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Noooooooo! It's already over?! The sheep segment was a strange (but hilarious) episode to end off on, although the bit of philosophy during Kino's nap segment might just be the perfect way to close out the series.
Making the sheep episode the last episode is very anticlimactic though. I loved how the original series ended with the "Kind Country" episode. Kino had finally found a place she wanted to stay only to tragically find out that it wasn't quite meant to be, so she had to continue her journey. The last episode of the 2017 series features Kino shooting sheep into a BBQ and plowing into them with a Jeep. Hilarious? Absolutely. Great ending? Not so much.
Also, Photo is featured in the OP and only gets one episode? There better be a sequel now!
This entire episode was just stupid nonsense. I don't know why this of all episodes is the last episode. I don't know why we spent almost an entire episode watching Kino deal with OVERLY MENACING CGI sheep. The action was terrible but it always is in this show, and the only real merit to the episode is Kino and Hermes's dialouge and just the sheer absurdity of it. Fucking why?
4/10, god damnit Kino 17.
every single one of my forum posts is dumb and invalid except for 1, I don't claim them it was a different person it was all fake
The story of sheep was a strange one for me. I've recently finished watching Ringing Bell, so the concept of a vicious, murderous sheep isn't too farfetched for me. If anything, it made the episode hilarious in that regard, though seeing the whole flock kill themselves trying to attack Kino was really odd, if not absurd as far as the lack of self-preservation goes. Though, the last twist at the end at least capped the story off well enough. The idea of domesticated animals bred for fighting and the animal rights activitists going against that pasttime is interesting for a few reasons. First, the first shot may have been at the people here initially portrayed as training sheep to fight and die to entertainment, but the second shot was at the activists releasing sheep unnaturally bred into the wild. In the former case, it there were people conditioning sheep to act in accordance to their wishes, but the latter case involves people releasing the sheep into the wild without taking any measures in helping them return to their "natural state," as it were. As a result, the sheep, instead of fighting each other, attack humans, as if they held some hereditary grudge. Though, the guard seemed to regard the sheep as defenders or the country's iconic mascots, rather than an actual danger whom would drive away and/or kill any traveler wanting to enter the country. The overall story was pretty conflicting, but I suppose that may have been the intent.
With the last bit, it was a nice message for the viewers, though the lack of subtlety really speaks for the season as a whole. The episode itself was a bit underwhelming, but in a sense, I suppose that's also the nature of the series. It really isn't the type of series that has proper build ups to climatic arc ends, or even proper arcs to begin with. Though, I would have preferred a stronger story to end on, as the sheep story really amounted to a few jokes carried over from the episode's beginning, namely trying to stand Hermes up after falling over and trying to jump the ravine. I'm not sure if this is proper irony, but this season of Kino's Journey felt like it went out with a whimper instead of a bang, in spite of Kino going guns akimbo to an extent I don't recall ever seeing animated. This is truly a conflicting adaptation.
In my mind, I'd describe the Kino's Journey series as hollow, yet warm. Each story is about different people living in their own, unique ways. Whether they live piously, pathetically, or in simply absurd manners, everyone that Kino meets has managed to survive up to their meeting, and thus has some means and drive to live on. However, Kino's various meetings are often times painful, involving the most tragic and horrific that humanity has to offer, all in the name of trying to live on. In traveling the world, Kino is constantly challenged by such events, where her mantra of "the world is not beautiful, therefore it is" comes into play. The world isn't all good, nor is it all evil. It doesn't exist in a dichotomy, and while Kino may realize this, at the end, she's just as human as any other human. She can be greedy. She can be spiteful. She can get scared and frustrated, just as she can be elated and whimsical. While she tries to retain her position as a neutral observer, every now and then, she becomes involved in the stories of the people she meets. At times, these are educational experiences, but at other times, they can endanger her ability to continue traveling, either by the desire to settle down, or plain death.
Is Kino's Journey about finding the good in humanity, despite all of its shortcomings? Is it about uncovering and internalizing the ugliness of the world, hidden away by its facade of smiles and systemic laws? Is it about a solitary traveler trying to understand the world she lives in? Is it about the said traveler simply traveling for the sake of traveling? Does the story exists as a political piece critiquing various real life issues extrapolated for dramatic purposes? Is it simply a series of allegories attemping to portray case studies of such extrapoliated issues for interpretation? Is it all of the above? None of the above? Some odd combination, or perhaps something else entirely?
My love of this series comes from its ability to present challenging stories of great variety and settings, never constraining itself to any particular subject matter, technological level, nor its own in-universe spatial laws. The story comes first, which allows the universe's logic to allow these ideas to come to fruition. So we have a talking motocycle and dog, walking fortresses run on renewable energy, countries tormented by radio waves, fantasy medieval gladitorial battles, the wild west, and countries run akin to a brainwashing cult; that's all fine, because as a fictional series of stories, Kino's Journey at least manages to remain consistently inconsistent, thereby throwing any sense of time or technological contextualization out the window. Additionally, the protagonist is fairly neutral in terms of self-identification and allegencies, thereby acting as a faux stand-in for viewers to view each story through impartial eyes. Finally, each story, as they are presented, are shown out of context. They can typically be viewed as stand alone stories without a need for a continuous narrative.
As such, the way each story is viewed is through the viewer's own experiences, thereby allowing different ways to interpret, enjoy, criticize, or gloss over each story. In some ways, the lack of an inherent explaination or position makes the series feel indecisive, as it rarely goes further than a surface-level glimpse at each issue. However, I'd argue that there isn't a single answer to every scenario. Or perhaps there wasn't an answer to begin with. Or, do go even further, the concept of providing answers through interpretation is something only a creature capable of thought could perform, and as such, with regards to the story and our current scope of knowledge, only humans could possible interpret the world of Kino's Journey, thereby applying human values to both nature and the values of fictional humans. In this, there's bound to be conflicts in ideologies, as uniformity would be akin to some manner of hivemind, lending to stagnation and general boredom, if not the end of thought and creativity in the most extreme of cases. Not every thing needs interpretation. If anything, interpretation itself may be a form of human conceit, thinking that concepts of answers somehow existed naturally, as if the world had inherent explainations for its being, even if such sentiments may have only existed due to humans creating them.
But, I digress. I have certain problems with the Kino's Journey light novel, and I have certain problems with the 2003 version. And, to continue this trend, I have problems with this 2017 adaptation. However, I'm still a fan of the series, and in spite of all its flaws, I can accept that it's not a perfect series. But, in its lack of perfect, perhaps, therein lies a sense of perfection that can't be found anywhere else. In terms of having consistently interesting stories, managing its character motivations and behaviors, maintaining impartiality and balancing thoughtfulness with action, Kino's Journey is horrifically inconsistent. In spite of all that, Kino's Journey also manages to provide a fascinating universe that functions as a test ground for civilizations borne out of extrapolated ideas, scenes of great warmth and hollowness, and the titular main character who manages to embody neutrality in terms of character design, thoughts and actions. She's most definitely a girl, but before that, Kino is simply a traveler named Kino. Much like the series itself, there's no particular stance taken, as Kino's self-identity is a non-issue. Kino exists as a traveler on a journey, and the anime is about the stories along the way, hence the title of the series "Kino's Journey." The main character isn't the focus. Instead, it's the journey.
At least, that's my head canon. Again, I love this series a lot, which is why I'm able to ramble nonstop about why I think it's great, often to the point where it's probably a lot better in my mind than it actually is in reality. If I could have my way, it would be a minimalist series that focuses on worldbuilding and atmosphere over anything else, but it would most likely be boring as sin. For what was given, I'm more than content. My only hope is that we'll somehow get more adventures from this series in the future.
As a closing note, Kino is having her 1/8 scale Good Smile Company figure from 2008 re-released and refined to be more detailed. The one with the sassy cocked hip, tightly fit clothes and the oddly defined ass. Sometimes, I wonder if I should have just gotten into some other hobby that's easier to cope with. But, oh well. Tomboy waifu it is.
A fine ending to a fairly pleasant and gorgeously appealing show!
Unlike most anime finales, this felt like a slow and steady end. xD, those vicious sheeps though. I’d never imagined sheeps would be this carnivorous but it was a nice addition to the messed up world though. It was awesome to see Kino fight back though, and I’m genuinely shocked how the Jeep managed to withstand all that. Cool episode overall, through and through.
Time to watch the original, so I’ll try and binge watch that whenever I possibly can. I hope there will be a Second Season too, since I’m really liking this cast of characters and the world development of the show.
As for the whole show in general, I enjoyed most of the episodes and was a little bored with the minor remaining episodes. It was nice to see Shizu’s party get a couple or so episodes but all the more disappointing to see them just being ignored for the last few episodes. On the other hand, the Art/Animation of this show was simply an eye candy. All those vivid details in almost every scene given by the Studio was just brilliant! As for the Sound Department, it wasn’t the best at it but it was sure a cool and soothing company throughout the course of the show.
I quite hate this episode. It's just way too stupid to be Kino. Seriously, killer CGI sheep. I'm thinking of lowering my score just for this last episode.
I wonder if this episode was filmed in New Zealand; so many sheep! Shame most got cooked into roast lamb but it's probably for the better considering their murderous tenancies.
In many respects I preferred this series to the original adaptation; primarily because of the attention it gave to its supporting characters. One thing I disliked about the original is that it introduced Shizu's party but after that we never saw them again. I was happy to see Shizu had at least 3 episodes dedicated to him as we find out a bit more about who he is as a person and how he interacts with others. It's also boring just seeing Kino all the time. Having the Master and Photo having their own episodes was good too.
A number of episodes were pretty good with a number of take-home messages and I still love the OP, it's beautiful both visually and acoustically. Whilst I still prefer the unique visual style of the original, the anime as a whole was pleasant eye candy.
However some episodes were fairly bland, especially the episode where Kino visited multiple countries at once. It introduced some interesting concepts without ever expanding on them. I'm also not forgiving this series for its poor adaptation of the Colosseum arc as it felt so rushed and missed out on some crucial information. The 2003 anime adapted it so much better. The animation quality was jarring at times with poor framerates for some scenes.
...what?
Like, really?
They choose this over Kind Country to be the last episode?
There was nothing interesting in this new series overall. I wouldn't recommend it unless you really want new Kino stories after the 2003 series. I wish this would've been Shizu no Tabi. It would've been way more interesting.
I actually really enjoyed this episode. It's a funny, lighthearted one that gives you a little more on the bond between Kino and Hermes while they journey between countries. The music isn't detracting. The pacing isn't rushed, because it's only one story and one short concluding story. A little idyllic, a little weird, sure, but I've seen that before. The series conclusion I felt was pretty great, too.
What I feel their grave mistake on it though was its placement. Episode 11 should have been the final episode, and this episode should have been Episode 2. I don't know if was because they wanted to have the concluding story as endgame but weren't allowed to have an extended Episode 11 (which I thought would've been a better alternative), or whatever. We really needed more Kino to be established at the beginning of the series before introducing any other characters, and there were far too many new character stories introduced in such a short series. Shizu and the Master? Fine, I can accept, because they constantly recur in the novels. But Photo? If it was a 24 episode anime, but I didn't think she was present enough in the novels for her to have a place in a 12-episode one.
There are some good aspects of this series that I did enjoy, and yes the 2003 series isn't perfect, but I still vastly prefer the 2003 series for its creativity and bizarre atmos considering what appeared to be a limited budget. 2017 Kino's Journey improved halfway through the series and had some good episodes but majority had pacing and music placement issues that really deterred my ability to sink into what it was trying to say. Does 2017 follow the novels more directly? Yes, but following something better doesn't automatically equate to better execution. If they ever make a second season, I hope they keep working on it.
It's between a 7.5 and an 8.0 out of 10 for me. 7.75?
this adaptation maybe have better animation art and stuffs
but for me, I like the original more
idk why, maybe because it has better atmosphere round it
Ugh. This episode gave me enough reason to continue hating sheeps because they're terrifying. Haha. And look at them eyes seriously. Gaaah. I mean those sheeps were yeah raised to be wild, but dang I still hate them. Hahaha. That poor guy who died from their hands, though.
KINO IS SUCH A BADASS THIS EPISODE. I MEAN SHE'S ALWAYS BEEN A BADASS, BUT BANG BANG BANG ULTIMATE BADASSERY! Hahaha. So scared that those sheeps will harm Hermes, though, glad it didn't happen because I'm gonna break down and cry if they hurt Hermes.
That Kino's Nap part hinted that there'll be a 2nd season, right? Like IT'S ALREADY CONFIRMED!?!?!?!?! WAAAAAAAAAAAH! I need more of this anime. I need more Kino and Hermes journey.
5/5 for this episode and 9/10 for this anime. <3
That ED card, though. :)
I'll sincerely miss this show every week. Gaaaah! Thanks for the wonderful journey, show! I loved it so much! :)
"Maybe he's trying to take a shit, but the shit just won't come out."
Captain Levi, 2014
It seem a lot of people just commenting without any in-dept detail of this episode, I guess I will give it a go.
Sheeps were breed to battle each other long time ago and was released.
However, there were not attacking each other in their freedom.
But then, they attacked human instead.
In short Sheeps hate people for 'torturing' them into a bloodbath battle but the people in that country didn't know that.
Would be great if this episode also show that Sheeps come back to the country and attack people.
This anime is beautiful. Lerche did a great job. It's episodic but definitely not "hit or miss". From start to end, it's consistently good. The Country of Liars is the best story for me. We need more anime like this.
Stark700 said: This episode was felt like a classic of the series.
No it fucking doesn't. This is what if felt like.
Pretty torn here. These episodes the full gamut from stuff I expected from the original to shit like this storywise where the buildup felt like it was more in service of giving Kino a moment to look like a badass gunslinger then to spend time making a strong point.
ATTACK ON SHEEP!!!! (Instead of titans you have killer sheep)
I haven't really read Vol. 20 yet (I have it, but I still have some catching up to do with Kino no Tabi, so I just looked at the ToC because I wanted to know which volume this is from).
Maybe there's some reason they chose it for the final episode of this adaption, I wouldn't know. The epilogue was from Vol. 17, so it's not connected to this chapter.
They really jumped around a lot.
As a novel reader, I still liked it a lot. The way they picked stories was weird sometimes, and the pacing wasn't... that good. Also, compared to the novel, it was too on-the-nose sometimes. Not that the novel is particularly subtle all the time, but still.
I can kind of appreciate just randomly stringing together stories, not really caring about a cohesive theme apart from when they adapted more than one story in one episode. Because that's what Kino no Tabi pretty much is. A disconnected collection of stories about a traveler named Kino and their motorrad named Hermes.
Heck, we don't even know whether all the stories in the novel are actually about this Kino (that's something the anime can't do, but there could be so many Kinos, who actually knows? A lot of chapters don't re-describe the character).
But part of me also feels like, that's not actually what they were going for, because they centred stories a lot about Kino in this adaption. They wanted to characterise her more. And that's a valid goal, but would have been easier with a coherent stream of thematically connected stories. Especially since they have so many novels to pick from with 5-9 stories each.
All in all, I don't regret watching this adaption, I quite enjoyed seeing some previously unadapted stories in motion. And I hope it's getting a second season.
I can still easily give this a 9/10 because I don't care about cohesiveness. It could have been a completely random 15min anime adapting one random short story every episode and I would've enjoyed it.
But your mileage might vary because I've read the novel. And after the stories they did this season nearly none of the later ones really build upon each other much.
I thought this was a good series a strong 7/10. There were a few episodes I didn't like ex. The liar country episode. So is Season 2 confirmed then? I would like it to be.
My formula for a bad series/episodes is as follows: If you can skip through an episode before watching it, predict the outcome, and watch it in full to have your predictions met 100% then it's hot garbage.
This series started off so strong and left me with a wanting for the knowledge of new countries and people this show had to offer, (especially the main characters in the opening).
Instead what I got was recycled plots, uninteresting characters, literal character drop-offs and extreme cases of re-occurrence.
This was bad.
4/10
Lie until what you want to be true becomes truth.Lie until you can't remember what's a lie and what isn't.Lie until you aren't lying anymore! Figures
Well just finished marathoning this show and as someone who never watched the original I was expecting a light hearted type of show but all I can say now is that the feels are real for this show especially for certain episodes wish they could have shown more of the other side characters and would have liked to know how she met her master and the time they spent together a lot of questions still remain oh well it was a good show none the less.
As someone who hasnt watched the original, this remake is enjoyable enough for what its worth. I feel like I got enough of a taste from this to understand what the series is all about. I wont say I've become a fan from this, but I'll definitely welcome future Kino adaptations with open arms if they ever make more.
Wow, what a laughably awful final episode this was: pointless killer sheep filler alongside a section where Kino breaks the fourth wall so hard she may as well just look direct at the camera for that entire bit.
Ultimately, on its own this wasn't awful, but it failed in almost every way to live up to my expectations and was a major disappointment on that front; it's telling that the two best episodes of this remake were two stories that were also adapted in the original series.
The story that they chose for this episode didn't feel like a final episode in my opinion, I wish they had been to a country, or well inside a country. But I loved the last segment very funny. Second season confirmed?
(also is it just me or was Kino's voice girlier in the past two episodes or just me?)
No way sheep will run off a cliff.
Better than the average episode.
4/10 (below average)
I think the original was better... was more focused on Kino's actual journey and different "countries". This was... not as focused.
That was some serious animal cruelty episode lol Some sheep's screams were also hilarious.
A good way to end after all the drama we see during the show ^^
Very disappointing, this was. The only stuff that felt like I was even watching Kino's Journeys was the first few episodes, which were recreated from the original show. Besides 1-2 episodes in the middle, nothing else fit into the normal Kino pattern. Thanks Lerche for butchering a show that used to be decent.
Has Kino's journey ended? No, it's just the beginning. Nice ending, no sheeps survive from Kino and Hermes. The only thing I love in this show is the opening song. Overall, I still love the first Kino anime. It was more memorable than this. How ironic I am.
Overall good series, but not that satisfying. Fell a bit cheap in terms of production quality and directing.
anime score 7/10
MAL score and most user-based rating system are all joke, Imagine trusting plebs and hivemind. Find users who have good sense and rating and use them as a reference. Check my guide to rate
Your taste is trash. Cope, seethe, mald
So I just read the blurb where it said these episodes were voted on from the Manga. Since I enjoyed the original series more I think it would have been better to just add those few additional episodes as new episodes with the original style.
An animal cruelty episode. It was hard to watch and soured my impression somewhat.
Overall, other than the animation, the episodes that animated the same stories the old anime already did (episodes 5, 10 and 11, if memory serves) were clearly inferior to the old anime, so with that and this last episode taken into account, my final score is 7/10.
It was all made creepier by the sheer fact that they are just sheep, it wouldn't have been nearly as creepy if they were actually dangerous animals or monsters. Made sad, by how many of them were just slaughtered by Kino in his attempt to escape them. All in all, a good episode from a good series, though not really a finale. 7/10.
Had some good episodes but tends to be corny way corny with corny ass gags that started when her master appeared in her episode, the talking motorad still is just as cringey too actually not even how hermes talk but they're relationship is the real cringe
5/10
"Reality is just a shitty game." - Katsuragi Keima (TWGOK)
"This world is just a shitty game." - Sora and Shiro (NGNL)
"Real life is just a shitty game." - Serinuma Kae (KHNM)
Ehhh... Except the last part (TITLE DROP!) that didn't feel like a series conclusion. Which is OK for an episodic series like this, I guess, but I got the feeling episode order got switched at some point. Even the animation wasn't on par with previous two episodes. Just my guess.
Going to watch the 2003 version now (I had not yet)
Hmmm, they always end the show on episode that Kino acquired new weapon(on this 2017 one ,the short barrel persuader). on the old adaptation they ended it on Kind Country as Kino acquired Woodsman as her new weapon.
"Wow, I cant believe it! A traveler! We haven't had any travelers in years from this side of the gate!"
Uh, yea dude, because you raised a fucking army of murder sheep that fucking kill people. Like the sheep version of Llama's with Hats.
Not necessarily a strong finish to the series given the episodes we had prior...but at least seeing a bunch of sheep get mowed down, head-shot, and engulfed in flames while flying away in tiny curled up balls was laughable and its own form of entertainment.
In the end, I wish that this had not been made. Or that I had somehow managed to avoid ever finding out that it was made so that I could not be hyped up for more Kino only to be let down so much.
But at least I've still got my Kino's Journey 2003 DVDs, I'll go watch them instead to wash away the bitter taste in my mouth.
This was hilarious killer sheep army and Kino's crime scene investigator skills. Good as a lighthearted & action packed end. Each episode had some theme or main specialty as before, while some weren't quite interesting, they provided more backstory for Kino, master & trio Shizu/Riku/Tii. Some of the better episodes were w/o Kino, & refreshing in a sense.
Both old & new seasons had pros/cons so I'm rating the same.
Stark700 said: This episode was felt like a classic of the series.
No it fucking doesn't. This is what if felt like.
Pretty torn here. These episodes the full gamut from stuff I expected from the original to shit like this storywise where the buildup felt like it was more in service of giving Kino a moment to look like a badass gunslinger then to spend time making a strong point.