Animania

Volume Summary: The world is not beautiful, therefore it is. And destination is a state of mind... Kino wanders around the world on the back of Hermes, an unusual, anthropomorphic motorcycle. During their adventures, they find happiness and sadness, pain and decadence, violence and beauty, and above all, truth. Through it all, they never lose their sense of freedom.

Review: I enjoyed the Kino's Journey anime immensely, so of course I was curious about the novel line now that TokyoPOP has licensed them and is releasing them in translated form. I was, however, nervous as well. So far, my experiences with Japanese "light novels" translated to English have been rather dismal, particularly with DMP's downright hideous treatment of Passion. Some of the harder core fans of Kino no Tabi slammed the novels because TokyoPOP moved around two chapters, with what I think was chapter 4 becoming chapter 1 and I think the Coliseum chapter was also moved. Still, I bit the bullet and picked it up.

Oh, wow! Talk about a totally different experience from DMP! The translation was excellent, IMHO, and I honestly agree with moving that one chapter to the beginning. It is the only chapter written in first person point of view and it would have been jarring to have it in the middle, plus it would have been impossible to write the first three chapters using gender neutral language because the English language just wasn't made to work that way.

Story wise, Kino no Tabi is great. Leaning more about Kino and Hermes takes a bit of work, as most of the novel is written in a third person limited point of view, meaning the author reveals little about the personal feelings of the characters except through descriptions of their facial expressions, reactions, and actions. As Kino and Hermes journey from place to place, we also experience a through-provoking and intriguing look at humanity and the flaws of a pursuit towards perfection. Many of the stories focus on a city or town that tried to make the perfect town, only to make surreal nightmares, heartbreaking sadness, or rather amusing quirks. Several offer a look at some of commonly proposed ways we could fix society, and show why such ideas aren't always ideal. Usually with a novel like this, you expect a lot of big, flowery language that leaves those who don't eat dictionaries for breakfast scratching their heads. Fortunately, not this one. Kino no Tabi is written using fairly simple, easy to follow language.

All in all I highly recommend it for any fans of Kino's Journey, or anyone just wanting a nice, though provoking light novel. I'm looking forward to picking up the next book!

Rating: A