Majo no Takkyuubin Episode 1 Discussion

I actually really love this movie (despite the fact it is probably mostly aimed at young girls and I am a guy in my 20s). It is just a really happy, enjoyable film all around, and is probably one of if not my favourite Studio Ghibli film.

I have watched both the dub and sub and liked them both. I actually liked Jiji's voice for some odd reason xD.

I know there is some controversy over some early dub edits, namely Jiji speaking at the end when Miyazaki never intended it to be that way, but I actually preferred the way the dub ended, if for no other reason than it was happier. I think the whole message of her becoming mature that Miyazaki was trying to get across with making Kiki lose the ability to speak with Jiji was clear enough without it.

In fact I enjoyed this movie enough to research the original book, which I found had been translated several years back. Turns out istis rather rare and expensive but I was lucky and found a 2nd hand library copy for £5-£10.

The book is for those interested a far more basic story (not that the movie was complex, the simplicity is part of why I like it :P). The book starts off in the same way as the movie, and many of her adventures are the same or similar, but whereas the movie goes off into the story of her losing her powers, the book merely follows her adventures from start to end. She never loses her powers and always has the ability to speak to Jiji (The book says a witch and her cat stay together until she finds a partner, at which time they go off to live their own lives separably). Although the end message is more or less the same in just showing how Kiki has grown up and matured over the time of her journey.

The movie shows how she has grown through her regaining her powers etc and losing her ability to talk to Jiji is suppose to symbolize it too. The book simply ends with her visiting her mother, who Kiki realizes she eagerly wants to here her praise and she tells her she has matured a lot. She then, satisfied that she had matured and choosing to become a witch was the right choice, despite being home only a few days is eager to return, and the book finishes as she makes her way back to 'her town'.

The movie takes the general idea and puts more emphasis on the characters and specific elements of Kiki's journey, whereas the book had far less focus on any single characters other than Kiki or Jiji (Tombo had far less importance in the book for example). Only a few of the adventures in the book were used in the movie, but they were expanded and given more impact to the overall story.

I think the movie was overall very good and I would choose it over the original book. However when people debate about the dub edits, keep in mind that Miyazaki changed the story from the book far more than those changes in the dub.