I realize it is late for me to report on a film for Speculative Fiction Friday, but I was at JetCon all day, and I will report on that later. Today, it is about another film by the great Hayao Miyazaki, Kiki’s Delivery Service.

Last week, when I talked about Castle in the Sky, I mentioned that Miyazaki’s films are usually very complex. They often have no real villain, but a lot of conflicts and people who just happen to rub each other the wrong way, and it often gets worse before it gets any better. It makes the films a lot more complicated, especially for an animated film, and perhaps what started this trend was Kiki’s Delivery Service.

I’ll be honest with you when I say that Kiki’s Delivery Service doesn’t have much of a plot. It begins when Kiki, who is a witch, lives in a world where witches are not feared, and it is required that a young witch has to leave their home. Why they have to leave is not explained, and why the entire world seems cool with witches is also not explained. As I have said before, Miyazaki’s films usually don’t take place on Earth.

Kiki travels with a talking black cat that apparently only she can hear. The cat is voiced by the late Phil Hartman, who died rather sadly and was very funny. I won’t say anything more about that, but as far as voice goes, the English version of this film has Kiki voiced by Kirsten Dunst.

In addition to the black cat, Kiki also has the traditional flying broom. Kiki soon goes to a village where she finds a job working at a shop, making deliveries for a shopkeeper all around town. From there, it really becomes a story about a new girl in town fitting in.

Is there any evil sorcerers who are trying to hunt Kiki down? No. Is there some new wave of prejudice that threatens her life? Again, no. Harry Potter or X-men this is not. This doesn’t mean that the film is not exciting, and it does mean that the film is way more life-like.

Like most films, there is a huge action setpiece at the end. That’s all I want to say about this film, which is really about growing up. It is also about finding the things that you do the best, in spite of the fact that talents seems to wane.

Yeah, that is a little hard to describe, but I will say that is worth seeing.