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Under the shining full moon, people gather to send Kiki off. Kiki, a
witch-in-training, is now 13 years old and according to a tradition,
she has to leave her home to spend a year alone in a new town to
establish herself as a full witch. Kissing her mom and dad good-bye,
Kiki sets herself on her mother's broom with her father's transistor
radio and her closest companion, Jiji the black cat, at her side. And
she flies off - to a new town, to a new adventure, and to a new
life.
Finding herself a beautiful seaside city of Korico, Kiki sets up a
flying delivery service, to take advantage of the only magic she knows
- flying a broom.
However, her magic does not make Kiki happy or successful overnight.
Miyazaki says, "In this movie, magic just means some kinds of
talents that today's girls have" and Kiki is "a girl who
tries to be herself by flying".
Kiki encounters several setbacks and mishaps that an upcoming young
entrepreneur would typically face - slow business, misplaced
merchandise, not-so-nice customers, and a rainy day. Kiki also has to
deal with her feelings such as loneliness, worries, shyness, and
self-doubt, as a teenage girl in a new town. Miyazaki says, "the
ability to fly frees her from what is going on on the ground, but
freedom also means worries and loneliness", and she has to face
and overcome such problems to really become self-sufficient and
independent.
Her biggest challenge comes when Kiki loses her magic. Flying, which
was as natural to Kiki as breathing, no longer comes so easily to her.
Miyazaki says that talent is something that you are given, and you
have to go through a process to consciously make such a talent truly
yours.
Kiki overcomes such obstacles with her energy and resourcefulness, and
with help from nice people she meets in the course of her adventure.
Osono and her baker husband, who gave Kiki a place to stay, take good
care of Kiki as sort of surrogate parents. Tombo, a boy whose biggest
dream is to fly, befriends Kiki and makes her laugh. Grandmotherly
Madame, for whom Kiki delivers a pie, treats Kiki with kindness and
care to give Kiki the energy to go on. And a young painter, Ursula,
gives Kiki good advice as someone who not so long ago went through the
same struggle as Kiki is going through now.
In the end, Kiki finds her independence and the meaning of
self-reliance. In her letter to her parents, Kiki writes, "There
are still some times when I feel a little homesick, but all in all I
sure love this city!" as she flies over Korico, which she now
calls home.
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