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tl;dr The 2017 version takes the mantra "The world is not beautiful, therefore it is" and crushes it under the wheels of a thousand horribly-animated 3D-CG motorrads

Why a 1/10? Why such a low score? It is because there is no reason to watch it. The 2003 version is better, and Lerche's remake has no good ideas and none of the things that made the original so loveable. This new Kino, cutesy and staid, has only really succeeded in becoming a clunky metaphor for the anime industry at large—gutted, and a hollow husk of her former self.

Kino's Journey has been lobotomized in favour of something more ... accessible and easily digestible. All the magic is dead. Gone are the days where Kino riding Hermes around the countryside was given the dignity of normal 2D animation. That old friend you loved, the sepia tones and the somber beauty of an angular, awe-inspiring world, is no more. There's something unsettling and depressing seeing some new studio snatch up this I.P. and make it dance to the tune of modern anime trends, and thinking about this well after finishing the series has been the only time Lerche's remake made me feel something akin to what those old Kino episodes did.

What is the purpose of this show? Why does it exist, and why watch it? That's why I'm here writing this, to warn adventurers that some countries aren't worth going to—that they look like the towns you know, streets you grew up on and vistas you have grown to love over the years, but are now dead countries, joyless and cheap and filled with a million identical cardboard cutouts of high-gloss Akihabara maid cafés staffed by energetic catgirls in miniskirts. Those old memories would be worser for it. There is no beauty here, only popcorn and a quick flip to the next channel.

The world is not beautiful, therefore it is; some worlds are ugly, and sap the life out of those you love.

Is this show any worse than others this season? Probably not, but it all depends on what you value as a viewer. If you want something easily watched and easily forgotten, Kino's Journey 2017 is definitely for you. But if you want something meaningful, something that you might love and cherish for years afterward, please just watch the original.