Kino no Tabi: The Beautiful World - Nanika wo Suru Tame ni - Life Goes On.

Kino's Journey can pretty much be divided into two shows, one that is an entirely episodic travel anime with light philosophic content and a second that has a much stronger emphasis on philosophy and underlying whispers of a overreaching storyline. Kino's Journey: Life Goes On falls pretty solidly into the second category and does a good job of representing exactly what I liked about the main series.

Story 10: This is the story I wanted to hear since about episode 3 of the show, and it never disappointed. The plotline of "Life Goes On" does a wonderful job of showing how Kino's writers are able to ... seamlessly integrate Lain-style philosophy into a story without interfering with its pacing. That being said, it contains a similar level of spoilers as watching any prequel before the main series, I would certainly suggest watching the show first.

Art 9: Just about the same as Kino's Journey, along with the subtly annoying horizontal lines throughout. I really liked the darker moments of this OVA, the art in those parts were a very welcome supplement to the already established art style. And what can I say? I just love Kino's character design <3

Sound 9: I really enjoyed the voice-acting in the show and in this OVA it was maybe even better. Still don't really care for the OP or ED though, but neither are like gratingly bad. The BGM isn't spectacular or anything but contributes well to the pace and feel.

Character 10: A surprising amount of character development in this OVA, without messing up the series's, which was awesome to see. Also, many of the side-characters in "Life Goes On" were fairly unique, which was nice coming from a series where one of my few complaints was their reuse of stock characters.

Enjoyment 10: A very stellar OVA, if you liked Kino's Journey but always wanted to know more about Kino's past this is perfect for you. Even if that wasn't really the draw of the series for you, I personally believe some of the series's best moments are in this OVA so I'd check it out anyway.

Overall 10: If you didn't like Kino, this probably won't change your mind. If you liked Kino but didn't like its ending (as in- what ending?) this OVA could fix your opinion of the show, as it did mine. I find myself wishing this were the canonical last episode, because I fear some people will miss it. Please don't let yourself be one of those people! If you finished Kino's Journey promptly go watch this OVA.

Title: Kino no Tabi: In Order to Do Something -Life Goes On-

Anime: The Kino no Tabi movie was released on February 19th, 2005 in Japan, and was directed by Takashi Watanabe, who also directed Ikki Tousen. It has yet to be licensed or released Stateside.

Story: The movie is a prequel of sorts, focusing on Kino when she was younger and living with Shishou, who was mentioned in passing in the series. We see her learning to protect herself with guns, and learning how to ride Hermes, which makes for some nice laughs. It also focuses on her guilt over a death that ... she caused, and her first journey to the country of the one she killed, to tell that person's family what happened.

This is a really nice continuation of one of the episodes in the series, not to mention an expansion on another person mentioned in passing in the series, and a great origin story in general. We get to see how Kino became... well, Kino.

Again, as in the series, there is some blood; nothing too significant, but it's still there.

Art: No different from what we saw in the series; see my review of Kino no Tabi for my opinions on that.

Music: Again, no different from what we saw in the series, except for the ED. The new ED was sweet, but I like the series' ED better.

Seiyuu: Once again, no change from what we saw in the series. It was nice, hearing more of Shishou's seiyuu, because we heard so little of her in the series. She was exactly what I expected her to be: warm, comforting, motherly in general.

Length: I'm not real happy with this, as it clocked in at just under a half-hour. I was expecting something a bit longer than the typical episode length, and there was so much more that they could've done. It was nice, but still...

Let's just hope that the second movie is actually full-length, and not this short.

Overall: An excellently written, if slightly short, origin story, with many similarities to the series.

Story: 8/10
Art: 8/10
Music: 7/10
Seiyuu: 8/10
Length: 8/10

Overall: 39/50; 78% (C)

For fans of Kino’s Journey, Life Goes On is a welcome addition. It’s a cute, engaging story that reveals how Kino got her traveler’s outfit and remarkable skills, expands upon two important secondary characters, Shishou and the older Kino, and focuses on Kino’s guilt over the death of the older Kino. It also has a bit of action, humor, and a suspenseful, darker climax.

As a prequel, the film isn’t bad but it leaves something to be desired. How did Kino and Shishou meet, and why does Shishou make Kino (and everyone else) call her Master? When and why did Kino decide to leave Shishou? If ... Life Goes On were actually a movie, maybe it would have had the time to answer these and other questions. At just under 30 minutes, it’s more like another episode, but unlike other episodes, it fails to raise any interesting cultural issues. For better or worse, it’s just a collection of events from Kino’s childhood, with little expository or intellectual value.

Given the dearth of Kino’s Journey anime, fans should certainly check Life Goes On out. It’s a good story, and of course, it’s more Kino. Just don’t expect to find any big answers or profound messages. For those who haven’t seen Kino’s Journey and are looking for a good starting place, the “Tower Country” OVA (Episode 00) is a better choice as it’s more representative of the series.

This first Kino's Journey special serves as exposition to the main series, kind of, and does nothing else. And even the exposition that it does accomplish is not only unwarranted but unnecessary. It was also disappointing considering I was expecting the special to show exactly how Kino became so impressive at combat. So let's discuss those two aspects of the series. Its unwarrantedness, and its unsatisfying narrative. For this review, I will assume you watched the main series, as both of those subjects require knowledge of certain episodes in the series. Also, this review might get a little spoilery. I will not explicitly spoil the ... special, but I will be talking about things that it does not do, things it fails to do. For a non-spoiler review, I do not recommend this as it does not add anything to the main series, nor does it accomplish or do anything remarkable.

Did Kino's Journey need a prequel?
Episode 4 of the main series already took us back to when Kino decided, or was forced to, become a traveler. Sure, this episode is really short, but it does everything it needs to for us to understand Kino's motives. Are we left asking anything else about her past? If the answer is no, then there's no need for this prequel. If the answer is yes, then we ask ourselves the following question.

Did this prequel explain what we wanted to have explained?
The only gap between episode 4 and the rest of the series that is noticeable is how she became so good at fighting. How does she go from this completely naïve little girl to a cold, apathetic killer? This prequel does not answer those inquiries. The synopsis here answers that just as much as the special itself.

Given that this prequel serves no purpose outside of the synopsis, is it worth watching as a stand-alone special?
The story is horrendous stand alone. There is no story. The art again conflicts with the atmosphere of the special. The sound is okay. The characters are well written, but not more so than the main series. The only thing it has going for itself is that it's really short. If it was at least some Karate Kid kind of episode where it showed a lot of training and struggling as well as a gradual hardening of character, it would be worth watching, because then it would exactly answer our two questions above. But just the simple fact that it does neither, as well as being lackluster in itself is enough to warrant a skip.

Life Goes On is an OVA which explores some of Kino's time spent with her teacher/master before she becomes a traveler. Without going into spoilers, this OVA is just as brutal as the original series. However, unlike the original series, this story is far more character driven than thematically driven. While people who are keen on seeing more development of Kino's story will be excited, it will disappoint anyone who wishes to see her travel to another country and explore a new theme. Nevertheless, the story is just as high quality as the series and really emphasizes the difficulties Kino has finding her own identity.

The ... art style is exactly like the series; low detail but does the job sufficiently. The soundtrack uses the same songs as the series. These songs are great to listen to and complement each scene well. There is a new ED song but the OP is still the same. The voice acting is still up to par.

While the main characters are all people we have seen before, it's nice to see them in different roles. Kino is young and learning, Hermes is in more of a teacher role helping Kino learn how to ride and Shishou is being Kino's mentor. What is most impressive is how a lot of the plot is able to be conveyed without much exposition. It is quite amazing how much development Kino and Shishou receive in such a short amount of time.

The description for this OVA is that it is a prequel. While chronologically it is a prequel, this is better watched once having already seen the original series. I would recommend anyone who is a fan of this series to watch this OVA. Still, even without having seen the series, this OVA is able to stand on it's own.

Kino’s Journey – Life Goes On, serves as a prequel to Kino’s Journey. It is longer than an average episode, clocking in at just under 30 minutes. This is a fairly cutesy side story, where we learn about what Kino got up to once she escaped her country of birth and reveals the important supporting character, Kino’s master – Shishou, who taught Kino how to shoot and travel.

This is essentially just another episode of Kino’s Journey, which would have worked fine within the original show – but is it good? Well, yes, it certainly is good, but it just feels unnecessary and makes you want ... something more. Episode 4 of the original series serves as Kino’s backstory, which was more than satisfactory. We learnt that Kino is, indeed, female, and how her name derived from a male traveller who sacrificed himself in order to save her as a child, which begun her current lifestyle. At that time, I, personally, felt no need to know what Kino did after this disaster. I didn’t need to be convinced about how she could use a persuader (a gun) so well, nor did I care where she got her clothes. Yet here we are. It really just comes off as something which only fans can enjoy, but, as a fan myself, I know that there are so many different, better stories which could have been told. Furthermore, unlike the majority of episodes/countries in the main series, very few interesting societal, or, to a lesser extent, human issues are brought to the fore, with the exemption of a dark plot twist which stemmed from Kino’s guilt over a death she was not responsible for. It is simply a retention of Kino’s childhood, which offers little on an intellectual level.

In terms of actual quality, this OVA is consistent with the main series’ style and tone. It never sways too far from its predecessor, other than the fact that Kino has embraced the loli life – which I’m sure some people will be very pleased about. At the end of the day, it is more Kino. It’s not the best that Kino’s Journey has to offer; definitely do not expect to be questioning life after viewing this, but for those who enjoyed the original series, it is certainly worth checking out.

To conclude, this is a good show but sadly fails to live up to the immensely high expectations which Kino’s Journey set itself. Do not watch this as a way to get into Kino’s Journey, it is meant to be watched afterwards. If you have not yet watched the original Kino’s Journey, please do.

This is a wonderful little episode. It's only about 30 minutes long and it paints the picture of a younger, more inexperienced Kino. The main show only hinted at Kino's youth and training but nothing was ever fully explained. Most times, I really enjoy using my imagination to bridge the mysterious gaps in story plots. However, there was something about Kino no Tabi: The Beautiful World that didn't sit well with me. Though it was an amazing show, it left me with the feeling of wanting more.

If you feel the same way, then I suggest you give this little episode a watch. Even if you ... don't feel that way, give it a watch. It's only 30 minutes. Do not, however, watch this prequel before watching the main series. The main series does a beautiful job of developing Kino's character. By the time you get to this prequel, you'll already know who Kino is and what's going on. This little episode is just like a supplement to the main series. It answers some of the questions you have about Kino; it does not introduce the characters and the main story.

The story is very good and dynamic. There is a little bit of humor, a little bit of philosophy, and a few dark WTF moments that make you tense. Any anime that can cram those three aspects into a short episode, while still keeping the story interesting, is great in my book. Not much has changed artistically, which is not a problem because they did a great job to begin with. The sounds, music, and voice acting weren't too different. Nothing spectacular, but still very well done.

My biggest complaint is the length of this little episode. As I mentioned in the beginning, the main series was amazing and left me wanting more. Yes, this anime gave me that by answering questions and stuff. But I wish wish wish it were longer. I wish the story was more developed, I wish the characters would shine more, I wish there were more philosophical undertones like the main series, I wish there was more action, I wish there was more travel. Despite all that, it's still a wonderful little episode and it does a fantastic job doing, well, what a prequel was made to do. I very much recommend it to all Kino fans. It's only 30 minutes long, what do you have to lose?

My second review, my first being the original Kino no Tabi.

Going to keep this one very short and sweet:

--- CONTAINS SPOILERS---

This went way too fast. I enjoy origin stories, but the true origin story happened in episode 4 of the original Kino no Tabi.

The content of this 26 minute episode --without the OP and ending-- would have fared better in 3 episodes instead of 1. This is how I would have broke it down:

... Episode 1: The training that Master gives to Kino and more development about their relationship.

Episode 2: Traveling and asking about OG Kino's family and where to find them. I think an episode to this would have fleshed out the original Kino's character more than episode 4 had done in the original Kino no Tabi; having multiple people talk about who Kino was and where to find his mother, and to watch out for her.

Episode 3: Meeting OG Kino's mother, and developing her mental instability a little more than the 2 minutes it took for her to flip out and try to kill a child. Having her show new Kino OG Kino's old photos, the mother having flashbacks of old Kino before he left, and then her starting to mentally degrade from there instead of jumping from 10 to 100 immediately.

TLDR: Overall, I feel as if this had a lot of potential to be a good continuation of what happened after episode 4, but again, like Kino no Tabi, doomed itself to fail the storytelling by limiting the amount of time it had to tell it. One episode was far too short for the story that we got and everything went far too quickly.

I really enjoyed the 2003 series of "Kino's Journey," but this little short took away from multiple elements of what I loved about the series.

The first issue is the whole idea of gender that is presented in the story. In the 2003 series, Kino took on more of a gender-less role. Kino just liked the idea of being referred to as Kino. This fit well into the fact that Kino traveled between places and wanted to remain as more of an outsider, not really fitting into cultural standards or anything of the sort. There was not even a real preference shown ... by Kino. In "Life Goes On," we get more of a direct switch with the use of "I" variants, which just felt unnecessary, lacking in execution, and even damaging to the original story.

The second issue was the lack of philosophy, satire, and metaphor. We don't really get to learn much about Kino's development and the desire for journeying. Yes, some events happen, but there is a lack of character understanding for the viewer in Kino's decisions. There is also a lack of expressing Kino's beliefs about the world. The viewer does not even get any satire or metaphors from any of the events that happen; even the "mother" incident felt really lacking at the end as there was not much of a lesson or observation on the world made from the incident.

The last issue simply boils down to the lack of details. "Kino's Journey" (series, 2003) did an excellent job of using discretion. The viewer was provided with very little information, but was able to make strong inferences about Kino and Kino's beliefs. Story elements were simple and explained, but there was always enough not explained to make the viewer question what true intents, judgement flaws, etc were present in towns and characters. The original series always just gave enough; it did an excellent job of presenting adult themes and sophisticated ideas in a simplistic way.

What "Life Goes On" does wrong is that it is discreet in the wrong places, while being too direct in others. We get to know too much about Kino's past and it creates a less compelling story for the character. What is left discreet is why Kino stopped at Master's house before travelling after meeting the original Kino. The viewer is not really given an idea of what will cause Kino to leave Master either. It is these points that would have been great to share or at least imply through the short, but instead the story is focused on something almost completely irrelevant to the actual adventures and desire to travel that Kino harbors.

The most compelling aspects of the 2003 series are left completely behind and some story elements are even tainted because of the information that the short provides. While I gave the original series a 9/10, I felt that this short only really deserved a 6/10. Normally I reserve a 6/10 for shows that just barely manage to keep my attention or have really bad development, but this is one of the few exceptions where it was fairly entertaining but did collateral damage in the process.

A BRIEF LOOK AT ALL THE PARTS:

STORY (5/10): I explained this all above. 5/10 for really missing the mark here.

ART (7/10): About as good as the original series. Would have liked to see something interesting presented in the special - even if just a little twist or a little extra effort.

SOUND (6/10): Really didn't stand out at all. The song at the beginning, "All the Way," was great as usual, but the opening itself was lacking. This would have been a great time to show how Kino arrives and settles at Master's house now that I think about it.

CHARACTER (5/10): I explained this all above as well. Again - really missed the mark.

ENJOYMENT (7/10): Was still okay to watch. I never felt bored and the story progressed -- I was just upset with choices made.

OVERALL (6/10): I would not watch this again - I will pretend it does not exist as I continue watching the series/shorts/movies that follow. Again, not painful to watch - just disappointing in quality when compared to the 2003 series and what was presented.

This will be a shorter reviews because of the length of this movie, which I sincerely can hardly refer to as such in full honesty. Clocking at barely 30 minutes, it would be more appropriate to refer to this piece as an extended episode. That should not be taken under any circumstance as a criticism; as episodes go, this would be one of my favorites.

The premise is that of an origin story for Kino. I am confidant when I say that Kino is one of the best characters I've had the pleasure of being introduced to in a long time, and I have concluded after ... some meditation that my appreciation of her does not stem from her mysterious past as much as it does from the role she has adopted within the world she inhabits. So, being able to take a peek into her backstory and seeing a much more different person than the one I came to know over the first series was fascinating. It is still her, but so much softer, much more innocent and, for lack of a better word, feminine. At no point during this movie could I attribute to Kino the androgynous nature that permeates her character, and considering how this short is entirely focused on her personal development, this was a wonderful decision on the part of the writer.

I also have to say that I was not the biggest fan of the earlier part of her backstory. I did enjoy it quite a bit, and probably upon further reflection I will come to understand and like it more, but my first impression was mixed. With this new glance, I must say that I carry with me a much deeper satisfaction.

The pacing benefited from the longer run time. I must praise how easy it was for me to immerse into every scene when they were given just the right amount of time, never going on for too long or too short. It makes me wish that the original series had been granted more 30 minute long episodes; I'm sure they would have benefited from them, even though I believe that they did make great use of their 20 minutes. So, perhaps I could be wrong.

The major theme of finding your own identity is approached from a very interesting angle. Rather than Kino defining herself as her own person, she decides to take on the role on the original Kino, even changing the pronoun she uses to refer to herself. I will not tackle this idea from a gender related position because, while it does have a place, I believe that's not the focus. This is Kino embracing the idea of becoming a traveler, of continuing the journey just where the first Kino left it. After all, she left with her life and his coat the place where he died; it is not far fetched to say that the name of Kino is still being carried across the world, under a different person, but still moving.

Finally, I need to go into spoilers for this whole paragraph. I might have missed something, but I am pretty sure that Master set Kino up to kill that crazy old lady without having to leave the forest. If that is so, then I must applaud that decision because of its ramifications. Kino, upon returning home to her master, does not condemn her actions nor seem to hold any resentment towards her, and she of course realizes she was used. She just accepts it and reaffirms her assertion to become a traveler. At the same time, this point goes to show that she's finally decided on leaving Master, when just a few days before she intended to stay with her forever. I believe, and I say this as someone who has not read the LNs, that her trust has been compromised, and that after considering herself to be ready, she intends to leave for good. This sets up a great precedent for the Kino we met in the series proper: she comes, she sees, she appreciates, and then she leaves. That attitude of bearing little resentment and instead dropping out of the map commences here, which I believe is something to be admired.

I leave a higher score on this movie just because it is an individual piece and as such it is much easier to judge, whereas the whole show had plenty of highs and lows that, in my humble opinion, kept it from being a masterpiece. Not to say that this is, but it is one of the best stories Kino No Tabi had to offer, and one I was entirely happy with. I need to gather a stronger emotional reaction to offer a 10, so it gets the next best thing. Highly recommendable to everyone who liked the original, and if you didn't watch it, this is not that bad a place to start, to be honest.