Kopoli (コポリ, Kopori), more commonly known as Tombo (トンボ, Tonbo, lit. "dragonfly") which is his nickname, is a major character in Kiki's Delivery Service. He is a 14-year-old aviation fanatic who becomes fascinated by Kiki and her ability to fly. At first, Kiki brushes him off as a "clown", but in time, the two become good friends.
Kiki's Delivery Service[]
He is first seen with a group of friends witnessing Kiki and Jiji's arrival in Koriko. Impressed by her flying ability, he intervenes when a police officer tries to detain her for causing a disturbance by feigning having something stolen. Once Kiki has escaped the officer, he makes his presence known and bugs her about taking a look at her broom, but she accuses him of being rude for not introducing himself before talking to her. He teases her for saying something so quaint, to which she flies off in a huff. In the course of this, some of his friends on the street tease him for talking so boldly to a girl, which he brushes off.
Later on, he and his friends drive around in their jalopy and encounter Kiki on the street while she is going home from shopping. He remarks on her not flying, which once again earns her ire as she marches off. Later that day, he is riding his bike when he notices Kiki flying off from Gütiokipänjä Bakery and asks Osono about her.
He returns to the bakery sometime later. Kiki gives him the cold shoulder again, until he gives her an invitation to come to a party at his flying club. Kiki comes to accept the invite, but is delayed in getting back to the bakery in time after helping Madame and her mood is soured by a delivery to Madame's Granddaughter. Tombo waits at the bakery for her but eventually heads off just as she arrives.
Later (off-screen) he returns to the bakery to ask after Kiki and Osono tells him she is sick, to which he is surprised witches can get sick. He mentions he wants to visit later, to which Osono politely refuses. Later, however, Osono assigns Kiki a delivery of baked goods to Tombo, facilitating a meeting.
Tombo and Kiki bond as he shows her his bicycle-propeller setup for a human-powered plane, explaining the party was to celebrate finishing it. He invites her to come with him to see where a large dirigible landed, near the beach. They ride there using his bike, a task made harder by the propeller as he wishes to strengthen his legs. On the way, they nearly collide with a bus, with Kiki using her powers to literally lift the bike into the air to Tombo's surprise. It crashes on the beach as a result, but Tombo is good-natured about it, although he has to run to retrieve the propeller on severely weakened legs.
He and Kiki chat on the beach about flying, with Tombo expressing his admiration for the ability to fly in the air. Kiki admits she thought he was a bit of a clown when they first met, to which he jokingly admits his mother thinks the same thing. Tombo's friends arrive in the jalopy to tell him the pilot of the dirigible has offered to let them all ride in the cockpit during an upcoming test flight. However, unbeknownst to Tombo, Kiki recognizes his friends as some girls who had earlier made her feel insecure, as well as Madame's Granddaughter. She leaves in a huff, to Tombo's confusion. Tombo calls Kiki sometime afterward to tell her about his flight on the dirigible, but she depressed tells him to not call her before hanging up, once again confusing him. Unbeknownst to him, Kiki is dealing with the sudden loss of her witch powers.
Tombo is present at the launch of the dirigible, but a sudden gust of wind causes it to launch into the air out of control, with Tombo left clinging for dear life to a rope hanging from the bow as it travels over Kiriko. An attempt to swing him into the clock tower fails and leaves him in an increasingly dangerous position just as Kiki arrives on her new broom. Despite losing his grip, Kiki manages to catch him and land him safely to the ground.
Over the film's credits, he is seen flying his human-powered plane alongside Kiki on her broom.
Appearance[]
Tombo is a slender 14-year-old boy. He has light brown hair and brown eyes. He wears glasses, along with an orange and white striped shirt and blue pants.
Behind the Scenes[]
According to character designer Katsuya Kondō, "We already had a clear concept for Tombo, so drawing him was only a matter of execution. His hairstyle resembles the kind you see in foreign films. It seemed for work for Tombo."[1] Hayao Miyazaki says his character is "not really a man yet, behaving like a fool instead."[2]
Miyazaki added, "I don't really think Tombo and Kiki have to be romantically involved at all. I do think, however, that they will become good friends."[3] When describing his scene with Kiki on his flying bicycle, "In this world flying isn't so bizarre, so flying bikes don't seem farfetched at all. I overlooked that original premise when I came up with this scene. Because the bike scene was all brushwork, it was very time-consuming. I thought we did a lot of shots, but the scene turned out so short. In any case, we needed a scene where Kiki really breaks out laughing."[4]
He is voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi on Japanese, later by Eddie Frierson for Streamline and then Matthew Lawrence for the 1998 Disney dub.
Relationships[]
- Kiki (friend)
Quotes[]
"You're so lucky, Kiki. I wish I could fly. People like you can just fly away on a broomstick."
Trivia[]
- Tonbo means "dragonfly" in Japanese.
- Tombo attends an aviation club.
- He owns a propeller-thrust bicycle.
References[]
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| Kiki's Delivery Service | |
|---|---|
| Characters | |
| Main Cast | Kiki | Jiji |
| Kiki's Family | Kokiri | Okino |
| Osono's Family | Osono | Fukuo | Osono's Baby |
| Citizens of Koriko | Tombo | Ursula | Madame | Barsa | Lily | Maki | Ket | Ket's Mother | Jeff | Clock Tower Caretaker | Madame's Granddaughter | Policeman |
| Others | Dora | Senior Witch |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Locations | Okino Residence | Karikiya | Koriko | Gütiokipänjä | Ursula's Log Cabin | Clock Tower (Koriko) |
| Music | Soundtracks | Rouge no Dengon | Yasashisa Ni Tsutsumareta Nara |