Wonderful character development!

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

May contain spoilersBravo!!! This gentle deceptively mild film left me stunned. A superb character study as well as a detailed examination of depression hidden inside a charming children's animation about a 13 year old witch! Yes its hard to believe...There are so many great scenes here and the animation is just perfect. Some may carp about the slight story or the action climax but for me this is studio Ghibli's best. Easily one of the all time great movies.10/10

Tradition is that a witch leaves home at thirteen for a year. Kiki is eager to leave with her talking black cat Jiji. She wants to see the ocean and arrives at a large seaside town. Tombo is a boy infatuated with Kiki and flying machines. Kiki is befriended by Osono who gives Kiki a job in her bakery and a place to stay. Kiki uses her only skill flying to create Kiki's Delivery Service.Kiki is exceedingly cute. The problem is that there is no continuous drama. Her journey is a series of meandering friendships. There is no villain and no quest or purpose. It's sorta like a single gal sitcom in the city. It has a puppy love element but it's a thin thread to hang a romance. There isn't any tension until she loses her flying ability. A coming of age movie would be better served with something more dramatic. This has a similar theme to Spirited Away but it doesn't have that exuberance or danger. It floats in the air like a feather but its drive is little more than blowing in the wind.

Kiki is a witch who has reached adolescences and decides to move to a new town to find her calling. After a series of insightful experiences she decides to be a courier for a bakery. Over the course of her career she grows as a person and as a business person while struggling with all the difficulties of growing up and finding hardship. I realized very early on that this movie can be seen as an allegory for a young person moving to a new town and finding a new job and all the struggles and joys that come with that experience. Once again Studio Ghibli hits the perfect tone to express such a story as this as it's both whimsical and fantastical while still being relatable and set in a real world situation. One of my favorite things about this movie is how much the town is a big character. The setting of every Miyazaki film plays a big, memorable role in his films but I felt like Kiki's town was the most memorable and distinguishable. It might have been the directors approach to taking time to observe the people in the town as they walk around doing their business, or how he explores as many locations as possible. It all feels very real and special. The characters were all very enjoyable and well fleshed out, each one was memorable and added to the great appeal of the community that Kiki is navigating.My only criticism is the ending was a bit abrupt and felt a little rushed. Although Kiki saving her love interest from the blimp made for a heart touching and symbolic moment, it felt a little too over the top for a movie that was very low key and personal. I think by adding this huge disaster situation it took away from the real emotional challenges Kiki had to get over. Almost felt like a superhero ending when I would have rather preferred something more emotional and realistic, like her returning home and giving up then coming back to the city when she realizes what she has given up. I don't know, i'm not miyazaki... I'll have to give this movie another watch to fully appreciate the whole picture, but from my first viewing I do absolutely love it and I'd consider it essential Studio Ghibli cannon. I'd love to have a package delivered by a witch.

Hayao Miyazaki animated feature of a 13-old year witch leaving his parents and settling in a new town to form a (broom-based) delivery service is irresistible. As in many of his movies, the protagonist here is a plucky heroine defying all odds. What I found most enjoyable about the movie - though - is its background details. Miyazaki loves European culture - and the movie is set in never land Europe - a fantasized Europe that never existed. A lot of the clothes and the technology suggests the 1950s and the 1960s - but filtered through Miyazaki's sensibility (there are a number of anachronistic details that suggest perhaps a mid-20th century Europe if World War II had never happened). Miyazaki uses a lot of different sources in his movies - and they not always coalesce. In Porco Rosso, they didn't (Fascist Italy + Aviation Aces + Flying Pig?). But here they do.