Kiki's delivery service, professionalism for startup

Today, I watched a movie on cinema, titled, "Kiki's delivery service."

This originates from a Japanese fantasy novel for children, written by Eiko Kadono. Formerly, an animation movie was published from the novel in 1985. The director was Hayao Miyazaki, a world famous animation director.

Kiki, the heroine is 13 years old girl. Since her mother is a witch, she is able to fly on a broom. As a ritual of initiation, Kiki has to leave her home, to stay in a foreign town for a year, getting along with the citizens with her magical force. Flying in the sky is the only ability of hers. Therefore, Kiki decides to start a delivery service in a seaside town.

This storyline is a metaphor of a departure of an adolescent. Kiki has to encounter some incidents in her new hometown, some of which are hardly acceptable. These tough experiences make her unconfident of her own ability. Discouragement gets rid of her own potential. She faces a great crisis of self identity. You know this is an archetype of a way of life.

I was impressed with a person in this story. She is Ms. Osono, administering a bakery with her husband. She is also an expecting mother.

She was the first person who admitted Kiki as a citizen. Her statements were filled with full of professionalism. At the first contact to Kiki, she scolded her, saying "Here is a bakery. Do not come in with a broom!" But after a while, she decided to let Kiki live in her windmill. She said, "It's fun to live with a witch." Her behaviors showed her strict thought of her working place and sensibility for novelty. Both are essential for businesspersons.

At the beginning of Kiki's delivery, no one asked her for the service. Osono said to Kiki, "It took some years for me to get off the ground as a baker." Grabbing a certain amount of customers is quite difficult for a beginner of business. She continued, "Go out for advertisement, instead of sitting here." Yeah, aggressive advertisement is necessary in this situation.

In the middle of the story, a rumor that witches deliver a curse with the items was spread. Many receivers returned the items Kiki had delivered. Kiki was disappointed to know it. Then, Osono suggested, "Kiki, return all the items to the senders, claiming that you cannot do anything other than flying." The point is that, the clients relied on Kiki, at least once, even if the receivers didn't. Therefore, the first thing Kiki should do is to regain the trust of the past clients. Osono did not lose herself in such a desperate situation, rather she could make the best decision as an owner. Unfortunately, Kiki could not accept the proposal.

Actually, the main theme of this film is "to believe yourself." It is not a bad idea, of course. However, I was glad to listen to the words of Osono.

Personal Rating: 4 (good)