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Kiki's Delivery Service's Osono Side Story Published Online

Fukuinkan Shoten, publisher of Eiko Kadono's popular children's novel series Kiki's Delivery Service (Majo no Takkyūbin), posted the first installment of Majo no Takkyūbin Bangai-hen: Sono-chan ga Osono-san ni Natta Wake (Kiki's Delivery Service Extra Story: How Sono-chan Became Osono-san) on Wednesday. Kadono's side story tells how the novels' Gütiokipänja Bakery owner Osono grew from the girl Sono-chan into the woman Osono-san. Artist Miho Satake is illustrating the story.

Fukuinkan Shoten will post the story's six installments for free on the 5th and 20th of each month through May. The first installment begins with Sono as a young child of parents who wanted to become actors. Future installments will tell about Osono's first love and how she met by chance, parted from, and reunited with her future husband Fukuo.

Machiko Ono (Suzaku, Like Father, Like Son) plays Osono in the novel series' live-action film adaptation. Osono owns the bakery where the main character Kiki (Fūka Koshiba) works. Hiroshi Yamamoto plays Osono's baker husband Fukuo. The film opened in Japan on March 1.

The six novel volumes of Majo no Takkyūbin follow the coming of age of Kiki with her black cat Jiji. Kadono began the main novel series in 1985 and ended it in 2009. 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.

Source: IT Media via Rocket News 24