IronWatcher’s review published on Letterboxd:
Watched on Blu-Ray
"Kiki's Delivery Service" was Hayao Miyazaki's first work within Studio Ghibli after "My Neighbour Totoro" ( boxd.it/YODmv ), and even though it's not a direct sequel to Totoro, both movies could be siblings in spirit. Because where Totoro takes care of childhood, Kiki reminds us all of what the beginning of puberty felt like.
Yet, the story itself is simple. Kiki follows an old custom and moves to a foreign city for a year at the age of 13 to complete her magic powers. Hayao Miyazaki again creates a fantastic world, in which both world wars never happened and in which witches are something commonplace. The fading out of the world wars leads to beautiful anachronisms, especially in the means of transportation, and typically for Miyazaki's works, great importance is attached to flying as the ultimate form of freedom in many ways. Tombo, Kiki's overzealous boy and admirer, could certainly be interpreted as a parallel to Miyazaki himself, because Kiki's ability to fly is what initially draws him to her.
As it is the case with Totoro, there is also a young girl in the center of attention, but while with Totoro two girls slowly get to know a magical world, Kiki travels from a magical world to a world in which magic is not quite as common. This is where different narrative levels begin. For one thing, there is a story suitable for children. In the course of the film Kiki learns to believe in herself, to trust in her powers. So far, so good, it's not a really special thing, because this form of narration can probably be found in any Disney movie as well. It gets more interesting when you go one layer deeper.
That's where "Kiki's Delivery Service" begins to appeal to young people. Kiki is forced into independence from the outside, so to speak, while at the same time she is driven by the will to assert herself. She must find her place in a world full of adults. She feels that she does not fit in with the other children, who still enjoy their childhood to the full, loudest extent. In a way, Kiki is paying the price we all paid when we grew up: childhood in all its light-heartedness is becoming more and more a memory. At the same time, she fights to be able to do what she loves. As an adult, these are all things to be remembered, but Kiki lives another level. Not only does she have a good experience with her delivery service, but some customers are extremely unfriendly to her. Everyday life and routine creep in and literally drain her strength. Strictly speaking, Kiki's life is nothing special: there is no magical prophecy that predicts a great destiny for her. She is not a descendant of a famous personality, there is no legacy she could take on. Kiki is, at least in her magic-filled world, a normal girl. A girl who learns very quickly that the working day consists mostly of repetitions, garnished with unfriendly people. An everyday life in which encouraging words of a stranger can quickly become the highlight of the week.
Unusual, at least for western viewers, might also be the fact that there is nothing really evil in Kiki's world. Sure, some people are unfriendly. But Kiki herself is always friendly and helpful, and her environment reflects this behaviour. She is welcomed in a friendly way by Osono, and even moments like the first encounter with Ursula in the forest are positive. The absence of an antagonist makes for a leisurely pace of the story, and if you wanted to be mean, you could certainly accuse Kiki of being boring. But for that you would have to ignore all the fine layers under the surface. And even then there would still be a beautifully drawn world full of subtle humor. Especially the partly sarcastic comments of tomcat Jiji (of course, in the style of a witch) are wonderfully pointed. Traces of melancholy are also to be found, at the latest when Jiji's sharp-tonguedness with Kiki's dwindling power has to give way to an incomprehensible meowing, the viewer suffers along with it. And Kiki's conflict with her own destiny, or rather the absence of it, offers easy identification for most viewers. Within this quiet production, not even the showdown feels overloaded, it is just another step in the right direction for Kiki. The form of confirmation in everyday life that so many of us long for. Also subtly present is the development from traditional to modern. Especially at the beginning of the story, Kiki is steeped in tradition: she takes over her mother's broom, she dresses in black, just as the witch tradition demands. But she breaks through these rigid patterns, ties a red bow in her hair and thus stands out clearly from the crowd. The traditional understanding of witchcraft and magic, which only serves its own purpose and makes life easier, is completely broken. Kiki has magical powers, but these do not ensure that she is spared from grief and problems. This makes her, despite her abilities, an extremely human figure. Her vulnerability also contributes to this, which in the end isn't interpreted as weakness, but helps Kiki to overcome her problems. It's just not enough to have a special ability. You also have to learn how and for what you can use it, so that you don't lose yourself.
