Studio Ghibli Fans Are Rediscovering Kiki’s Delivery Service’s Buff Baker
Studio Ghibli’s films are now available on Netflix, and the Internet has had an interesting reaction to rediscovering Kiki’s Delivery Service.
Netflix recently released most of Studio Ghibli‘s catalog of films worldwide and the Internet is being flooded with happy posts from fans who are thrilled to be reacquainted with these much-loved Japanese classics. Some of them have had a particularly interesting reaction to rediscovering Kiki’s Delivery Service. Everyone who watches falls in love with the “buff baker,” and they’ve been immediately taking to Twitter to let the rest of the world know about it.
The baker, named Fukuo (but also known as Mr. Osono), is a stoic kind of guy who spends the whole movie chilling in the background baking bread, taking care of his pregnant wife and just being generally wholesome. Even though this time around he is getting lots of attention, Fukuo is still definitely a minor character. He shows up a few times during the almost two-hour film, but he is primarily silent. He only has two short lines as his wife goes into labor and tells him to call for a doctor, but they are more gasps of surprise than actual words.Continue Scrolling To Keep ReadingClick the button below to start this article in quick view.
His first appearance is the morning after Kiki spends her first night in the baker’s spare room. He comes out of the bakery, all big and buff (he’s obviously no stranger to heavy lifting or the rigors of kneading dough), whistling and stretching as he goes about his chores. Later that same day, we see him adding logs to the stove fire and efficiently putting buns inside the oven. Clearly, this is a man who isn’t afraid to work and he handles his business well. When Kiki comes along and interrupts his workday to ask Osono (his wife) about getting a phone, he just continues on without getting distracted or annoyed. An even-tempered man with focus and dedication? We love to see it.
And then, as if he wasn’t doing everything right already, Fukuo sees Jiji (Kiki’s cat) watching what he’s doing and starts adding some sleight of hand as he works with the bread to impress him, even shooting him a friendly wink when Osono hires Kiki to work at the Bakery. Now we know he has a sense of humor, and these tweets can’t sing his praises loud enough. Honestly, this movie should have just been called “Fukuo the Perfect Husband.”
A while later in the film, we see him nervously pacing around the bakery through the window, and right in front of him is a beautiful braided wreath with a witch riding a broomstick, entirely made of bread, with the words “Kiki’s Delivery Service” written on it. When Kiki comes home, he runs away and hides, but comes back just in time to get a great big hug from her. This man is kind, shy, creative, can cook and is good with kids?! Okay, Internet. You’ve made a great call. Now the question is, where is the real-life Fukuo?
