Journey with Kino’s Journey – Second Stop – Hard Questions (Monthly Watch)

I am now watching Kino’s Journey: The Beautiful World (also known as Tabi no Kino in Japanese). The series has an episodic, metaphorical, and allegorical nature, reminiscent of Gulliver’s Travels or Voltaire’s Candide, but more sombre. As such, I think it lends itself well to being watched one episode at a time, and also to being discussed, or kicking off discussion, so that’s what I aim to do. The first four episodes have been posted before, but had been put on hold due to how much energy writing them demanded of me. I’m excited to resume the journey once more, and will be bringing over the older comments as well.

There will be a new post on the second (or third if it begins early) Monday of every month (next post: March 11th) , each covering one episode of Kino’s Journey, or the films. You can buy the series here, or watch it dubbed on Hulu here, if you live in the United States. Each write-up might differ in style, length, and focus. I might spend more time on the episode, its ideas, or what it made me think of, or feel. These write-ups assume you’ve watched the episode, and the discussion that’ll follow could be had on the episode, the points I raised, or the questions I pose. Well, let’s get to it.
(Also, sorry, I miscounted the weeks this month, which led to this post being a week late, sorry!)

Episode 2 – “A Tale of Feeding Off Others -I Want to Live-“

Is it just me, or did the head-slaver look like the “monk” from Princess Mononoke? Quite a bit, actually, and their characters are quite similar as well.

Questions Are Interesting:

Before we get further, I have a question, how many of you didn’t see where this will go from about halfway into the episode? I think the whole nature of the episode, and its title, and the fact this is a show more about human nature than random observations about nature, more or less told us it’d go something like that. I dunno, I think once they spoke of their “Homecoming Festival” I was sure. I did suspect them from the get-go, that they’d attack Kino after she caught the first rabbit. They just struck me as “off”.

Journey with Kino’s Journey – First Stop – The Value of Experience (Monthly Watch)

I am now watching Kino’s Journey: The Beautiful World (also known as Tabi no Kino in Japanese). The series has an episodic, metaphorical, and allegorical nature, reminiscent of Gulliver’s Travels or Voltaire’s Candide, but more sombre. As such, I think it lends itself well to being watched one episode at a time, and also to being discussed, or kicking off discussion, so that’s what I aim to do. The first four episodes have been posted before, but had been put on hold due to how much energy writing them demanded of me. I’m excited to resume the journey once more, and will be bringing over the older comments as well.

There will be a new post on the second (or third if it begins early) Monday of every month (next post: February 11th) , each covering one episode of Kino’s Journey, or the films. You can buy the series here, or watch it dubbed on Hulu here, if you live in the United States. Each write-up might differ in style, length, and focus. I might spend more time on the episode, its ideas, or what it made me think of, or feel. These write-ups assume you’ve watched the episode, and the discussion that’ll follow could be had on the episode, the points I raised, or the questions I pose. Well, let’s get to it.

Episode 1 – “Land of Visible Pain -I See You-“

Well, this was interesting. This reminded me more than a tad of Mushishi. Travelers who do not wish to get too involved, a new place and a new story each time. Likewise, I suspect the best way to watch this series would be an episode a day. After catching up with what the anime-club needs, I’ll probably watch it that way. Also, like Mushishi’s Ginko, I suspect we’ll see Kino and Hermes taking a more invested stance at some point.

Gatchaman Crowds (Rewatch) – Episode 12 (Director’s Cut) Notes

And we’re back to episodic content, being done with the essays until the time comes for my Gatchaman Crowds Insight editorial, on the 29th. But now, back to episodic content. Starting with the Director’s Cut ending, which was always intended to be the original ending of the show. Though I love the series so much, I hadn’t actually watched it until concluding my rewatch, so I was quite excited to finally watch it, as the first three letters of the notes might convey.

Return to the Gatchaman Crowds Project page.

Thoughts and Notes:

1) All About the Game:

Saving the world? Pssh, it’s all about points! Gamification, man!

OMG. Time to watch this for the first time. The original ending, and perhaps extended even more since they had some more time to work on it. My first new Gatchaman Crowds content since the show aired!

Ah, right, first half is the content I’ve watched. The full episode in its proper order, ok.

Gatchaman Crowds Rewatch – Episodes 9-12 Notes

Note, the following are notes from my rewatch, and as such, might contain spoilers for the entirety of the first season! Not fit for reading as you watch the episodes for the first time. This post should’ve gone up, but between power-outs and me being incredibly tired all week long (back to school! And work too), I just couldn’t get it out. The first editorial is expected later today! I also shuffled the dates some to allow an editorial every other day, see you soon.

Return to the Gatchaman Crowds Project page.

Episode 9:

Link to the original 2013 write-up on episode 9.

Hajime knew Rui is a boy from the get-go, regardless of the dress.

Sugane realizes he can’t really see past others’ masks, unlike Hajime.

Gatchaman Crowds Rewatch – Episode 8 Notes

Note, the following are notes from my rewatch, and as such, might contain spoilers for the entirety of the first season! Not fit for reading as you watch the episodes for the first time. Like yesterday, I had much to say about this episode, thus only one episode this time around.

Return to the Gatchaman Crowds Project page.

Thoughts and Notes:

Link to the original 2013 write-up on episode 8.

Pai-Pai, “I’m the worst!” Self-recrimination, he knows he failed. Hard.

He even knows he’s not a leader. He always knew, but did his best, to try and keep them safe. That’s a form of leadership as well, even if he’s not up to the task.

“Don’t blame yourself. Everyone knows well enough that you are no leader, Pai-Pai.” Yeah, even Sugane didn’t say anything about Hajime walking over Pai-Pai, just over common sense.

Gatchaman Crowds Rewatch – Episode 7 Notes

Note, the following are notes from my rewatch, and as such, might contain spoilers for the entirety of the first season! Not fit for reading as you watch the episodes for the first time. Had a lot to say about this episode, thus only one episode this time around.

Return to the Gatchaman Crowds Project page.

Thoughts and Notes:

Link to the original 2013 write-up on episode 7.

Ah yes, the “Why didn’t you delete the information? It hurts when people say bad things about you,” and this is Utsutsu, who is hurt by how she sees herself as seen by others, who lets it define her distance from them. And Hajime’s answer, which is not “you shouldn’t let others affect you,” but saying that she will focus on what she finds fun. As she keeps saying, people won’t stop doing what they don’t find fun – people who dox her do it because it’s fun for them, and deleting the information won’t really fix that. And she won’t think of that because it’s not where her fun is.

Is it a bit simplistic? It is, but this is a place where the show’s trying to give us a moral. Not, “You shouldn’t care because it doesn’t matter,” but “focus on what you enjoy.” And Hajime focuses on the fun she had with Hajime, today, now, rather than fearing the future.

Gatchaman Crowds Rewatch – Episodes 4-6 Notes

Note, the following are notes from my rewatch, and as such, might contain spoilers for the entirety of the first season! Not fit for reading as you watch the episodes for the first time.

Return to the Gatchaman Crowds Project page.

Episode 4:

Like religious converts.

Link to the original 2013 write-up on episode 4.

Right, saving people in order to convert them, and he does sound like a religious convert, or of a marketing scheme.

“Have faith and wait.” Waiting passively for someone else to act. Then again, their options are limited.

“Galax won’t abandon us!” as if speaking of a god, or a dear friend.

Gatchaman Crowds Rewatch – Episodes 1-3 Notes

Note, the following are notes from my rewatch, and as such, might contain spoilers for the entirety of the first season! Not fit for reading as you watch the episodes for the first time.

Return to the Gatchaman Crowds Project page.

Episode 1:

The sign in the background.

“It’s not heroes who keep the world up to date, it’s us.” The responsibility of the common man, and that heroes are an outdated concept.

Sugane getting that person up, he’s doing what GALAX does, by his own volition, rather than match people up externally. So, the program replaces responsibility/becomes the hero?

The classmates who never really show up after the milk incident, heh.

Hungry, lying right next to food, too busy for that. Too busy daydreaming.

3-Gatsu no Lion Episode 1 – Oppressive Success

Presentation:

This is a Studio Shaft show, more specifically, it is credited with Shinbo’s name, so many “Shaftisms/Shinoisms” are on display here, such as a head-tilt, a print on a dress that is perfectly aligned regardless of the contours of clothes,rails and a city under construction, amongst others.

The real point here is that a lot of thought went into the construction of scenes here. Some of it is “just” stylistic touches, but some of it has meaning. Such as this sequence, where Rei travels to the Shogi Club, and he’s absolutely dwarfed by the architecture, he gets swallowed up by the environment. A lot of it has to do with pacing, which I’ll discuss soon enough.

Concrete Revolutio Episode 20 – The Soft Dictatorship of Freedom

Let’s talk about contexts. The obvious context for this episode is the Vietnam War. It’s not the context for this episode alone, as the “Shinjuku Riots” also revolved around Japan’s involvement with aiding America in said war. In episode 17, revolving around Devilo and Devila, I drew parallels to how the Native American population was treated, which this episode references as well. The episode made use of the PTSD, no place to return to, and the way the war changes you, all of which had a big place in Hollywood films about Vietnam, but it is even more acrimonious of America’s involvement and nature than that, which is all about context.

I’ve discussed before how the whole show is in some ways a Cold War story, and about Japan’s honour, honour that was trampled by America after World War 2. This context is important, because there was a tendency by the two world powers to make use or get involved in the matters of other countries, then leave the clean-up to them. An example of that would be Afghanistan, where what later became the Taliban was supported by America in their bid to fight indirectly against the USSR. While there wasn’t as much “direct colonialism” as was seen by the Imperial Nations (including France and The British Empire) pre-World War 2, there was still the view that America was going to come in and “liberate” the people, give them democracy, whether they want it or not, and then leave them to handle building their country, with a ruined infrastructure, for their own benefit. The most recent example of this would be Iraq, in 2003, or some of the “Arab Spring” revolts of 2011.

(There’s an updated chronological timeline at the bottom of this post.)