Kiki’s Delivery Service
Jumping headfirst into another classic Studio Ghibli film, “Kiki’s Delivery Service". We’re transported to a less fantastical world where the existence of magic resides solely in witches and to an inferior extent, the world around them. Using common elements fixated in the real world, Miyazaki captures the realism of big city vs rural life and the uncomfortable disconnect between the societal patterns of both. Never failing to capture the parallels in human behavior as humankind has a tendency to lie on polar rationalities. Being that some are more accepting of the differences one may hold and welcome the change of pace to their daily lives and vice versa. Throughout “Kiki’s Delivery Service” we as the audience witness the growth of character both literal and metaphorical as our titular young Witch comes into her own.
My favorite aspect of this movie is its ability to immerse a nonfiction and fictional reality into one functional existence. Architectural structures from clock towers in bustling cities to simplistic country residences found in more rural communities. Technological innovation such as planes, trains, and automobiles subsist and take on a veritable form, unburdened by magical influence. The sole state-of-being for witches within the story is to live for themselves. Unattached from the inner mechanics of the world but rather taking on a lesser intrusive role as public servants. Be that a fortune teller, potion crafter, or delivery woman, we see a few instances of the functions a witch plays within the community they choose to occupy.
A plot detail that struck me within the first quarter of the movie was this “Leaving the nest” mentality. We frame Kiki’s departure from home as a short spat wherein she’ll be away for a singular year to master her craft. However, prior to her less than stellar ascendance into the clear night sky, a small and forgettable conversation transpires. The gist of which leads us to presume the mother settled down in the town she’d descended to for training long ago, after meeting her husband. In essence meaning she either never returned home for further training or did so and returned to the place she’d grounded her roots in.
I don’t believe it’s too beyond the realm of reality to say Kiki and Tombo are boyfriend and girlfriend by the end of our film. If not very very good friends I’m not shipping them. Diving back into the topic of concern, it’s all but too coincidental that both her and Jiji find romance and will debatably follow a similar path as the mother once had.
Kiki foreshadows this point when she and Jiji discuss postponing training for another month. The argument being that Kiki might find a boyfriend during that allotted time and be further withheld from her journey. This is especially prevalent as her main issue up until the latter half is believing that “Being a witch is all she has”, honing in on one identifying trait, ultimately damaging her psyche.
Throughout the straight-laced narrative “Kiki’s Delivery Service” follows, we grow with our ever inquisitive lead as she plays femme fatale with her own emotions. Whether conscious of these lingering doubts and subconscious thoughts, we all undertake a series of trials and tribulations to grow into the mold we find ourselves in. Kiki is no different as she struggles with the highest highs and the lowest lows of the inner self. Feeling overwhelming confidence and passion in her staple stamp as an up-in-coming witch, garnering and mustering the courage to venture into the world beyond what she’s known/ the training she’s received thus far. Oftentimes the crippling absoluteness of desire and the distance needing traveled to our dreams becomes a roadblock in itself. Finding herself in an unfamiliar place, allured by an accidental set of misfortunate circumstances. These factors present a grim shadow of ambiguity / apprehension and sow the seed of reluctance, taking place where trust, conviction, and the novelty of new tidings should be.
By way of hiccups and road bumps, these unwelcomed realizations form an ostensible notion of failure when in all actually it is the conception of personal improvement on oneself. Let bygones be bygones and learn from the moments of disastrous maturation for there is a collateral beauty in the pain of finding your own truth. On this winding road of turbulent emotions Kiki loses herself, a self held within the fragile glass canon of idealism. This false ideal being that all she had was her heritage and abilities as a witch, nothing more, nothing less.
So consumed by this plaguing thought, masquerading as one of her truths, fueling an internal monologue of falsities, she loses her ability to fly. Mentally stalling herself via her damaged psyche Kiki must remember what it means to be more than a cookie cutter, run of the mill, fit into a box type of character. She has living, breathing emotions with aspirations to become something more, something more than a witch, someone comfortable in their own skin.
Decompressing and stepping away from her daily life, Kiki eventually comes to terms with the self she longs to be. Leading to our gradual moment of truth when she takes flight not on her mothers broom, not on her own broom, but an old wooden sweeper. Proving that she doesn’t need the predominant semblances of witchhood, she can do anything and more by setting her sights on what she wants.
After ruminating on my feelings regarding “Kiki’s Delivery Service'', I’ve come to realize this movie isn’t meant to be ostensively deep. Ghibli prides itself on the wonder and imagination it imbues into it’s animations. The movie is a very straight arrow in terms of dialogue, meaning, and general archetypal structure. A simple “coming of age” story wrapped up nicely in a bow about a young girl and her journey of self doubt and the metamorphosis of adolescent adulthood. All in all it’s impossible not to watch “Kiki’s Delivery Service'' without a smile shining on your face, so I urge anyone yet to experience this Studio Ghibli film to make the time and get ready for a wonderfall of joy.