Anda, the young protagonist of In Real Life, and Kiki, from Kiki’s Delivery Service, step away from their comfort zones of home and build new lives in foreign landscapes. As they work to build their new lives they are faced with new challenges, building new friendships, learning the cultural behaviors and rules, and both become more mature in the process. Anda’s new landscape is a vast virtual fantasy world in the MMORPG Coarsegold Online while Kiki left home to learn more about being a witch on her own in Koriko.
These two Bildungsroman stories focus on the growth of the Anda and Kiki as they learn about the world around them, how they can make a difference, and how to strengthen their own identities and individuality in situations where changing to fit in would be easier.
Watch the trailer for Kiki's Delivery Service:
Buy In Real Life
Required Response Choices:
- Write a 3-4 page review/critique comparing the use of similar themes in the two texts. How do they each approach these themes (ex. feminism, female empowerment)? Does one do this better than the other and how? Post this to your blog.
- Kiki’s Delivery Service puts a lot of emphasis on food (pancakes, bread, the fish pot pie for the mean girl’s birthday) and the first panel of In Real Life shows Anda’s birthday meal. Bake or cook something that you feel represents the two texts and write a 3-4 page blog post (with pictures!) detailing why you chose what to make and how it connects to the texts.
- Write a fanfiction of at least 3-4 pages that incorporates both Anda and Kiki. Use some of the common themes in both narratives to guide the events of the story. Post this to your blog.
Social Learning:
Come watch Kiki’s Delivery Service and discuss the themes of feminism, identity, and growing up that appear in both texts for the challenge. Cosplay is encouraged!
