O Serviço de Entregas da Kiki

I happened to catch this movie on The Disney Channel last night. I had heard good things about it from my friends, but it's overall theme just seemed too kiddie for me to watch. But since Princess Monoke happens to be my all time favorite Anime, I decided to give it a chance.

Wow! I was blown away. Hayao Miyazaki is a genius and a true master of his craft. The animation is beautiful. Miyazaki adds so many little details to the animation that other movies don't bother with, that really sets his movies apart and gives them an amazingly real, natural feel to them. I was amazed by the scenes of Kiki flying on her broom; you really get a sense of flight unsurpassed by any other movie I've ever seen.

I was surprised I enjoyed this movie as much as I did. If you judge it from its cover you aren't giving it a chance. A story about a 13 year old witch who leaves her home to begin her training. Alright, that sounds like a great plot for a target audience of girls in the 6-13 year range. I'm a 24 year old male and I can't recommend this movie enough.

Go out and rent this movie as soon as possible. I saw the dubbed pan&scan version on t.v. and I thought the dubbing was actually pretty good. And I'm a die-hard subtitled anime fan. So do yourself a favor, rent this movie, and enjoy the experience. You won't regret it.

Kiki's Delivery Service is my favorite move. I have seen it at least 10 times and I laughed and cried each time. The animation by Hayao Miyazaki is wonderful, as always. The flying scenes and scenery of the generic European city are totally convincing. I think I really got a feeling of what it would be like to fly in on a broom over and through a European city. In each city scene, I feel like it is some place I have visited in my trips to Europe.

What I really appreciate about this movie is the simplicity of the characters and the plot. There are no robots, no psychotic megalomaniacs, no monsters, no superheros, no bratty smarty kids that are smarter than adults, no evil moron adults, and no fight scenes. No one is kidnapped or seriously injured. Even though the movie a about a witch, the only supernatural acts in the movie are Kiki flying on a broom and talking to her cat.

The movie is about a young girl witch who leaves home with her cat Jiji, moves to a new town, and starts a delivery service. In her business she has some adventures and meets mostly nice people who help her out. In the process she meets a boy named Tombo. Tombo does not have any special powers. He is just a nerdy guy who is trying to build a bicycle that can fly. Tombo gets in to some trouble and Kiki helps him out.

That sounds very dull, but by avoiding the supernatural and monsters, the story is much more easy to relate to. It is a story about leaving home and starting anew, meeting people, helping people, and have people help you when you get into trouble. It is very upbeat, even when things look bleak, they work out with a little help from friends. I liked Tombo's problems trying to be friends with Kiki because they seem like the problems people really have. One of the most beautiful scenes in the movie is Tombo silently waiting in the rain for Kiki who never shows up.

This movie is full of silent beauty. When the baker's wife invites Kiki to move in above the bakery, you get the impression that the gruff but silent husband does not care for Kiki. But in a later scene you see that he has baked a loaf of bread shaped like a girl riding a broom and mounted it in the bakery window. Nothing is ever said about it, but you see how he appreciates her.

I have both the dubbed and subtitled version of the movie. They are both great. This movie is one of the best dubbed I have seen. The dubbed version has a lighter, funnier tone because of the wise-cracking Jiji. I felt I could appreciate the animation better in the dubbed version because I did not have to focus on reading the subtitles. In general the voice acting in the dubbed version is excellent. The subtitled version is also the letterbox version, so you get to see the full beauty of the animation. In some of the flying scenes, Jiji is humorously complaining about the flying conditions in the dubbed version, where the subtitled version lets you silently appreciate the beauty of flying. Due to licensing problems the dubbed and subtitled versions have different theme songs. I think both songs are great. I recommend getting both versions.

The film is again a treat for animation lovers. It is very nice in every sense. In the middle though I felt that everything is happening nicely and so it felt like monotonous. But I must say that the film delivers a very important message in the end, which is the essence of the whole film. The supporting characters are all very nicely inserted. What I liked the most in the film was the positive vibes all the time of viewing which makes an optimistic environment around you. And the character faces trouble also, but in such a way that you will never feel angered on any character. The antagonist type thing is not present in the film and that is an important reason why I felt nice during watching it. The film teaches you about hope and self-belief.

"A must watch for everyone."

Many people can claim to be fans of Anime, or Japanese Animation. It's been forced into the North American public by companies like Manga, US Corps and now, even Disney.

Movies like Akira shocked the people...bringing surreal story and amazing animation to the screen. Many others followed that simply blew away the animation and realism of American cartoons.

But then they started to suck. Bad. Over-produced to feed the masses.

And so, when I rented Kiki's Delivery Service, I was kinda expecting to be let down. Knowing it would probably be some spoon-fed animation to appeal to the 3-6 year olds.

Boy, was I wrong. This movie was simply amazing. The animation was wonderful. Not too cartoony, but not too jagged and harsh. Everything flowed smoothly and looked great. The story was AMAZING. It was what really shone. Subtle lessons at life that even got me, a nineteen-year-old computer engineer, cheering for Kiki. It is intelligent, thoughtful, and sweet to the max.

Though this movie is the near exact opposite from all those mechanoid blood-baths and samurai show-downs that populate most of the Anime world...this simple little movie...with the great voice of Phil Hartman I might add...actually got me interested in Anime again.

Check it out. Even if you're just in it for the cats, you won't be disappointed. ^_^

i've only seen the dub, but I must say this movie is superb, fantastic, wonderful and worthy of all the praise it gets. it's heartfelt, funny, and all in all a wonderful movie. the plot, characters, everything about this movie is perfect. it makes me feel oh so good when i watch it. I honestly see nothing wrong with this movie, not a thing. it's quite possibly the greatest coming of age story ever. This movie is too damn good for a review written by me out of complete bordem, so i'll end it by saying if you can a copy, dub or subtitled, rent/buy/steal it. i don't think you'll be disaponited. So go on and get a copy before I beat you. GO NOW.