Rating: 
Summary: A Great Quiet Anime
Review: "Kino's Journey" is a fascinating, introspective show with a quality all its own. The show as a whole spans four DVDs and has no plot; Kino just travels around, visiting one country or another and interacting with whoever lives there. Sometimes Kino gets into trouble, and sometimes just watches. The various lands have nothing in common except a vaguely fairytale European quality, and like the best fairy tales, these stories don't shy away from grim brutality -- as well as an 'existential' quality which some may find amoral or unsettling. But through it all, Kino survives and heads on for the next land, the next adventure. For those who like their anime thoughtful, I don't see how this could be better. I didn't notice the "lines" that some found distracting. The backgrounds, skies and details are rendered in a watercolor style well suited to the stories' general mood. A fine show, well worth watching more than once.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Quiet Anime
Review: "Kino's Journey" is a fascinating, introspective show with a quality all its own. The show as a whole spans four DVDs and has no plot; Kino just travels around, visiting one country or another and interacting with whoever lives there. Sometimes Kino gets into trouble, and sometimes just watches. The various lands have nothing in common except a vaguely fairytale European quality, and like the best fairy tales, these stories don't shy away from grim brutality -- as well as an 'existential' quality which some may find amoral or unsettling. But through it all, Kino survives and heads on for the next land, the next adventure. For those who like their anime thoughtful, I don't see how this could be better. I didn't notice the "lines" that some found distracting. The backgrounds, skies and details are rendered in a watercolor style well suited to the stories' general mood. A fine show, well worth watching more than once.
Rating:
Summary: one of a kind!
Review: A friend of mine and myself used to go to Hastings every monday, and pick out one anime and one obscure movie based soley on cover art and the screen shots on back. A strange ritual, I know. Anyways, after picking up Kino's Journey once a while back, this tradition changed into franticly searching for more Kino dvds.
Kino's Journey is not like any other anime I've seen, which is quite refreshing. Each episode tells the story of a different fictional country, many of which deal with very deep subjects. It's a thinking man's anime, with twists and turns that'll make your brain commit suicide. Often times you'll find yourself screaming "What the Hell!?!" at your t.v. screen when the catch (and every country, has one) is revealed. This is especially true in the latter episodes.
If you're tired of all the generic anime cliches, then this series is for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Kino's Philosophical Masturbation.
Review: For those of you who want some quick advice without reading a whole review:DON'T BUY IT. THINK OF THE CHILDREN. For the rest of you... I'm sincerely disappointed. I was excited about Kino's Journey. I read the reviews, I loved the design, the premise intrigued me... and then I saw it. OH, I have seen Kino's Journey ladies and gentlemen. And I bear witness to it's evil. This is, I'm sure, how Kino's Journey came into being.
"I've got a GREAT idea, guys. Let's have a series in which the main character is an emotionless TOOL who muses aloud about pointless things with his offensive talking vehicle... often. He should do that a LOT. I mean, we could have ENTIRE EPISODES that consist entirely of meaningless babble between the kid and the bike. Yeah, a BIKE! A MOTORBIKE! VROOOOOOOM!!! Maybe a gender switch for the bike... or the kid, it doesn't really matter. What, Bill? Yeah, the bike gender switch could get messy... better tweak the kid, then. OH, and give the kid a gun. And make him/her a badass. I don't know WHY, Bill, badass kids with guns are just neat, okay? Especially when they're boring. What'll they do? I dunno... why don't YOU make it up. NO!- wait. I've got it. They go places and do... things. Yeah, that's the ticket. And he rides the talking bike to these places where they do things TOGETHER. When they're not discussing the idea of going to places and doing things in mind-nubing depth and detail. Boring? That sounds BORING to you, Bill? Hell, give him a cool hat and goggles, and the kids'll eat it up. Use a thesaurus when you write the screenplay, too, and maybe nobody will figure out that despite thier lengthy, laborious dialogue, Kino and the bike really say NOTHING AT ALL. God, I'm brilliant. My pretentious, pedantic series that ruins a perfectly good premise will be the next Serial Experiments Lain! Yes, Bill, I DO think that's a good thing. Bill, Bill, Bill. When will you learn? People who watch this garbage are far too stupid to get a point ANYHOW, so making them think there's a point they're not getting is just as good as having the real thing. Now GET TO WORK. The kid needs a furry hat, and somebody's gotta draw it!" That had to be it. And I can explain all the good reviews this got, too. It's Emperor's New Clothes Syndrome. This series was reviewed entirely by useless fools who saw that there should be a point, that this series was excecuted after the fashion of other purportedly 'deep' things, and therefore it must have a wonderful point. SO they pretended it was great so that no one would catch on to the fact that they're ACREREBRAL CRETINS. I didn't watch enough of this series to tell you whether or not there is a point in the end, but I can already tell you that it's nothing worth hearing. It won't change your life. It won't even make you think that much. It will, however, WASTE your life. Stay away from Kino's Journey. It's for newbies. The emperor is totally naked.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty neat concept
Review: I got the first episode as a preview from the feb04 volume of Newtype magazine. And when I got home to watch the DVD I thought that this was a pretty cool anime. Its about a young man who is out on a journey, and he comes across a town that seems abandonded except for these robot workers there. He soon finds out that there are people living there, but they are all alone. As he leaves the town, he discovers that they all have telepathy, and are scared of each other because they know what each other is thinking.
This is a pretty cool anime, I will probably get more in this series :D
Rating:
Summary: Enjoy the journey with Kino
Review: I have a slight warning to be prepared before you start watching Kino's journey. In doing some checking to make sure it wasn't just my DVD, I found that the lines that are found throughout the anime were done intentionally and are not a defect. Like watching a movie in widescreen, this might bother some people and they might not be able to deal with it. For myself, I prefer widescreen and stopped noticing the lines through the video after the first few minutes. As for the series itself, I have to say it's something of a marvel. Kino and Hermes, Kino's motorrad (a talking motorcycle) travel the world, visiting no country for more than three days. As Kino observes, it's enough time to get a feel for the region and then it's time to go because staying for more than three days means less time that he can stay in another country. Kino is also truthful enough to also admit that this reasoning may be a lie and that he's just afraid of liking a region too much and setting down roots, which would mean he would no longer be a traveller. Kino and Hermes spend a lot of time talking to one another, having philosophical discussions as they travel, about the places they're going to and what meets them when they get there. Each country they travel through has their own set of laws and government and those who travel through them are not supposed to do anything to disturb their customs. This manages to give us an interesting look at the world and see how things work and don't work. The first country Kino visits seems devoid of humanity, with machines performing all the roles that humans usually fulfill. Kino is greeted by a machine as he enters the town, is served food by machines and is even given a room by one. It's not until later that Kino notices there are people living nearby, but they are all alone and far spread out, with no one living with anyone else. It's as Kino is leaving that he finally speaks with someone and finds out why the town is like that and how their hope for a Utopian society had led to their downfall and isolation. In the second episode, Kino doesn't actually visit a town but instead finds three men who are stuck in the snow and are near the point of starvation. Kino stops to help them but even then questions his own motives in doing so, as he feels no paricular regard for them. It's these ruminations that Kino and Hermes have throughout this episode that really intersted me. In the third episode, Kino visits several towns, with several of the stories about the towns overlapping. It's done in an interesting style, the way these stories weave together, without the point being hammered into your head. I enjoyed the flow, especially with the first country, where the end of the world is being predicted the following day, so everyone gives Kino what he is shopping for for free. I can't say much for the final episode because I wouldn't want to spoil anything for someone on their first viewing of it. There is a twist here, which is about all I can safely say without giving it away. Depending on whether you watch the anime in English or Japanese will also give you some clues as to what's going on. I think the English version gave away some hints too early on, but maybe that's just me. All in all, I recommend this show for anyone who likes to think. It isn't all out action for those that just like fighting animes, but for those who like their anime to challenge their intellect a bit, I can highly recommend this show.
Rating:
Summary: i thought i would like this anime, but i ended up loving it
Review: i have to admit i had my doubts when i read the description and saw "talking motor-bike". that sounded so cheesy. but it's not bad at all (at least in japanese, i've not seen this anime in english). i thought the episodes would be neatly tied-up stories about different countries and trivial little problems. not so, the stories are involved and feel more like chapters in a book than just dollops of plot. this is one of the most pleasant surprises in anime i've seen in a while. definitely worth a look.
Rating:
Summary: i thought i would like this anime, but i ended up loving it
Review: i have to admit i had my doubts when i read the description and saw "talking motor-bike". that sounded so cheesy. but it's not bad at all (at least in japanese, i've not seen this anime in english). i thought the episodes would be neatly tied-up stories about different countries and trivial little problems. not so, the stories are involved and feel more like chapters in a book than just dollops of plot. this is one of the most pleasant surprises in anime i've seen in a while. definitely worth a look.
Rating:
Summary: I knew I had to buy this after the first episode.
Review: I saw this series on Anime Network On Demand, & even though I missed a few wpisodes, It hit right off. This is a VERY laid back & slow paced anime with little action & no romance, but it's AWESOME. This is a relax-time anime that gives you the same squishy feeling as reading a book you're really into.
The only humor in the series is "is Kino a boy or a girl/short woman?" It took me almost 10 episodes to find out it was a tomboy. I should also mention that this anime is very well dubbed. I haven't finished the series yet, but I don't really want it to end!
Rating:
Summary: Kino is a traveler...
Review: I thought that anime was cool when I first saw it back in the mid-80's. It had anything a twentyish guy likes: pretty girls, monsters, spaceships, giant robots... But that's not the COMPLETE description of what anime is. I love Kino's Journey. So much of anime is misunderstood and misunderstood by the American audience, but this one (volume one, Idle Adventurer) speaks to anyone with a clear and philosophical voice that gives the viewer an insight into a dark and mysterious world that seems to be mostly just around the corner. One small criticism: Kino's gender is left ambiguous (deliberately?) through most of volume 1. If he's a guy, why would a guy want to marry him (episode 1, "Land of Visible Pain")? But if she's females, why would she dress like a man, practice using guns and knives, and (most atypically for female anime characters) have a mid-to-low masculine voice? Because it doesn't matter. See this one-- you won't regret it.
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