Rei Sakuma's Jiji brings dry humour to Kiki's Delivery Service without making its heroine's worries seem foolish. It is the performance we recommend her for: funny company that leaves another actor room to be vulnerable.
Fi1m perspective
In Kiki's Delivery Service (1989), Rei Sakuma's Jiji provides company for a young woman who takes her work seriously. His dry humour keeps that seriousness from turning solemn, without making Kiki seem foolish for caring. We laughed at Jiji and felt protective of Kiki, because the comedy lets us recognise her awkwardness without asking us to mock it. Sakuma is funny here in a way that helps the leading performance, and that is a substantial reason to value her.
Jiji arrived during the stretch that established her as a voice actor. Sakuma began playing Batako in Let's Go Anpanman in 1988, then gained prominence with Shampoo in Ranma ½ (1989) and Jiji. For Shampoo, she developed distinctive intonation and removed manga catchphrases, making the sound of the speech part of the characterisation. It suggests an actor prepared to make choices about how a character speaks, rather than simply deliver the most recognisable lines.
The restraint in Jiji works particularly well beside Minami Takayama's Kiki. Takayama makes the girl's eagerness appealing without smoothing away her insecurity, and Sakuma supplies humour without pressing for attention at her expense. Hayao Miyazaki's film allows both performances to stay modest, trusting an ordinary working day to be worth our concern. We have a reservation about the film's occasionally over-tidy lessons, but not about this pairing; the voices let Kiki be uncertain even when the lesson threatens to become too clear.
Her later feature work includes Tamaki in A Whisker Away (2020), while Batako has remained a long-running television role. That continuing work is worth noting, but our recommendation rests on the particular pleasure of Jiji's company. The humour never makes us impatient to get back to Kiki. Start with Kiki's Delivery Service, particularly if comic animal companions usually test your patience.
Biography
Rei Sakuma (佐久間 レイ), also credited as Sakuma Rei and born Reiko Sakuma (佐久間 玲子), is a Japanese voice actress, actress, singer and narrator. She was born on 5 January 1965 in Setagaya, Tokyo, and is affiliated with the agency Ōkina.
She began her career in entertainment in 1982 as an idol performer before making her voice acting debut in 1985 as Pierce in the anime series Button Nose. Sakuma is known for her voice roles including Jiji in Kiki's Delivery Service (1989), Shampoo in Ranma ½ (1989), Batako in the long-running series Soreike! Anpanman, Mini-Dora in Doraemon, and Tamaki in A Whisker Away (2020). She was formerly married to actor Yū Mizushima.
