ramble ramble.
This is an essay I've been meaning to write for awhile. Essentially, this is just my thoughts on Kino in as much as I understand her. /o/
To start this off, Kino does not care about you or anyone else. It's hard to word this, because it implies that Kino is a really cold and callous person, but it's a bit different from that. Kino doesn't establish bonds and ties with people in normal ways. Really, she doesn't establish ties at all. She honestly can care about people, but not in the ways that most people do by wanting to be near the people they like. Kino can like someone and leave once three days is up just as easily as she can dislike someone and leave in three days. So, she can think about people in positive or negative ways, reminiscence on them, wonder if they're doing well, but she doesn't. . . Attach. In the same way that she never quite knows what impact she has on other people, like with Nimya, Kino doesn't share the impact others have with her. Kino just carries those memories and feelings with her.
Now, even if she likes someone, Kino won't put her neck out for them. Kino has huge debates with herself on life, who has the right to take it, and so on as well as her place as a traveler. This doesn't mean she doesn't contradict herself sometimes. In the end, as long as her conscience and mind are satisfied, Kino can let most things pass her by. For a good example, if Luffy starts to drown in the pool. . . She'll let him! He knows he can't swim, will sink and die if he goes too deep, but he decided to put himself in that position, so why should she interfere? She knows it will occur, can see it happen, but it isn't her place to change it.
However, her place and right to impact is a more tenuous issue with Kino. Kino introduces herself as a traveler in camp, but the meaning is never passed on easily. Within her world, if you are inside a country then you are bound to that country's way of being unless you choose to leave. If you are able to leave, you exist on your own. You are not bound to any land or laws, and there aren't many people outside of countries that can subsist on their own. As a traveler, she is a temporal presence within every country she visits. The decision to not impact, to leave after three days, to learn from each place she visits are Kino's personal choices. Other travelers may exist in different ways. . . But the chance of surviving without choosing not to impact is not high. Travelers are not held by laws, but they are also not protected by them. Anyone who carelessly disregards the traditions of a country could be harmed. If a traveler dies, they simply disappear. There is no way of telling family or friends, if there even any of those to tell. It's the same principle as when you visit a foreign country and have to be careful not to offend others by wearing certain clothes or saying certain things. On a personal note, Kino accepts all that occurs in the world. She doesn't like certain places she's visited, makes a point to visit places others don't like, but you can't ignore the things you don't like in life. So, Kino sees everything and works to understand it all, even if she doesn't like it.
Kino isn't entirely inhuman, though. She just doesn't connect how other people do, but she can be fond of others and so on. However, Kino has an excellent poker face. It's a natural development out of the fact that she has to witness people doing atrocious things and keep her mind open to the fact that this may seem good to them. It helps her to keep from getting into conflict with others too, because Kino values her life above all else. So, she wishes people luck and well, thanks them, listens while honestly caring, but she doesn't do it as a friend or companion. She is taking what she hears and adding it to the long list of experiences that are her life.
The meaning of the journey. . . It's not a question that she can answer canonically, so I pass on explaining it. There are many answers to why she does what she does, at expense to her life, and sacrificing her ability to connect in normal ways with others. Kino is scared to settle down, doesn't understand the world because of how she was raised, can not have a place as her own, realizes what an unusual position she's in and is taking advantage of it, and many other reasons. For whatever reason, Kino enjoys and will continue to travel around to experience the world. She lives for herself, simply.
To tackle her past trauma is difficult-Rather, it's difficult to tell if Kino has moved on from it or lets it guide her actions now, refusing to open herself to being hurt again. For those not in the loop, Kino is from a country that required all children to have an operation to remove their free will when they turned twelve. She met a traveler that enlightened her to the fact that this was not common, that there were other ways of living, and she asked her parents if she would be able to do so. . . Her parents then deemed her a failure and tried to kill her. The traveler sacrificed his life for her while she fled for her life. Kino still has nightmares of being called a failure.
After that, she found an older woman named Master who was a traveler that chose to live outside of a country. Kino learned gunplay and means of survival from Master until she came across a traveler wearing the same yellow coat as the one that the traveler that died for her was wearing. She used this as a lead to find his parents and friends, and explain and apologize for what had happened to him. Master told her to stop at a house outside of the country and explain the situation to the woman there. The woman mourned her son, but was kind to Kino. . . Until the roofies took effect and she tried to kill the girl who led to the death of her son. Kino fought her off until she eventually killed her to save her own life. In the end, it was revealed that the woman had been killing travelers on their way to the country and was not the mother of the traveler Kino knew-Master had knowingly deceived Kino into facing death itself, without knowing if she would survive. Kino returned to Master and prepared to begin her journey.
Lastly, Kino came across a country with a bad reputation. She came to love the people from it very much as they were all kind to her, including a little girl that reminded Kino strongly of herself. Kino wanted to stay longer, but was sent out by the people of the country. That night, the people of the country all died when a volcano nearby erupted, covering the country. Kino still thinks fondly of that country and wears a gun that she received from the people there. . . She often sleeps with that gun near her, almost like a teddy bear.
If Kino has any issues from all of the above, then it's understandable. She's borne a lot of strife in her time after being disowned by her parents, deciding to leave Master despite saying she wanted to stay with her, and being forced to leave a country she loved. The likely case is that Kino really is uncomfortable from her past experiences. She has a fear of remaining in one place. She admits that it's not just so she can see as many countries as possible, but that she gets anxious at the thought of settling down in any one place. The fact that she refuses to travel or connect with others, except on her own terms, is likely another side effect of her past. Kino understands why she acts this way, but chooses not to alter her behavior. She doesn't remain in one place long enough to be confronted about this, either. This isn't to say that Kino is a completely unhealthy basket case. She is highly functional, even with her issues, and who is without problems?
Whew, I just had a massive breakthrough. Uh, discuss, discuss!
To start this off, Kino does not care about you or anyone else. It's hard to word this, because it implies that Kino is a really cold and callous person, but it's a bit different from that. Kino doesn't establish bonds and ties with people in normal ways. Really, she doesn't establish ties at all. She honestly can care about people, but not in the ways that most people do by wanting to be near the people they like. Kino can like someone and leave once three days is up just as easily as she can dislike someone and leave in three days. So, she can think about people in positive or negative ways, reminiscence on them, wonder if they're doing well, but she doesn't. . . Attach. In the same way that she never quite knows what impact she has on other people, like with Nimya, Kino doesn't share the impact others have with her. Kino just carries those memories and feelings with her.
Now, even if she likes someone, Kino won't put her neck out for them. Kino has huge debates with herself on life, who has the right to take it, and so on as well as her place as a traveler. This doesn't mean she doesn't contradict herself sometimes. In the end, as long as her conscience and mind are satisfied, Kino can let most things pass her by. For a good example, if Luffy starts to drown in the pool. . . She'll let him! He knows he can't swim, will sink and die if he goes too deep, but he decided to put himself in that position, so why should she interfere? She knows it will occur, can see it happen, but it isn't her place to change it.
However, her place and right to impact is a more tenuous issue with Kino. Kino introduces herself as a traveler in camp, but the meaning is never passed on easily. Within her world, if you are inside a country then you are bound to that country's way of being unless you choose to leave. If you are able to leave, you exist on your own. You are not bound to any land or laws, and there aren't many people outside of countries that can subsist on their own. As a traveler, she is a temporal presence within every country she visits. The decision to not impact, to leave after three days, to learn from each place she visits are Kino's personal choices. Other travelers may exist in different ways. . . But the chance of surviving without choosing not to impact is not high. Travelers are not held by laws, but they are also not protected by them. Anyone who carelessly disregards the traditions of a country could be harmed. If a traveler dies, they simply disappear. There is no way of telling family or friends, if there even any of those to tell. It's the same principle as when you visit a foreign country and have to be careful not to offend others by wearing certain clothes or saying certain things. On a personal note, Kino accepts all that occurs in the world. She doesn't like certain places she's visited, makes a point to visit places others don't like, but you can't ignore the things you don't like in life. So, Kino sees everything and works to understand it all, even if she doesn't like it.
Kino isn't entirely inhuman, though. She just doesn't connect how other people do, but she can be fond of others and so on. However, Kino has an excellent poker face. It's a natural development out of the fact that she has to witness people doing atrocious things and keep her mind open to the fact that this may seem good to them. It helps her to keep from getting into conflict with others too, because Kino values her life above all else. So, she wishes people luck and well, thanks them, listens while honestly caring, but she doesn't do it as a friend or companion. She is taking what she hears and adding it to the long list of experiences that are her life.
The meaning of the journey. . . It's not a question that she can answer canonically, so I pass on explaining it. There are many answers to why she does what she does, at expense to her life, and sacrificing her ability to connect in normal ways with others. Kino is scared to settle down, doesn't understand the world because of how she was raised, can not have a place as her own, realizes what an unusual position she's in and is taking advantage of it, and many other reasons. For whatever reason, Kino enjoys and will continue to travel around to experience the world. She lives for herself, simply.
To tackle her past trauma is difficult-Rather, it's difficult to tell if Kino has moved on from it or lets it guide her actions now, refusing to open herself to being hurt again. For those not in the loop, Kino is from a country that required all children to have an operation to remove their free will when they turned twelve. She met a traveler that enlightened her to the fact that this was not common, that there were other ways of living, and she asked her parents if she would be able to do so. . . Her parents then deemed her a failure and tried to kill her. The traveler sacrificed his life for her while she fled for her life. Kino still has nightmares of being called a failure.
After that, she found an older woman named Master who was a traveler that chose to live outside of a country. Kino learned gunplay and means of survival from Master until she came across a traveler wearing the same yellow coat as the one that the traveler that died for her was wearing. She used this as a lead to find his parents and friends, and explain and apologize for what had happened to him. Master told her to stop at a house outside of the country and explain the situation to the woman there. The woman mourned her son, but was kind to Kino. . . Until the roofies took effect and she tried to kill the girl who led to the death of her son. Kino fought her off until she eventually killed her to save her own life. In the end, it was revealed that the woman had been killing travelers on their way to the country and was not the mother of the traveler Kino knew-Master had knowingly deceived Kino into facing death itself, without knowing if she would survive. Kino returned to Master and prepared to begin her journey.
Lastly, Kino came across a country with a bad reputation. She came to love the people from it very much as they were all kind to her, including a little girl that reminded Kino strongly of herself. Kino wanted to stay longer, but was sent out by the people of the country. That night, the people of the country all died when a volcano nearby erupted, covering the country. Kino still thinks fondly of that country and wears a gun that she received from the people there. . . She often sleeps with that gun near her, almost like a teddy bear.
If Kino has any issues from all of the above, then it's understandable. She's borne a lot of strife in her time after being disowned by her parents, deciding to leave Master despite saying she wanted to stay with her, and being forced to leave a country she loved. The likely case is that Kino really is uncomfortable from her past experiences. She has a fear of remaining in one place. She admits that it's not just so she can see as many countries as possible, but that she gets anxious at the thought of settling down in any one place. The fact that she refuses to travel or connect with others, except on her own terms, is likely another side effect of her past. Kino understands why she acts this way, but chooses not to alter her behavior. She doesn't remain in one place long enough to be confronted about this, either. This isn't to say that Kino is a completely unhealthy basket case. She is highly functional, even with her issues, and who is without problems?
Whew, I just had a massive breakthrough. Uh, discuss, discuss!