Kiki's delivery service

03 Mar 2025

The movie with the same name by Hayao Miyazaki (Studio Ghibli) is one of my all-time favorites. Usually books are more elaborate and deep but in this case I think the movie is actually much better.

They start similarly but the book falls into a pattern of Kiki doing one quirky errand after another without really progressing a deeper story. Good and cozy book though, lighthearted and feel-good.

Quotes

“Listen, Kiki,’ Kokiri said. ‘In the past, it wasn’t just us witches – all sorts of people had mysterious powers. But most regular people connected these gifts to bad things in their heads. They believed our powers would bring terrible luck.’ ‘That could be true.’ Okino nodded thoughtfully. ‘It was! You always heard about how witches made mould grow in fresh milk, but that was simply a way to make a special kind of cheese. And now look, today everyone eats that same cheese.”

“It’s strange that I’m a witch and even I don’t know. Some say it’s because there’s no such thing as a completely dark night or perfect silence any more – if there’s a light on or if there’s even a tiny noise, we get distracted and can’t get our magic to work.”

“In Kiki’s hometown, it was a New Year’s Eve tradition to eat big meatballs simmered with tomatoes. So, Kiki pulled herself together and got to work. She made meatballs as big as apples and simmered them with boiled tomatoes she had saved from the summer, remembering how her mother used to do it. At home, everyone would eat and share their memories of the past year. When the clock struck midnight, they would hug the person next to them and say, It was a good year for both of us, wasn’t it?” “In Kiki’s hometown, it was a New Year’s Eve tradition to eat big meatballs simmered with tomatoes. So, Kiki pulled herself together and got to work. She made meatballs as big as apples and simmered them with boiled tomatoes she had saved from the summer, remembering how her mother used to do it. At home, everyone would eat and share their memories of the past year. When the clock struck midnight, they would hug the person next to them and say, It was a good year for both of us, wasn’t it?”

“Kokiri put the belly band on beneath her clothes right away and patted her stomach. ‘Mum, I’m pretty sure that lady puts her own mysterious powers into the belly bands when she knits them.’ ‘Lots of older people seem to have powers like that,’ Okino said, looking at the belly band in his hand.”

“Mum, I’ve been thinking that witches shouldn’t always rely on their brooms. Of course, with my new business I’m usually delivering things in a hurry, so I need to fly. But sometimes it’s good to walk. When you walk, you end up talking to all sorts of different people even if you don’t even want to, you know? I met Osono because I was walking. If I had flown to distract myself from how sad I was, who knows how I would have ended up? And when people see a witch up close, they realize that we don’t all have pointy noses and gaping mouths. We can discuss things and maybe come to understand each other.”

“How wonderful it is to have a place to return to.”