The world is not beautiful, therefore it is.
Impression
Don’t worry, I’m not dead. I may as well be, though, so apologies are in order. I’ve been phasing out my involvement with the blog over the past few seasons, and the next few months will be no different. To reflect that, Kino no Tabi is pretty much the only thing I’m going to be covering for certain. The post titles will just be that, Kino no Tabi, because its official title is too long and adding a (2017) to the end looks extremely tacky and gives me war flashbacks from all the thesis citations I’ve had to do in the past. In all honesty, a Friday air slot isn’t too great for my schedule, but at least it demonstrates that there are hopes for Kino to be relatively popular. And for good reason, too – I absolutely loved the first season, and sometimes I rewatch it to help me relax before bed (the last time I did that was probably around April or May). It’s actually gotten me through some tough times, and so I’ve ended up nursing this weird sense of obligation towards both it and Aria, except with the latter it’s about twice as strong. I’ve found that an episode per night is the best dose – so if you’re reading this without having had any prior familiarity with the series, I cannot stress enough how good an idea it would be to marathon the old anime over a two-week period. It’s got a lot of nostalgic value to me, for better or for worse, and as a result I spent a lot of this episode getting used to the many differences Lerche has made to various aspects of the show.
A preliminary (but important) point to raise is the status this adaptation has amongst all the other Kino animated media. In other words, is it a sequel or a reboot? I initially believed it was the former, the next episode’s teaser made me think the latter for a few seconds, and after further reflection I think it’s a bit of both. For those who are familiar with the light novels, you’ll of course know that today’s Land of Permitted Murder is newly adapted. But if we’re doing the Colosseum episodes next week, that suggests there’ll be some overlap with the original anime – possibly so that they can properly introduce Shizu and give him a bigger role in this season, although I don’t know what exactly they’re trying to achieve by doing it all over again. Existing fans won’t have forgotten about him, but if they’re trying to properly cater to new fans, Hermes shouldn’t have vaguely glossed over references to the first Kino, Shishou, or the current Kino’s reason for staying only three days in every country – which here she only gave as ‘someone’ having told her it was the best length, when there’s also her additional worry that she might get too attached and want to settle down. I’m going to assume, by the way, that if you’re reading this you’re familiar with the original anime but not the light novels, which I think is a good compromise as the former is not only required watching, but possibly also necessary to make the most out of this new-fangled adaptation. I’m not up-to-date with the novels either, so there’s that. Anyway, what exactly this anime is trying to achieve will be made clear in the coming weeks. If it truly aims to be more of a reboot than a sequel, there absolutely must be a Land of Adults episode sometime in the future.
Let’s talk about Kino. She’s now voiced by my seiyuufu Yuuki Aoi instead of Maeda Ai, which is really poignant on paper as Kino was actually Aoi’s very first role as an anime voice actor, where she voiced a girl called Sakura in an episode which was meant to serve as a parallel to the Land of Adults one (all the way down to the implication that Sakura was really Kino’s original name). Aoi has exploded in popularity in the years since, and I think it’s really sweet that Lerche got her to become the new Kino in the way Kino (Sakura) replaced the male Kino she met in the Land of Adults and became a Tabibito-san. However. As much as I love Aoi, (and I really do love Aoi) I don’t think I like her as much as I did the old Kino. Both Kino and Hermes now have deeper voices – it’s more noticeable with Hermes, but Aoi’s Kino threw me off a little because of how different it was to Maeda’s. Maeda isn’t actually a voice actor by profession, which ironically gave her Kino a really quirky tone to it that I haven’t quite heard anywhere else, even after years of watching anime. And it’s an irreplaceable part of Kino no Tabi to me, as was Hermes’s voice. I do admit that Aoi did a wonderful job – she reminded me of everything I love about her voice today, and I could listen to her bedtime thoughts for hours. But it’s… well, it’s not the same. I wonder if it’s just nostalgia that’s making me set these impossibly high standards. I appreciate it’s been 14 years, after all.
My opinion on the art and animation is largely similar. From an objective standpoint, the new Kino is more aesthetic. But there’s something insanely cute about the terribly drawn (retrospectively speaking) potato-face Kino from 2003 that I can’t help but love. Although all Kinos are cute. I know this is what she looks like in the later volumes of the light novels, so to that extent it’s faithful to the source material, but again the difference is a little jarring. What was really jarring was the CGI Hermes. I guess it’s part and parcel of anime production these days (even Aria the Avvenire rendered gondolas in CGI) but both Kino and Aria had endearing hand-drawn art and it’s quite sad to see more and more of that get swapped out for cheaper alternatives as the times change. It’s also unfortunate to sit through CR subtitles and encounter basic pronoun errors that indicate how someone completely unfamiliar with the series is translating it, although part of me isn’t really surprised at all. It’s an offence on the level of pointing at Link and calling him Zelda. I know ‘boku’ is a predominantly male pronoun, and there’s also the argument that new viewers might not know about her origins, but this is a sequel. Kino is a cute girl! A CUTE GIRL!
Today’s episode was the Land of Permitted Murder, which is alright as an introduction. Of course, you’re never really worried for Kino herself, not only because this show is episodic but also because she’s extremely competent. I laughed when that guy wanted to challenge her to what was essentially a quickdraw duel. My assumption was that she’d kill him and get to leave due to the lack of any prohibition on murders though, so the eventual twist did manage to catch me off guard. All the places Kino visits do end up being really weird, but the thing with countries like this where they throw the anomaly in your face is that you spend the whole episode watching and waiting, on guard for every innocent old lady to suddenly turn on her. The real kicker was that, even though on first sight the country’s inhabitants look like they mean well, they had neither any qualms nor unwillingness to commit murder to any target of their vigilante justice, and to that extent they didn’t lie about what their country was all about. The fact that they were so calm in removing undesirables was what was supposed to be disturbing, as well as the realisation that, if Kino had chosen to fight back (and she has done exactly that on past occasions) she would have been immediately lynched by the mob. In other words, despite their heavy dislike of murder, they’re willing to do exactly the same as a way of dealing with those who do kill people. I’m not sure how Kino knew, or whether she knew at all – because that idiot attacking her wasn’t shot by the arrow until right before he was about to pull the trigger. It’s a little unfair to new inhabitants, really, because the law exists to remind people of what’s right and how to act. Sure, they may have been trying to smoke out individuals who are evil enough to be willing to murder someone just because they can, but there’s something uncomfortable in how they’re essentially baiting them. They’re constantly reminding travellers that you can kill here, and flashing weapons everywhere as if encouraging them to act.
Somehow, this has ended up being a really long post. Oh well. In the end, what I’m trying to say is that if you’re a returning fan, you’ll probably feel that this falls short of the original. It’s fine, and there’s nothing really wrong with it, but it’s lost a bit of the magic that the original had. It’s not as subdued and subtle in its presentation, and it’s more colourful and slightly more upbeat. Which is not entirely its fault, but at the least I was hoping for tiny quality-of-life mainstays like those creepy bell noises everywhere that I never knew I missed. I swear one of the video ads for this Kino had the noise, actually. If this is your first time, and you’re into oddly philosophical fable-like (but also sometimes silly) stories that make you ponder for a while after finishing an episode, then this is for you. Either way, it’s worth watching, partly to see some new stuff animated, and also to see some fan-favourites from the original series get decorated with a fresh coat of paint. Apart from the Colosseum episodes, my predictions include the Land of Adults and her past with Shishou at the very least. It’d really depend on how much of a reboot it’s intended to be, but those are a necessary minimum. I’d really like to see the Land of Illness and Land of Magicians if possible, as well as the one with those three men on a disused railway. But let’s be real, Nimya probably isn’t coming back.
Okay, I’m really stopping this time. That’s it.
Possibility of Watching: Guaranteed
Possibility of Blogging: Guaranteed
I never watched the original series initially. The original Kino’s Journey was before my time. That said, when I heard about the remake, I started reading the light novels that were translated, and I got hooked.
I can’t really comment on comparisons from the original having never seen the original. I watched perhaps one or two episodes on Youtube, but they were a little faster and dubbed, so it was a bit hard to understand. Back then, the anime art style was different, but with this new series, it’s not too bad. It’s cleaner in some ways, and I really didn’t notice that Hermes was CGI. Also, from what I read, I’m glad that Aoi Maeda’s the voice of Kino. Like you said, it’s nice to see that she’s inheriting the torch. I’m trying to not compare it too much since I can’t say anything about it, so I’ll at least try to keep it to a minimum.
When I watched this episode, I noticed the subtitles refer to Kino as a male. I suppose that in reference to the original material, Kino always refers to herself in the masculine pronoun, so I suppose the anime’s trying to create some kind of suspense in regards to Kino’s gender. I think also Kino isn’t really conscious about referring to herself in that manner, so perhaps the anime is trying to highlight that.
As the series goes on, I hope that it really showcases the novels in a way that only anime can. I read up to around the 12/13th volume translated by Baka Tsuki, but I still find myself struggling to answer one question: Is Kino a good person? I hope that the anime will help in this regard. Speaking of which, I know that they might only focus on thought-provoking episodes, but I do hope that we get some nice short stories that highlight the cute side of Kino’s character, like the Land of Pets or the Land of Traditions. Small stories like that may seem insignificant and filler, but they seem like a nice distraction. I was a little disappointed in this episode in that it didn’t show Kino’s cute side with the crepes. That would be nice to see.
Also, something to note. Is it just me or does Kino seem a little taller in this series than the old one? I know that Kino’s relatively short, but she seemed shorter in the old anime. Also, I like your comparison to her face as a potato. I suppose looking at it again, it is kind of small like a potato.
That makes me more of a secondary than you are! I would strongly, strongly recommend the first series if you have the time, especially now that it’s clear that the two will probably adapt different content and have subtle differences in atmosphere and directing style. I think there’s something really quaint and charming about the old art, even if the 2017 version is objectively more aesthetic. Kino’s face especially! Her wide potato face (like a less extreme Hidamari Sketch character design) really grew on me.