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Live-Action Kiki's Delivery Service Film's On-Set Footage Posted

Jiji Press began streaming the press presentation of the live-action Kiki's Delivery Service film's on-location shoot on Monday. The cast and staff appeared before the cameras on Friday at the picturesque Shōdo Island in the southwestern prefecture of Kagawa.

The video begins by introducing Fūka Koshiba (Iki mo Dekinai Natsu) as the title witch girl Kiki. It then shows the huge open set, including the Gütiokipänja Bakery centerpiece. Co-starring with Koshiba is Machiko Ono (Suzaku, Like Father, Like Son) as Osono, the owner of the bakery where Kiki works. Hiroshi Yamamoto plays Osono's baker husband Fukuo, and Miho Kanazawa plays a woman named Saki who visits the bakery.

In the Q&A of the video, Koshiba revealed that she cried when she heard that she would play Kiki. The director and the rest of the cast gave her advice on how to deal with her first starring film role. Ono added that she thinks they will create a film that people will enjoy. Director Takashi Shimizu (The Grudge/Juon, Tomie: Rebirth) said that he could not reveal the details on how they will depict Kiki flying on her broom. However, the staff and Koshiba are undergoing training and preparations, and they will use both visual effects and computer graphics.

From right to left in the photo below are Shimizu, original novelist Eiko Kadono, Koshiba, Ono, and Yamamoto:

Koshiba, an accomplished figure skater (she can perform the triple loop jump), entered the entertainment industry when she was chosen from 35,390 candidates in the "Girls Audition 2011" competition. Satoko Okudera (Summer Wars, Wolf Children, The Princess and the Pilot) is writing the script for the film.

Filming began on May 23 in a Tokyo studio, and it moved on May 30 to Shōdo Island, a locale known for its olive gardens and Mediterranean-like climate and architecture. Kadono visited the set for the first time on Friday, and after complimenting Koshiba's looks, remarked that she always wanted to see a living Kiki in person. Filming will continue until the end of July, and the film will open next year.

The six novel volumes of Majo no Takkyūbin follow the coming of age of Kiki with her black cat Jiji. They have sold 1.8 million copies and have been translated into eight languages, including English, Italian, Chinese, Swedish, and Korean. The anime adapted the first novel volume, while the live-action film will cover the first two volumes.

Annick Press published the first novel with an English translation by Lynne E. Riggs in 2003. That same year, Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Disney released Ghibli's film on DVD in North America.