Kino's Journey: In Order to Do Something - Life Goes On

Title: Kino no Tabi: In Order to Do Something -Life Goes On- Anime: The Kino no Tabi movie was released on February 19th, 2005 in Japan, and was directed by Takashi Watanabe, who also directed Ikki Tousen. It has yet to be licensed or released Stateside. Story: The movie is a prequel of sorts, focusing on Kino when she was younger and living with Shishou, who was mentioned in passing in the series. We see her learning to protect herself with guns, and learning how to ride Hermes, which makes for some nice laughs. It also focuses on her guilt over a death thatshe caused, and her first journey to the country of the one she killed, to tell that person's family what happened. This is a really nice continuation of one of the episodes in the series, not to mention an expansion on another person mentioned in passing in the series, and a great origin story in general. We get to see how Kino became... well, Kino. Again, as in the series, there is some blood; nothing too significant, but it's still there. Art: No different from what we saw in the series; see my review of Kino no Tabi for my opinions on that. Music: Again, no different from what we saw in the series, except for the ED. The new ED was sweet, but I like the series' ED better. Seiyuu: Once again, no change from what we saw in the series. It was nice, hearing more of Shishou's seiyuu, because we heard so little of her in the series. She was exactly what I expected her to be: warm, comforting, motherly in general. Length: I'm not real happy with this, as it clocked in at just under a half-hour. I was expecting something a bit longer than the typical episode length, and there was so much more that they could've done. It was nice, but still... Let's just hope that the second movie is actually full-length, and not this short. Overall: An excellently written, if slightly short, origin story, with many similarities to the series. Story: 8/10 Art: 8/10 Music: 7/10 Seiyuu: 8/10 Length: 8/10 Overall: 39/50; 78% (C)

For fans of Kino’s Journey, Life Goes On is a welcome addition. It’s a cute, engaging story that reveals how Kino got her traveler’s outfit and remarkable skills, expands upon two important secondary characters, Shishou and the older Kino, and focuses on Kino’s guilt over the death of the older Kino. It also has a bit of action, humor, and a suspenseful, darker climax. As a prequel, the film isn’t bad but it leaves something to be desired. How did Kino and Shishou meet, and why does Shishou make Kino (and everyone else) call her Master? When and why did Kino decide to leave Shishou? IfLife Goes On were actually a movie, maybe it would have had the time to answer these and other questions. At just under 30 minutes, it’s more like another episode, but unlike other episodes, it fails to raise any interesting cultural issues. For better or worse, it’s just a collection of events from Kino’s childhood, with little expository or intellectual value. Given the dearth of Kino’s Journey anime, fans should certainly check Life Goes On out. It’s a good story, and of course, it’s more Kino. Just don’t expect to find any big answers or profound messages. For those who haven’t seen Kino’s Journey and are looking for a good starting place, the “Tower Country” OVA (Episode 00) is a better choice as it’s more representative of the series.

This first Kino's Journey special serves as exposition to the main series, kind of, and does nothing else. And even the exposition that it does accomplish is not only unwarranted but unnecessary. It was also disappointing considering I was expecting the special to show exactly how Kino became so impressive at combat. So let's discuss those two aspects of the series. Its unwarrantedness, and its unsatisfying narrative. For this review, I will assume you watched the main series, as both of those subjects require knowledge of certain episodes in the series. Also, this review might get a little spoilery. I will not explicitly spoil thespecial, but I will be talking about things that it does not do, things it fails to do. For a non-spoiler review, I do not recommend this as it does not add anything to the main series, nor does it accomplish or do anything remarkable. Did Kino's Journey need a prequel? Episode 4 of the main series already took us back to when Kino decided, or was forced to, become a traveler. Sure, this episode is really short, but it does everything it needs to for us to understand Kino's motives. Are we left asking anything else about her past? If the answer is no, then there's no need for this prequel. If the answer is yes, then we ask ourselves the following question. Did this prequel explain what we wanted to have explained? The only gap between episode 4 and the rest of the series that is noticeable is how she became so good at fighting. How does she go from this completely naïve little girl to a cold, apathetic killer? This prequel does not answer those inquiries. The synopsis here answers that just as much as the special itself. Given that this prequel serves no purpose outside of the synopsis, is it worth watching as a stand-alone special? The story is horrendous stand alone. There is no story. The art again conflicts with the atmosphere of the special. The sound is okay. The characters are well written, but not more so than the main series. The only thing it has going for itself is that it's really short. If it was at least some Karate Kid kind of episode where it showed a lot of training and struggling as well as a gradual hardening of character, it would be worth watching, because then it would exactly answer our two questions above. But just the simple fact that it does neither, as well as being lackluster in itself is enough to warrant a skip.

Life Goes On is an OVA which explores some of Kino's time spent with her teacher/master before she becomes a traveler. Without going into spoilers, this OVA is just as brutal as the original series. However, unlike the original series, this story is far more character driven than thematically driven. While people who are keen on seeing more development of Kino's story will be excited, it will disappoint anyone who wishes to see her travel to another country and explore a new theme. Nevertheless, the story is just as high quality as the series and really emphasizes the difficulties Kino has finding her own identity. Theart style is exactly like the series; low detail but does the job sufficiently. The soundtrack uses the same songs as the series. These songs are great to listen to and complement each scene well. There is a new ED song but the OP is still the same. The voice acting is still up to par. While the main characters are all people we have seen before, it's nice to see them in different roles. Kino is young and learning, Hermes is in more of a teacher role helping Kino learn how to ride and Shishou is being Kino's mentor. What is most impressive is how a lot of the plot is able to be conveyed without much exposition. It is quite amazing how much development Kino and Shishou receive in such a short amount of time. The description for this OVA is that it is a prequel. While chronologically it is a prequel, this is better watched once having already seen the original series. I would recommend anyone who is a fan of this series to watch this OVA. Still, even without having seen the series, this OVA is able to stand on it's own.