Delayed Reaction: Kiki's Delivery Service

Premise: A young witch sets up shop in a new town and begins a delivery service.

It's time to call it. I prefer Miyazaki movies set in something like the real world. The castles, be them moving or in the sky, are fun, but I like when he's injecting magic into something that looks like the real world. That means Kiki, Totoro, and Spirited Away rate highest for me. I've still got a few of his movies to get through. Perhaps something will change my mind. For now, that's my stance.

Kiki's Delivery Service is a thoroughly pleasant movie. So pleasant, that I kept expecting worse things to happen, only to be delighted when they didn't. I like a movie about good people being good to each other. The biggest drama of the movie is that Kiki gets too sad to use her powers for a little while. Sure, there's also an airship accident. That's mainly to literalize the stakes. I get why some of Miyazaki's bigger movies are the more beloved, but I found this to be among his most easily enjoyable.

I like the American voice cast too. Even though I immediately recognized Kirsten Dunst's voice, I wasn't distracted by it being her. The only thing that was actually distracting was trying to place where this movie belonged in the timeline of Phil Hartman's untimely death.

Verdict: Strongly Recommend