"Kino no Tabi: The Beautiful World" review
You can watch it here: https://www.crunchyroll.com/kinos-journey-the-beautiful-world-the-animated-series
About 8, 9 years ago, I watched the first adaptation of a series of novelties by Keiichi Sigsawa. Immediately it reminded me of "Mushishi", which I saw some time ago. They have a lot in common, above all, they have a similar climate and an extremely colorful, fairy-tale world. Both fairy tales are also run in almost the same way, the episodes are a closed whole and, as a rule, are not connected with each other. Sometimes the characters refer to events from previous episodes, but these are only single inclusions (although for honesty I will add that in the new adaptation "Kino no Tabi" there are a bit more of them than in any season of "Mushishi"). It is also worth mentioning that the creators of both series take the viewer seriously. Not everything ends well, as in anime designed for children, and the characters are not black and white, but gray as people from our world. Everyone has their weaknesses or hides a different face under a false smile.
The idea for the story is not particularly original. The starting thread of "I'm going ahead to explore a diverse world" has been known in various art forms for centuries. For example, "Wandering to the West", which inspired Akira Toriyama in creating DB. What convinced me the most about "Kino no Tabi" is the extraordinary naturalness in showing violence and a nice relationship between Kino and Hermes. Despite the fairy-tale atmosphere, the creators were not afraid to show us violent scenes. I do not mean only blood, a few more brutal scenes from fights using various weapons, but also realistically depicted psychological violence (with particular emphasis on the episode devoted to flashbacks of the title heroine). If I remember, I don't remember the anime in which it would be better presented. Sure, I saw stronger scenes in animations, I happened to look away a few times, but both series "Kino no Tabi" were unique to me in this respect. I may be using the wrong or too strong words, but I don't know others that would convey my emotions better.
It is also very nice that each episode has a moral that, depending on the story, refers to universal parables about people or shows that not everything is as simple in life as it might seem. For example, it presents a classic and versatile case when parents force a child to submit to their will against their will. In another episode, on the other hand, the personality of the slaves was outlined well. It was so good that after its completion I was unable to think for about 5 minutes because I was thinking about what I just watched and how sensational it was. He smashed me the best excerpts from "Fullmetal Alchemist", "Nana" or "Paranoia Agent".
Nevertheless, the relationship between the cultural, though sometimes somewhat sarcastic Hermes motorbike (such a more cheerful but slightly fitting into the image of the stereotypical Englishman) and a girl named Kino fell out well. They form a pretty funny couple of travelers, and the episode with murderous rams of extermination was best described by their friendly bond. The main character is quite a mysterious character, about which we learn a little during the fairy tale. Sure, it can be described, but it seems to me that it will be more difficult than in the case of Goku, Shjini from Evangelion, or Amuro Ray from Gundam. She is taciturn, suppresses emotions, but you can't say she is bad, but if she feels a threat, she is not afraid to eliminate him with her gun. Oh, he lives his life, goes ahead and does not get in the way of anyone.
I haven't seen much anime from recent years, so it's difficult to say how "Kino no Tabi (2017)" looks like them. I liked it, but they were not any special heights of animation. The scenery is also not exceptionally colorful or rich in details, sometimes I had the impression that it could have been done much better. Okay, I'm withdrawing some of my allegations - while the buildings, cities, etc. look nice, in the case of vegetation, etc., it could have been much better. I am not demanding in these matters, so I have no major reasons to complain. When it comes to music, it was just ok. Nothing stuck in my mind, although I didn't complain about anything either. Opening and ending were ok, I enjoyed listening to them, but they got to this large group of "just good Japanese songs that you rarely come back to".
To sum up, "Kino no Tabi" (new or old series) is rather not among my favorite titles and I would not put it in my "top-20 best cartoons I have seen", although it would already get to "top 30". This is an informative series, from which probably everyone will learn a lesson that they have not yet learned in their lives. If you like calm, relaxing cartoons, "Kino no Tabi" is one of the best productions I can recommend. I rate it at 8/10 with a big, strong plus.