From anyone who knows me, it no secret that I have a great respect and love for the anime show "Mushi-Shi." It's rare to see a show that so successfully tells a series of short stories that are just slightly connected enough to be part of the same show, and yet all fresh enough to keep you coming back for more. So when I saw on forums and reviews that another show, called "Kino's Journey," is not only similar to "Mushi-Shi," but actually better, I had to give it a try. Thankfully, it is easy to obtain on DVD through an affordable ADV films release, and I encourage everyone to give it a try as well.The title of this show says it all: Kino's Journey is about a young girl named Kino, and her journey across the world with her trusty talking motorcycle, Hermes (yes, he talks). The show is made up of short stories, sometimes several stories in a episode, sometimes one story taking up multiple episodes. All the stories revolve around the towns she sees, or the people she meets. One town is ruled by a King who insists that everyone compete to the death for the right to live as first class. Another town is full of machines that make it unnecessary for people to work. Everywhere she goes, if danger is near, Kino has her trusty pistol, which she trains with religiously every night. And she insists on only spending three days per town, as any more time would make her feel too attached. I've told you just about everything I can without spoiling the individual stories. The stories themselves combine elements of classic sci-fi and fantasy, and are very interesting to say the least. They are also well told... sort of. Most of the stories are successful because of the ideas that propel them. Many of the stories involve one or two characters telling the history of themselves or the town they live in, saying it straight without too much secrecy. A few stories have a string of strange events, but are either predictable, or really random. I'm not saying any of these are bad: I wish more shows had this format of storytelling with this type of atmosphere, The stories are certainly good, it's just that it reminds me a little too much of what I might write as fiction, and how I would write it. And it might be within your ability too, and if not, it should give you some great ideas. The stories also do go into detail about who Kino is, and while it is certainly interesting, it didn't seem necessary. Overall, it helps the show as a whole, but it felt like Kino was too much the focus, when the cities or people she meets needed more attention. It also means a couple episodes must be scene in order to make sense later on, despite most of the stories being stand-alone. Granted, the best written lines come from Kino and Hermes, and the show wouldn't be the same without these strong characters. The situations they are put in can vary greatly, but they always survive and reflect on their adventures at the end. 
Visuals and animation are iffy. The style reminded me of Serial Experiments Lain and Haibene Renmei, and was very appropriate. But animations do show their age a bit too. The visuals themselves show even more age, due to scan lines on the image. Seriously, scan lines! On a DVD! After some research, it turns out the scan lines were intentional, but it can be really distracting, and it's a shame to see. Voice dub and music is well done at least, especially the opening and ending themes (the dub is a little stiff, but in exactly the mild manner I would want from this type of show, and I wouldn't change it). So is this better than "Mushi-Shi?" No. At least not to me. Mushi-Shi's stories well incredibly well written, with themes that aren't spelled out for you. They are better organized, more inspirational, more profound. They focus less on the main character to make room for those stories, and yet feel like they explain the main character's backstory in a cleaner, yet open way. It's longer than Kino's Journey, which is necessary: for this type of show full of short stories, 13 episodes isn't nearly enough. And the visuals and animation are significantly better in every way.I rip on "Kino's Journey" a lot, but don't get me wrong. It is a fantastic show, and everyone should see it. If it were a little longer, the writing a little better, the visuals cleaner, it would be perfect. But as it stands, it is still very much worth your time. It slowly became a cult-hit in America, I think entirely because of its DVD release, and remains one of the more interesting sci-fi fiction anime you can find.