Kino no Tabi: The Beautiful World

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journeys are shown throughout multiple series but never really expanded on such a level as Kino's. Kino is an observer, a character whose name represents wandering spirit, and her only companion is a motorcycle named Hermes, who acts as her other side to perfect her harmony with not only herself but the connection to the world. Kino's character is a complex look into the nature of the world and the nature of man, but it's also an outlook on a perfect human who's freed themselves from internal bias to finally take in the beautiful world as an observer. This character's structure is the best I've ... seen in anime(2003 adaptation) and light novel. For example, Kino can only stay in places for 3 days, and Kino is not truly allowed to mess with any place's rules or customs.
 
Through the narrative of an observer, Kino is allowed to fully explore and become the world she is placed in, allowing her character to truly adopt any themes explored through her journey. At the end of the day, Kino is the journey, and you are the observer. However, even under just this structure, she still is an individual, still practicing her own personal themes through her freedom and individuality. Kino throughout her journey keeps in mind that she'll do anything to keep her freedom and individuality, to the point she'll destroy an entire kingdom and take lives. Kino's complex character shows us how she can keep her individuality and remain unbiased, the observer. 

Overall what I have to say about Kino no tabi revolves around the Lillie’s (kino reference for the goats) that the mc deserves. Let’s all love kino and watch kino

Kino’s Journey is, without a doubt, one of the best written works I’ve read. Not just among light novels, but among all of them. And I’ve read quite fuckton of them.

It’s hard to pull of a collection of short stories with consistent quality. And it gets exponentially harder the longer the series is. Yet here it is, with over 20 volumes and still ongoing, and I can’t say there was even a single tale I disliked, with stories going from arena fights through slice of life documentary photography to zombie apocalypse. This is what true 10/10 is like.

Light novels in particular but modern writing ... in general often fail due to lacking a theme. Sometimes there’s a weaker theme lingering though the work like “hard work pays off” or “don’t be a dick, yo”, sometimes it gets more daring with “hard work does not pay off or “maybe be a dick, whatever”, though ultimately focus is just on moving the plot forward (and that’s if you’re lucky) with the writing itself being one-dimensional, with no added benefit. Kino’s Journey is the exact opposite – it’s budding with themes. It’s kinda like Aesop but with waifu. It offers multiple views, thoughts and musings woven into its stories. The stories works both in the sphere of the plot itself and in the sphere of long-lasting message. The great part is that it isn’t preachy, it’s not forceful. Like the protagonist, it’s more about observing the events, perhaps a little bit of nudge here and there but at the end it’s up to you what you take from it. Kino’s Journey is not just psychological, it’s straight out philosophical. Something many works attempt to be but few make it work.

This is the kind of work that if released in different packaging and slightly more western location could have been hailed as the modern classic, but the author instead went with combining anime girls with his gun otaku interests. Which I of course fully respect, but it would also be nice for this to get the global recognition it deserves, not just inside of anime community. Maybe some day it will at least have more than 1 volume officially licenced in English.

10 💎 | kino no tabi: the Beautiful world

The series is a collection of independent tales about eccentric people who travel the world and experience the strangeness of the places and people they meet.

Kino's Journey is my all-time favorite text and what led me to light novels and web novels in the first place. It has a very Mushishi-like atmosphere, exploring a fantastically and beautifully created world and its residents in an episodic format, with a rather prominent protagonist who acts as a temporary observer rather than a resident of each place he visits. The difference is that Kino's journey takes on a more cynical ... tone and Kino is very different from Ginko.

The "abnormal" qualities of each chapter are reflected in various aspects of society and the human physique. It's mostly emotionally distanced in tone and can be very dark and/or disturbing at times, but it often has lighthearted moments and downtime to make it not too gloomy.

Kino herself is my all-time favorite character. She is extremely cold, uninvolved, and unsympathetic to others, but her behavior is that of a person with a conscience. Her actions are sometimes what I read as "doing the right thing", but I still always feel that she is not acting out of any sense of fairness herself. It's just a by-product of your acting in your own best interest. She is intelligent, capable and indifferent to the opinions of others. Still, she's not cruel and never takes things further than necessary. There is a depth of warmth in her genuine coolness. Many characters are written to be cold hearted, but compared to Kino they fall to the ground and look fake, not like a believable person like her.

A beautiful diary of an adventurer's journey that has many fantasy elements, but at the same time realistic. It focuses on human nature and relationships with others. Each story leaves the reader with something to think about, without giving the reader lessons, giving a conclusion.

"The world is not pretty, so it is..."
🐦🏓