Anime Reviews (2010-2019): Kino's Journey: The Beautiful World - The Complete Series (a Neo-Tokyo 2099 Anime on Blu-ray Disc Review)

If you invested this much time in watching “Attack of the Titan”, you are going to watch it anyway. But for those who felt that season two strayed too far from what they enjoyed in the first season, there was a purpose for season two and it sets up an exciting, action-packed first half of season three. “Attack on Titan: Season Three, Part One” is highly recommended!

Click here to purchase this Blu-ray on Amazon

TITLE: Kino’s Journey: The Beautiful World – The Complete Series

DURATION: Episodes 1-12 (300 Minutes)

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (1:78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen), English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: FUNimation

RATED: TV 14

Release Date: February 18, 2020

Originally created by Sigsawa Keiichi

Directed by Taguchi Tomohisa

Series Composition by Sugiwara Yukie

Music by Dewa Yoshiaki

Original Character Design by: Kuroboshi Kouhaku

Character Design: Amisaki Ryoko

Anime Production by Lerche

Featuring the following voice talent:

Yuki Aoi/Lindsay Seidel as Kino

Saito Soma/Derick Snow as Hermes

Minase Inori/Brina Palencia as Photo

Matsuda Kenichiro/Christopher R. Sabat as Riku

Ogata Megumi/Greg Ayres as So

Umehara Yuichiro/Jeff Johnson as Shizu

In this imperfect world, the stories are what make it beautiful. Journeying the land and visiting the unique countries is Kino and her talking motorcycle, Hermes. Together, they travel from place to place but only stay three days. Just enough time to gather stories and memories before continuing on. But not every land is pleasant, and Kino will face some with darker and more sinister lifestyles.

Back in 2000, “Kino no Tabi – the Beautiful World-” (Kino’s Journey – The Beautiful World-) was a light novel series written by Sigsawa Keiichi and illustrations by Kuroboshi Kouhaku and would captivate readers of “Dengeki hp”.

With 21 volumes published, over 8 million copies were sold in Japan and it would lead to a 13-episode anime series adaptation, a spin-off light novel series in 2006 (Gakuen Kino), two visual novels for the PlayStation 2, two 30-minuted animated films, art books, picture books, a drama CD and more!

But one thing that Sigsawa had hoped for was a manga adaptation but each time it was discussed, it fell through. While the spin-off would receive a manga adaptation in 2010.

Fastforward to 2017 and finally a manga adaptation of “Kino’s Journey – The Beautiful World” was created by Shiomiya Iruka and serialized in Kodansha’s “Shonen Mangazine Edge” and is still ongoing in Japan. Meanwhile, an anime adaptation produced by Lerche was created.

The anime adaptation and the manga adaptation of the novel have similarities and differences.

Whereas the manga really goes into full depth of Kino’s beginnings and adventures, with only 12 episodes, the anime adaptation features a few adventures featuring Kino and a few with Shizu.

“Kino’s Journey” introduces us to a stoic girl and her motorrad Hermes, that talks to her.

She’s quite mysterious in the fact that she is an excellent markswoman and survivalist and together with Hermes, they travel to different countries to experience visiting each area but her rule is that she only stays for three days.

But all the countries she visits are not exactly normal. Some can be very twisted, some have different perspectives on how society works, but how will Kino and Hermes adjust to each country and how will each country react to them?

VIDEO:

“Kino’s Journey – The Beautiful World” is presented in 1080p High Definition. The anime series is actually very complimentary to the novel and manga adaptation in terms of overall style. Character designs are very well done and as expected with TV series, there is a slight softness but for the most part, animation and background art are well done.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Kino’s Journey – The Beautiful World” is presented in Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1. While both voice acting soundtracks are well-done, as one can expect from the English soundtrack receiving a 5.1 lossless treatment, while the Japanese is crystal clear through the front channels, the English soundtrack is immersive. Great use of sound effects from the surround channels and also great use of LFE.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Kino’s Journey – The Beautiful World” comes with the following special features:

Kino’s Journey: An Interview with Keiichi Sigsawa
Textless Opening and Ending Songs

EXTRAS:

“Kino’s Journey – The Beautiful World” comes with a Funimation Digital code.

There is no doubt that many people are familiar with the story of “Kino’s Journey” courtesy of the 2003 animated series and possibly the manga adaptation.

For me, I was aware of the Japanese visual novels on the PlayStation 2 and watched the anime series as I was a fan of actress Maeda Ai (who was the seiyuu for Kino). But it’s been a long time since I watched the original anime series.

But I have read the manga series and I have been thoroughly enjoying it. While I did enjoy the anime series, with only 12 episodes, I wondered how they were going to incorporate the adventures because frankly, there are a lot of adventures that Kino and Hermes are part of.

And I also wondered if they would go in chronological order with the chapters or mix everything around, choosing the best adventures to create for the anime adaptation.

What you get is primarily, some of the more memorable adventures, but only a part of it because along with Kino and Hermes, there is another traveler Shizu, his talking dog Riku and a grenade loving young girl named Ti and also another person, a slave named Photo with her motorrad named Sou. Throw in Shisou, an elder mentor.

So, as you can see, in order to introduce these characters, Lerche staff really had to pick and choose what to feature in the new anime adaptation.

The good news is that you do get to see how Kino and Hermes meets Shizu and Riku, how Shizu and Riku meet Ti and for the most part, a few adventures for both sides And you get to learn about Sou and a little about Shisou.

But by the time the characters are introduced, you are left with an adventure that really adds no closure. In some ways, I was hoping may be that there was some intent to try to get a second season created but the way the anime series ends, it stays with the consistency of a traveler and her talking motorrad, traveling to destinations and experiencing new things.

And for the most part, I was content with the animated series but made me happier to know that the manga adaptation was available, because you can continue reading about Kino and Hermes’ latest adventures.

Overall, if you want an action-packed anime series which doesn’t require a lot of time investment and is only 12-episodes long, then definitely give “Kino’s Journey: The Beautiful World” animated series a try!

Click here to purchase this Blu-ray on Amazon