Kiki's Delivery Service (2014 Film)
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is a Japanese
fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction f ...
released in 2014. It was directed by
Takashi Shimizu Takashi Shimizu (清水 崇 ''Shimizu Takashi'', born 27 July 1972) is a Japanese filmmaker. He is best known for being the creator of the ''Ju-On'' franchise, and directing four of its films, internationally, in both Japan and the U.S. Accordi ...
and based on the children's fantasy novel of the same name.


Plot

The young witch, Kiki still lives with her parents, her witch mother, Kokiri and her ordinary human father, Okino. But with her 13th birthday everything has to change. An old witchcraft law dictates that at this age she must leave her loving home in order to live as a witch in a strange place for a whole year. She sets off on her broomstick. Her black cat Jiji is allowed to accompany her. After hours of flight, over land and sea, she discovers a strange city by the sea. Rather involuntarily, she makes a stopover at the local zoo, where she has to realize that not every resident likes witches. But soon after, Kiki meets the baker Osono, who offers Kiki a place to live under the roof of her windmill. Next, Kiki has to find a living. Kiki can only fly with her magic powers, which she loves to do. Encouraged by Osono, she decides to open an air delivery service in the sleepy coastal town. At first she didn't want to hire anyone. Only a few aviation-obsessed youngsters are interested in them. But Osono continues to support Kiki and slowly the flight business begins to take off. With her cheerful nature and courage, she is slowly making friends. But then she is taken advantage of by a teenager who was interested in her magic powers. She tells other youths that Kiki can curse her. In order to scare them, she sends Kiki to them with an alleged curse letter. When Kiki realizes the truth, she is very disappointed and sad. The next setback follows shortly thereafter. It is reported on TV that a hippo from the zoo where Kiki ended up when she arrived in town has become ill. Rumor has it that Kiki can bewitch and curse people and animals. Your delivery service comes to a standstill. The suspicion and fear of the residents weigh so heavily on Kiki that she falls ill. She loses her courage and with it her magic powers. The flying boy named Tombo encourages Kiki to stay true to himself. Kiki begins to overcome her self-doubt. She accepts a risky job from the zoo director. The sick hippo baby Maruko is to be treated by a famous veterinarian who lives far away from the small town on a small island. Despite a heavy storm, Kiki takes off immediately. She transports the injured baby hippo on a stretcher. Tombo, who also accompanies her during the flight, encourages her constantly. Below them the turbulent sea threatens. Meanwhile, the people of the city are listening to the radio, listening to news of the rescue operation. Finally, Kiki and her friends reach the island, and the doctor quickly heals the hippopotamus Maruko in a few simple steps. The population, who understood after the rescue operation that Kiki is a lovely witch, celebrates her and her rescue operation at the end of the story. And soon after that, Kiki's apprenticeship year away from home is over, so she can call herself a real witch. Below them the turbulent sea threatens.


Cast

*
Fuka Koshiba is a Japanese actress represented by the talent agency Oscar Promotion. Biography In November 2011, Koshiba won the Grand Prix award at the 2011 Ion and Oscar Promotion Girl Audition. In 2012, she debuted in the drama ''Iki mo Dekinai Natsu''. ...
as Kiki * Ryōhei Hirota as Tombo *
Machiko Ono is a Japanese actress. Career Born in a rural area of Nara Prefecture, Ono was spotted by the film director Naomi Kawase cleaning out the shoe boxes at her junior high school, and cast in the lead role in Kawase's '' Suzaku'', which earned the f ...
as Osono, the baker * Hiroshi Yamamoto as Fukuo, her husband * Miho Kanazawa as Saki *
Rie Miyazawa is a Japanese actress and former teen idol. She is regarded as one of Japan's top actresses, and her accolades include six Japan Academy Film Prizes and three Kinema Junpo Awards Miyazawa began her career as a child model, seeing wide exposure ...
as Kokiri * Michitaka Tsutsui as Okino *
Minako Kotobuki is a Japanese actress and singer. She played Tsumugi Kotobuki in the anime series ''K-On!'' about a high school girl band. The show launched her music career as she performed the opening and ending themes, and joined three other voice actresse ...
as voice of Jiji the cat *
Tadanobu Asano , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese actor. He is known for his roles as Dragon Eye Morrison in ''Electric Dragon 80.000 V'', Kakihara in ''Ichi the Killer'', Mamoru Arita in '' Bright Future'', Hattori Genosuke in ''Zatoichi'', Kenj ...
as Dr. Ishi *
LiLiCo Ann-Sophie Lennerfors (born 16 November 1970) is a Swedish TV personality and film critic who lives and works in Japan, best known under the stage name LiLiCo. Biography Early life LiLiCo was born Ann-Sophie Lennerfors in Stockholm, Sweden, to ...
as voice of radio DJ


Release

''Kiki's Delivery Service'' was released in Japan on March 1, 2014. It was the third highest-grossing film on its release in Japan, making ¥128 million (US$1.25 million) from 117,000 admissions on 281 screens.


Reception

Film Business Asia ''Film Business Asia'' was a film trade magazine based in Hong Kong. The magazine was created in 2010 by Patrick Frater, former journalist for ''Variety'', ''The Hollywood Reporter'', and '' Screen International'' and Stephen Cremin, co-founder o ...
gave the film a four out of ten rating, referring to the film as "bland, charmless and undramatic". The review stated that actress Fuka Koshiba was "way too mature for the 13-year-old, waifish Kiki and has a forced perkiness that drags the action down" and stated that "the visual and special effects are more run-of-the-mill 20th century than state-of-the-art 21st". ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' gave the film a negative review, finding "its charmless heroine, leaden storytelling and dime-store production values unlikely to bewitch anyone except tiny tots."


References


External links

* * 2014 films Japanese fantasy films 2014 fantasy films 2010s children's films Japanese children's fantasy films Films based on Japanese novels Films directed by Takashi Shimizu Films shot in Tokyo Films with screenplays by Satoko Okudera Films scored by Taro Iwashiro Films about witchcraft 2010s Japanese films 2010s Japanese-language films {{2010s-Japan-film-stub