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Kino's Journey

Title:

Kino's Journey

aka:

キノの旅: The Beautiful World

Type:

Anime

Genre:

Adventure, Slice of Life

Language Reviewed:

Japanese

AnimeDates Score:	8.6
Storyline:	9.8
Animation:	8.0
Sound & Music:	7.5
Gotta-Buy Rating:	9.0

User Score:	8.9
Storyline:	9.0
Animation:	8.8
Sound & Music:	8.5
Gotta-Buy Rating:	9.2

His Review
by adam
Total Score:	8.4
Storyline:	9.6
Animation:	8.0
Sound & Music:	7.0
Gotta-Buy Rating:	9.0

Kino’s Journey is unique in the world of anime. It doesn’t have much adventure or action. There is no romance, no mystery and very little comedy. There is no contiguous storyline, like many other series from Japan. Yet, there is something for everyone in this drama that stretches your mind and challenges you to skew your view on many sociological issues. Kino is a young traveler in a world that is made up of small, apparently self-sufficient countries who are all physically accessible, but mentally closed off from the rest of the world. Each is unique in its laws and people, a situation which consequentially puts Kino in a variety of situations that test the fabric of human consciousness. As Kino rides around the world with the trusty talking motorcycle Hermes, danger seems to seek them out. Some of the tales are extremely disturbing and the often light-hearted atmosphere of the show should never be taken for granted. The animation is dreary to match the storyline, but when the action picks up the cinema moves to match it. The slow-motion scenes are few but they make up for the lack of action in the rest of the series. The music is nothing special overall, but the background music in the Lain-like-intermission-sequences-with-meaningless-words is painful to the ears. The series is a visual hyperbole that is ironically given the nickname ‘The Beautiful World” since the world of Hermes and Kino is hardly beautiful. Cannibalism, persecution (and subsequent execution) of foreigners, psychopaths, mass extinction and more twist together as bits and pieces are gleaned from Kino’s past until the entire story becomes clear. Without a doubt, Kino’s Journey is an anime that should not be missed!

Her Review
by agie
Total Score:	8.8
Storyline:	10.0
Animation:	8.0
Sound & Music:	8.0
Gotta-Buy Rating:	9.0

Kino’s Journey is a series based on a novel by Keiichi Sigsawa, which follows the unique travels of a young adventurer named Kino and his talking motorcycle companion named Hermes. They travel to different countries in the world staying only 3 days at each location. Along their way they meet compassionate people and there is always a moral lesson to be learned in each episode. Kino and Hermes admit that they have no set destination and are not sure of the purpose of their non-stop journey. The only part of traveling that remains constant is their 3-day rule. This rule appears to be to keep them from becoming attached to any one particular setting. Every episode has a philosophical undertone on some aspect of humanity which is explored by the people of the town, their customs, traditions or rules. Kino generally stays detached and comments as a non-judgmental observer usually offering a different take on the situation at hand. While the show tends to explore the disturbing aspects of humanity, it does have its lighter themes as well. Kino is a skilled fighter and has excellent weaponry skills, which comes in handy as a wanderer. Kino is also very mature and wise for such a young person which appears has also been learned from life on the road. One frustrating aspect of the show is the disconnect between the episodes and at times, Kino seems to take a back seat to the characters in the towns where he visits. Also there are hints at times about Kino’s past and with the exception of one episode the viewer is left feeling a little in the dark about Kino. However these criticisms are not completely valid because the focal point of the series is the journey that Kino is living, not Kino’s life, but the viewer is left wanting more. While the show is dark at times, it is one of the better shows I have seen in a while because each episode explores different philosophical issues regarding human behavior. It’s one series where you get much more than you pay for and Kino’s Journey belongs in anyone’s anime collection!

Overall Male User Score
Total Score:	9.2
Storyline:	9.0
Animation:	9.0
Sound & Music:	9.0
Gotta-Buy Rating:	10.0
Based on 1 User Response

Overall Female User Score
Total Score:	8.5
Storyline:	9.1
Animation:	8.5
Sound & Music:	8.0
Gotta-Buy Rating:	8.5
Based on 2 User Responses

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