Hi everyone! Anime Book Club is back in session with the first two episodes of Kino’s Journey. Just to let everyone know the drill, what I’ll do here is summarize the episodes in question, and then post a few thoughts and some potential discussion points. Feel free to post your own thoughts, whether related to the questions or not, in the comments on the post. I usually try to have these posts up around noon or 1pm CST each Sunday afternoon. Feel free to post any time during the week and share the posts around in case anyone you know might be interested in getting in on the discussion! As the weeks go on, I’ll post links to previous weeks so they can be referenced easily.
Just a few notes: I know the WordPress comments system is not the most convenient to use. While I don’t really have the time to make changes to that currently, I’ll be looking at it for the future. For now, just know that if you’re a first time commenter I’ll have to approve your comment before it shows up, but once you have an approved comment any subsequent ones should show up without being approved after that. I had this in place because I used to get a lot of spam and rude/abusive comments; if there’s an uptick in that again I might have to move back to heavier moderation. Also, and this is related to the show itself, I’m going to adopt a gender-neutral approach to referencing Kino’s character when writing about them. The Crunchyroll subs are not good about this (to my memory), but it seems to me that it’s in the spirit of the story itself to refer to Kino in this way. I don’t plan to play gender police in the comments but I’d ask that you at least consider this point as I’ve seen it made very well across the anime blog-o-sphere and it’s more inclusive.
With all that said, let’s get started!
Episode 1 – A Country Where People Can Kill Others – Crunchyroll – Hulu – Funimation
Content Warning: Gun and crossbow violence and related blood.
While traveling to their next destination, Kino and Hermes (the talking motorcycle or “motorrad”) encounter another traveler resting along a riverside. The man is on his way to a nearby country and is very excited to make his way there because he has heard that killing other people is legal. Having come from a country where even small infractions are heavily punished for the good of the public order, he is looking forward to the freedom of being able to kill those who upset him. When asked, Kino declines a request to help the man bring his supplies into town, and goes on their way.
Expecting death and destruction, Kino is surprised to find that the country where people can kill others is very orderly, with pleasant people who welcome travelers to stay in their midst. The countryside is lush and beautiful, and the country specializes in a particularly ridiculous multi-layered crepe cake that seems counter intuitive to the place’s hardcore reputation. This doesn’t seem to Kino or Hermes like the type of place where people would want to kill others, let alone somewhere where they’d have the opportunity to do so. But there is an unsettling undercurrent to many of Kino’s interactions with the citizenry – each person seems to have a weapon (whether a gun or other item) at the ready, and those items are, as they all state, for killing people. None of the citizens seem particularly hesitant about that fact, either. A town elder even puts an offer of citizenship on the table for Kino, since Kino seems like someone who would be able to kill others.
The town’s specific nature is revealed when the man Kino met earlier arrives and claims he was deeply insulted when Kino refused to help carry his supplies. He’s now a citizen, and immediately takes that to its logical conclusion by threatening to kill Kino over this matter. It’s then that the citizenry, brandishing their various tools of death, fully articulate the nuances of their local laws. While murder isn’t prohibited by law, that doesn’t mean that it is allowed, and those who attempt to murder others will then have their own lives taken. The man is taken out and Kino goes on their way. Outside of town, another man asks about the details of the country where people can kill others, and Kino gets the impression that he’ll be a perfect fit there.
Content warning: Gunshot-related death, seen from behind a barrier.
Kino arrives at the gates of a country that’s been described as beautiful and clean, but soon realizes that things have changed greatly. All travelers who enter the country become entrants into a tournament at the country’s colosseum. The winner becomes a citizen and can amend the country’s laws; losers may only leave with their lives, depending on the mercy of their opponents. This rubs Kino the wrong way but they decide to stay and participate in the tournament, which is set to begin very soon. As Kino travels to the holding area, its clear that the country has been in a steady decline, with garbage strewn across its vacant streets, and crumbling infrastructure all over.
Kino proves their gun prowess early on, readily defeating their opponents without killing them. Soon Kino reaches the finals and faces off against a man named Shizu, someone who proves himself to be very skilled with a sword. Throughout their time in this country, Kino learned more about how it reached this particular state – as it turns out, the current king killed his father, a good but strict king, and allowed the country to fall into hedonism and violence. Kino gets the impression that Shizu has some specific investment in winning the tournament and accomplishing some change, though Kino also has a specific reason to be there. It’s when Kino declines to yield and reveals a hidden weapon that the two combatants learn that their goal is the same. Kino fires a final shot, which “misses” and kills the king. As the winner, Kino proclaims as their new law that all the citizens will fight to the death, and the one remaining will become the new king. Kino then leaves the country to its own devices.
On their way out of town, Kino and Shizu have a final meeting. Shizu was the exiled prince of that country, and wanted revenge on his father. Kino was also there seeking revenge. It just so happened that their goals resulted in the same outcome.
Discussion Thoughts and Questions (Feel free to share additional ones in the comments!)
In the opening to episode 1, Kino describes the feeling they get when they are feeling most down – it’s it’s during those bleak times that the world reveals its beauty to them. This becomes a theme throughout the series (hence its subtitle “The Beautiful World”), which I think is good to keep in mind just in general. I find this to be a comforting thought nowadays when there are so many bad things happening in the USA – though there are people committing atrocious acts, there are people who continue to work to reveal the truth
- In episode 1, there seems to be some linguistic ambiguity regarding exactly what the law allows in terms of killing others. Despite the fact that I’ve watched the episode multiple times, it doesn’t exactly sit well with me when Regel states that killing people isn’t prohibited, but it also isn’t allowed. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
- When the violent man describes the country he left, he talks about its strictly-enforced rules and extreme public order. At the end of the episode, the peaceful man describes having left a country where he had to kill in order to survive. It seems to me that the author is making a statement about the efficacy of laws and how having more laws and harsher penalties in place does not necessarily result in people having a positive mindset. I was wondering what others’ opinions were on this point.
- Regel seems like an interesting character whose existence is still ambiguous by the end of the episode. The violent man describes him as a terrorist who killed many people, escaped prison, and went into hiding in this country. In person, he seems much like the other citizens – living a quiet life, but being able to kill when required. This may be a little bit of a leading question, but what does this say about our perception of/empathy toward others’ acts?
I’ve always thought the “Colosseum” story arc was sort of interesting, as it reveals something different about Kino. Going into the series I think it’s common to think of Kino as more of an observer – we get a perception of every country through Kino’s eyes, and Kino generally seems to take more of a hands-off approach to things that are going on there, or at least doesn’t offer any direct criticism against some of the more disagreeable aspects. The people of each country reveal themselves to be good, bad, or (more often than not) much more complicated than the simple conceits of their local ordinances might imply. This episode reveals Kino to have feelings and actual skin in the game. They’re angry about how the woman and her husband on the cart were treated in a country that they were so looking forward to visiting, among other things that we can speculate about.
One thing I also like about this episode is how Kino’s thoughts in the opening carry throughout the story. Kino states that “every now and then you should use your abilities to the fullest. If you don’t, your skills become rusty.” Obviously this becomes very true and Kino’s firearm skills (as well as Kino’s diplomacy and mercy skills) get a workout. It’s been long enough since I watched it first that I don’t recall whether or not each episode starts off with such a lesson, but I find it interesting that both so far have begun with a particular thought or lesson.
- Kino appears especially angry when they’re stopped by the guards at the gate of the country and given a breakdown of the rules. I think there’s some ambiguity as to what specifically this anger stems from (that the country was not as advertised, that the rules are unfair to spring on travelers/unfair in general, that Kino was already aware of the false advertisement and has some other reason to be angry about them, etc.). What’s your opinion on this?
- In the final moments of the episode, Kino states that “revenge is ludicrous,” and Shizu agrees. Yet both of them participated in the Colosseum tournament for reasons of revenge. What do you think about this obvious contradiction?
- While there isn’t much detail regarding this part of the story until the end, Kino’s two encounters with the woman on the horse-drawn cart (as well as her husband), is interesting to think about. During their second encounter, after the woman’s husband has been killed in the tournament, the woman tells Kino “you should definitely stop by that country.” How do you interpret this statement, considering what the woman has experienced prior to it?
I hope everyone enjoyed these first two episodes. I think they’re a great starting point for our discussion and a good lead-off into what’s a very interesting anime series. Again, feel free to link this post around to people who might be interested in participating, and happy viewing!
