I don’t think there’s a story more fitting to this film’s anemic colour pallette than the Country of Illness. It’s the very first thing you notice if you watch this right after you watched the 2003 series; the art is not as vibrant or as full of energy as before, but it’s certainly beautiful. The same can be said for the country itself. SHAFT has done a fantastic job in crafting a strange and unique atmosphere, and even incorporates some CGI elements without distracting the viewer too much. It has only been 4 years since the first series was animated, but there is a world of difference in the quality.
Accompanying the story are some familiar overtures, along with new tracks. I believe I heard a few tracks remastered. In many ways, this film feels just like an unreleased episode from the original series. The direction feels the same as before, if more focused. SHAFT’s influence isn’t felt very heavily, but there are moments when the camera adds drama to a scene by sweeping sideways or even vertically. SHAFT’s strange angles are alive and well, if not as prominent, in this incarnation of Kino’s Journey.
The Country of Illness is like many countries Kino has visited; a place you can feel empathy, pity, and anger toward. A place that is ugly and beautiful at the same time. It’s a country filled with both kind and well-meaning people. The people’s ideals are noble.
The story is not particularly unique, and neither are the characters. There are only a few significant characters in this film, and only two we get to know intimately. It isn’t the characters themselves that are interesting but the relationship they have with each other, which is what informs the message of this story. It’s the ominous atmosphere that keeps your interest until then.
The pace is a bit slower than it ought to be, but it managed to hold my interest until more interesting things started happening. You can’t help but feel that SHAFT just wanted to spend some time showing off how much better they are at animating the series than the studio that animated the original series. And while I’m not disagreeing with them, there’s a difference between building atmosphere and padding out the length of the film by repeatedly showing scene-establishing shots that always last just a bit too long. That said, this country certainly feels more real and tangible than some in the original series because of that effort.
And while there’s nothing especially different about this country when compared to all the others Kino visited in the original series, it’s the direction and animation that makes it feel different. And isn’t that what Kino’s Journey is all about – wanting to see something a bit different, even if it doesn’t all work out the way you wanted it to?
This country is just another stop on Kino’s Journey, but this feels like one last send-off for Kino – like we’re not going to see her again, at least for a while. And it isn’t that this country is not memorable in itself, but that in a sea of unique countries, this one stands out not for its story or its characters, but for its presentation, and for being the last journey that Ryutaro Nakamura had the chance to direct.
And all the same, it’s a journey I didn’t want to come to an end so quickly.
