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Shimizu Discusses Creating A Whole New Kiki

The live-action film, "Majo no Takkyūbin (Kiki's Delivery Service)" only opened March 1, and audiences are already making comparisons between Takashi Shimizu's and Hayao Miyazaki's adaptations of Eiko Kadono's fantasy novel (1985). In a recent interview at the Hilton Tokyo Hotel, Shimizu discussed how his film portrays a whole new perspective on the story of Kiki, a 13 year-old girl training to become a witch.

For those who aren't familiar with Takashi Shimizu and his works, Shimizu is a famous Japanese horror filmmaker and is known for Ju-on (The Grudge). Rather than following Miyazaki's footsteps on creating a light and innocent atmosphere for the film, Shimizu depicted a darker tone within Kiki's world. Shimizu studied western witches as examples for the characterization of Kiki. Shimizu stated, "Witches were originally thought to be in league with the devil. The anime based on (Kadono's) novel didn't have anything really witchy about [it]. But I left a bit of that scary feeling in my film."

The actress who plays Kiki in the live-action film, Fūka Koshiba, is a former figure skater who has minimal acting experience. Shimizu described Fūka Koshiba as, "She had acting lessons, but I thought it would be meaningless not to use her 'newcomer' quality, so I told her just be herself and not try to act." Fūka Koshiba's inexperience as an actress is an advantage to playing Kiki because both young girls are at a critical point in their lives where they are trying to find their true passions and are learning about the world around them. While Kiki is training to be a full-fledged witch, Fūka Koshiba is training to be a skillful actress.

In order to make the live-action film as realistic as possible, Shimizu aimed to capture the emotions of adolescence through Kiki and her friends. Shimizu commented, "It's easier to show that sort of pain in a live-action film than in an anime or a novel. I thought we had to thoroughly communicate it—otherwise there would have been no point in making a live-action film."

Although it is too early to tell whether or not the film will be a hit or miss among audiences, Shimizu hopes for its success in Japan and abroad and he mentions the possibility of sequels. If fans of the franchise haven't already known, Eiko Kadono' s Kiki's Delivery Service comes in a six-book series, so there are more Kiki adventures that are waiting to be told to audiences around the world.

[Via The Japan Times]