Kiki’s Delivery Service: More Relevant than Ever

Table of contents:
0:00 - Intro
01:38 - Summary
04:36 - The Book
05:32 - Generational Divide (Modernity and Tradition)
8:32 - Cottagecore
11:22 - Growth and Losing your Magic
14:04 - Burnout
16:33 - Depression
22:10 - Recovery
23:35 - Closing thoughts

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[cosyclouds]

The very thought of Kiki never being able to understand Jiji again has me sobbing.

[Razmi]

I'm such a dumbass sometimes, Jiji's name came up and i was like "thats the name of my cat!". Then i remembered i named her that because of it lmao.

[florenceforbush]

"Her passion loses joy because it becomes her job" you didn't have to go and describe my life like that wtf. Great video

[jakobhuttner]

"The setting and the time period is vaguely european and vaguely 1950s." The town is almost entirely based on Stockholm, as a person who lives in stockholm, I have been in several places in the movie, and my grandparents live really close to the street where the bakery is. The clocktower is almost identical to stockholm city hall. Funny thing, I watched this movie as a kid and didn't realise it took place where I live, and I recently rewatched it and realised that it always has been, it was really uncanny.

[Teefs]

Kiki's disconnect from people, how she feels like something is wrong with her, the duality of not being the happier person, being thrusted into a world that is alien, and gnarly burnout has always felt so parallel to my life being neurodivergent. Love this movie with every cells in me. Amazingly done video

[ChestnutMustang]

I remember some people talking about how different Howl's Moving Castle is, between the book version and the movie version, and somebody summarized it as "The book is how Sophie remembers it, the movie is how Howl remembers it."

[calebtaylor]

I love how Kiki’s Delivery Service appeals to people who love big cities *and* people who hate them. A lot like Mononoke, the “conflict” is not black and white and provokes thought more than anything.

[mr.purple]

I hope that 2D animation never disappears. It can give more warmth and humanity than any other form.

[Ara-woho]

I think what caused Kiki’s depression was the alienation from herself as a consequence of living in the city. This alienation is really caused by a lack of control over her work(work in the sense of whatever way she spends her energy and time). Kiki doesn’t always have a choice over when and where she flies her broom, because she has to to be able to afford living in the city. When Kiki has to fly through the rain to be able to make her delivery on time, she is forced to sacrifice her own time she would rather use going to her party, as well as being forced to get wet in the rain. When Kiki takes a break like when she goes to hang out with that lady in the woods(forgot her name) or hang out with the boy or something else, she’s able to recover a bit because she’s doing what she wants to do. This means that she feels less alienated. The issue of her becoming depressed and loosing her ability to fly and speak to Jiji symbolizes the loss of a part of herself. She is able to cope with this but it’s never fully solved because the cause of her problems were just how living in the city is. The problems are systemic but they’re felt on an individual level.
I seriously doubt anyone’s gonna read this…

[thelynxwitch]

When i talk to people about studio ghibli movies it's always about how they romanticize the small things in life but I don't think we talk enough about how they capture feelings like this. I was super young the first time I saw this movie but I don't think I understood it until I moved away from home. This is what I watch when I'm have a bad depressive episode because there's not a magical cure all but Kiki makes me feel like it'll be ok anyway

[saidlevren]

As the father of a 3 year old girl, hearing that one day I will pick her up for the last time ... and not even realize that it was the last time, got me tearing up.

[nunyabiznes]

Me: "Wow Kiki's Delivery Service is such a relatable movie, I really see myself in how she feels."
Noralities: "So Kiki is probably depressed-"
Me: "Ah."

[blazingangelofdeath]

"Depression is a fucking liar" Yes. Perfect. I'm gonna use this.

[iwasneverhere]

there's actually a word for that feeling of second-hand nostalgia; Anemioa, nostalgia for a time you have never known, and it can be found in The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

[nekhatsune]

Thank you so much for affirming that there’s no “cure-all” for depression. there’s no use beating myself up for not being happy all the time because that just doesn’t exist

[emit]

I grew up in the countryside, in a village remarkably like Kiki's. Your whole upbringing, you're _constantly_ being told about the 'big city' in a manner I can only describe as like a constant advertising campaign from all sides. All you hear about through the media you consume is how much the glamorous cities have to offer, how you have to go there to fulfil your dreams and find your fortune, how only the concrete jungle and work rush will help you find your TRUE PURPOSE and zest for life. Ironically, it was only once I'd been in the city a while that I realised how good the countryside was and how much I wanted to go back.

[terpsidance.]

For a long time I accepted the American version of Kiki's delivery service where Kiki can talk to Jiji still. Realizing that's not the case and that instead she never talked to Jiji again, their friendship forever changed, is somehow devastating to me on a "Grave of the fireflies" level. Thanks though for making this and reminding me that I need to hug my kids more.

[aloecat]

The part about Kiki not wanting the cottagecore lifestyle reminded me of something about myself. When I was little, I really wanted to live in New York City. I wanted the hustle and bustle, I wanted the noise. But as I grew up, I became more and more sensitive with crowds and noises. It started with parties. I realized I didn’t like them. Then crowded stores. Now I can’t handle having more than a few people around me for a long period of time. I have to constantly have music to distract me from silence while also blocking out the noise. Around the time it started getting bad, I got back into gardening with my dad. We started with tomatoes, but every year we added more to where we have a very large garden every summer. I took an interest in flowers and identifying wild plants. I realized being outside is the best place when I’m overwhelmed. I can take off my headphones and relax. Because of that I stumbled across cottagecore and fell in love with the style. Now I actively hope to live in a cottage someday.

I can’t remember my main point now. Thank you for reading though!

[Rayowag]

Jiji being connected to Kiki's immaturity is...a very conservative view on mental growth as well. Jiji is pretty much a representation of the inner child, so why would she not be able to talk to him again? "Immaturity" doesn't just leave once you're an adult, neither does imagination. Idk, I just don't like what it represents that she can't speak to him anymore. I definitely like that she isn't the same at the end in the original dub because of her mental growth journey, I just think that growth could've been signalized differently than losing the connection to her child-self.

[David-dzcb]

This neurodivergent, burnt-out, depressed lad just teared up in this video and I thank you. Beautiful video essay.