Studio Ghibli Addresses Kiki’s Delivery Service’s Most Controversial Moment

While Studio Ghibli is set to swing open the doors of their first-ever amusement park later this year, the animation house is still working on animated films that are considered to be the best examples of anime by many. Now, the animation house has dove into a moment from one of their biggest movies, Kiki’s Delivery Service, when it came to the ending of the story that introduced a young witch who soared above the clouds and used her supernatural abilities to help create her own business. The moment in itself definitely had layers and meant big things for Kiki’s future.

Kiki’s Delivery Service first arrived in 1989, becoming one of the first films that Ghibli had created and was directed by legendary anime filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. In the film, we are introduced to a young girl named Kiki who just so happens to be a witch and must leave home as a part of tradition, alongside her black cat Jiji. Throughout the film, the young witch is able to converse with her pet, but in the final moments of the film, Jiji reverts back to a regular black cat, leaving it up to the audience to decide why it had lost its voice. 

Following a recent airing of the award-winning Studio Ghibli film, a founder of Studio Ghibli, Toshio Suzuki, went into detail regarding Jiji’s sudden change at the end of the film and what it meant for Kiki moving forward:

“Jiji is not just a pet, he’s another self [for Kiki]. So when she’s conversing with Jiji, she’s really just talking to herself. Her being unable to speak with Jiji at the end means that she no longer needs her alter ego, and that she can now do well in the town of Koriko. Kiki will grow into a fine witch who can do things by herself without having to rely on the existence of Jiji.”

Studio Ghibli hasn’t ever created a sequel to one of their films in the past, instead opting to go with original stories for each of their films, but fans can expect Kiki’s Delivery Service to make an appearance at the amusement park set to open in Japan later this year, as the studio attempts to bring some of its animated locales to life.

What did you think of the ending of this Studio Ghibli classic? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of Ghibli. 

Via Sora News 24