INTRO
I’ve watched a few Ghibli films and more specifically Hayao Miyazaki films such as Mononoke and while I must say that on a technical and story level I truly appreciate the craft and detail that goes into each and every film seriously everything from the color palette choices and the beautiful backgrounds so I'm not gonna obsess over the technical minutia like the detail of every background despite it being seconds of it being shown.
To tell you the truth this felt like my first real Ghibli experience the one countless people grew up with as children hell when I was in middle school I worked in the office as an attendant and one of the office staff there was a huge Totoro fan her office was lined with every conceivable merch of Totoro
she has ended up lending me her DVD of Totoro and I honestly didn't know to watch it not that I thought it was boring but just because the style had never appealed to me at the time
needless to say, I regret it immensely till the day I die that I did not dive into Ghibli's world sooner
STORY
Kiki is about a young witch named Kiki at the age of 13 per a witch’s tradition she travels on a pilgrimage to another city and sets up a sort of residence there in order to train her magic independently she ends up moving to an island city similar to San Francisco (with its port island appearance and even the cable cars) and decides to set up a delivery service since flying is her one talent as a witch
One thing to always note about any Ghibli film is the animations but specifically its in the ways they use it to give Kiki a sort of staggering shifting movement whenever she’s riding on a broom
which really helps sell her inexperience as a witch and it makes her flight seem authentic as she can get swayed by breaths of wind or downtrodden by rain and the way her clothes ripple with the gusts all of it makes the whole flight feel wondrous and alive
If there’s something I incredibly love about this film is the way it brings every character to life and not just from movement but personality the husband baker who is silent but expressive and even shows off his pan spinning skills to impress Jiji the cat and clearly shows concern for Kiki whenever she's late as he's looking out the window
Even the inhuman animal characters have degree's of personality from the old, weary, yet kind family dog to the roost of birds that lives with the artist
The Clocktower caretaker who greets Kiki when she first arrives or the policeman who can be taciturn but grateful each character pops back in and this works to help bring the town and the world alive
Similar to how in Durarara the giant cast brings life and personality to the urban streets of Ikebukuro district as the people are what make these communities feel alive.
the same is being done here and the reason it works so well is that its a city and you don’t have to force encounters so characters can naturally reappear in the story and like I said it makes the city feel alive like a community and cast of characters personifying the heart of the town.
the nature of the film is one of getting caught up in the work and wear without the passion or direction of where to go and often when you force one end without the other it can lead to unsatisfactory results which leave you with less and less confidence over time which starts spiral into a mess of depression.
The point of where I am right now is a depressing slump my confidence is sunken beyond levels you can’t imagine I have schizophrenic moments holed up in my room and every time I hear a noise I freak out and I can barely approach people.
What caused this was a constant push from myself to advance my future forcefully pushing relentlessly without stopping even though I had no motivation it was forced misery to live up to a standard that was set by my expectations of what I perceived people wanted me to do and most importantly because I just did it without thinking why I did it as well.