3 Best Movies to Watch by Mika Doi

1. Kiki's Delivery Service, 1989

Hayao Miyazaki is no stranger to the fantastical. Howl’s Moving Castle and Spirited Away conjure worlds of spirits and demons, monsters and witches, imaginary wars and extraordinary heroes. But in Kiki’s Delivery Service, the real magic arises from the mundane.

The titular teenaged Kiki leaves home, setting out to become a better witch. She arrives in the idyllic seaside town of Koriko with only her broom and best friend, a black cat named Jiji. When she serendipitously meets Osono, the gentle owner of a bakery, Kiki begins a delivery service as part of her training.

Kiki’s Delivery Service may be one of Miyazaki’s more understated films, but it’s a beautiful reminder that believing in oneself is a magical act of courage that we should all undertake.

Genre: Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Fantasy

Actor: Akio Otsuka, Chika Sakamoto, Haruko Kato, Hiroko Maruyama, Hiroko Seki, Kappei Yamaguchi, Keiko Toda, Kikuko Inoue, Kôichi Miura, Koichi Yamadera, Masa Saitō, Michihiro Ikemizu, Mieko Nobusawa, Mika Doi, Minami Takayama, Rei Sakuma, Shinpachi Tsuji, Takashi Taguchi, Takaya Hashi, Tomomichi Nishimura, Yoshiko Asai, Yoshiko Kamei, Yûko Kobayashi, Yûko Maruyama, Yuko Tsuga, Yuriko Fuchizaki, Yuuko Kobayashi, 丸山裕子

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

2. Uzumaki, 2024

	
The last time Junji Ito’s work was animated by a Western studio, it wasn't terrible, but it didn’t match up to the terror of his original stories. Nevertheless, animators persisted, and Production I.G. and Adult Swim’s attempt is a mini-series adaptation of the three volume manga Uzumaki. Uzumaki: Spiral Into Horror is a peculiar horror series, one that may not be downright terrifying with its small-town tale, but it’s much scarier than other Western adaptations with its faithfulness to Ito’s black-and-white intricate line work. There’s probably no other way to depict this particular story– after all, it’s all about spirals– but director Hiroshi Nagahama adds dizzying movement and composer Colin Stetson adds eerie extended techniques that match the terror Kirie and Shuichi share as they struggle against the neverending spiral spell that takes over their town.Genre: Animation, Mystery
Actor: Kōichi Tōchika, Mariya Ise, Mika Doi, Shin-ichiro Miki, Takashi Matsuyama, Tatsumaru Tachibana, Toshio Furukawa, Uki Satake, Wataru Hatano
Rating: TV-MA

3. Mushishi, 2005

Mushishi is one of those shows that you watch one episode at a time to relax after a long day of work. It’s a slow, atmospheric animation about a world where peculiar plant-like creatures called Mushi live alongside humans who are usually unaware of them. Think of Mushi as the most basic form of life. While being purposeless, they can unintentionally have a wide variety of effects on humans, sometimes helping them but always at an unforeseen cost. Ginko is a traveler who studies Mushi and on his way helps villagers with their problems.Each episode is an independent short story about a chapter of Ginko’s travels. The stories feel weirdly the same as folklore you grew up with. They are comfy, they hold a few moral lessons at the end of each one, and they’re sometimes scary and thought-provoking. Despite being “anime”, this show might as well be a genre on its own. It holds none of the stereotypes surrounding anime, and it’s really just a collection of solid short stories coupled with great animation and an amazing soundtrack. If you’re tired and need a show to watch late at night with a loved one or by yourself, pick an episode at random and see for yourself how great of a show this is.

Genre: Animation

Actor: Kôjun Itô, Mika Doi, Travis Willingham, Yuji Ueda, Yûto Nakano

Director: Hiroshi Nagahama

Rating: Not Rated, TV-14