Studio Ghibli - “Majo no Takkyubin” (Kiki's Delivery Service) to Get Live-action Movie Adaptation Starring Koshiba Fuka

    “Majo no Takkyubin (aka “Kiki’s Delivery Service”)” which is a masterpiece of children’s fantasy novel written by Kadono Eiko, will be getting a live-action movie adaptation.

    It is a growth story of a young witch Kiki and her partner, black cat named Jiji. The original novel which has 6 volumes in total was released during 1985 to 2009, and it  was translated into English, Italian, Chinese, Swedish, and Korean. As it’s widely well-known, Studio Ghibli made its animation film adaptation back in 1989.

    Though the animation film was based on the first volume from the series, this live-action movie will feature the first and second volumes.

    It has been announced that the movie will be directed by Shimizu Takashi who is known for horror movies like “Ju-on“, and the protagonist Kiki will be played by 16-year-old rookie actress Koshiba Fuka. Koshiba was chosen by audition among 500 candidates, and this will mark her first appearance in a film, and also, first leading role.

Koshiba Fuka

  Koshiba recently updated her official blog with 3 pages of a letter, making the announcement and also expressing her thoughts.

    On the blog, she wrote, “When I was told that I passed the audition, my mind went blank. I cried so much due to joy.” However, she also expressed that she’s feeling a bit anxious about playing the role of Kiki. “The ‘Kiki’ I’m playing will be different from ‘Kiki’ you all imagine. Even though I’m not good at expressing or making an appeal for myself, I will try my best playing Koshiba Fuka’s own Kiki, without disappointing the expectations of those who chose me, while cherishing many people’s love toward ‘Majo no Takkyubin’.”

    Reportedly, Koshiba who learned about expressiveness from figure skating, has been doing practice swings with a wooden sword for the beautiful flying scenes, which many people will be curious about.

The filming is said to begin at the end of May on an island in the Seto Inland Sea, and is scheduled for release next spring.

Cr: tokyohive