Kiki's Delivery Service: A Witch's Coming of Age

 A guest post today, from Japan, on a different kind of magic!

=====

Kiki's Delivery Service: A Witch's Coming of Age 

 

The Studio Ghibli movie

           

The Disney version DVD cover

If you've watched a Studio Ghibli movie and liked it -- for instance, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle or My Neighbor Totoro -- you might enjoy Kiki's Delivery Service, another of director Hayao Miyazaki's masterpiece animations. It's one of my favorite movies!

But for this post, I'd like to introduce the children's book series it was based on.

Japanese cover of Book 1 (2013 edition)

Introducing Kiki

Written by Eiko Kadono*, Kiki's Delivery Service is about a young witch whose only magical skill is flying (on her broom) and who runs a delivery service.

The original title in Japanese is "Witch Delivery Service" (Majo no takkyūbin). Or more literally, "Witch Express Home Delivery." I suppose the localized title replaced "witch" with "Kiki" to avoid turning off a segment of potential American viewers.

Though Kiki is a witch, she isn't a Harry Potter type of witch. In her world, witches have long lost most of their magical powers. Book 1 of the series, which I just finished reading, doesn't delve into the reasons why. The book merely mentions it as the backdrop. So, unlike Harry Potter, Kiki solves her problems without spells; the only magic she uses is flying. She relies on wits, courage, and the kindness of others.

Japanese cover of Book 1 (2002 edition, with illustrations by Akiko Hayashi)

Illustrations by Akiko Hayashi in the earliest book edition

Japanese cover of Book 1 (2015 edition)

Summary of the book

Here's the back-cover synopsis of Book 1 (my translation from the Japanese):

Kiki is the only daughter of a witch mother and a normal human father. In the world of witches, when one turns 13, she must learn to live on her own. On a full-moon night, Kiki takes to the skies on her broom with Jiji, her companion black cat. With much anxiety and anticipation, she starts a "Witch Delivery Service" in the seaside town of Koriko. As Kiki goes through ups and downs, she grows to become part of Koriko society.

Scene from the Ghibli movie

Book 1 covers the first year of Kiki's independent life, during which she tackles interesting requests from clients with her quick thinking.

The chapter titles reflect the book's origin: It was first published in 1982-83 as a series of short stories in a Japanese monthly magazine, Haha no tomo ("A Mother's Companion"). Here's my rough translation of the Japanese chapter titles and, for comparison, Lynne Riggs' English translation in brackets.

Chapter 1: The Story Begins (Bells in the Treetops)

Chapter 2: Kiki Leaves Home (A New Witch's Broom)

Chapter 3: Kiki and Big-City Life (Kiki in the Big City)

Chapter 4: Kiki Starts a Business (Kiki Opens for Business)

Chapter 5: Kiki and the Big Incident (The Broom Thief)

Chapter 6: Kiki is Cranky (Kiki in the Doldrums)

Chapter 7: Kiki Noses into Somebody's Secret (Kiki Shares a Secret)

Chapter 8: Kiki Solves a Captain's Problem (Kiki to the Captain's Rescue)

Chapter 9: Kiki Delivers the New Year (Kiki Rings in the New Year)

Chapter 10: Kiki Delivers the Sound of Spring (Kiki Carries the Sounds of Spring)

Chapter 11: Kiki Goes Home (Kiki Goes Home)

Comparing book and movie

I enjoyed the book for the same reasons I enjoyed the movie: both were about an independent girl and the nice strangers she meets.

The book and movie are similar in tone and begin the same way -- with Kiki's preparations to leave home. In both, she meets Osono the baker, Tombo the boy, and the artist. In both, Jiji goes through a trial involving a toy cat.

As for differences: The movie's climax is not found in Book 1. And naturally, the movie covers only a small portion of the book's many events. I find the book version of Kiki slightly different too. She's more lively, a little more impulsive and gung-ho.

If Kiki's Delivery Service piques your interest I recommend watching the movie first, partly because the movie is easier to obtain and Hayao Miyazaki has adapted the book skillfully.

As for the book, Lynne Riggs' English translation is out of print. While you can find used copies on Amazon, the price is incredibly steep. If you're curious how it sounds, here's a sample from the first chapter.

*A couple of weeks ago, Eiko Kadono won the Hans Christian Andersen Award. (It’s like the Nobel Prize of children’s literature.)