2023 REREAD: As enchanting and charming as ever. How can it not be a favourite, just like the film?
Funny, creative and delightful; a children's classic I'll definitely be reading again and again.
The simplest things are the most magical of all.
'Kiki's Delivery Service' delivers, all right.
Final Score: 5/5
P.S. I've literally just realised I read this three years ago, also in July. What light, enchanting, coming-of-age, little-witch-on-broomsticks summers!
Original Review:
I love the movie, and when I heard there was going to be a new, 2020 English translation of the original novel, of course I wanted it.
'Kiki's Delivery Service' by Eiko Kadono is just as delightful, adorable, heartfelt and soulful as the classic Studio Ghibli film by Hayao Miyazaki. There are differences, but the premise is basically the same: Kiki the twelve-to-thirteen-year old witch flies from her small humble home to another town on her mother's broom, accompanied by her talking black cat Jiji and her red radio, as part of her witch's coming-of-age rite. Once in a big town by the sea, that has a giant clock tower, she takes up residence at a baker's and starts her own business, "Kiki's Delivery Service". Her simple yet exciting and significant adventures start from there.
The 'Kiki's Delivery Service' novella gives us more information about the roles of witches, what they do, and how people view them as part of its worldbuilding than in the film. We learn about dying crafts and gifts that are passed on from mother to daughter, and it's touched upon that, by their limited places in society, witches are pretty much close to becoming extinct. This is barely a footnote, so it's still a sweet, light little tale. Some of the novella's episodic chapters, all hilarious and charming in their own way, are also absent in the animated version.
However, both are coming-of-age stories and metaphors for a girl's adolescence. They are relatively plotless and structureless, but it is the emotional storytelling and character development that matters. Both explore Kiki's feelings and insecurities about how she fits in with other people in her new setting. How do the townsfolk - the other kids, the other girls, the adults and the elderly - view Kiki, as a witch, a delivery girl, and her own person? How does she view them, when she inevitably compares herself to them? Self-image and finding her place to call home are key.
Everybody comes to love the darling, polite, funny, cunning, clever and helpful little witch eventually, just as the reader does.
The things that Kiki delivers, on her broom, on her unprecedented and bizarre adventures are not just physical. There is plenty of whimsy fun to be had here as well.
I never even knew that belly bands were a thing until I read 'Kiki's Delivery Service'. It is absolutely fixated on those!
What a wonderful, colourful, funny and charming children's masterpiece. A sky high, euphoric triumph. Kiki should be the star of a children's cartoon series.
'Kiki's Delivery Service' - it is for everyone, but especially for those with little witch's hearts. It certainly delivers.
Final Score: 4.5/5
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