Reviewed by: Teri Tom

Watson Rating (0 being worst and 6 being perfect): 4.0

A few weeks ago a friend of mine told me that his wife won’t let his four girls watch BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER because of religious reasons. I was horrified. As I’ve mentioned in my BUFFY reviews, Buffy and her friends have provided some of the best role models for young girls – and boys, for that matter – in pop culture history. Since when did tolerance, loyalty, friendship, duty, and independence become things we didn’t want to teach our children? 

These same narrow-minded folks who avoid Buffy will unfortunately also miss out on another great character in KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE. Brought to you by the director of SPIRITED AWAY and HOWL’S CASTLE, KIKI is a delightful slice-of-life coming of age story. Granted, it’s about a witch coming of age, but as with BUFFY, the fantastical elements are merely incidental. Adapted from a Japanese children’s book, the story goes that at the age of thirteen, little girl witches must leave their hometowns to set up shop in communities that don’t already have a witch. To survive, these fledgling witches have to find their niche in society. A girl’s gotta make a living, y’know.

So Kiki, accompanied only by her wisecracking black cat Jiji, leaves her comfortable life, her family, and her friends and sets out to find her place in the world. She lands in the big, bad city where people aren’t all that friendly. A traffic cop tries to write her a ticket.  She’s harassed by a boy with raging hormones. She manages to tick off an entire fleet of crows. Eventually, though, she starts to make some friends along the way and sets up a Fed-Ex-Overnight-like delivery service.

There isn’t a whole lot of plot to KIKI, and that’s not a bad thing. Miyazaki touches on a lot of subjects, as Kiki experiences a number of first’s. First time away from home. First job. First career slunp. First head cold. First boyfriend.

Miyazaki manages to tackle all of these with a sense of humor and surprising sophistication that a Disney made film would never trust its audience with. The animation is beautifully understated in its simplicity, though not without a lot of detail. In other words, unlike American animation, the visuals never detract from the story or the characters.

KIKI is a sweet, simple story about growing up, becoming independent, and the road bumps along the way. It’s a film that all little girls could learn from, and it would be a shame if they didn’t just because the main character is a witch.