Kino’s Journey: the Beautiful World (キノの旅 -the Beautiful World-, Kino no Tabi -the Beautiful World), shortened to Kino’s Journey, is a Japanese light novel series written by Keiichi Sigsawa, with illustrations by Kohaku Kuroboshi. The series was published in 2000 and since a Playstation version and animated movie have been produced.
The main protagonist in the series, Kino travels to different countries with her talking motorrad Hermes, discovering their cultures and people. In the anime (Japanese animation), Kino’s gender is ambiguous in the beginning, but is later confirmed to be female in the episode “Land of Adults”. Her original name is hinted to be that of a flower in the Land of Adults, and Kino is a name she adopts after meeting Hermes.
The character ‘Riku’ is an Akita dog.
This talking Akita dog travels with Shizu. He is large, white, and always smiles! (as Akitas do 
)
| Apparently, Riku has only spoken to Hermes, as Kino does not believe Riku can speak when told about the discussion Hermes had with him. (In the Japanese dub, Riku also speaks to Shizu, but in the English dub, only barks or whimpers to him in these instances.) In the novel Riku speaks to both Kino and Hermes.Kino travels through a mystical world of many different countries and forests, each unique in its customs and people. She spends only three days and two nights in every town, without exception, on the principle that three days is enough time to learn almost everything important about a place, while leaving time to explore new lands. Kino says in The Land of Visible Pain that this principle is probably a lie, specifically noting “if I stay any longer, I’m afraid I will settle down.” |
The “beautiful world” Kino travels through almost always has its dark side. Often the countries Kino visits are places where the populace is oppressed, where a tragedy has occurred, or where the culture has become extremely strange because the rulers or people sought to do what they believed was right.
A phrase repeated in the anime and novels is “the world is not beautiful, therefore it is” (世界は美しくなんかない。そしてそれ故に美しい。, Sekai wa utsukushiku nanka nai. Soshite sore yueni utsukushii.) symbolizes how the dark aspects of life, such as oppression and tyranny, make the good and happy parts of life all the more precious and wonderful.
Sorry, no sign of Riku in this introduction sample of the movie.
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Too bad I haven´t found a picture of the character Riku. :C
I thought I wasn’t going to like this blog, but more I read the more I liked it!
Hey!Riku could also be an Samoyed and he’s more fluffier than an Akita so it fits better but are there anything written in the novels about the breed?
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