Talk:Kiki's Delivery Service (novel)

If the book has been translated into English (as is said in the infobox), then what is it doing under "Majo no Takkyūbin"? I bet it hasn't been published as such. --Bakuryuu 16:47, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

Need help with translation and info on other language editions

Salutations! I've added so of what I can, mostly from some parts in Kiki's Delivery Service, but there is more I can add and more to do overall.

1. Plot is short and should cover some of the adventures Kiki and Jiji have.
2. The global tag is a request for information on the other language editions.
3. Differences from book and anime are needed under "In other media" - I'll get more here from the article on the anime.
4. Sequels need translations of the titles and the plots added. Fortunately, covers of the five books and descriptions in Japanese can be seen here. Can someone please translate some of this to provide titles and possibly flesh out the descriptions of the sequels? Also, what are the three other Kiki books at the bottom of that page? Thanks. --EarthPerson 03:17, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

Well, for your reference, from the webpage:

   * 魔女の宅急便その3 キキともうひとりの魔女 (Mazyo no Takkyûbin sono 3 Kiki to Mô Hitori no Mazyo, "-Kiki and Another Witch") 

"One day, a 12-year-old girl named Keke enters into Kiki's peaceful life. Because of her appearance, Kiki's daily life is changed completely. While she keeps raising herbs just as usual, an uneasiness begins to stir in her heart. His boyfriend, Tonbo, seems to be acting a little weird. Ms. Osono, the baker, seems to have changed a bit, too. Even the black cat Jiji is affected.

Eventually, Corico becomes a suffocating place for Kiki. It's as if bad magic is involved. A suspicious old book is found. Who ever could this girl be? A witch? Or a mere usurper? I, too, jumped between the girl's hearts, becoming each one in turn."

   * 魔女の宅急便その4 キキの恋 (Mazyo no Takkyûbin sono 4 Kiki no Koi, "-Kiki's Love")

"Yet another new story begins. 'I feel excited, just like when getting a present' thinks the now 17-year-old Kiki, who has begun living in a new city. Being loved by Corico's people, Kiki feels content in her work operating the delivery service and making flu medicine. Right now, Kiki's heart is rose-coloured and burning fiercely. She's come to really, really like Tonbo. 'We'll always, always be together, no matter what may come.' Kiki's life becomes centered around Tonbo. Jiji's amazed. 'Tonbo has really reached Kiki's heart.' It's like the always optimistic Kiki has gone somewhere. I want her to look at me. Only me!

Kiki the witch is under a spell of love. Love makes her so happy that it's like she's gone far away, yet she also feels uneasiness strong enough to make her feel the ground under her shaking. Well, well... Will Kiki's feelings reach Tonbo? How will he respond to her burning love? Open the book's door and fly together with Kiki in the summer sky of age 17."

   * 魔女の宅急便その5 魔法のとまり木, (Mazyo no Takkyûbin sono 5 Mahô no Tomarigi  "-The Perch of Magic")

"Kiki has turned 19. As her teenage years are drawing to a close, it seems something is missing from her daily life. What most worries her is Tonbo, who is earnestly studying entomology in a far-off town. It seems that he's not coming back to Corico.

She receives a letter every now and then, but despite Kiki's warm feelings, they always begin with talk of insects. Kiki feels unsatisfied. What might it be..? She feels annoyed, as she can not put it to words. That something is left hanging in the air, just as Kiki's emotions. She sometimes feels unbearable loneliness. She unintentionally lashes out at Jiji, too.

One of those days, Kiki notices that something strange about Jiji. They cannot talk to each other like they could before. Jiji just goes 'meow, meow', just like a normal cat. 'I'm studying the language of grown-up cats, meow.' That which has changed Jiji is love. Jiji's started to feel a passionate love different from his feelings about Kiki. The language between Kiki and Jiji, who have been together since birth, might be about to disappear. Kiki's flying magic becomes strange, too. It's not like it's completely gone, but it's has the same unfulfilled feeling to it as Kiki's emotions. Just before turning twenty, Kiki's heart is shaking. The appearance of an unsettling artist adds to her dismay.

Loving someone is hard. Becoming a wonderful adult is hard, too. But the relations between Kiki and Tonbo are finally beginning to move ever so slowly. What will become of this new journey?"

I did my best, but take no responsibility of possible translation errors. Hope that this helps. --Bakuryuu 14:40, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

Article title

(Copied from User_talk:EarthPerson)

What, exactly, is your rationale for opposing the English name for Kiki's Delivery Service, which it has been published under? Is The Three Musketeers called Les Trois Mousquetaires? Romance of the Three Kingdoms Sanguo yanyi? The English name takes precedence, as this is the English Wikipedia. --Bakuryuu 19:07, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

I didn't oppose it that much or I'd moved the article back.  :) I feel that since Majo... is the original title that it should be first in the article. I can live with the redirect. But, after all, the article on the book by JK Rowling reads "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, known in the United States as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,..." with the original title listed first. Admittedly these are both written in English. I've not looked over the specifics on articles on foreign books. Can you point me to the style guide for it?

In the interest of consensus, we should probably have this discussion on the article's talk page.

By the way, thank you very much for the translations of the other book titles. Could you make anything of the three listed at the bottom of that same page on Kadono's site? --EarthPerson 19:29, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

The naming conventions are found mainly here and here. Now, "best known in English" might be rather vague at times, but I'd say this is a rather clear case. I'm positive that an average English-speaking person is more apt to know "Kiki's Delivery Service" than "Mazyo no Takkyûbin". Moreover, I think it'd be silly to have just the book listed with the Japanese name, but not the movie. After all, both have the same original names. Personally, I would agree that were there not an existing translation of the book, Majo no Takkyūbin would be more appropriate, but as it is...

As you said yourself, Harry Potter doesn't quite compare, as both names are in English. Me, I think that for a given book/movie/etc it is important to give the original name (if non-English) and all English names in use in the article proper, certainly, but when referring to the book somewhere else, it's fitting to use the most common English name. For instance, one does not say "Jules Verne wrote the famous book Le Tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours, which got translated into Around the World in Eighty Days" when talking about Verne; rather, one simply states that "Jules Verne wrote Around the World in Eighty Days". Should there be an article for the book, I don't think it's necessary to even mention the original title in such a case. If not, it might be given in parenthesis afterwards, but focus should be on the English name, as that is the most informative.

And as for the translations, you're welcome. I didn't include the first two books (because they seemed to be handled already), nor the first paragraph about the third, because Kadono is speaking about how she came to write the book, not about its plot. The three small pictures at the bottom of that page are simply the covers for paperback versions of the first three books. And by the way, unlike the first two books, the last three seem to be illustrated by a Miho Satake. --Bakuryuu 21:10, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

Thanks Bakuryuu. I'll have a proper reply this weekend. Need to give this all some thought and I'm busy in the real world. Can you get a bit of the plot for book #2? All I really have is the release date, illustrator and such. --EarthPerson 23:50, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Sure: "Having decided to live in Corico, Kiki is working hard with the delivery service. She's carrying all kinds of things. She's carrying a depressed hippo called Marco, who's had its tail bitten by a lion. She takes a gravely ill man for a walk he used to do every day. Kiki's work is going well. One day, however, Kiki starts to think: 'I though that by carrying the things I'm asked to I'd be making people happy, but maybe I'm also been carrying people's ill will without knowing. So thinking, Kiki also has started losing heart.

Before long, Kiki, wanting to broaden her visions, goes to her mother, Kokiri, to learn how to make flu medicine.

And so, next to Kiki's 'Witch's express delivery' sign, a new sign saying 'Distributing flu medicine' appears."

I'm not quite sure what to make of "Tyûsinten'yukuehumeibyô", which literally means "Missing center-sickness". I'm not familiar with the word, nor does it appear in any dictionary. I'm thinking it means depression or losing one's sense of self and purpose, but can't be 100 % certain. --Bakuryuu 15:36, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

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Stage Play?

Can we have some details about the Kiki's Delivery Service stage play? We've got details on the anime and live actions films, but nothing on the stage play? — Preceding unsigned comment added by NukuNeko (talk • contribs) 21:33, 16 May 2017 (UTC)