Miyazaki Countdown Part 5 - Kiki’s Delivery Service

Hello everyone and welcome to Some Like It Scott's second Countdown miniseries on 2023, a podcast first focusing entirely on the works of Japanese animator, Hayao Miyazaki: the Miyazaki Countdown. To honor one of the living legends of animation, the countdown crew of Scott, Scott, and Jay will watch all 11 of Miyazaki's films to-date, rewinding all the way back to his directorial origins with 1979's action-adventure heist thriller LUPIN III: THE CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO, all the way to his then-final film, 2013's biographical epic romance drama, THE WIND RISES. Join us each week over the next 11 weeks, as we build up to what is Miyazaki's self-proclaimed now-final film (we'll see...), the fantasy epic, THE BOY AND THE HERON.

In Part 5 of the Miyazaki Countdown, Scott, Scott, and Jay discuss the conclusion of Hayao Miyazaki's incredible 3-year run with the 1989 fantasy coming-of-age anime film, KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE. In a rare adaptation from Miyazaki, based on the Japanese children's fantasy novel of the same name by Eiko Kaduno, KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE takes copious liberties in its telling of the coming-of-age story of a 13-year-old witch, who sets off from home with her talking black cat "familiar" named Jiji, under the good omen of a full moon. Like her witch mother before her, Kiki must spend a year in a city with no other witches in it, learn a skill, become independent, and thereby prove her worth and abilities as a witch contributing to society. Like all great coming-of-age stories (and adventures too for that matter), Kiki is quickly beset with setbacks: a great storm forces her to take shelter on a train overnight; an aviation-loving boy named Tombo is extremely forward with Kiki on the street after becoming enamored with her flying abilities; and Kiki of course has no idea what she's going to do and what of her skills she can leverage to survive and thrive in her new port-city home. The good news is that Kiki doesn't have to do it alone. She has her trusty familiar, Jiji, and a very kind bakery owner who provides Kiki with housing and a job while Kiki figures it all out. All that's left is for Kiki to navigate a new city, looking for a new job, with barely any friends! Easy enough. The countdown crew give their thoughts on Miyazaki's first real crack at a coming-of-age film, where Kiki ranks in the animation king's lead character ensemble thus far, and just how immaculate the vibes are combining the vision for the film's port city setting and Joe Hisaishi's strings-heavy European-inspired score.