Therapist Reacts to KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ต.ค. 2023
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How do you rekindle your passion?
Licensed therapist Jonathan Decker and filmmaker Alan Seawright return to the Ghibliverse to react to Kiki’s Delivery Service. Or as Jonathan calls it, How Kiki Got Her Broom Back! They talk about Kiki losing her ability and passion to fly and how it relates to making work out of our hobbies and interests. Jonathan talks about the psychology of losing your passion and getting over self-doubt. Alan can relate to Kiki and opens up about his struggle to pursue filmmaking professionally. As usual, they are a little confused by the plot and universe, but they appreciate Studio Ghibli's special brand of whimsy.
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Written by: Megan Seawright, Jonathan Decker, and Alan Seawright
Produced by: Jonathan Decker, Megan Seawright, Alan Seawright, and Corinne Demyanovich
Edited by: Emily Colton
Director of Photography: Bradley Olsen
English Transcription by: Anna Preis
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What would it take for Cinema Therapy to watch Anime in subbed form rather than subbed since context get lost in translation
Can you guys please do Spider-Man Across the Spider Verse and Josee the Tiger and the Fish please
Dear Cinema Therapy, for the love of film, when you do Studio Ghibli or other non-English animated films, PLEASE do them in the original soundtrack with English subtitles.
The English dubs are just so much worse than the original voices - it majorly detracts from the quality of the film. That awkwardness of the conversation you were picking up on was mainly due to how conversation flows completely differently in Japanese and it just doesn't work in English and doesn't convey the characters feelings the same way as the original. The conversations are not as awkward in Japanese - even though you'd be reading the subtitles in English, you can hear the tone of voice and flow of conversation and it makes so much more sense in Japanese. Please, please try it out with the original sound and subtitles next time!
19:10 this advice hit me so hard. I’m currently in a 2 year nursing program and I am failing classes. My student debt is racking up and my family needs me to help financially. I literally was afraid that I was a failure and that I should quit to become a nurse, but now that I have a healthy dose of fear and sense of responsibility I am studying harder, I am working part time jobs to be more useful, but the stress is not eating me alive anymore and I am channeling it into purpose.
We need a cinema therapy on princess mononoke.😊
After growing up on Ghibli I can accurately say this was my childhood therapy when I needed it but couldn’t get actual therapy. I genuinely believe I became a better person by internalizing the messages Ghibli tried to convey
I'm not a witch, but I still really relate to Kiki. My family moved across the country when I was like 8 years old and I got bullied pretty badly by the new kids at my new school. Eventually I made some friends, but it was rough being the new kid for a while.
Same! Kiki's delivery service is my therapy. Any time I need to let out all the pent up emotions, I grab two beers and watch Kiki's delivery service and cry throughout the whole thing.
Same helped me though my teen years
Yes I agree
It also teached me a lot
I remmeber howls castle, I was asking confused why the witch gave the heart and my mom answered...
She asked for it
these words stays with me til this day cleaely
yes and the main character is always a girl portrayed being very strong, brave, and compassionate. this helped me growing up in a patriarachal culture that does not value women.
Always considered Kiki's Delivery Service as a love letter to artists, or anyone in a creative field. We all suffer these slumps and struggles.
It did it so respectfully, too. As a musician AND artist it’s always irritating when you’re in a creative slump and somebody says; “well, that’s okay! Just do [the thing you’re in a slump with] and it’ll help get you out!”
I cannot just sit at a keyboard and compose a piece, or paint something if my mind isn’t in it. This movie nails what it feels like to be in that slump, and it’s truly a comfort film of mine.
I remember watching a video about that exact topic. Never thought about it before but it makes a lot of sense.
Totally❤ I am a cluster of different mediums and always finding a pothole but somehow mend the tires of inspiration. Kiki’s always been my very first comfort character
100 percent
As an artist myself these conversations are very relatable especially the painting part since I'm a painter
I viewed Kiki's slump as a realization that not everyone is kind to each other all the time as her life had been up to that point. The change from childhood to becoming her own person and no longer relying on others to tell her her worth.
Though young, she wasn't a child anymore, and there's a lot that goes into that and how people treat you from that perspective.
It's something a lot of people go through.
Something that was missed in my opinion: The whole "your heart needs to be in the right place" also refers to Kiki being jealous. Of the colourful clothes and "freedom" the other girls have and Jiji finding a girlfriend while she feels lonely. She becomes mean and demeaning and that's a reason why her magic isn't working anymore.
Really well said! I'm honestly surprised (and a little disappointed) that they didn't pick up on this important aspect of this movie.
this comment hit hard - thank you for this
I personally feel like her irritability was more of a result of her burnout rather than the reason why she was losing her magic. As stated in the film, she loved flying until she started doing it for work. She had shown desire/envy for cute and colorful clothes and a standoffish attitude before she began to struggle with flying. I think she also felt stuck with the dress she had to wear as a witch. It wasn't until after she saw the girl's lack of gratitude for her grandma (and also her) efforts in making the pie, then seeing her again after getting sick that she could no longer fly. Regardless, "your heart needs to be in the right place" is still true. I think CT hit the nail on the head when they said she loved helping people, and when she was hit with moments where she did and they weren't happy, she lost sight of why she did it in the first place.
Her dress and bow looks cool and unique. And she can fly too , what's not to like 😊
I think it's more that Kiki is feeling insecure and unlike herself. In the beginning of the film, we see how she chooses to dress. She chooses a pink day dress. To Kiki, I'm sure the black dress, to start, is only worn out of obligation to tradition. It all compounds on her feelings of burnout. She becomes so focused on being a certain way that she loses herself, she stops seeing the fun in things.
Kiki really hit me harder as a young women entering the world. That sense of being lost and failing without really being able to say why is very relatable.
I like how beautiful designer girl is being supportive to Kiki while drawing her
Same here. I claim Kiki as my literally me.
"Flying used to be fun until I started doing it for a living." Just keeps hitting me harder as time goes on.
You have to find the fun and pleasure in it again and again. Let yourself enjoy discovering why is it that you like doing that. Sometimes we forget but its important to always be aware that there is a reason you do it and also some bew beutiful reasons to love what you do.
This hits so hard when you’re an artist
According to Miyazaki, Kiki’s ability to communicate with Jiji is never recovered because she grows up. That’s a recurring theme in Miyazaki’s works, where children have a special ability to be in touch with nature and the mystical world (much like Totoro, Spirited Away, etc.) It’s one of the saddest, yet favorite detail of the film 🥲
It's a detail that's lost in translation. After catching Tombo, in the original Japanese, Jiji comes back to her and meows. But in the English dub he speaks again.
@@Yessica13 oh really. I didn’t know that! 😅 That’s a shame because it’s one of my favorite details of the story…
@@Yessica13They fixed that in the re-release of the English dub. As much comfort as it can be to have Jiji speak again, Miyazaki has never shied away from keeping a little bitterness in children's stories because he knows it's the reality of just living and growing up.
@@zeechops401 oh great! Glad they fixed it!
I think it's why I still resonate with the English dub more, cuz now knowing the context of that small detail, I now interpret the dub version as "just because you will inevitably grow up, it doesn't mean you have to lose that inner child or spark of wonder"
According to the Miyazaki himself, Jiji is meant to represent the immature side of Kiki, her alter ego if you will, and while yes part of her magical ability that she lost was the power to talk to cats, not able to talk to Jiji is about her becoming more mature and no longer relying on Jiji after "growing up", which is what this film is really about
That’s so interesting thank you for sharing!
Thank you, I didn't know !
I honestly find that both extremely lame and inaccurate.
The phrase, "When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up," by C.S. Lewis, comes to mind.
I don't really think Kiki would or should have lost her ability to speak to Jiji, ideally.
@@littlemoth4956consider that it was written more than 30 years ago and in Japan. The culture and environment are different.
Yeah, I've always felt that too. Jiji was the one in the film consistently being the voice of reason; fretting over flying too high, relaying the warning from the geese on the gust of wind, and even comforting her that she still has time to make the party with Tombo. He never came off as Kiki's immaturity, save for his reaction to the Witch they meet on their way to the city.
It could just be badly translated. I could see some sort of explanation like "Kiki is immature, so Jiji's is meant to try and guide her until she matures" as more understandable, but the quote as I've seen it has always struck me as just an incredibly weird thing to say and doesn't seem to match what's shown in the film at all. @@littlemoth4956
I just want to take a moment to say that as someone who has to watch everything with subtitles, I genuinely appreciate the cinema therapy team taking the time to make sure their captions are accurate. I often don't have the option to watch with sound on at all, and these are some of the only videos where I can still follow what's happening even when it's completely muted.
Anna, who writes our captions, is incredible!
@@CinemaTherapyShow Big thanks to Anna! I have to use subtitles even on English shows because of difficulty hearing, and some shows have THE WORST captions.
@@CinemaTherapyShowIs it possible if I were to translate your shows and share it to the Mandarin Chinese speaking community? I've always found comfort and acknowledgement in these episodes myself, and sometimes when my friends (who're not fluent in English) are going through certain obstacles in their lives, I'd share it with them but they weren't able to fully understand the contents.
Agreed. I'm autistic and currently dealing with a pretty rough bout of burnout, which for me looks like coming home from work and immediately self-isolating from as much sensory input as I can without completely removing my ability to enjoy my free-time. In this case, that means watching TH-cam on mute/with noise cancelling headphones and with captions on, and without these wonderful captions, I wouldn't get to enjoy these videos
"Find something that pays better and do the thing you love as a hobby." These are words to live by. That's what I do! I'm a writer but it would be so soul-sucking to have to do it as my job. Instead I nitpick other people's writing for a living and use the money they pay me to keep a roof over my head while I write my idiotic stuff! Win-win baby!
HECK YEAH!
That’s why I can never do any cooking or baking as a job
This is exactly why I'm not a writer or artist by trade. Well, this and also the whole "starving artist" trope being a little too common
@@animeartist888 Yep! Mad respect for people who can pull that off, but I like having a steady paycheck a bit too much. So I write on the side instead. It's fine.
Exactly what I do too
As an artist, can I just say that I GREATLY appreciate your commentary. The majority of my life, people have treated me as magically gifted, naturally talented, God-given, etc. But to see y'all appreciate the skill, the effort, and understand that it /looks/ natural for us only because we've tried and failed and tried and succeeded in an endless loop is so nice to hear acknowledged. What creative people do isn't magic, it's blood, sweat, and tears. Part of why I love this movie so much. Because I can relate so much to that struggle. Kiki is always a lovely and inspiring movie to watch. Cheers for sharing y'alls thoughts on it :)
We're glad you enjoyed the episode. Thanks for watching!
I try to remember how much work goes into being an artist, the years of practice, before I get all jealous. EXCEPT this one kid in like 3rd grade who was, just, _too damned good_ for his age by a _wide_ margin.
Screw that kid.
It sucks when you get Art block. I felt the same way my first couple of years doing it professionally, but eventually I got more motivation and inspiration. The key factor for my shift in attitude was that, eventually, my inspo will always return. It waxed and wanes, but it’s still there and my slump won’t last forever.
All the creative work is the most unappreciated work. Everybody thinks they can do ít and that's what has killed it to me.
I am an artist too and it’s incredible how much people have no idea how much work goes into it. Sometimes I’ll be watching a show with my non-artist friends and I’ll get all excited if it’s really good and they’re looking at it like it’s just any other show. I’ll be like “this is incredible! Do you not see this greatness!?” And I get a blank look. Our efforts go unnoticed by society a lot. It felt really good to hear about this kind of struggle reflected in the video.
I always equated Kiki losing her magic to full on burnout, rather than just a regular slump. I burned out several times in college, and it took a lot of extra effort for me to graduate. I have healed now, as much as I can, but that experience has changed me, permanently. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to dedicate the same amount of willpower to getting my work done again. Miyazaki says that Kiki never regains the ability to talk to Jiji because she grew up, but I don’t really like that angle. I think it makes far more sense that Kiki pushed herself so hard for so long that when her magic finally shut down, it left scars on her that won’t ever completely go away.
I think that's a much better interpretation, because it rubs me the wrong way seeing her inability to talk to Jiji as a good thing.
I was really amazed they didn't mention burnout. But then, they do mention that Miyazaki movies mean different things to different people. It taking her to go stay with a friend to take time to heal and talking about how it is ok to take a break and do nothing is very important because Kiki would not have allowed herself to do that. She would have just kept working herself to the point of detriment. Then when she sucks at doing it again they say it is because she is flying from a place of stress instead of relaxation, and I don't disagree with that, but from the burnout angle it could be viewed from you CAN do it again you just realize it is work, which coincides with her not being able to talk to Jiji anymore. Like she didn't go back to normal all the way.
Fun fact! Kiki has a black cat for a companion not simply because she's a witch! This movie was made in partnership with the Japanese courier company Kuroneko Yamato, which is not only a courier company, but they also use a black cat as their mascot! You couldn't have wished for a more suitable partner!
Also, "Wally" is still "Wally" in Japan, the books are called "woorii wo sagase!" ("Search for Wally!").
"How Kiki got her broom back" is exactly the type of dad humor that I've always missed having in my life. So happy to have your videos to watch
My out of the slump story: I was in school for animation, and at the start of my last year my favorite teacher got a letter from a former student about what his life was like as an animator. He was really disheartened: He wasn't making enough money and he kept getting put on projects that weren't what he had signed up for. I'd been ignoring that the animation industry is crushing and I'm a naturally anxious person who had been quietly struggling to stave off depression for years. At the same time, the animation industry was in the middle of several high profile sexual harassment debacles. I finally internalized that the program itself and several of the teachers that focused on other disciplines in the animation pipeline were all very disparaging against the animators, and that animators are the most easily replaced part of the process. I completely lost the ability to animate. I'd sit down in front of the project I'd been working on for months, that I was almost done with, and I'd just burst into tears. It was my senior project and every week I had to present what I'd worked on for at least 20 hours, and every week it was almost the exact same animation as last week. I went to my teacher and said I was thinking of dropping out. He convinced me to stick it out to at least get my degree. Then I graduated into the pandemic, so on top of personal crisis now we had a world crisis. I couldn't even open my animation program any more. I played Stardew Valley for 80 hours a week because I couldn't think about any part of my existence. As the pandemic started to calm down, I got a subsistence job at a sandwich shop that physically and emotionally drained me, so I still couldn't think about animation. I tried to take a couple online classes, barely scraped by and was miserable.
A friend from school got me a job at a school tutoring modeling and animation, so I did something crazy and moved 500 miles away on a week's notice. A lot of the job is downtime just waiting for someone to need help, so I work on my own projects. Still couldn't bring myself to animate, started working on tangential skills that might hopefully have a little more job security. About 8 months in, the school was putting together a show to demonstrate some of the students' work, and they wanted the staff to make little 10 second shorts introducing the categories. The show theme was "cryptids" and all the staff had a lot of fun organizing what cryptids could be included and what we might do with them. I actually wanted to work on it. I made an animation of a Fresno nightcrawler, which is a goofy little guy that's basically just a walking pair of pants. All I did was a walk animation, but the model was so goofy that no matter what I did it was delightful to look at. The short was silent but I ended up timing it to Stayin' Alive, which just made it even more delightful. There were plenty of other people working on a surplus of shorts, so I was constantly reassured that if I couldn't finish this one it wouldn't be a huge deal. So I finally had a no pressure animation that was actually super fun to work on, and I was able to finish it in plenty of time to a really good quality. After that, I absolutely smashed out another short in just a couple days. It probably helped that I had another project for a different department that was soul crushing, so finishing my tasks for that and going back to my silly little guys felt like a reward. It was probably almost 3 years since the last time I had enjoyed animating, and I finally was able to face it again. I'm still trying to pivot away from animation as my main focus, but now I'm not afraid to engage with it and can fall back on playing with it when I feel like it would enhance what I'm working on.
So yeah. I got out of my slump basically by just riding it out, living life elsewhere, pushing it back to being a hobby, and then getting back into it in a low stakes way that reminded me what had been fun about it in the first place.
As a fellow animator who struggled to find a job in animation - I needed to hear this. Thank you. I hope one day I will do fun little animations too, just like I used to.
I cried four times yesterday cuz I was doing an animation course this past year to improve my techniques and even after quiting my job to focus on study, I couldn't find the energy to dedicate myself. My couse ends in two weeks and my scenes doesn't look like I was expecting. At this moment I can't dedicate as much as I'd like and I even considered quitting. But even feeling like a failure and extremely guilty cuz I just wanted to play all day, my teacher noticed that I was improving and that made me think that I can be a better artist if my mind is healed. For now I need a break, but I want to try again and explore my style, animate what I want to animate and be happy with the process again. This video came in a perfect timing.
I'm not an animator but I've always wanted a job in gaming. Buuuuut...Gaming is pretty soul crushing and still a hard place to be in especially as a woman (IE blizzard). And breaking out into the gaming scene is almost impossible. So I started (not on this account lol) to make gaming content because my love for video games is not going to be crushed just because the jobs either aren't there or suck.
Your story is so encouraging! I'm an educator at a museum. I love my job but there are parts I dread. Every job has that. I always reward myself for getting through the hard parts. I encourage you to reward yourself too, as often as you need. Your fun little animation guys sound like a great way to do it!
I'm currently in slump it's been 5 months I'm super terrified I'll never come out and feel energy again.
I love that when Kiki saves Tombo, her flight is super far away from perfection, but it doesn't matter, 'cause she's there to save him.
As a therapist myself, I love the psychoanalytical breakdown of these classic films. Wonderful channel and keep up the good work guys!
We appreciate you. Thanks for watching!
Its great! I'm so glad this one stuck. College humor or cracked tried to do psychoanalysis as a bit and it didn't get a lot of viewership for some reason but the positivity and sincerity here I think really grabs the audience.
I'm currently getting assessed for ADHD, but when I first watched this film I had no idea what was "wrong with me". Seeing Kiki just suddenly not being able to do something she usually likes, that's usually easy, was incredibly relatable and reassuring. I needed to be told that it was okay to accept that this is simply a thing I'm unable to do right now, and it doesn't make me worse in any way. Executive dysfunction is awful, but even worse when you experience it without knowing what it is, and this movie was just really important for me going through it.
I'm going through the exact same thing. It really soul crushing to get stuck on a project all of a sudden and just drop it. Now, knowing that I have ADHD, I don't stress about it as much as I used to and find another alternative to get through it or pick it up later on with a different mind set.
The executive dysfunction is the worst. Extremely frustrating.
Didn’t even realize but it’s funny you mention adhd because I was diagnosed a year ago and this was my favorite movie growing up. Truly the frustration of wanting to do something but not being able to organize myself to do it is like forgetting to fly. I’m still in my ‘long walks, noon naps’ phase but starting to feel a bit better. I hope you get to fly again too ☺️
Have ADHD as well. Didn’t know until earlier this year (I’m 24) and this was also my favorite Ghibli film growing up! Lol 😂
This was one of my favorite movies growing up too and I also ... wait for it ... have ADHD and was diagnosed with it about 1 year 1/2 ago. Yes it is very frustrating and life is up and down. Understanding how my brain works helps and being able to tell friends and family what's going on.
Something I’ve learned over my time in basically all my hobbies: The goal isn’t just to get that great applause, it’s to get to a point where the greatest praise someone can give you is to not be surprised.
see, for me i dont know why but the "compliment of "not being surprised" is absolutely terrifying to me.
Yes! That’s the best compliment. Especially if you are a professional and it’s another professional that just knows you’re good
I think when it comes to belief in your capability, this is a good goal. But when it comes to what people expect from you, you should always surprise them with new & better things as you continue to learn & grow. Aim higher every time.
For me I just want to get to the point where I don't have to sweat and swear over every move. When my hobby becomes something like talking where I can think about what I want to say and not stress over how I move every single muscle in my face to make the sounds. That's greater then any applause
i want my creations to be extensions of myself that i get to appreciate. i want to make music like it is breathing and get excited over every note
I'm an artist and currently in that very "lost the magic" slump. I did commissioned artwork for years, but wasn't very popular. I put way too much of my self worth in how much art I sold, and ended up with very low self esteem. Watching your videos has helped me realize where I went wrong, but the healing process is slow. It's still hard to draw for myself anymore, and it's harder to do commissions.
What helped me was doing simple doodles . Triangles with googly eyes .loops to fill a page .making letters of the alphabet into faces or flowers. Google art prompts to do doodles off of. I give you hugs and I wish you the best
For me, I stopped posting for a bit. I started rewatching movies and anime that got me into art in the first place, my interests when I was a middle schooler. Now at my fourth attempt, I’m able to regularly draw again almost every day. What inspired you to start drawing?
The same for me. I was aiming to be an illustrator at an agency and made it but I haven’t been able to draw for myself and enjoy it in years and I’m a bit miserable not gonna lie. It’s so hard to figure out what’s going on or what to do. But we’ll…one step at a time I guess. ❤
I wish I could recall how I first found your channel. But as soon as I did, I binged it. In my online class, we had to present on any topic we were passionate about. I shared your channel! The response was very positive and sparked great discussion. Some of my classmates even began to watch during our class break. Just...thank you for this channel. You folks are love.
Thanks so much for sharing our channel! And thanks for watching. 😊
Fun thing about Kiki’s first learning process: it’s briefly shown, but not really explained, at the start of the movie (explained more thoroughly in the book): she pushes off a tree branch with a bell attached to it, and one of her neighbors mentions he’ll miss the sound of the bells.
When she was learning to fly, she’d get distracted and zone out and crash, so they tied bells to tree branches to snap her out of it once she started flying too low.
Let me say your channel has saved my life. This and Mended Light. I'm going through a hard divorce now but your videos are so healing. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. To everyone who contributes to your videos.. you're amazing.
We're so honored to be part of your healing journey. Thank you for sharing and being with us. ❤️
You're amazing Corrina ❤ I'm so grateful for you being in my life
I'm just an Interwebs stranger but my heart goes out to you 🥰🫂
Continue your journey!
I’m SO proud of you. Know that no matter what hardships are thrown your way, that you are the strongest person. Especially when you feel the weakest, because you continue on anyway. 💜
This is also one of my favorite Ghibli movie. I am a speech therapist and I had a burnout like 2 months ago or so. I quit my job, I was considering changing my career and I was in a place where I loved the job but I was having second thoughts, similar to Kiki I had lost my magic. Then, one client reached me. Their child had autism and they needed help. After having second thoughts, I decided to give it a shot. After first session, mom cried and their child hugged me and kissed me. That’s when I remembered why I am doing this. I am not interested in money, I just want to help people. Soon, I got a better job offer and now I am going as strong as before. I am thankful for that child and the mom. I love my job despite everything and I am glad to be a part of it.
The quiet but firm "Fly." Still gives me chills to this day. Its been almost 2 decades since i first saw this in high school.
Even as a kid I loved the idea that a witch must leave home to do good and learn about herself. Independence is an invaluable skill set and provides alot of positivity to your mental health. She loses her magic when she starts to lose her self
You're an adult it appears, so heres my clueless young adult rant: I'm 24 and still haven't moved out or gotten my driver's license. The place I'm living in isn't a good environment mentally. I think I have a great amount of doubt in myself and hate myself. I think I'm too stupid to do anything and will just mess everything up. I get tired of what I deal with where I live, but the motivation to move out dwindles quickly. I see an advantage partially by not moving out at the same time in terms of saving money. My other stupid reason is I want to try to make YT videos and if I move out, I'll be in an apartment where its harder to record with me making noise and needing the people around me to not make noise. So I'm conflicted about really trying to move out. I'm trying to refresh my driving knowledge. If I get really familiar with the knowledge, I'll be less scared of driving obviously with more understanding. I just think having to drive is annoying so that doesn't help. Like I don't want to have to own a car and know how to take care of it. But everything is difficult without a car. I want to watch some videos on personal finance since I know nothing about it. Me not knowing anything about that makes me scared to move out. I've been getting lazier about working though, I can't help but hate it. The only job I can easily get is at Amazon, but I quickly get tired of that type of work. Fastfood is very stressful and unlivable wage and retail also doesn't pay enough. I know its unlikely, but I view trying to do TH-cam as a way to potentially make money that is more fun. So I care a lot about that. If I'm going to spend 40 hours working every week for years, I want it to not be something I hate. I know I have to commit and just get a job again and keep working. I'd have to use my free time to try to find more fun ways to make money. My motivation to do anything to make things better never lasts and I obviously don't have self discipline.
@@yosachaiko9969 I am actually not much older than you and I have gone through much the same! Life is tricky and you never stop growing even when you feel like you're standing still.
One thing I always appreciate about Ghibli films is their empathy. Regardless of perspective, the main characters are treated with respect, and addressing universal problems allows anyone of any age to visit their struggles on screen.
I’ve never clicked on an episode faster! I think about this topic a lot, as a pianist and songwriter. Something that helped me through a slump was temporarily abandoning the aspects of music that were challenging and frustrating, and focusing on only playing music that gave me joy. Eventually I found my way back to challenges because of the joy they can give in their own way :)
The timing of this video is uncanny. These are the big issues I'm facing right now, Kiki's is my comfort movie, and I started therapy the same day this was released.
One thing I’d love to hear you two talk about is the reason Jiji lost his ability to speak. Originally in the first English dub, Jiji did regain his speech, but in the second dub that Disney did, they returned to the original’s spirit of him staying a normal cat. See, in the Japanese sub, Jiji was a lot more “reserved” and motherly, like a guide for Kiki, whereas Phil Hartman brought more spunk and sass to Jiji. People fell in love with Hartman’s personality-filled Jiji, but there was some controversy about the producers misconstruing Miyazaki’s original intention of Jiji being Kiki’s childhood mentor. When asked why Kiki couldn’t hear Jiji talk at the end, Miyazaki said (paraphrasing) that when Kiki grew up, she no longer “needs” Jiji like she used to. I’m curious what you two think of that sentiment, and the idea of adults having to “put away childish things.”
Having grown up with the original English dub, it made me so DEEPLY sad when I learned he never spoke again in the Japanese. I still have to force myself to see it framed as "learning to stand on your own" rather than "losing something/someone you love."
He doesn't speak again in the Russian dub, either
This is something I've always found interesting and actually, what's kinda neat is I've just finished reading the original book (in the original Japanese) that the film is based on and not only does Jiji not lose his ability to speak at all (at least not within the first book, there are like 7, but the first book contains more or less the plot of the film), but he's also pretty damn sassy. Like his personality was very much in line with what I remembered in English as a kid haha. You could translate Phil Hartmann's voice into Japanese and it would fit perfectly haha. Easily my favourite character. It's definitely interesting!
From what I've seen, this seems to reflect a cultural difference between Japan and western cultures. There are several animes (including other Ghibli movies) where the Japanese story puts emphasis on magical aspects fading away on growing up, while the western translations cut or alter those parts. Western works also tend to hold that being young at heart matters more than your actual age. Personally I like it a lot better if Jiji talks again after Kiki regains her magic. Just because she doesn't "need" his support in the same way she used to doesn't mean that he's not still her friend.
I think it was in the documentary, “The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness” where Miyazaki said he was asked why Jiji stopped speaking and he said (paraphrasing), “Sometimes you’ve said everything you’re going to say to one another.” The idea of that really stuck with me since it just gave rise to more questions.
Kiki's Delivery service might be the most relatable ghibli movie, you might not understand the movie plot completely but you end up crying because deep down you know you're in the same place as Kiki is
I think all of the movies are relatable it's just you get so wrapped up in the beautiful, fantasy spectacle that unless hidden messages apply to your life, you miss it. Like how Howl's Moving Castle has a message in regards to self worth and the struggle of low self esteem. My Neighbor Totoro is about learning to cope with new and stressful situations and to be there when people are having a hard time.
I’m Japanese and grew up watching this movie over and over. Couldn’t agree more about how it’s relatable. As to what I do to get over a slump, I’ve been following what I’ve learned from this movie - I try hard and hard and hard first to make it work. If I can’t make it work still, I try to relax, spend time with family and friends, or travel to refresh. It has always worked. Soon afterwards I gain a new perspective or a new path and realize everything was worth it.
I actually wrote a whole book about tying your identity so strongly to one thing and how that makes you lose touch with yourself. When that character hits that crisis, she starts trying to discover her identity by tracking things she likes--small things like the way wind feels, or a favorite article of clothing, or food she likes. She puts this in a "like list." I have one too, and when I start to get really unmoored, I fall back on that to remind myself that there are tangible things I enjoy that define me as a person, when I feel like purpose has abandoned me. The one thing I've been trying really hard not to do is to tie my worth to my writing. I've done that once with stage management, and when I burned out and lost touch with that, it through me into a crisis similar to what Alan mentioned. Honestly, I'm not sure if I'm succeeding though, as the currant definition of my purpose that I have in my head write now, is to actualize the stories of the characters clogging my brain. I relate to Kiki a lot. Especially within the arts, I think burnout is a really hard problem, because the arts are something people generally pursue for the joy or need to do it, but society makes it really hard to live as an artist alone. For me, when I get writers block, I switch to writing fan fiction. It's still writing, so I don't fall out of practice or anything, but since the characters or world already exist, it's less creative pressure and lower stakes to write, and something may come up while writing it that actually proves useful to my original works. I found that while I definitely need to get better about stepping away and giving myself a break, if I'm in stasis too long, I won't want to start again. I need to constantly be doing something, so if I'm starting to burn out or lose steam, I either start consuming a lot of media with my brain turned on, or trying out some other creative pursuit, and I make sure I leave the writing document open, so I know it's right there waiting for me to go back to. If I were to ever close a document, it would be ages before I'd get myself to open it again.
what's your book called?
What’s your book called?
@@AlethrialTheElvenEmpress Turtle A by Ellie Martin-McKinsey (pen name)
Kiki could easily be classified by many as a child's movie, but the subject matter really ressonates with older burned out adults. Miyazaki, one of the most talented and outstanding artists of all time, is telling us that when we are burned out we should take a break and look at the trees. So who are we to do otherwise?
Many people seem to fall into the mindset that something being for kids means it is ONLY for kids. Stories made for children can be enjoyed by other ages, often to a deeper extent, as being older allows you to pick up on more of the nuances you may have missed when younger
All good stories have ideas that people of all ages can feed their mind with and nourish their soul. If an adult can't see the beauty and truth in a "children's" story, then it's not worthy for children either.
This is a good metaphor for disability too - sometimes your body breaks down and needs to rest before you can get back to work
and sometimes you just have to accept that your limits and abilities are different now.
Thank you. I have some kind of hormonal imbalance that no one can figure out and sometimes my body does a full shut down of my muscles. I just went through another burst and I really needed to see this today. I've tied my worth to supporting my family and I haven't been able to do that the past week. So... thank you.
Since it’s spooky season they should do an episode on Over the Garden Wall. It may be a mini series but it’s the length of a movie and it’s SO GOOD. There would be so much for them both to talk about what with all the artistry that went into it as well as Wirt’s struggles with self worth, anxiety, and pessimism, and the themes of existential dread, and hopelessness present in the setting of the unknown itself. I really really really hope they cover it one day.
Yes I posted this on the last video too. It must be seen by the right eyes to come to fruition
Over the garden wall would a great watch for them! I did a screening in my office and my friends loved it! It only takes like 2.5 hrs to watch the whole thing
Would love if they did this. Comparing Wirt's and Greg's outlooks would be cool.
That would definitely be a good one!
I'm so glad other people want this too! I am absolutely ITCHING for a Cinema Therapy on OTGW.
I agree!!! I love over the garden wall and it's a masterpiece of filmmaking and character building, and so worth the discussion!!!!!
As a current grad student also with ADHD, Jonno was right, grad school does suck but having a meaningful "why" definitely helps!
AHHH i’ve been waiting for this one! as a self-employed artist i occasionally watch myself go through kiki’s cycle of self-doubt and re-finding passion in unique skills and realizing differences can be what makes us stand out, instead of blend in. i really can’t wait to watch this, this movie has such a special arc that so many other stories don’t have or show young kids, especially girls. all the love movie dads💖
I'm begging you, please do Whisper of the Heart. It is my favorite film of all time! Plus it deals with the omnipresent struggle as an artist: learning to love your own work and realizing that you are enough.
I second this!! Kiki and Whisper of the heart has been my go-to comfort movies and inspiration as an artist - it's underrated and so much more down to earth compared to magical-esque themes in Ghibli; but it really feels like a love letter to artists
Yes, another Whisper of the Heart fan!! It's such an underrated Ghibli film!
Plus, we'll get to hear the dads sing John Denver
Omg yess
Yes! I was just thinking, there are parallel themes in Whisper of the Heart, and I think they would enjoy it a lot. I have so much love for Kiki's as the first Ghibli film I watched, but Whisper of the Heart is a more cohesive movie and I relate to Shizuku even more so than I relate to Kiki, and I have grown to love Whisper of the Heart even more
I work in a professional services field and Kiki's Delivery Service is my favorite movie of all time. The themes don't just apply to artistic fields - they apply to anyone struggling with their self-worth.
Kiki's whole arc is so beautiful and so real. In early adolescence it's often easy to just enjoy the ride; you see the value you bring to people through your work for the first time, you experience a slew of new things, and you really expect to be bumbling your way through everything. At some point you come across a significant obstacle that shakes your entire sense of self worth. I was surprised you guys didn't spend more time on Kiki in her doldrums of sorrow, however, I've only watched the Japanese version with subtitles so maybe the translation made that bit less impactful in the English audio. In the subtitled version she says: "I think something is wrong with me. I make friends then suddenly I can't bear to be with any of them. That other me, the cheerful, honest me, went off somewhere." Kiki has serious social hangups as well as professional ones. She's experiencing a depression that impacts every aspect of her life. The order is actually the social issues with Tombo's friends first, but I don't think the order matters. Of course you guys nailed the purpose of the movie: it's all about finding your "why." Once Kiki finds her purpose she is able to bring that value to help her friend in need.
Now, in real life doing something as clear and impactful as saving someone's life isn't really an opportunity that comes around. It's likely a much more gradual process of small wins that help you rediscover your worth. But this is what makes Studio Ghibli so amazing. They take these incredibly complicated elements of life and manage to neatly wind them into a much simpler story in a way that captures all of the most important aspects but without taking the 100 hours it would take to fully flesh out every detail.
This movie connects with me in two ways. One: for a year I did a lot of volunteering work at farms, hostels, and restaurants in Europe and Kiki’s work for the bakery reminds me so much of those days. Two: I’m currently working on a novel that I am slowly slowly slowly picking away at. Some days are slower than others. Sometimes I’ll get 1000 words in an hour and other times I won’t write a single word for days. It’s not a painless process but I will climb this hill to the top!!!
I don't know if you've seen it but there's another wonderful Ghibli movie about a girl who wants to write a novel and her struggles with that and how her choice to dedicate all her time to that effects her life. It's called "The Wind Rises" and is the prequel to The Cat Returns which is much more lighthearted. I think you might take a lot away from the movie!
You don’t understand how EXCITED I AM you’ve made this video- I love this movie! ❤ I don’t actually watch films very often but your channel has made me appreciate not just the story and characters in film, but how the cinematography affects the tale woven onscreen. Thank you so much.
You're so welcome! Hope you enjoy the episode!
Same for me!!
Re: Jiji's loss of speech -- in the book the movie is based on, it's made clear that Jiji is not a talking cat, but rather that witches can talk with their familiars until they grow up and no longer need to. My impression on my first viewing of the film is that Miyazaki intended that scene to be another indication of Kiki's power loss due to her confidence problems. Either way, it's noteworthy that no one in the film other than Kiki -- not even her mother -- ever hears Jiji speak.
I needed this episode so bad, im in the same stage as kiki when she lost her power & today i got the grip of the situation & understood that i need to overcome the wall of overthinking & go back to loving what i do & how i do things in life, basically loving myself as well as my life 😇 much appreciation to you guys & everyone who worked on this video ❤️🙏🏻
We're happy to help. Thanks for watching!
same thing here!
This movie was my whole childhood. It fostered my love for animation, was the inspiration to start a career in animation, and helped me heal after my mom died. Kiki will always keep a special place in my heart.
I'm a veterinarian. Going through training for your childhood dream job then getting t9 deal with complaints, losing patients, people not being able to afford treatment and then turning round and calling you a money grabber is heart breaking. Kikis journey of losing her mojo due to her job speaks so deeply to me. Great episode, came just at the right time
Kiki uses the Kishotenketsu style of story telling.
Ki(introduction): Kiki doesn’t quite feel at home in the big city which is very different from her own little village.
Sho(Development): Kiki is beginning to doubt whether a witch can be accepted in such a big city.
Ten(Twist): Tombo gets into trouble and Kiki saves the day
Ketsu(conclusion): Kiki realizes her place in the city and everything works out in the end.
That’s interesting
Fun fact: many people associates Kiki’s ability to understand what Jiji is saying as a sign of her innocence and lack of maturity making the ending a bit more bitter-sweet yet satisfying
In the ending when Jiji get on Kiki’s shoulder, the english dub shows Jiji literally saying “meow” as “oh she can understand Jiji again, happy ending!!! :3”
But in Japanese, Jiji doesn’t says nothing, he literally meows as a normal cat, as “she might not understand Jiji anymore, but thats ok because she has grown up”
I think this was changed later for the english dub but is quite a detail that gives a deep meaning
I heard that Hayao Miyazaki felt that Jiji's ability to speak with Kiki is part of her childhood, and losing that is part of Kiki becoming a mature adult. In the original release, Jiji doesn't speak to her at the end of the film. In the English version, he does.
My favorite Ghibli movie of all time! A perfect go-to comfort film after a bad day at work. The soundtrack is amazing as well and is my most listened to from Ghibli. So happy you guys are discussing Kiki!
It's so comforting!
@@CinemaTherapyShowIt's both comforting and inspiring, like all the best stories.
The piece of advice from Allen about “find a better paying job that supports your hobby” is probably one of the best pieces of advice you could get. The millennial generation got told “pursue your strengths and passions”. Aaaaaaand that left a lot of kids in the lurch because they weren’t naturally gifted and pursued their dreams of being a marine biologist, but that doesn’t pay the bills too well
EXACTLY this. Although to some degree, I still do support the ideal of pursuing one's dreams, as that millenial, I think we now also need to emphasize the importance of taking care of oneself--mentally, physically, financially--to continue supporting those dreams.
I'm a millenial but I was not encouraged to follow my passions and dreams because I grew up in a toxic household where dreams were suppressed. So ols don't generealise. I think, encouragement to do what you love is a great thing personally. The other thing leaves you broken.
The point of the witches journey is a rite of passage. A witch is taught the foundations of magic and then tasked with a year long journey where they must find a skill that they want to master and then find a way to utilize it so that they can make a living out of it or how to use it to impact lives positively, etc. When they return home they have to show the fruit of their labor to their mentors.
This is my favorite studio ghibli movie because the struggle Kiki has is so real, so relatable, not just for a creative mind but for everyone who has ever loved something so much and wanted to turn it into more. Kiki had to learn about herself, her passion, and her feelings to understand her worth. This movie is not as over the top and fantastic as Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, or Princess Mononoke but it is more than capable of standing on it's own as a testament to the brilliance of the studio.
20:35 She was so used to flying with a true witches broom and now she has to use this PUSH broom. (of all things) That it tosses her around because she is not used to it. Reminded me of when her mom told her to take her broom because "She trusts it." Kiki probably learned to fly on her moms broom. Now she has this WORK horse of a broom rather then the flying stallion she was riding for so long.
As a senior in high school who is really stressed right now, watching this channel not only helps me relax and laugh but also makes me look forward to each and every movie. Thank you guys so much for the past few years of entertainment T-T
same
I think everyone who has had the necessity to find a job as a child, and quickly finds themselves independent, watches Kiki knowing the stakes are *not* low 😦 "If I don't work, I can't pay for a place to live, I cannot rely on other people to help me"... I loved Kiki and Shihiro when I was younger precisely bc when you're forced out to "fly 👀 out the nest" it sucks the life out of you, and you might be the youngest in a workplace, and it might not be fair 🤷♀️ But you still have time to be young, visit friends, accepting help is not a bad thing either 😌 If there is anyone going through a similar experience, I hope you *treat yourself with compassion* , working doesn't mean you can't find some time to explore hobbies, to play, to _watch movies_ , to find joy. Surround yourself with people that inspire you and don't bring you down: find your own family, your own cool values 😉 one day your future older self will look back at the person you're right now, grateful and proud of what you did to build a better life 💛
Kiki's Delivery Service inspired me to become a professional baker. I have loved this movie since childhood, it's definitely a contender for all time favorite. And having a "why" is part of why it stuck with me and how I ultimately directed my life.
26:45 - Answer: I’m a medical laboratory technologist and oftentimes I feel overwhelmed and emotionally disconnected from my work. What helps is going to a park and seeing people having fun with their family and friends. Many of these people are our patients and seeing them happy gives my work meaning. I remember my “why” - the well-being of my patients and my city! ❤
A detail that caught my attention and it's really silly but I love it, is how Kiki's headband goes all around the head and they draw it at the base of the skull like it would sit in real life. The people that work at Ghibli really like what they do and it shows.
They're great at little details like that. In My Neighbor Totoro there's a scene where Mei starts crying, and just before she cries her face sort of twists and she draws in a high-pitched breath. That's something you almost never see portrayed, but it's exactly how little kids' faces go right before they start bawling.
And when Chihiro fed Haku the medicine she got from the river spirit, the way that Haku was moving was like an eel struggling, it also reminded me of when you feed dogs medicine, it's hard to get it into their mouths so you have to keep their jaws open, put the medicine in there and practically force their mouths shut as they swallow the medicine and pull back your hand. Miyazaki drew inspiration from the real life situations to make even the most unbelievable things seem real.
Oh yeah definitely
@@clairelin0216I know and I love that
If you’re curious the reason JiJi can’t speak anymore was supposed to be symbolic for how KiKi isn’t a kid anymore, and now that she’s grown up she can’t hear JiJi anymore because her childhood is over and she’s now an adult
Also, Jiji’s voice actor Phil Hartman died before the finishing of the film as well 😢
Not sure about that. The first release of the dub actually had Jiji speak again at the end. I don't know if Miyazaki protested directly, but the line has been dropped from later presentations.
I took it more as she lost her magic, which means she loses the ability to speak to Jiji. She lost her sense of self-worth, her confidence in herself. She gained it back at the end. Whether that's why she couldn't hear jiji or what you said or someone else in the comments. who knows!
Kiki reminds me of when I started trying to become a full-time musician professionally and feeling like a failure when I didn’t have the work ethic to woodshed my craft eight hours a day. When I started doing it for a living, it became monotonous and it took me awhile to work through that. I did eventually come to piece with being a part time musician and also having a day job but thankfully I like my day job as well.
After watching this Ghibli film, I believe a good next choice would be Whispers of the Heart. It is my favorite Ghibli film and one that is frequently overlooked. The story is about the journey of creating something and learning that we are not always good at things right away. Its also about growing up and accepting that the paths we have to take in life. I watch it every time I am struggling with my journey in life or struggling with the feeling of not being good at something. It reminds me that the things we do and who we are must be polished over and over to shine.
Ugh this hit so hard. I’m an artist and it is so hard to maintain the motivation and not fear failure. This helped so much. Thank you ❤
You're so welcome!
This movie will always be relevant to me no matter how old I get. Failure is a constant thing I always struggle to overcome in my passions and this is my feel good movie that helps me when I need a pickup from my dusty mistakes.
As a child with depression, Kiki's Delivery Service became my daily watch. I worked for my dad's small business as a little salesperson, so I connected massively with Kiki's character and her unique struggle of being a kid that works. I still work the job my dad used to but for a long time I felt like it was all just copying (same designs, no inspiration, etc) I worked on my own style, creating pieces that I liked rather than trying to guess what my dad would've done. In a way I feel Kiki and Hayao Miyazaki have helped me in my struggle as an artist through the times I felt stuck.
I have met people who discovered this movie during COVID. They related to it so hard because it's so much about things falling apart and having to put the pieces back together. I watched this as a preteen and it was the favorite of my best friend (now, it's Howl's.) It's true message hit me when I entered the workforce and despite going to college and getting a degree, the world had told me I was only as good as an entry-level retail job.
I still recommend most of the ghibli movies to anyone. You will find something within every single time.
kiki's delivery service is my favorite ghibli movie ever. mostly coz i relate to kiki so much. so eager to do well far from home only to have felt incompetence and loneliness for a time. it's such a comforting movie despite some of the painful relatability🤭
Ursula's advice is something I always remembered. So glad y'all did this movie it was my first Ghibli movie.
As a little girl struggling in a stressful, abusive environment, studio Ghibli movies were part of learning how to a Person outside of being traumatized and lonely.
I still find it hard to break out of slumps, but there is a video by a poet, Shane Koyczan "Blueprint for a Breakthrough" that I always come back to when I'm feeling this way. He talks about depression especially as a creative unsure if they can sustain their lives with their passion. And it mirrors this movie pretty well, his joy doesn't come back all at once but when he learns to let go of that fear, remembers why he loved reading and writing to people, he begins to write again. I recommend a listen to anyone who enjoys this movies themes 💜
I also feel connected to Kiki because she is finding out who she is without her family near and to be out of home for the first time is something I'm going through right now and it feels as strange and as insecure as it looks in the movie and that's comforting.
Love this Ghibli journey you guys are on ❤
So do we!
I remember whenI saw this first time, I legit went "Holy shit, it's me..." I relate to Kiki so much.Even the things we're good at and we love, are hard some days and you just can't get past it. And that's ok. Today was precisely that day for me and I feel like a failure. I can only get up and try again tomorrow.
I saw Kiki for the first time as an adult in a high intensity career that most people in this line of work consider intrinsically linked to their identity and their self-worth. I had other hobbies like art that I had on the side, but I would work hard at my day job until it made me sick. I remember one time my burnout manifested as being unable to do anything right with my hobbies-it was like the muse had stopped talking to me and the magic was gone. The horror of Kiki realizing she couldn’t fly on her broom or talk to Gigi felt like a gut punch, because I based my whole identity around my job and hobbies, and in the midst of endstage burnout nothing was connecting right. That, and feeling like an outsider wherever you go, too-I didn’t expect Kiki’s Delivery Service to attack me where I lived like that.
Kiki's Delivery Service was my first Ghibli movie and the themes of the movie still resonate with me today.
i have yet to watch this video but i just let out a squeal because i've been SO excited for you to cover this one!! kiki's delivery service is my favourite ghibli movie and one of my favourite films ever. it resonates with me extremely deeply, and i watch it when i'm in the thick of my depressive spirals. also, the thumbnail being about "overcoming failure" already has me tense in my seat because that's what me and my therapist recently focused on for me, so the fact that you're drawing that theme from this film i love and relate to is funny but scary 😭😭
Thanks for sharing. We hope you enjoy the video!
@@CinemaTherapyShow just finished it and loved it :) made me cry haha
It couldn't have a better timing than this. I'm a 2D animator, so my passion became my studies. Coupled with 2 decennies of my mom being responsible for my "I should be the best but I'm just a failure" problem, it basically reached the point where my mental state is low as fuck because I'm so scared I won't be good enough and my passion became like a punishment and my worst fear, so like Kiki I lose my ability to create.
But I'm not alone in this and I work hard in therapy, and for that I think a LOT about Spirited Away and Kiki's Delivery Service, and it helps me so much to get better. So I'm really glad this video came out at the exact right time for me !
I really wish I could paricipate with you guys in a Ghibli production one day!!! There are SO MANY extra information that the dub didn't put in... back-stage curiosity... cultural differences and perspectives!!!
Please, tell us more! I love this movie so much, but always watch in original language and only wish I understood the nuances more!
Found myself bursting in tears out of nowhere somewhere at the 7th minute of this episode cause I've been pushing myself too much recently and Kiki's delivery service (even though I've seen it before) and your comments were just so strikingly relatable. I am pursuing a career in an artistic field, in a creative field and sometimes it 's really hard not to doubt your own worth. True cinema therapy. Thank you!
Same here, for the same reason. I spent so much time comparating my work and my worth to other artists than I don't know how to draw anymore without pression or "I COULD HAVE DONE IT BETTER LIKE THIS ARTIST, FUCK", my head hurts everytime I draw because I don't know how to have fun anymore and not overanalyzing every little mistake. But thanks to movies like this, at least we can relate to something and try to get better !
Kiki's Delivery Service has always been my favorite Ghibli movie, because of how much I relate to it. The liberty of flying, doubting yourself as you grow and find your passion in life, and ultimately overcoming your insecurities. The movie has so many emotions, and is always such a delight to watch.
I never realized that this whimsical movie could hit you so deep when you watch it as an adult.
I've seen a video essay on Kiki losing her magic being a metaphore for depression and now I can't unsee it
this is actually solid timing, I am currently experiencing failure in my personal life and it stings quite a bit more than usual
I’m experiencing the same thing now
I didnt understand this film as a 7 year old, but man does it really hit as an adult. Especially rewatching it with friends who came to my big city for work and struggling to find work or working while sacrificing their passions.
Miyazaki was really big on workers rights and I feel like that really comes through in this film.
I always thought the reason Kiki is rude to the kids in the car is because she’s a bit frustrated/jealous that they get to be kids while she has to work. As someone in her 20s I relate to that a lot. I see people my age going on vacations every month because they’re supported by their families, while I’ve struggled to keep myself fed.
As a writer, it always helps me to put something I wrote away for a week or longer and then get back to it.
I think if you are in a slump, the best thing is, to take that focus and pressure away by doing other things and then get back to what you wanted to do or finish, because then you can look at it with fresh eyes.
OMG!! Now this was the Studio Ghibli film I was most excited for them to talk about! It it my number 1 for Ghibli. A charming comforting movie with deeper meaning to passion and work burnouts.
Hope you enjoy the episode!
This definitely hits for me today. Just doing the thing that you love ends up being something you do to make money sucks the joy out of everything. And with having to find something that sticks as a career is something that has me stressing about how I’m going to live my life. Movies like this and your channel really helps as a beacon of hope for me and others in our quarter-life and mid-life crisis.
Sending you a big internet hug 🫂
@@CinemaTherapyShowThank you kindly! 🥲
I viewed Kiki's slump as a realization that not everyone is kind to each other all the time as her life had been up to that point. The change from childhood to becoming her own person and no longer relying on others to tell her her worth.
Though young, she wasn't a child anymore, and there's a lot that goes into that and how people treat you from that perspective.
It's something a lot of people go through. Yeah, it's sad and can crush your reality for a bit. Then you decide on a new path forward, now with the knowledge that it might be wrong and you might have to change it too.
I can't watch this movie without crying my eyes out. It makes me so sad and yet so happy. It goes inside of me and finds something I always lose.
I recently learned that in the Japanese version Jiji never talks again at the end, but Kiki accepts him as it is and accepts that she has grown up and changed. I t was the sweetest and saddest thing I learned in a long while.
This was an episode I really needed today. I just started my junior year of engineering in a new college (I'm a community college transfer) and the upper division courses are hitting me hard. I'm also living on my own for the first time away from my family and friends, so the past few weeks have been pretty rough on me mentally. When I saw which movie you guys were covering, I said outloud "wow, that's pretty great timing!" Hearing Jono talk about his difficulty in grad school and getting through it by thinking about his motivations was something I really needed to hear. It made me think back on why I love my major and how I hope to one day help others with my education. Thanks for the great episode guys
My FAVORITE metaphor is how Kiki’s magic = her being in touch with her inner child. And she starts losing it with her doubt. This is my favorite Ghibli movie because it’s such a unique view on this concept and I FREAKING LOVE IT. We are all just big kids. No one knows what the heck we’re doing. But it’s important to grow too, which is why I think Jiji can no longer talk in the end. She had to grow up, but she still cherishes who she is and the things that mattered to her in childhood. I think it’s beautiful. I love this movie!
I just adore this interpretation!! I've never heard it described like that before!!
One more thing that touched my heart about this movie: the soundtrack. While which is the best Ghibli soundtrack is subjective, this one touches me the most. From the gentle violin caresses of Mother's Broom, to the excitement in Town with an Ocean View, to the repressed sadness in Heartbroken Kiki, then the mysterious reawakening of something magical in Unusual Painting. There's just something so profound in the sound that Joe Hisaishi composed for this movie.
This is absolutely my favorite Ghibli film; it really hits home with a lot of us creatives. I'm a hobby artist, but oftentimes when I show my work to family or friends, the response I get is "you should sell these" and essentially "go pro". I understand they're trying to be encouraging, and part of me wants to, but after being told several dozen times it gets aggravating.
1, my work is kind of like my children, so it's difficult to part with unless I intended a gift.
And 2, even just the perception of a deadline or quota severely saps any enjoyment out of the project, which is important for a satisfying outcome. I value taking off time to refresh and reevaluate, working at my own pace when the right mindset comes. Trying to force my way through, or be forced through, can quickly become unnecessarily stressful and disappointing. Good art comes from artists who enjoy what they do.
as someone who is going through a severe creative slump and wants to make her living as a writer, kiki and whisper of the heart are two of the ghibli films that I feel helps make sure that i know it's okay to be where i am and to try and look for creativity and my love for what i do back.
As a women's support worker (for women in recovery and/or struggling with barriers) I support people overcoming 'slumps' on a daily basis. It's definitely different for everyone and sometimes people think they are ready to climb out of the slump and sometimes they need time. Ultimately I feel that we all need a few things that give us joy ie. baking, swimming, hiking, star gazing because we can't put all our eggs in one basket. :) Fear is definitely an initial motivator, but joy or fulfillment sustains. Those are my thoughts.
I've been in quite the on/off slump the past year.
And I've come to realize that staying out of the slump is a skill, which for me in my situation-
I've come to realize that my slumps aren't "things that are happening to me" but rather "I have grabbed on to this specific idea, and am now too tense to let go", like getting shocked with no electricity, your problem is you need to let the thing go, but it's making your nerves tense in such a way that it's more difficult to relax the hand enough to let it go, in the worst cases it can make your whole body tense.
Simple example: For my entire life I've wanted to cook, I love being able to make food for myself and those I care about, but I never got past the microwave, because for years I always thought to myself "I need someone to teach me how to cook", because I wanted to learn so badly, but no one ever had the time to "teach me" and give me a space to get started on my own-
Then I realized one day-
I'm an adult, I don't need someone to teach me, I can teach myself by just doing it-
And so I did.
In a few months I learned to cook just as well, if not better than my parents, because I realized that I was holding onto so much tension around the idea of not knowing, that I didn't know what I actually knew. Every day now, I'm learning more and more that I can do LOTS of things, so long as I'm not stressing myself out over them. Hell, one of the other things I've struggled with for a long time is just trying to START exercising, now I have mornings where I don't even think, my body just moves on it's own to get the blood flowing as soon as I'm awake.
I'm surprised at how much energy the human brain directs towards THINKING about something, in comparison to the energy it takes to actually do it. As a chronic over-thinker, the greatest skill I've ever learned-
Was to tell my brain to shut the hell up in a productive, not self-deprecating way. The brain is like that one friend or family member who gets so anxious THINKING about what they need to do, that you sort of just sit there and watch them tire themselves out to the point they just say "I wanna go back to bed", and the strategy is very similar, the key is to simply direct the energy away from the thoughts, and to the action itself, which naturally is much simpler on paper than it is in practice, but it usually involves something along the lines of-
"Let's just focus on doing the first step, then if you need a break we can get ice cream before we get back to it-"
Then before they know, they don't even want the ice cream because they're already deep into step 6 and only an hour has passed and they're actually having fun.
Something about this film has always really spoken to me, but even more so now that I'm dealing with chronic fatigue from a newly diagnosed autoimmune disease.
I'm not albe to work in the same way that I used to be able to, I don't have enough energy to enjoy the hobbies I used to as well as school work, so I had to figure out how to remotivate myself to study the things I had slowly lost interest because it was the only way I'd be able to push through.
I had come to terms with the fact that I couldn't be the perfect student I had built myself to be; I had always prided myself on being hardworking and getting perfect scores, but now even when I was working myself to extreme exhaustion, I still couldn't reach the same level of quality in my work that people now expected of me.
Also the adivce Kiki's painter friend gave about taking a break, because sometimes even if I want to/need to work, I can't. I just have to stop and let myself rest, and be okay with the fact I'm not running at my full capacity.
I was watching this video this morning and my daughter woke up yelling momma kiki from a dead sleep 😂
She loves all the studio ghibli movies!
I moved across the country away from my childhood home right before Covid hit. I watched this movie a lot as a comfort because I felt very scared and alone even if I was living with my husband(boyfriend at the time) and I think I saw myself a lot in Kiki. She left her comfort and watching her overcome that helped me a lot through that time. Also I resonated a lot with her and her artist friend because I had been in an art slump since I had graduated highschool. The whole movie just feels like it was made for me sometimes lol I have been waiting for you guys to do this movie. Thank you:)