[Categories: Anime Reviews]
Kino’s Journey Episodes 1-4
How many shows do I blog that I describe as ‘not for everyone’ or ‘an acquired taste’? Too damn many it would seem! Still, Kino’s Journey is an interesting and well-written series that, at the very least, manages to be a refreshing change from the usual stuff that’s around these days.
Kino is a traveller. For the sake of argument (I’m fairly certain but not 100% sure) I’ll say Kino is female but anime series always have a knack of casting tomboys…anyway, she’s something of a ‘wandering star’ who carries an impressive assortment of guns and knives, with only her trusty ‘motorrad’ Hermes for company. With every episode she meets people of a different land with their own customs and way of life; staying no more than three days at a time in any one place she is the epitome of the innocent bystander. Every place Kino visits is individual and memorable: some people are cruel, some are kind, some wise and others ignorant. We are not given much time to learn about these varied countries but Kino’s Journey still has one hell of a lot to say about people.
The picturesque artwork and simply-drawn character designs suggest that this is going to be a light and whimsical series but fairly early on there are moments that throw such preconceptions out of the window. As one caption tellingly explains, the world is not beautiful but that in itself lends it a sort of beauty. This to my mind is the central message of Kino’s journey: the world can be glorious and and wonderful but it can be harsh and unfair as well. In one scene we are shown a cute rabbit hopping around in a snowy wonderland; seconds later Kino shoots it through the head and skins it in order to feed three men she has met on her travels who are stranded and starving.
Kino’s Journey is similar in approach of storytelling to the likes of Mushishi in that it is very episodic with the central character being the only constant; it is also very philosophical and relies on Kino’s monologues and imagery to convey its themes and ideas. The concept of a talking motorbike may seem surreal but it is both light relief and helpful when Hermes’ gives his/her/its own thoughts that carry along Kino’s musings, hopes and fears. With her motorrad companion she is travelling solo but not completely alone.
This is a very unusual series that may bore some viewers and shock them in turn; bearing in mind that it shares the same director with Serial Experiments Lain it’s no surprise that Kino’s Journey has some very ‘deep and meaningful’ aspects that are not readily able to be explained. On the other hand it is a gently-paced and thoughtful examination of who we are and why we behave in the way that we do; I must admit that I’m intrigued by the scant explanations by Kino’s past and equally curious about who and what she will find on the next stage in her endless travels.
Posted on March 11th, 2007 @ 11:26 pm
I was definitely a fan of this show. It was the sort of show that I could have watched way more than 13 episodes of. Episodic anime like this are series that I can watch probably hundreds of episodes of and not get tired of. Though I suppose something like this is much more imaginative than, say, a Detective Conan or Sazae-san and so the level of imagination probably wouldn’t be able to be sustained over such a long period of time.
There’s supposed to be a movie coming out soon. I await to see what that’s like.
Posted on March 12th, 2007 @ 9:26 pm
I’m on the fifth volume of the light novels right now, and can see how they chose to animate only the short stories based on the generic Kino formula.
All the fascinating ones involving differing points of view, flashbacks, and brutal violence were not animated.
Posted on March 12th, 2007 @ 9:32 pm
Oddly, I found this first volume was actually the strongest collection of episodes that make up Kino’s Journey (not to say the rest isn’t great). I always remember this show because it was one of the first ever ADV review discs I sat down to watch and I knew nothing about it at all; 1hr 40mins later and I was absolutely stunned, it’s great coming into a show with no expectations and being surprised.
The second episode (Kino helps the homeless people from freezing) and her back-story episode too. Both of them are intelligent, but match the commentary with a strong emotional catharsis.