid audience. It is quite unimpressive compared to earlier Ghibli works, such as Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and Laputa – Castle in the Sky but at least it is not just a walk in the park, like My Neighbour Totoro. Hayao Miyazaki beefed up a bit the excitement and now there is some actual danger and suspense in the story. It has witches, and flying, and the fear of failing, the willpower to succeed, the chance to mature and set out into the world as you grow up. Everything is presented lightly but the context is there.

The basic story is about a little witch sent to live amongst normal people for a period of time, as part of her passage into witchhood. It is meant to be part of a challenge where she must prove she can live on her own and not being depended on her mother anymore. In order to do that, she of course needs to socialize with the residents and make friends to help her in the challenge. An interesting point is that this is a setting where people are living peacefully with witches and they don’t hunt them with torches and pikes as we usually expect them to do. She doesn’t have to hide her powers, which are still far from properly manifested. So the whole setting is a simple coming-of-age tale and 100% character-centered where the heroine needs to learn how to be independent, find the courage and power to tap to the magic hiding inside her. It is flavoured nicely with flying scenes, a funny talking cat, and hints of magic spells, so it will not feel dull for the average viewer. It will still feel boring if you expect action and explosions though.

The directing is fine (as in all Hayao’s earlier works) and the production values are great (as in all Ghibli works) but the pacing may feel rushed at parts, especially during the resolution to Kiki’s ineffective magic. It didn’t last long enough for a proper build up and it lacked any complexity in-between to really feel like a problem. They could have done a thousand different things to flesh out the setting instead of leaving it as a fancy backdrop for a simple coming-of-age story. It could definitely need another half hour of moodiness before she finds her way. Other than that, the themes of the film are presented nicely and there are no plot holes or inconsistencies to make it feel stupid. Kiki’s fleshing-out and development, although rushed, is still very strong and memorable; plus her funny talking cat is becoming likable in a few seconds.

In all, it is a fine family movie if you want to have a nice quiet evening with the kids. It never becomes exciting or unpredictable but the visuals are great, the characters are likable, and the pints of magic help to keep your interest in watching further.

And now for some excused scorings.

Kiki's Delivery Service is one of the most wholesome pieces of entertainment for children ever created. Provided the easy going charm is enough to keep them interested, Kiki's coming of age is an inspirational story of her triumphs over some universal problems that people, especially adolescents face.

Kiki's Delivery Service is introspective, and because of the plot's general uneventfulness outside of Kiki's internal ups and downs, this movie may be a little boring for some. Kiki's personal development, her slumps and her triumphs take center stage, and fill the story in a straightforward, and cohesive manner. As far as actual happenings go in the plot, there are only a couple of significant events. As a character development centered story though, it flows well.

Kiki is arguably the best child oriented character in any animated feature including western films. We see her abundance of personality in her bright and cheeky demeanor early on, but the emotional roller coaster she goes through in this movie allow her nuances to show through; from having trouble fitting in with city kids as a country girl, to accepting the warmth of others, to dealing with a personal slump. The tremendous breadth of her character is expressed as the many different elements of her personality are brought out through the tribulations and epiphanies she goes through in the film. The universality of her personal problems, namely, difficulty fitting in and a frustrating slump, help her cause for empathy. Who hasn't had writers block as a writer, a lack of inspiration as an artist, or a poor performance stretch as an athlete? In the end though, it is how genuine, how realistic her reactions to her setbacks are that make her at once endearing and inspiring.

The supporting cast does little other than support/facilitate Kiki's character development, almost like objects she interacts with. Their perspectives don't seem to be of great importance, and perhaps that's as it should be, since the roles they play are rather minor. None the less, the cast around this Kiki centered story is charming, warm and fun. To draw a parallel, the supporting cast is a lot like that of The Little Mermaid or Mulan.

Kiki is solid in both the visual and audio departments. The soundtrack has its share of full orchestra pieces, but it mostly consists of old European town-ish accordion music. It's pleasant, and fits with the setting, but never elevates the drama in any of the scenes. The animation, relative to Ghibli's most famous stuff state side, lacks textural and background details, but has the same attention to detail in the way the characters are animated. Small things, like misstepping on stairs when in a hurry, slipping on leaves on the street, tensing up when nervous; the little stumbles here and there give the characters another dimension of life. We take this for granted with Ghibli, and also most western animation pieces, but in the context of anime, it deserves mentioning.

The dubs that come with Ghibli movies are usually of such high quality that I prefer them over the original. Even if you "understand" the jokes or references that require some cultural context, unless it is your native culture, it'll never really have the same impact. A good dub is a much more comprehensive translation, not only translating the script, but also the slight differences in intonation and the essence of some jokes in a way that the true meaning is conveyed through a different cultural context. Plus, Chihiro's voice in Spirited Away is too mature in Japanese. Kiki's Delivery Service has way too many liberties taken with the English track. There's plenty of useless banter that Kiki's cat, jiji, who would be the equivalent of the hermit crab in Little Mermaid or Mushu in Mulan, engages in that is completely tacked on. There are also some very plain sounding pieces of music that are placed in to fill the silence. It's as if Disney was desperately trying to fill every moment of silence in fear that those very few moments would bore us enough to stop watching. While Jiji was always designed as a comic relief character, the dub turned him into the overly talkative smart mouth side kick that's found in every other Disney movie. In the original, the humor came from his disagreeable immaturity. They also futz with the ending regarding an important development of Jiji's that I can't spoil, but it takes away a bit of complexity in the resolution. The dub version looks and feels like a Miyazaki film, but sounds like a cookie cutter Disney movie. Changing the opening and ending songs from the doo-wop originals to something slightly country is fine, but changing the feel of the movie, albeit in subtle ways, is not ok.

Kiki's Delivery Service is not for everyone. The story is a far cry from the epic plots of Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle. It opts for something much more easy going and light hearted. The central character though, bears many similarities to her more recent counter parts. If the nuanced and adorable female protagonist's personal development sounds like a good enough skeleton for a plot, and it's perfectly fine with me, you may find that Kiki's Delivery Service is up there as one of Ghibli's better films.

Majo no Takkyuubin is a modern fairy tale from Studio Ghibli.
Like Studio Ghibli does in other movies (Mimi wo Sumaseba), he follows a protagonist in his daily live.

This is the right movie to warm your heart for you and all your family members ...

I review this anime, because it is a perfect 10 for me (I've seen so far 400+ Animes,about 1TB, and this anime is my favorite).

Animation:
If you know Miyazaki, you know his character design from most of his movies.
I really like this character design, because it is ageless and familiar.
In my youth I've seen it in the 80's with “Heidi” and again i see it in his newest movie (Howl's).
An if you look closely you see very detailed (and animated) background work also.
No still caps and no tricks to get around of hard anime work.

Sound:
The seiyuu does their job very well.
Kiki's voice actor Takayama Minami takes two roles in this movie (Ursula as well) and you even don't realize it at first sign. That is voice acting I've never seen (erm ... heard ;) so far in Europe or USA.
Jiji's voice actor is Sakuma Rei. ... and it fits! I've you ever want a voice for a sarcastic cat, this is it.
All other voice actors fits very well in their role ... especially Osonos husband (the baker) ^_^.

The ending song of Majo no Takkyuubin is very nice and continues the mood of the film very well.

Story:
The young witch Kiki has to leave their home at an age of 13 to become independent, to settle in an town for one year to find her way of magic. Only accompanied by her talking cat Jiji (I love this cat, where can i get it? ;) she encounters some 'adventures' and makes friends in this new town.
Like in Mimi wo Sumaseba nothing really big happens, but the flow oft the story is nice and heartwarming.

Characters:
The character i liked the most in this movie is Jiji, the talking, sarcastic cat of Kiki. If the movie becomes slow, Jiji takes part and lightens the mood.
The character development is smooth ans takes only part in Kiki and a tiny bit in Jiji (from a sarcastic cat to a family cat father is quite a development ;).
Other characters taking part, but the focus is on Kiki and how she builds up confidence in herself in a new town with her own way of magic.

Value and Enjoyment:
Hmmm, what can i say after watching the movie for the 50th time ^_^.
It's an 'all star' classic (aired 1989) and you can watch it in every age, regardless of gender ... a masterpiece.

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thanks to dict.LEO.org for translation :)

thx tezuka for his correction (but untrustworthy how i am, i keep the rating).

A delightful anime from the master Miyazaki. Very light in its approach and probably aimed more for the children and young at heart.

The story is not very deep but the characters are very compelling. The focus is definitely more and exploration and wonder than real character development, though watching Kiki deal with her new life is fun enough.

As always the animation is excellent and the music accents the mood. It is more of a little anime and story than his other works, but cute and nice in its own right.

A definite must-see if you have children or still feel young. Not as excellent as My Neighbor Totoro but close.