Kino's Journey

Kino's Journey started out as a series of "light novels" in Japan, manga comics intended for young adults. The anime seems to take most of its episodes directly from these comics, so the end result is that it too is best for the 10 to 16 age range, give or take a few years depending on individual development.

That's not to say that adults won't get anything out of it - it's fairly pleasant to watch and a bit more intellectually meaty than the usual Cartoon Network anime, minus most of the stupid violence and posturing of that stuff, but the philosophy of the series does not run particularly deep or ever get overly challenging, and there are a number of incidents where it just feels like a totally unconnected series of vignettes where the writers themselves didn't have much of a real point to make.

Kino is a sedated, semi-androgynous, tween incarnation of Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop), a gun-toting uber-badass who maintains a constant indifferent and disaffected persona. Unlike Spike's smirking and shallow nihilism, however, Kino seems to be acting more as a determined neutral observer, as she travels the various "countries" of her world (usually just one isolated town, there seems to be no central government whatsoever) just for the sake of traveling.

The series is very low-key with not a whole lot of action or animation. Music is rare , and always ambient when it does appear (ambient sound effects are usually present however). The series is more like watching an ongoing collection of parables and fables rather than a consistently developing narrative, though despite its minimalist style it still covers a gamut of emotions from shocking violence and tragedy to euphoric joy. Every now and then a bit of gunplay action is tossed in there to keep the CN kids awake, and there's even a touch of T&A in a couple of episodes (not featuring the underdeveloped Kino, thankfully). Such moments are used sparingly, however, and much of the series is narrative dialogue.

It's not an amazing series, but it is certainly different from the dominant pandering trends in anime, and refreshing in its style. I think it would make a fantastic gift for a teenager or pre-teen who either wants, or is in need, of some intellectually stimulating material that still functions as palatable passive entertainment. Definitely interesting, and it's worth checking out at least a couple of episodes.