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ANN Book Club -- Kino's Journey.

Kino and the lonely man couldn't read each other's minds, and they didn't say anything to one another, but they were able to communicate a lot in only a look. The lonely man had complained that verbal language was insufficient to explain true feelings, but maybe, just maybe, there were other kinds of language he should have thought about before convincing himself mind-reading was the only way to know a person's heart. So much can be said without words.

I was also initially disgusted with Kino's deliberation between the life of a rabbit and a human, until I understood that she had personal motives. It wasn't so much that she felt both had an equal right to live, (which they do, but a human life is a lot more important than a rabbit's if one has to go, so that evens the playing field,) but that she was afraid she was killing a creature for the wrong reasons. "A rabbit can't give me a fancy ring," she notes. It wasn't her meal, so why should she have to give someone else a meal? For the reward? She hated the idea, so she eventually decided that she would want to be saved in that position, so that would be her rationale. Which, when you think about it, is ALSO selfish reasoning, which only backs this episode's depressing assertion that human nature is basically self-motivated.

When one person suffers, someone else will inevitably as well. From the poet it spread to the king, and then the poet's daughter, the town itself, the towns who foolishly considered his words prophecy, and ultimately, the town is destroyed by one man's sorrow when the military, led by the prophecy, destroys it. That's a tragedy. No good came of that poem.

You definetely hit a spot there and I completely agree with you. You explained better than me. Thank you, kind sir!

I guess I've already mentioned why surviving and enduring hardship in the three men's eyes becomes a perversion. Is survival, celebration, and endurance so valuable against several human lives? To them it was. This is almost an example of something beautiful turning ugly instead.

"Charity is not for the sake of others." I'll get personal on this one: I believe that. I believe people are very sinful, selfish creatures and charity is either motivated by boredom/convenience at best or side benefits at worst in many cases. Now, me being a Christian, I believe there's a way out of that line of thinking, and that's salvation, but you're still human, so being willing to have God work in your life is what makes kindness to others even at a cost to yourself a joyful experience and not a burden. Nothing in human nature supports that, but God's nature does, and if his spirit and will are your spirit and will, it makes you a happier...no, that's superficial...it will make you a more joyful person even if you are in hard times. "Not beautiful, yet beautiful."

My first impression was that I didn't know if Kino was a girl or boy; it didn't help that the Netflix jacket said "him" so I was confused until I checked Wiki... Do you think her androgyny is important?

About the "world is not beautiful" mantra, I really thought it emphasized that beauty does not equal perfection. In fact there is no perfection and the world is beautiful not just inspite of the flaws but because of them. It's easy to say but honestly after seeing some of the things Kino's seen already (i.e. episode 2), I think it would take a lot of maturity to come to this conclusion.

You know, I thought she was a boy as well, until I read this thread and started watching the series... haha.

But im also inclined to think that Kino is some kind of robot, or at least was very sheltered.

Alestal wrote:

You know, I thought she was a boy as well, until I read this thread and started watching the series... haha.

I remember being very confused the first time I watched the show and Hermes asked Kino about marrying the lonely man at the end of episode 1. The possibility of Kino being female didn't even cross my mind.

The story of the poet and his family seemed very "Greek tragedy" to me and the animation even seemed drawn in a "Grecian urn" style. As has been mentioned, Hermes is also reference to ancient Greece mythology. Maybe this series is inspired by some of those myths and legends, which have also been passed down through many generations and interpreted in numerous ways.

Dorcas_Aurelia wrote:

Alestal wrote: You know, I thought she was a boy as well, until I read this thread and started watching the series... haha. I remember being very confused the first time I watched the show and Hermes asked Kino about marrying the lonely man at the end of episode 1. The possibility of Kino being female didn't even cross my mind.

I remember that this series has been discussed in another thread a while back and the fact that Kino was a woman has been treated as a spoiler and therefore we were all obliged to write about her character mentioning all the time her name or impersonaly calling her. To tell you the truth, I was surprised to see myself not thinking about whether Kino is a boy or a girl for most of the series (till episode 6 - JesuOtaku knows why ) Maybe her androgenity is helping everybody identify with her.

Isn't it strange how in episode 3, she parks her bike right in that old mans study....? And there was a translation error when her bike said, "When in Greece" its "When in Rhome"!

Why did (whatever her name was) adopt Kino's name?

Just checking, but the omission there is intentional?

Alestal wrote:

Isn't it strange how in episode 3, she parks her bike right in that old mans study....? And there was a translation error when her bike said, "When in Greece" its "When in Rhome"!

...*snort* ... *laugh*

Well, the running JOKE is that Hermes misquotes things and gets his words mixed up. Hence Kino's almost saying something to him and then shrugging it off. It's SUPPOSED to be wrong...