By S. Adila
Edited by Hannaan Fuad
Picking up one of the significant Studio Ghibli movies has been on my list since the start of the semester holiday. At first glance, one might think, “Oh, it’s a cute movie,” but on a deeper level, it’s a movie that teaches you about the bittersweet independence and loneliness that comes with it.
Upon saying so, Kiki’s delivery service is a story about Kiki, a little witch who embarks on her journey to become a true witch, travelling with her magic broom across Japan to find a place where there are no witches residing yet, along with her black, well-articulated cat, Jiji. The choice was voluntarily made, eager to see the world outside of her confined village and deep, innocent desire to see the sea. Every protagonist has the same expectations: “Nothing could go wrong, right?” “Other people can do it, so why can’t I?”
Fast forward into the movie, Kiki, unfortunately, can’t find a place to stay because she’s underage and in need of her parents’ approval, which doesn’t sit well with her because witches are supposed to be independent after reaching the appropriate age. Eventually, she stumbles upon a bakery owner, Osano, and helps her on a whim, catching the pregnant lady’s attention. Kiki couldn’t be more grateful to have a place to stay, especially when she’s being suggested as the delivery girl of the bakery. Thus, on the first day of her arrival in the new city, she landed herself a place to stay and a job to be carried out in the next chapter of her life.
Being independent is not easy, particularly for a young female in a foreign land with no one she knew. Life does not get easier for Kiki too. She grapples with the idea of friendship and self-esteem in tandem with the gnawing alienation at the back of her mind. She continuously becomes her own biggest critic because she can’t wear colourful outfits like other kids her age, bound by the rule of witches to always wear a black fit. Hence, it prevents her from building a proper friendship despite having someone who genuinely wants to befriend her. Even when she made a friend and started to feel the joy of living on her own, Kiki came to a realisation that she was not genuinely happy, hitting Jiji with, “I make friends, then suddenly I can’t bear to be with any of them.”
Conflicted, confused, and sad, Hayao Miyazaki did a splendid job again in bringing out a well-portrayed inner turmoil of children over her own emotions. Kiki started to panic when she realised one day that her power gradually weakened after not being able to hear Jiji’s human-like speech, constantly replying to her with a ‘meow’.
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