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Information

• Member: Skyebox
• Studio: Skyebox Productions
• Title: Learning To Fly
• Premiered: 2006-08-04
• Category:
  • Sentimental
• Song:
  • Kelly Clarkson Breakaway
• Anime:
  • Kiki's Delivery Service
• Participation:
  • Otakon, Otakon AMV Contest (2006-08-04)
  • Anime Boston 2007, Anime Boston 2007 AMV Contest (2007-04-20)
  • Anime Central 2007, Anime Central 2007 AMV Contest (2007-05-11)
• Comments: First version completed: May 2006
  
  Voted 1st runner-up at OTAKON 2006 (Romantic/Sentimental)
  
  Much of the music I listen to (and therefore use to make AMVs) is somewhat outdated by most standard opinions, probably because I'm too cheap these days to buy new CDs with money that I could use to buy new anime ^_^ Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway" was one of the first new CDs I'd purchased in quite a while, and while listening to the title track one day, I got a sudden burst of inspiration that turned into this highly sentimental video.
  
  Maybe because I'm a scientist by trade, I tend to intepret songs very literally - I've gotten comments from people saying that I need to be less vehement about making images match lyrics, and it's true. This time, I thought it might be more interesting to take a more metaphorical slant on a song; while the individual incidents that occur in the anime don't necessarily mirror the actual lyrics, the overall theme of the music is what's important.
  
  Kiki isn't trying desperately to break away from home. In fact, her home environment is so positive that she goes out into the world with a ton of confidence and the naive idea that nothing can possibly go wrong. Once she leaves home, she quickly discovers that life isn't quite that simple. The town that looks so perfect on the surface greets her with coldness and skepticism. When she first meets Tombo, she is extremely rude, probably because she assumes that the only reason he’s interested in her is because he’s never seen a human flying on a broom before. She laments over her struggling delivery service, too young to understand why it isn’t an instant success. She quickly convinces herself that her magic is the only part of her that’s worth anything in the real world. Luckily, she meets four people, both young and old, who help her discover that it’s her personality and not her powers that makes her special.
  
  Some might raise an eyebrow and wonder whether Kiki would have been OK without that highly predictable and almost obligatory dramatic rescue at the end. I think she would have been just fine. Look at her reaction when the old woman presents her with a cake as thanks for helping her out (and note that this was an act that required no magical powers whatsoever; it didn’t even require electricity!) At first, she frowns, and half of you expects her to make some kind of self-disparaging remark such as “I don’t deserve this,” or “why are you so nice to me?” Instead, a bright smile spreads across her face and she enthusiastically offers to return the gesture. It’s obvious that she finally understands that this woman truly appreciates and likes her, and not merely out of selfishness or pity. And it’s that change that gave Kiki the strength to find her magic again. It's for that reason that I interspersed two short clips in the ending sequence of the video: one to represent Osono-san, the first person to really reach out to Kiki, and one to represent the old woman, the person who finally got through.