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With the live-action version of Kiki’s Delivery Service set to hit cinemas in Japan on March 1, it’s time for the celebrations and tie-in promotions to commence! Japanese bakery chain, Little Mermaid, is one of the first to step up to the plate, paying homage to the movie with this collection of delightfully cute offerings. Available only for a limited time, the three new baked varieties are named in honour of Kiki, her black cat Jiji, and Ms Osono, Kiki’s mother-figure and resident baker. Can you guess which design is which?

First up we have a very chocolate doughnut, offset with a splash of red in the form of freeze-dried strawberries. Inspired by the trademark colours of a character’s wardrobe, this treat is unusual on the inside as it has layers of smooth chocolate batter mixed with layers of crunchy biscuit batter. Billed as a “mille feuille doughnnut”, the unique sweet is designed to reflect the uniqueness of the movie’s main character, Kiki, and recalls her dark dress and bright red bow. It’s the Kiki chocolate doughnut and it retails for 130 yen (US$1.27).
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Next up, we have a chocolate muffin made from a cocoa and chocolate chip batter and then baked with an extra topping of chocolate chips. What makes this one stand out is its unique pink wrapping, which features a cat, a broomstick and a starry sky. Inspired by Kiki’s black cat, this one is called “Jiji’s chocolate muffin” and it retails for 190 yen (US$1.85).

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To round off the set, there are some seriously cute cat breads. With so many scenes in the original movie revolving around the Gutiokipanya bakery where Kiki takes up residence, fans after a taste of the animated breads can satisfy their imaginations with these adorable bread rolls. Made with condensed milk, these come in two designs: cats with whiskers and cats without whiskers. Called “Ms Osono’s cat breads”, as a nod to Ms Osono, Kiki’s mother-figure who bakes bread in the movie, these retail for 100 yen (US$0.98). We can’t wait to see if cat breads like this will make an appearance in the real-life movie version!

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Available from Feb 22 to April 30, these goods will no doubt fly off the shelves as fast as Kiki’s broomstick. Get in while you can!

Source: NetLab
Images: Little Mermaid