Agenda of Kino's Journey, What Kino's Journey is, What Kino's Journey meant, Analysis of Kino's Journey - Part 2

This is the continuation of the previous blog, so without further adieu, let us start -

Episode 4: Land of Adults-Natural Right -

Plot -

When Kino was eleven years old, she never knew her name before meeting the mysterious traveler Kino. While in the Land of Adults, he stayed at her family's inn for a few days. Where he repaired an old motorcycle in the basement, and they name it Hermes. She explained that children on their twelfth birthday undergo an operation to become hardworking adults in the country. Having doubts about the adult operation, he opened her eyes to other possibilities, and the townspeople turned on him. So, he decided to leave. However, when her parents prepared to kill her for challenging their customs the original Kino stepped in front of her to protect her. But in the process, he got killed instead. As her father pulled the knife from the original Kino's lifeless body to kill her, Hermes suggested that she should ride away. After fleeing to a field of crimson flowers, she took on the original Kino's name as her own and changed into his clothes, including his long traveling coat.

My Insights -

I have already told you that Kino is an idea in general. Rather than the name of an individual, it represents something else. Here in this episode, when we came to know about her history, it is proved.

But that is not our prime concern. Is it?

Yes, adults, we want to be adults. And that was our sole ambition when we were children.

But what is an adult? What is it to become an adult? Is it worth every being to pursue at any cost? For me, it is not so. It is just an idea that society prescribes us to become. A set of rules is selected for our development, not for our enlightenment. In this episode, it is, adults are smiling even in a situation that he hates. They become a piece of machine in our daily machinery, called society. We are forced to become an adult by our parents or our society. It is called indoctrination. And if we did not want to be as they said, we are just a failure in their eyes, like that girl whom their society wants to be disposed of. In our childhood, when we have to dream and have to play, the thoughts of becoming an adult and enduring everything are just not only ridiculous but also absurd. But still, like Kino, we can not meddle in their customs, they have belief in it, and we have to respect it. It is the same as our society's conventional rules - we have to obey them, or else we will get punished. Did you notice the girl was counting the days of becoming an adult? The pieces which she deducted are smiles. Yes, here lies the answer, childhood for a human being is the happiest time of their life where he decides what he wants to be and learn to dream. And also, the girl learned to dream at last by getting out of that dogmatic society.

At the beginning of this episode, four lines were shown, "Though I don't know the place, I set out for Land of Dream. But when I am on the land of dream, I don't know the place." It is indeed true. Our dreams should not have any boundaries. If we set one, we cannot achieve it. It is a brilliant episode, and I think it has more truth like our respective world.

-Theme of Cooperation and Theme of Socialization is there.

When he created Hermes, he said that he gave him balance and he would give him back speed. And it follows through generations as she holds the baton of Kino from him. Life will go on as things come to change with time.

Episode 5: Three Men Along the Rails-On the Rails -

Plot -

As Kino rides Hermes along an old railroad, she meets a railway track polisher. He has been working for fifty years. Stopping for a break, he asks her to tell him a story about her travels. She recalls a modernized country with advanced machines, where people chose to do meaningless tasks instead of work, encountering a working staff who did calculations all day just for the stress. As she rides further, again she meets a railway track demolisher who has been working for fifty years. Continuing her journey, she meets a railway tracklayer who has also been working for fifty years. After three days of exploring ruined buildings in the following country, Kino finally meets a survivor who tells her that the people removed the oppressive king and formed a democracy ruled by a majority vote ten years ago. Unfortunately, anyone who questioned democracy was executed until the graveyard was overflowing. Kino prepares to leave, but the survivor pulls out a gun and insists that she stays. However, Kino and Hermes overvoted him so that they could ride away, hearing gunshots echoing in the empty streets behind them.

My Insights -

In this episode, the forest is a replica of life like Kino, who thought following tracks rather than wandering here and there in the jungle might be a better way not to be lost in the forest. We also choose our path in life and follow them to reach a destination that we might not know yet. On the way, we meet several people engaged in different tasks, who spend their whole lives doing as they are instructed to do. Even they do not know if what he is doing can be benefitted for anyone or not. It matches with the tale that Kino told them about the city of machines.

They only work as it creates stress for them. And stress is the value of money. So as long as we are getting paid, it is okay for us.

The work of the three men on the railroad is also nothing to the productivity of people. One is creating, one is polishing, and the other is demolishing, none with benefit at all. But they indulge themselves in doing it. Kino asked the staff if he was enjoying it or not, but the question remained unanswered. From Kino's perspective, we got a view of them when they asked Kino where she was heading. Here it is questioned if what Kino is doing has an end or not. Three men are engaged in a particular job. So, till the end of life, they are settled. But as for Kino and us, our lives are uncertain, still wandering along the tracks.

Let us come to the second part, where Kino finds a Man in the ruins of a city to explain what happened. This scene amplifies the subjectivity of the first plot. Instead of focusing on a singular life here, the whole object is transferred before the civilization. Where once, they had a monarchy, and when it falls they had turned to democracy. Remember, this civilization is quite similar to ours. We had Monarchy once, but we transferred it to democracy to find a better future. But still, all of our problems are not solved. There is trouble like when Charles I in England lost his Monarchy by Oliver Cromwell's democracy. But his democracy also fell apart. And Charles II again established Monarchy. So we are the same; building and destroying what we believe to be better for people. Neither part we choose have a result of ultimate prosperity.

It is proved at the end of the episode by the symbolic scene of Kino's choosing between two roads. We are not confident like her that which road will lead us to a better future. Just it is unto us to try one at a time. The general idea of this episode is so beautiful that I almost forget if I am judging a life or a civilization that I belong.

Episode 6 & 7: Coliseum (Part I & II)-Avengers -

Plot (Part I) -

Kino stops off in a country reputed for being wonderful. But she finds that all visitors must participate in battle tournaments in a coliseum to become a first-class citizen in the surface city or be subjected to slavery as a second-class citizen in the sewage city due to the law laid down by the country's hedonistic ruler. The eventful winner then has the right to make a new law. Abiding by this custom, Kino wins the first round when her opponent yields. Kino also meets Shizu, another contestant, who tells her that the current ruler murdered his father seven years ago to take the throne and had his children banished. In the second round, Kino first faces an assassin and then a colonel. But she forces them both to surrender. Before the semifinals approach the following day, only four challengers are left. They are Kino, Shizu, a withdrawn woman named Miss Ross, and a gunfighter named Six-shooter.

Plot (Part II) -

The ruler treats the semifinalists to a play about how he was crowned by killing his father and later his wife. However, the semifinalists leave after remaining unamused. And even Kino witnesses the madness of the ruler for marriage. During the semifinal rounds, Kino and Shizu each triumph against Miss Ross and Six-shooter. Meanwhile, Hermes discovers that Shizu's Samoyed dog companion Riku can speak. In the final round, kino faces the sword-wielding Shizu, eventually disarming his sword. Although Shizu refuses to surrender, Kino pretends to shoot at Shizu and aims a flare into the king's private suite, killing the King. As the winner, Kino proclaims a new law that the first-class citizen can fight each other until the last man standing can become the ruler, leading to chaos in the country but liberation for the second-class citizens. On the Road, Kino encounters Shizu, who reveals that he is the country's prince and returns to Kill the King. Hermes later tells Kino that Riku can speak, but Kino does not believe it.

My Insights -

It is more than a straightforward tale to consult. Including the medieval mindset of Rome that is subjected to tyranny and Power Privilege, this story sketches the long interval between civilization and monetization. A place where the civilians are proclaimed to power. A king who is authoritative by tyranny. A competition where the winner gets privilege at the cost of the loser's life. Yes, it is more familiar to us if we compare it with our history. Many examples will enrich us with their unique trades.

There are many mediums besides the main plot. In a place where a traveler is treated with incivility, the winner gets more trouble than the loser. At the beginning of this episode, a couple enters the city. But only a woman exists as the man wins and proceeds to the next round. Kino had nothing to do instead of meddling with their affairs. The ruler banished his sons and ruled the land indifferently, and the play which was shown to the semifinalists is nothing but his own story of him.

It implies how the literature which works as Blarney to the king, is considered to be the greatest play of the century. The coliseum system of entertainment matches our mindset where we enjoy other's fights. And on the stage, the subjects are not in control of their lives. The ruler decides if they will live or not. When he kills Miss Ross instead of her surrender, it proves that we are on a stage play of violence and servitude only. Though Kino freed the second-class people, they have their whole lives to suffer from their past state, and treatment to the first-class is more than subjective. In the previous episode, the last man standing was declared the ruler by Kino. Here, also, it proved that the last man standing in the fight between the first-class people will inherit the throne. The ruler's treatment of marriage shows another side of society. Where marriage is considered to be in slavery, and you would get ranked by it. The high-class and lower-class difference is there. The struggle of the lower class is unknown to the upper-class people. They have ambitions in their lives, so different than others but absolute to themselves. They even state their lives on it. It is like our lives as we follow in what we believe.

There is another moral in this story. The path of revenge is not a selective one. We consider it an implanted step where we get betrayed. But this is not a pleasant way to live life. As revenge breeds more revenge and it transferred into hatred. No salvation is there if we choose a life covered in pure revenge.

Only for this episode, the analysis is like shattered glass. The pieces are so different and many that it is difficult to connect into an absolute one. I hope you will understand.

Episode 8: Land of Wizards-Potentials of Magic -

Plot -

In the Land of Wizards, the worthiness of a person is measured by his ability to increase crop production. However, in this agriculturally orientated land, a woman named Nimya dares to dream of something completely different. Nimya desperately wants to build a successful aircraft, and she has dedicated her life to fulfilling her dream despite the lack of support from her peers. To make her dream come true, Nimya invites Kino and Hermes to her house. And she explains that she needs the bronze statue of that town to be removed from the main road. So she can test her latest aircraft prototype. The next day, The chief issued an order for Nimya. It stated that her aircraft needs to be dismantled and burned due to numerous complaints from the townspeople. Despite this, Kino and Hermes still convince Nimya to test out her aircraft, the following morning, using a ramp and tubes filled with gunpowder to simulate a launch. After the test proves to be successful, the chief and the townspeople forgive Nimya. Kino and Hermes go on their way, commenting that the aircraft flew as it is by magic.

My Insights -

"Birds can fly, but they are not free."-

Here flying is considered to be our ambition. We pursue our dreams freely. And being in a society of rules, we are not free at all. Even sometimes, we had to sustain ourselves from following something. But it is life for us. In it, we try to survive by overcoming obstacles.

In this episode, Kino visited the Land of Wizards, where people's worth is measured by his ability to increase crop production. So, in a place like this, different ways of contributing to the betterment of human beings are not subjected properly. Nimya having a different goal in her life, is likely to be a matter of ridicule to others even at a time like when she needed support most. The person who is close to her, her finance, lost his belief in her work. It clearly shows us that in our pursuit of fulfilling our dreams, we are truly alone. Even our closest ones will leave us in our time of need. The machinery is complete, and the only obstacle between her path is the bronze statue which is worshipped for prosperity by the people. She was unable to move it. So she tried a different route by overlapping it. And when the experiment of flying was successful, the people themselves removed the bronze statue to free her path. It implies that we only get recognition once we are successful. By placing Nimya, a girl, in the lead role, this episode signifies the role of women in our society who are still in confinement. They will be free like her once she gets enough encouragement. Nimya successfully flies. She attained her freedom all by herself. Kino is awed by her willpower. To her, the aircraft flew by magic. Indeed, the power of science is magic itself. Once it was discovered, the power will be in our hands. There are other notes in the invention of the flying machine. Gunpowder was used for something of creation, not for destruction. It is a note to follow.

Rather than the previous worlds, this Land of Wizards is more similar to us. And its justification to reality is more suitable. Like the old man of science, many people left for us jewels of pursuit. We can follow their ways, and then success will be granted to us. Even in confinement, it is a gift. I Hope Kino will find her place in the next episode like she wonders how.

Here ends the second part of this long blog. The last part of this post will follow up in the next month. Hope you will stay tuned with us so you won't miss the finale. Thank you and have a good time. Until next time.