I assume this is Kino, since I don't remember anyone else that looks like this person:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/31/Kino's_Journey_The_Compl ete_Collection.jpg
If so, I find it odd that the artists sexualized her like that with the skin-tight suit and the mildly provocative stance.
"Be careful, they're wearing sunglasses at night. Which means they're very cool."
I know it's kinda late, but in case you're still wondering, that's because this picture was drawn by the original artist of the light novels (Kuroboshi Kouhaku) this series was based on. Kino looks more feminine in the novels.
shareBetter late than never, thanks for taking the time to respond :)
Huh, so she was portrayed as more feminine in the books? That's interesting. I liked the show, so if I have the time, I'd like to read the books. I'd love to see where Kino and Hermes go with their journey.
Do you know how closely the anime follows the books? Can I pick up the books where the anime left off or should I start from the beginning?
Back in my day, we didn't have that thing you had.share
There are more books?
shareSorry for being late again. I guess I wasn't expecting a reply. :)
Oh no, not at all. The author kept Kino's gender ambiguous even in the books except in a few flashback chapters. It's the illustrator who draws Kino this way:
http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/images/e/eb/KNT_V13_CoverArt.jpg
http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/images/3/3d/KNT_V10_CoverArt.jpg
http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/images/1/16/KNT_V07_NewCover.jpg
though not all the time, but his loli-style art tends to win out and make Kino look more like a girl.
The anime takes most of the stories from the first volume and a few chapters from volumes 2 to 7 in random order. You can easily skip volume 1 because all of it is in the anime (with very few changes). Too bad there are no books released in North America other than the first one :(
Skip volume one, got it.
As for her design, I guess I liked it best in the second movie, "Illness for You", she wasn't overly girly but feminine enough that she's not tomboyish. Not that I didn't like her design in the show, I'm just stating my favorite version.
It's a shame volumes 2-7 weren't released here, do you happen to know any websites that have them with decent English translations?
Back in my day, we didn't have that thing you had.share
I see. I heard/read somewhere that the second movie tried to make Kino's design closer to the novel illustrations (but still they all look different to me :P).
Actually it's still ongoing and currently has 18 volumes (with volume 19 confirmed, as this year's the 15th anniversary of the series). Most of the English translations are here: http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kino_no_Tabi, but the translators are not native English speakers, so I can't answer to its readability.
There are also translations here: http://untuned-strings.blogspot.com/p/index-kino.html, which I think are better, but there are only few random chapters.
There are still many good stories in the book, which is why I'm really sad there's no second season. To be fair, the TV series ended on a high note, so there may be no need for more, but still...