History YMMV / KikisDeliveryService

* AccidentalAesop: While it's not the message Hayao Miyazaki intended with Madame's granddaughter[[note]]the message he intended with her is to tell Kiki that [[HardTruthAesop people aren't always going to be grateful for what you do]][[/note]], the fact that Madame's granddaughter sends Kiki on a brief downward spiral thanks to her rude behavior does send a message that one should be kind to others and that small acts can have far-reaching consequences. If Madame's granddaughter had just spared a bit of kindness towards Kiki and let her in to escape from the rain instead of slamming the door in her face, then everything that goes wrong with Kiki in the second half (such as her getting sick and losing her magic) likely wouldn't have happened. It helps that the [[ThePowerOfLove importance of showing love and kindness to others]] is a recurring message in [[Anime/CastleInTheSky several]] of Miyazaki's [[Anime/PrincessMononoke other]] [[Anime/HowlsMovingCastle films]].

** Ursula and Kiki get around by hitchhiking, and at one point they're picked up by an old man who doesn't know them. The intent is totally innocent, but western audiences more keenly aware of [[TooSmartForStrangers "stranger danger"]] may find it a bit uneasy. Disney's dub [[{{Woolseyism}} addresses]] this by adding extra lines where the old man recognizes Ursula and treats her like a close friend, and the same idea is kept in the 2010 recut.

** Ursula and Kiki get around by hitchhiking, and at one point they're picked up by an old man who doesn't know them. The intent is totally innocent, but western audiences more keenly aware of [[TooSmartForStrangers "stranger danger"]] may find it a bit uneasy. Disney's dub addresses this by adding extra lines where the old man recognizes Ursula and treats her like a close friend, and the same idea is kept in the 2010 recut.

** While the Ghibli fanbase is pretty interconnected overall, Kiki fans tend to be very close friends with fans of ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'' due to their similar grounded and SliceOfLife tones and both being amongst the first Ghibli films to be released and dubbed outside of Japan, leading to a bit of shared nostalgia between the two fanbases.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: "Starting the Job" (which plays when Kiki sets off for her first delivery in the original version) is essentially "Spring" from [[Music/AntonioVivaldi Vivaldi]]'s ''Four Seasons'', with a slight key shift.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: "Starting the Job" (which plays when Kiki sets off for her first delivery in the original version) is essentially "Spring" from [[Music/AntonioVivaldi Vivaldi]]'s ''Four Seasons'', with a slight key shift and tempo alteration.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: Because of some of the parallels Ursula makes comparing her art to Kiki's magic, magic can be seen as an allegory for art, with Kiki losing her ability to fly being similar to art block (or how her earlier illness and depression prevents her from doing her craft), and the joy of regaining one's desire to do art. This was actually the intended message of the film, as Hayao Miyazaki describes in ''The Art of Kiki's Delivery Service''.
* WTHCastingAgency: Critics of the live-action version say the main lead was a little too old to convincingly play a 13-year-old.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The film was a hit in the US due to Disney (through Touchstone Pictures as their first G-rated film) distributing the video and casting celebrities such as Kirsten Dunst and Phil Hartman as the characters, and sold over a million copies in its' first week on video.

** Fans of the film tend to be friends with fans of ''Anime/LittleWitchAcademia'' due to both anime starring plucky young witches in training and both anime using magic as an allegory for art. It helps that Kiki's Japanese voice actress — Creator/MinamiTakayama — plays Professor Nelson in ''LWA''. Unsurprisingly, there is a good amount of crossover art between the two.

* MainstreamObscurity: Oddly enough, despite ''Kiki's Delivery Service'' being the first big success for Studio Ghibli outside of Japan, its international popularity has waned a bit over the years. It is still widely recognizable, and more well-known than something like ''Anime/PorcoRosso'' or ''Anime/OnlyYesterday'' -- in other words, popular enough to have merchandise sold in stores -- but it's usually crowded out by the heavy hitters like ''Anime/SpiritedAway'' or ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'', and tends to be overlooked by casual viewers as a result. This isn't the case in Japan, where ''Kiki's Delivery Service'' is still one of Ghibli's most popular films.

* MainstreamObscurity: Oddly enough, despite ''Kiki's Delivery Service'' being the first big success for Studio Ghibli outside of Japan, its international popularity has waned a bit over the years. It is still widely recognized, and more well-known than something like ''Anime/PorcoRosso'' or ''Anime/OnlyYesterday'' -- in other words, popular enough to have merchandise sold in stores -- but usually crowded out by the heavy hitters like ''Anime/SpiritedAway'' or ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro''. This isn't the case in Japan, where ''Kiki's Delivery Service'' is still one of Ghibli's most popular films.

** As a result of this, when the live action adaptation was released in 2014, many would wind up confusing it as an adaptation of the Miyazaki film as opposed to the book, which led to many criticizing for making "changes" from the Miyazaki film, when many of these "changes" are actually because the film was attempting to be TruerToTheText to the original book unlike Miyazaki's film, which was more of a PragmaticAdaptation. It has gotten to the point that at least one [[https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51k1XJDGPoL.jpg official Blu-ray release]] would incorrectly state the film to be based off the Miyazaki film as opposed to the book.

** On the other hand, some fans are upset that the dub made such significant changes to begin with, and prefer the post-2010 version of the dub for restoring the film closer to its initial Japanese version; no other Ghibli film had been edited for its dub as much as ''Kiki'' was. There's a subset of fans who prefer the Streamline dub over the Disney dub for similar reasons. In particular, the final line of the Disney dub -- Jiji saying "Kiki! Can you hear me?", which was originally just Jiji meowing -- is incredibly controversial, as it effectively changes the closing message of the film. Fans are torn which ending is better: the BittersweetEnding of Kiki growing up without Jiji, or the happy ending of Kiki fully gaining her powers back. It doesn't help that Miyazaki has given [[FlipFlopOfGod conflicting answers on whether she could understand him in the Japanese version or not]].

** On the other hand, some fans are upset that the dub made such significant changes to begin with, and prefer the post-2010 version of the dub for restoring the film closer to its initial Japanese version; no other Ghibli film had been edited for its dub as much as ''Kiki'' was. There's a subset of fans who prefer the Streamline dub over the Disney dub for similar reasons. In particular, the final line of the Disney dub -- Jiji saying "Kiki! Can you hear me?", which was originally just Jiji meowing -- is incredibly controversial, as it effectively changes the closing message of the film.[[note]]with that said, while likely unintended, Disney's version of the ending is closer to Eiko Kadano's original books, as Kiki never loses the ability to understand Jiji to start with in the books[[/note]] Fans are torn which ending is better: the BittersweetEnding of Kiki growing up without Jiji, or the happy ending of Kiki fully gaining her powers back. It doesn't help that Miyazaki has given [[FlipFlopOfGod conflicting answers on whether she could or not]].

** On the other hand, some fans are upset that the dub made such significant changes to begin with, and prefer the post-2010 version of the dub for restoring the film closer to its initial Japanese version; no other Ghibli film had been edited for its dub as much as ''Kiki'' was. There's a subset of fans who prefer the Streamline dub over the Disney dub for similar reasons. In particular, the final line of the Disney dub -- Jiji saying "Kiki! Can you hear me?", which was originally just Jiji meowing -- is incredibly controversial, as it effectively changes the closing message of the film. Fans are torn which ending is better: the BittersweetEnding of Kiki growing up without Jiji, or the happy ending of Kiki fully gaining her powers back. That said, when directly asked about it in the documentary ''The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness'', Creator/HayaoMiyazaki [[WordOfGod clarified]] that Kiki did gain back the ability to understand Jiji in the original Japanese version, HandWaving Jiji's silence as just him not having anything to say at that particular moment.

** On the other hand, some fans are upset that the dub made such significant changes to begin with, and prefer the post-2010 version of the dub for restoring the film closer to its initial Japanese version; no other Ghibli film had been edited for its dub as much as ''Kiki'' was. There's a subset of fans who prefer the Streamline dub over the Disney dub for similar reasons. In particular, the final line of the Disney dub -- Jiji saying "Kiki! Can you hear me?", which was originally just Jiji meowing -- is incredibly controversial, as it effectively changes the closing message of the film. Fans are torn which ending is better: the BittersweetEnding of Kiki growing up without Jiji, or the happy ending of Kiki fully gaining her powers back. That said, when directly asked about it in the documentary ''The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness'', Creator/HayaoMiyazaki [[WordOfGod clarified]] that Kiki did gain back the ability to understand Jiji in the original Japanese version, Jiji just had nothing to say at that particular moment.

** On the other hand, some fans are upset that the dub made such significant changes to begin with, and prefer the post-2010 version of the dub for restoring the film closer to its initial Japanese version; no other Ghibli film had been edited for its dub as much as ''Kiki'' was. There's a subset of fans who prefer the Streamline dub over the Disney dub for similar reasons. In particular, the final line of the Disney dub -- Jiji saying "Kiki! Can you hear me?", which was originally just Jiji meowing -- is incredibly controversial, as it effectively changes the closing message of the film. Fans are torn which ending is better: the BittersweetEnding of Kiki growing up without Jiji, or the happy ending of Kiki fully gaining her powers back. That said, despite the original ending not readily implying it, Creator/HayaoMiyazaki would later [[WordOfGod clarify]] in ''The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness'' documentary that Jiji did actually get his voice back in the Japanese version as well, he just had nothing to say at that time.

** On the other hand, some fans are upset that the dub made such significant changes to begin with, and prefer the post-2010 version of the dub for restoring the film closer to its initial Japanese version; no other Ghibli film had been edited for its dub as much as ''Kiki'' was. There's a subset of fans who prefer the Streamline dub over the Disney dub for similar reasons. In particular, the final line of the Disney dub -- Jiji saying "Kiki! Can you hear me?", which was originally just Jiji meowing -- is incredibly controversial, as it effectively changes the closing message of the film. Fans are torn which ending is better: the BittersweetEnding of Kiki growing up without Jiji, or the happy ending of Kiki fully gaining her powers back.[[note]]Funnily enough, though, Disney's version is actually closer to Eiko Kodano's original book, where Jiji never lost the ability to speak to start with.[[/note]]

** On the other hand, some fans are upset that the dub made such significant changes to begin with, and prefer the post-2010 version of the dub for restoring the film closer to its initial Japanese version; no other Ghibli film had been edited for its dub as much as ''Kiki'' was. There's a subset of fans who prefer the Streamline dub over the Disney dub for similar reasons. In particular, the final line of the Disney dub -- Jiji saying "Kiki! Can you hear me?", which was originally just Jiji meowing -- is incredibly controversial, as it effectively changes the closing message of the film. Fans are torn which ending is better: the BittersweetEnding of Kiki growing up without Jiji, or the happy ending of Kiki fully gaining her powers back.

* {{Fanon}}: While the film never makes it explicitly clear as to what Kiki's "special skill" is, it is universally agreed by fans that her special skill is {{flight}}, given that she starts a flying delivery service which she proves very competent at, flying being something she is clearly passionate about (given that Ursula compares it to an artist's craft, and how heartbroken Kiki is when [[spoiler: she breaks her mother's broom]]), her flying to save Tombo at the end, and flight in general being a recurring {{motif}} across most of Miyazaki's films. Since flight seems to be a shared trait of all witches, it's usually thought that there's something about Kiki that makes hers special. It should be noted that in the original book series, Kiki eventually finds her special skill as a potion and medicine maker [[LikeMotherLikeDaughter like her mother]] (though given that the rest of the books aren't adapted or [[NoExportForYou released in English]], not many are aware of this fact).

** On the other hand, some fans are upset that the dub made such significant changes to begin with, and prefer the post-2010 version of the dub for restoring the film closer to its initial Japanese version; no other Ghibli film had been edited for its dub as much as ''Kiki'' was. There's a subset of fans who prefer the Streamline dub over the Disney dub for similar reasons. In particular, the final line of the Disney dub -- Jiji saying "Kiki! Can you hear me?" -- is incredibly controversial, as it effectively changes the closing message of the film. Fans are torn which ending is better: the BittersweetEnding of Kiki growing up without Jiji, or the happy ending of Kiki fully gaining her powers back.

* SubbingVersusDubbing: Not the only Ghibli dub to receive such an atmosphere (''Anime/CastleInTheSky'' and ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'' also qualify), but many viewers can't seem to decide whether the Disney dub is a charming, entertaining experience or a watered down travesty of a great film. Purists strongly claim it is the latter (often stating that the Japanese version and the Carl Macek-produced Streamline dub is the ONLY way you should watch the film), but there are many fans of the dub; the fact that the Disney dub was '''the''' final film role of Phil Hartman before his death tends to add fuel to the fire. The German dub gets a similar, if ever so slightly less extreme, treatment.

** On the other hand, some fans are upset that the dub made such significant changes to begin with, and prefer the post-2010 version of the dub for restoring the film closer to its initial Japanese version; no other Ghibli film had been edited for its dub as much as ''Kiki'' was. There's a subset of fans who prefer the Streamline dub over the Disney dub for similar reasons.