Kiki's Delivery Service (A Puffin Book)

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I confess to not having read the original English translation (by Lynne E. Riggs) nor to having seen the film in around five or six years, but I’m glad for that. Kiki’s Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono is a novel that originally became popular in Japan but then became popular in North America through a TV show. This novel is about a young witch who goes off on her own for the first time with only her cat Jiji as a companion. Together they explore a new city and Kiki learns what is it like to be on her own for the first time.

Book Review: “Kiki’s Delivery Service” by Eiko Kadono Book Review: “Kiki’s Delivery Service” by Eiko Kadono

The titular Kiki, daughter of a witch and a folklorist (a man fascinated with witch history), is a wide-eyed girl with her head in the clouds and her feet on the ground. This is what sets her apart from a lot of children protagonists: she’s very all-encompassing.For young readers, Kiki’s Delivery Servicedelivers (sorry) a character who serves as a perfect role model. She is not perfect; Kiki’s flaws are her curiosity and her eagerness to bite off more than she can chew. But she learns and grows in a very human and not entirely smooth way. But in the context of exploring loneliness, Jiji represents more than just Kiki’s childish side. He represents her childhood, the bonds she had with her family in her youth, a comfort she can always return to when things get particularly difficult. Time and time again through the movie, she turns to Jiji when she’s otherwise alone. But when that bond is severed — when she’s thrust out of the comforts she once knew — she faces a loneliness she’s never experienced before. It’s part of growing up, but it’s still painful and scary. In one chapter, for example, she must deliver a poem and a pen as birthday presents from a secret admirer. Her curiosity about the poem leads to it being lost, and so Kiki — with the help of her talking cat familiar Jiji — must find a solution to the problem she created.

Review: Kiki’s Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono | Books and Bao Review: Kiki’s Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono | Books and Bao

Loneliness is threaded through many Ghibli films, many of which feature protagonists who set off on a journey not because they particularly want to, but because they’re forced to. Kiki leaves home because of witch tradition, but unlike other Ghibli heroes, she jumps at the idea — even skipping a planned camping trip with her father because she’s so excited. But in Spirited Away, Chihiro is forcibly separated from her parents, and winds up in a strange spirit world. In Howl’s Moving Castle, Sophie is cursed by a witch and leaves her hat shop to trek to the Wastes. In Princess Mononoke, Ashitaka ventures out from his village to seek a solution for the terrible curse consuming him. And on a less fantastical note, in Whisper of the Heart, Shizuku navigates the doldrums of adolescence. Kiki comes from a very typical family. There is nothing extraordinary about her. She never faced crazy adversity or has any special powers other than being a witch. Being a witch is even pretty normalized within her family, friends, and community. This is something a little different than a lot of novels in the United States. Many main characters are either extraordinary or have faced some source of adversity. Kiki overall lives a very typical life and comes from a loving and supportive family. Studio Ghibli’s fourth feature-length film follows a young witch named Kiki who, per witch tradition, leaves home at age 13 to complete her training. Armed with her mother’s broom and her familiar, Jiji, Kiki lands in a new city full of new people and establishes herself as the resident witch.

She doesn’t come from loneliness — she comes from a place of love and connection. She’s excited for the journey ahead, for a chance to grow up. It’s a classic coming-of-age fantasy setup. And unlike the above films, where a journey starts with loss, Kiki’s Delivery Service starts while Kiki still has something left to lose. While each chapter in Kiki’s Delivery Service is relatively self-contained, there is a continuity that unfolds, and a delightful world that is built. Kiki’s journey passes through all four seasons, and she learns more about her new home’s history, geography, and residents as she goes. By the end, both she and the reader truly feel at home in Koriko. That big pond is a town called Koriko, where, when she first arrives, Kiki is made to feel unwelcome and looked on with suspicion. She has a year here before she can return home to her parents and tell them what she has achieved. This difference is really only a matter of perspective, but it is important to be read that way. And Balistrieri’s translation makes that very clear by not vilifying the locals too much and, instead, endearing us to them as much as to Kiki.

The profound loneliness of Kiki’s Delivery Service - Polygon The profound loneliness of Kiki’s Delivery Service - Polygon

By thirteen, Kiki has at last decided to head out on her own to find a town. Not every town has a witch, but no town has more than one; and so, Kiki must find her own town. Her mother, after all, is the local witch in her town so now Kiki must become a small fish in a big pond.It’s doubly important to get this theme across given that this is a children’s story, where clarity of themes is vital. Another thing that’s vital is the tone and language of the book. Kiki’s sadness affects her magic so she can no longer fly, but the separation with Jiji comes from something else entirely. Kiki is eventually able to regain her magical powers, after taking a break from work, hanging out with Ursula, and swooping in to save Tombo at the movie’s end. But she never repairs the bond she once had with Jiji. While the 1997 English dub has a throwaway line at the end implying that they’re able to talk again (Jiji jumping on her shoulder and asking, “Kiki, can you hear me?”), the original Japanese script does not. Miyazaki himself has said in the art book for the film that Jiji represents an immature side of Kiki, and by the end of the film, she no longer needs him. When Kiki arrives in her new city, the citizens don’t take too kindly to her — a hint that this journey won’t be as smooth and victorious as she might have thought. She’s a stranger in the large crowds, unaccustomed to bustling traffic and staring people. Jiji voices his concern: maybe they should find another town that’s friendlier? But Kiki is determined to make this work.

Book Review: Kiki’s Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono - U.OSU Book Review: Kiki’s Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono - U.OSU

Growing up is not easy for a lot of people and being a teenager can be difficult. It is a time when children gain more responsibility and request more independence from their parents. This book perfectly captures this transitional time. It is hard for Kiki’s mother to send her off on her own to find her way as a witch even though she knows deep down its best for her daughter. Kiki is so excited to leave without really considering all the troubles she may run into on her own. In other words, Kiki is a girl who learns from her mistakes, from her leaps of faith, and from her yeses and her nos. Her story is not unlike that of a Pokémon trainer: at age ten a young witch must begin to decide how to spend her life. While it would be possible for this story to leave a sour taste — a witch, heavily judged and shunned, must prove to the locals that she is not, in fact, evil — instead the theme reads a little differently: local people learn from Kiki to be kind and accepting of others, especially those who are unusual.But while the novel of Howl’s Moving Castle was written by a beloved Welsh author, Kiki began her life in Japan, created and written by Eiko Kadono in 1985. Kiki’s eyes got big and hopeful when she arrived at her new, massive city along the coast. When she first came, many people treated her a bit differently. They treated her as an other and were afraid to get to know her. Just when she was at her lowest and felt a bit hopeless about being on her own in this city, she came up with the idea to do odd tasks and deliver things to people on her broom because she is able to get around so efficiently.