Kino's Journey - The Beautiful World Episode 3: Keeping Things Grey

Review:

Kino’s Journey so far has been a very laid back kind of story in term of its pace and tone and yet the actual events and ideas are pretty big, if a little generic. This week isn’t any different as it has Kino join a travelling country that leaves a trail in its wake.

The opening of the episode shows us that something has gone wrong with Kino’s travels though we aren’t clued in as to what, but the sense that something had changed is only reinforced when Kino is asked how long they wish to visit the travelling country. Previously, Kino has strictly stayed somewhere for three days but here they suggest they might be staying longer than that.

Ultimately the travelling country comes across a wall which is defended by those who live in that country. After ‘negotiations’ break down (negotiation mostly being the travelling country saying they were going to pass through and the other country telling them they couldn’t) the travelling country pretty much just cuts through and then rolls through the wall and then over that country’s agricultural area (which is apparently better than houses, though what they are going to eat if you crush their farms is a question that the show chooses deliberately to ignore) and proceeds onwards swatting aside any and all attempts to stop them.

The obvious comparison to developed nations using superior technology and wealth to pretty much do as they like wherever they like is not subtle nor is the remark about the other country that reached too far with its wall and toll to cross the plains. The end result is something that is actually fairly pleasant to watch but uncomfortable to think about which kind of makes it pretty affective. Kino’s motive and actions are ultimately explained as is their reason for staying with the travelling country for longer than three days and once again we see Kino is moved almost entirely by self-interest in this instance. I’m fascinated by this story so far and while the questions it raises are hardly unique, the way it avoids providing an actual judgement on events (other than Kino’s) is kind of interesting.

Thanks for reading.

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