When I was younger, I happened to stumble upon the Studio Ghibli film Kiki’s Delivery Service. I looked at the cover and saw a young girl with short hair like mine accompanied by a little black cat on a broom. I was intrigued by the animation and the storyline, and as a child I felt that I related a lot to Kiki. Kiki’s Delivery Service by the animation studio Studio Ghibli, follows the life of a young witch named Kiki whose sidekick Jiji helps her through her witches’ training, which includes spending a year away from home and developing her skills. As a child, I really enjoyed the movie, and growing up I realized that there are a lot of things that the movie taught me.
One of the major things that I took away is that Kiki is brave for wanting to leave home at such a young age because she is eager to start her training. She wants to prove to herself that she can be a witch and to make her family proud as she comes from a family of witches. She embarks on her own journey with only her mother’s broom, her dad’s radio and her sidekick Jiji.
On her journey she meets a witch that makes her doubt her own abilities and whether she is cut out to be a witch in the first place. While she is flying during the night that she departs from home, she encounters a witch that has just finished her training and is on her way home. She is neatly dressed and talks formally. Kiki asks her questions about what it’s like being away and what she studied. The witch replies confidently and mentions that she already had a special skill before even becoming a witch, which makes Kiki doubt her own abilities even more. This taught me that although we may meet other people along our journey, we should not compare ourselves because we are all at different stages in the journey. In this instance Kiki was barely starting on her journey and the other witch had already completed hers.
There is an instance where Kiki is standing near by when there is an ordeal involving a mother who lost her infant’s pacifier. The owner of the bakery, Osono, rushes out to try to retrieve the baby’s lost item, but the mother is far away. Kiki who is standing outside asks Osono if she would like her to deliver it to the mother, and she flies to the mother who gives Osono her thanks in a letter. Osono then proposes a delivery service for Kiki, as well as a place to stay. This taught me that sometimes in our kindness and our gestures we may make a great impression on the right people and they may help us out of the kindness of their hearts. If Kiki had just acted like she did not hear or had walked away she would have never met Osono and she never would have made a genuine friendship.
One of the most important scenes in the whole movie is when Kiki loses her ability to fly, there isn’t a known reason why, but it can be theorized to her not being herself or working hard enough. She has an existential crisis, but her friend Ursula who is an artist shares when she had artist’s block and couldn’t paint. This reassures Kiki that she can get her ability back and that it is a state of mind. This taught me that even when you feel like giving up or you are not feeling like yourself, there is always hope and you can always move forward.
Kiki’s Delivery Service has a very special place in my heart. I am so glad I watched it when I was young. It is such a gem of a movie to revisit time after time, especially now as an adult because I can relate to so many of the themes. And just like Kiki, I have learned to believe in myself and never doubt my abilities.