Episode Summary
I eagerly turned my computer on to watch the first episode of Kino no Tabi, “The Land of Visible Pain – I see you” and boy was I amazed! This is one of the few anime episodes for which I’ve written a detailed summary, so if you wanna read more beware of spoilers(as in all summaries). In the end I’ve also written about what I felt about the first episode.
The story starts off with the traveller Kino riding a motorbike in the middle of a desert. A sandstorm is raging and the motorbike soon comes to a halt. Kino gets off and digs out a brick structure. At this point, the motorbike(wee it talks ^_^) tells Kino that it was impossible to start a journey in such a manner and that it would be wiser to go back to “Master’s” place. Kino ignores him. The motorbike tells him that he had no intention of getting engulfed in the sand with a mummified version of Kino. Kino, however, ignores the advice and sets up a crude tent and lays down to rest. Once again the motorbike tells Kino to reconsider the decision of embarking on a journey, that the “God of Travellers was against his favour” and that they were better off returning to their “Master” but Kino promptly refuses the proposal. The motorbike thinks Kino to be stubborn and states how a traveller should be decisive. Kino then gets up and tells Hermes(the motorbike in case you’re wondering) that the most important thing for a traveller was “what saves the traveller after struggling to the bitter end”. Almost immediately, a cloud approaches and it begins to rain.
Kino and Hermes arrive on the edge of a cliff. Hermes exclaims how the mapmaker had cheated them since the map showed that there was a town in the surrounding area(on the other side of the cliff) and since he said that the measurements were very recent(from about a month ago) . Kino uses his binoculars and spots a town proving that the map was accurate after all. Kino then asks Hermes if he ever felt jealous of birds. Kino tells him that somebody had once told him that when a traveller sees a bird, he becomes eager to embark on a journey. They just begin to go back when there is some sort of small earthquake and a natural bridge is formed between the two cliffs. Hermes then makes an interesting quote:-
“The world is constantly changing,
You can’t expect it to stay the same…even for a second.”
Hermes tells Kino that it wasn’t necessary to travel, it was possible to know all about the world by staying at one place because of the above reason. Kino reminds Hermes that motorbikes are supposed to travel from place to place.
Kino and Hermes arrive in the “Customs Inspection Centre” where they are greeted by a strange looking machine which asks Kino to state the number of travellers and the amount of time they intended to stay. After that they enter the town which is virtually empty. A robot welcomes them and gives Kino a traveller’s guidebook. Kino gets hungry and decides to eat at a restaurant. However, even the restaurants were looked after by machines. After a heartwarming lunch, Kino takes Hermes to the nearest hotel(which looks like a governor’s mansion ^_^;) which makes Hermes wonder whether it was affordable. The hotel too was manned by more robots. Kino cross-checks whether the price is really as they claim it to be since Kino was short on money. After assuring that there was no catch, the robot goes off and Kino decides to retire for the day.
The time shifts to midnight(around) when Kino is busy checking and practicing with his guns. It is then revealed that Kino never stays in a country for more than three days and two days since he might get attached to the land and decide to settle down which he didn’t want to do. Hermes reminds Kino of the time when they almost settled for over three days but they ended up staying there for the requisite period after all.
The next day, Kino and Hermes continue exploring the town though they still find no one. Eventually they climb up some high building(couldn’t figure out this one). Hermes tells Kino that it was alright to have one such country with no people since the travellers would never be bothered this way. Kino however, spots a number of people and finds out that they all live in isolation and are locked indoors. As they pass by the house, the inhabitants run indoors, terrified. They meet a man watering a rose bush who shows a similar reaction. However, he comes back to his garden and asks Kino whether his thoughts were being read. Kino answers no and they both go inside the man’s house.
The man makes tea and exclaims how he has been isolated for so long and hasn’t spoken to anyone in a long time. He tells Kino of the story why the people were living separately. Apparently, the top scientists of the country invented a liquid. If everyone drank the liquid they could understand each other’s thoughts without speaking(telepathy). At first the people thought that it was wonderful. After all it is said that one should always do their best to understand the sorrows and pains of others. The man had a lover and since they could understand their feelings towards one another through telepathy they fell in love and married. The man goes on to say that his wife was interested in roses while he had a knack towards music. Hence both were disinterested in each other’s pastimes. They could both read each other’s thoughts and tried to think of things other than roses or music but even so they were conscious of this fact since they could communicate without talking. In the end the man got divorced. The country was torn with civil strife since people could easily detect if other people had ill-feelings towards them. In the end, the people decided to live separately in their own homes at a great distance from each other so that nobody’s thoughts could be read. The town came to be run by the robots and machines invented by the same scientists. As the man ends his story, a sad melody plays on the man’s gramophone. Kino likes it and the man tells him it was the first song his wife listened to and said she liked it but then again maybe she didn’t. Kino finishes the tea and rises to leave.
As Kino mounts Hermes and gets ready to leave the man desperately tries to hold Kino back. He wants them to live together since they could lead a happy life without knowing each other’s pains, sorrows and sufferings. Kino refuses since Kino was a traveller who needed to keep travelling and visiting other countries. Saying that Kino and Hermes leave. On their way they pass a house with the same roses as those which the man was watering. They see the figure of a woman and realize it was the same man’s wife. They continue down the road. On the way Hermes teases Kino about falling in love with that man by saying “the way you two were gazing at each other”(pedo XD). Kino replies that the man’s gaze was such as if it told Kino not to die. Kino smiled back in return to thank him. Hermes wonders if the man accurately got the message. Kino is unsure as well. Then we see the duo heading off into the distance. An ending quote appears on the screen:-
“The world is not beautiful:
And that in a way, lends it a sort of beauty.”
My thoughts
I really loved the first episode of the series which counts as one of my favourites(yup I have watched it before, now I’m rewatching it ;P). By this one episode you should be able to get the theme of this series and the point it’s trying to drive in. It is based on the darker aspects of mankind. Good principles can be misutilized or misinterpreted leading to disastrous results. In this episode we see how the citizens of the “Land of Visible Pain” were forced to live in isolation because of the mistake they made in believing it would be good to understand the thoughts of others. The unfortunate man also loses his lover in this manner. It clearly shows that every positive thought has a negative aspect to it as well. We’re always told to try and understand the pain of others, and here it is shown how interpreting the thought processes of other people can be painful, especially when one has ill feeling towards you. You wouldn’t feel at ease if all your personal feelings were being scanned by others. You would feel insecurity and try to escape from one who can read your thoughts.
In case you haven’t realized, these ‘lands’ which Kino visits are the various territories of the human heart. Insecurity, misplaced principles and how technological advancement can be harmful; each and every one of these aspects have been beautifully illustrated in this episode. Well, I certainly hope you’re impressed with this series and continue watching it, you won’t regret it(the same way you didn’t regret reading this epic summary 
…I guess ^_^;). The last quote of the episode is roughly the theme of this series(you’ll get it when you watch more episodes).
