It was night in the forest.
A row of thick trees formed a leafy canopy overhead. In daylight, the leaves were bright green, but now they were black.
In a circle of great, entwined roots, the last flames of a dying campfire flickered. Kino sat beside the fire, wrapped in her coat, eyes closed, cradled by the massive roots as if in her mother's arms. A short distance away stood Hermes, their baggage unloaded on the soft earth beside him. Firelight danced and played over his gleaming chrome.
"You awake, Kino?" he whispered.
“I am now."
Hermes said in a lower tone than usual. "Motorcycles are happiest when they're moving. You may have noticed that I'm not moving right now,"
"So? You're not at your happiest?" Kino guessed.
"Not really, no. I'm not exactly unhappy, I'm just not really thrilled to be... not moving. In this big dark forest."
Kino opened one eye. "Something you're not telling me?"
Hermes said professorially, "Kino, you ever heard of a syllogog?"
"Is that like a goblin or something?" She sat up. "You're not afraid that there's something lurking in the forest that eats motorcycles?"
"No! You know, a syllo-something. It's a sort of argument. You know: all penguins are birds; birds fly; therefore penguins can fly."
"Penguins can't fly," Kino observed.
"Okay. So, it doesn't work so well for penguins, but you get the idea. What's that called a-a syllo-"
"A syllogism?"
"Yeah, that," said Hermes, and fell silent.
Kino waited a moment for him to continue. He didn't. Good grief. "What of it?" she asked.
"Well, I was just wondering. Why do humans travel?" He sounded uncharacteristically serious.
"Humans? Or just me?"
"Let's start with humans."
Kino thought for a moment. "Well, I don't know too many other humans all that well, you may have noticed. But I'd say it's because they want to go somewhere they've never been. See things they've never seen. Eat things they've never eaten. Talk to people they've never spoken to before. Something like that. Pretty simple, really."
"Yeah. It is. Pretty simple." He sounded satisfied with the answer.
"Well, it might be a bit more complicated in practice, but I think that's a safe generalization."
"Okay, so what about you? Why do you travel, Kino? I mean, I know you've got nowhere to go back to. But we keep running into trouble, you keep almost getting killed, and being on the road isn't easy for you. Why is it you never find some place to settle down? You're smart. You're good with guns; you could find a job anywhere. You could even have gone with Shizu," said Hermes all in one breath.
Kino considered his words. "Yeah, I think you're right about all of that."
After a moment of silence, Hermes asked again, "Then why do you keep traveling?"
Kino didn't answer. Instead, she stood up, drawing the Woodsman out of her coat where she had held it in her sleep, tight against her side. She never knew when she might encounter something in the dark of night, especially in the great, leafy, whispering woods. Maybe even a motor cycle-eating syllogog.
Kino smiled wryly at the thought and kicked dirt on the fire.
The last embers vanished, bathing the girl and the motorcycle in darkness, silent but for the whisper of the wind through the trees.
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The following are a list of differences between Tokyopop’s version and the Japanese version of Kino no Tabi Volume 1 as compiled by a Japanese fan in this page: http://budusheye.okitsune.com/dawun.html
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Disclaimer: Since I want to list the differences as objectively as possible, the examples will be given sans the commentaries and opinions of the original writer and my own, as much as possible.
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Note: Tokyopop’s version is labeled ‘TP’ while the original version is labeled ‘JP’. Excerpts taken from book are italicized and highlighted gray.
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Changes in terminology:
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*Persuader ‐‐> Gun/Rifle
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*Motorrad ‐‐> Motorcycle
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*Hovee ‐‐> Hovercraft
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Chapter 1: Grown-up Country (JP: Chapter 5: Land of Adults)
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• “Kuni” (the places Kino and Hermes go to)
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JP: “Country”
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TP: “Village” or “Town”
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• Kino’s original name
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JP: “xxxxx”
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TP: “Little Flower”
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• Reference to days before young Kino's 12th birthday/operation
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JP: "three days left"
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TP: "three more days"
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• When the first Kino took the junk motorrad to repair it,
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TP: He obtained permission from Kino's father
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JP: There was no mention of who gave it to him.
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• The knife used to kill the first Kino
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JP: Kitchen knife
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TP: Carving knife
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• Sentences not in the Japanese version:
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o With a horrible sucking sound that I still hear some nights in my sleep, the knife slid out of Kino's corpse.
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o So, we began our travels knowing nothing, least of all where we were going.
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(Changed from original, ‘After that, we decided to go to a nearby country but got lost inside the forest. And there I met, by pure chance, an old person who thought me various things. If it were not for that person, I wouldn’t be alive today. I am truly grateful. But that is another story.’)
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Chapter 2: The Land of Shared Pain (JP: Chapter 1: Land of Visible Pain)
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• Chronological Order
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JP: A sentence indicates that 'The Land of Majority Rule' happened before 'Land of Visible Pain'.
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TP: Sentence was replaced by this passage instead:
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"You mean, they're all in the residential area?"
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"Probably"
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"Then let's go there!"
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Kino shook her head. "No. Not today. We wouldn't get back until after dark. We may be in a walled city‐‐an empty walled city ‐‐ but I don't want to drive in the dark."
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"Ah! So, you think there might be someone or something that comes out at night, after all."
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"I do not!"
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• Woodsman’s Backstory
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JP: Woodsman has no backstory in volume 1 (it will be revealed in volume 2) TP: Kino named the gun after the first person she first took down with it, a highwayman.
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• Man’s name
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JP: The man Kino met in this chapter was not named.
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TP: He was given a name, Kyoshi.
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Chapter 3: The Land of Majority Rule (JP: Chapter 2: The Land of Decision by Majority)
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• Chronological Order
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TP: A sentence was added,
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"You think...you think the same thing happened here?"
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...hinting that this chapter came after 'Land of Visible Pain'.
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JP: As mentioned before, the order in the original is implied to be 'Land of Majority Rule' ‐‐> 'Land of Visible Pain'
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• Kino’s food
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JP: portable rations
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TP: Protein Energy Bar
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• Passage not in the Japanese version:
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"Sleeping already?"
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"Nothing else to do. Keep watch for me. Good night, Hermes."
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Kino had almost dropped off when Hermes murmured, "I hate keeping watch."
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"Sorry," she muttered.
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"I really hate it."
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"Hermes..."
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"It's boring."
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He was silent just long enough to allow Kino to drift toward sleep once more.
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"Boring...boring...bo‐‐"
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"HERMES!"
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Silence.
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• Man’s name
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JP: The man they met here was not named.
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TP: He was given a name, Kanaye.
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• Passage is in Jap, but changed:
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"We're leaving now, Your majesty. None of your offers is the least bit tempting. But I do thank you for the conversation." She bowed her head once.
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"What did you call me?"
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Kino shook her head. "Not important. Goodbye, Kanaye."
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(In the original, Kino doesn't call him 'Your majesty'. Hermes does. )
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• Hermes’ blunder
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JP: In the final part, Hermes makes his usual slip-up on an expression which would mean something like, 'what sort of wind blew to make you change your mind?'
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TP: It was translated as:
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"Have you turned over a new petal?"
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She glanced down at the bike. "You mean a new leaf?"
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"Oh...right...leaf."
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Chapter 4: Three Men on the Rails (JP: Chapter 3: Three Men on the Rails )
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• Sentences not in the Japanese version:
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o "You have a compass, Kino."
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o “And the forest perfume―tree and earth―it's like incense in a shrine. You fall into a state of...prayer."
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"Hello," said Hermes. "Places to go. People to meet."
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Chapter 5: The Land of Peace (JP: Chapter 3: A Peaceful Land)
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• Minor name changes
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JP: Tatata and Veldelval
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TP: Tatana and Veldeval
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• Sentence not in Japanese version:
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"Veldeval won the last engagement. So, they're considered the defensive force."
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• Names
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JP: The young soldier has no name
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TP: He was given a name, Yasuo
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• Sentences not in the Japanese version (Note: The explanations are rather long so most will not be included. The main point here is that Kino was made more sympathetic, when normally she is emotionally detached to the countries and people she meets. Moreover, it was implied that she was heavily traumatized with the original Kino’s death.)
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o Rightfully proud, Kino thought, if it is true.
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o “Kino nodded, unable to speak ‐ afraid of what might come out of her mouth.
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The smell of blood drifted up, and for a moment she saw a long knife blade gleaming in the sun as it protruded from a twisted body that lay at her feet. But the hovercraft moved away and the moment was gone.”
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o "We refer to them as 'the kill'."
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o "I can't do anything about it," she told herself and remembered the words of a village elder who had once spoken to the other Kino: "Traveler, in every village, in every home, there are different customs. You know this. In this village too, we have our customs. These customs are not to be altered by any actions you take.