Kino's Journey is a 13 episode "closed" series (there are a few movies too) that focuses on the travels of Kino and her motorcycle which converses with her over the course of their travels. I would place this series in the same regard as I have for Mushi-shi in that it is a lovely minimalist take (this time in both sound and art style). For as short as this series is, and the simplicity of the over all idea, it really has been flushed out amazingly well to incorporate both light and dark sides of the world. These travels to other countries are so full with lessons that I feel like I need to watch this series over several times in order to understand more.
Through her travels, Kino experiences the many customs, generosity, dangers and absurdity of the outside world. There is an interesting overlaying arch that is touched upon in the series, but is extremely episodic and one could probably jump in at any episode with very little back story to get caught up. That being said the dialog is spot on and needs to be paid attention to. Everyone is just trying to get along and make it their own way, or how they have lived.
On the aside; I recently showed this as the weekly anime movie. I, frankly, am running out of movies that I have so I opted to show Kino as a beautiful segway into next semester. It was after this showing that I realized that nearly all of the anime I'm reviewing on this blog should be watched in either silence, or devoid of humorous anecdotes. This series in particular needs to be watched and experienced on an engaged level. Without that, you're robbing yourself of amazing moments that only happen the first time you watch them. Go ahead and be loud the second time, or after it's over.
I can't express enough how well this series finds accurate parallel situations to portray the underlying questions to systems and how one should either act or perceive the world around them. There is a to take in all at once and I would suggest spacing episodes in order to think them through before moving on to the next one. There is so much potential in personal growth by suggestions and posed questions.
"The world is not beautiful. And because of that, it is. "
-Kino's Journey
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