Between the origin story, the cannibals, the coliseum episodes, and the democracy episode you get the feeling the world kind of blows. Later on it doesn't get all THAT much better but it does get a bit more lighthearted.

That guy that I totally thought was Kirei but is actually some kind of teacher is a [radio edit]ing badass though holy shit

makes me sad that he opposes the narrative and I know what to expect when people do that

Overall, I liked it. The travel narrative brought about a lot of interesting concepts and social commentary, as well as Kino's development

What I think hurts the show is the criminally short time we're allowed to view each country Kino visits.

This obviously truncates the amount of depth you're allowed to take when describing a country's history, and simplifies their thematic ideas to the point of feeling as if I'm being beaten over the head by "the point"

The country of books in particular struck me as needlessly overt.

Maybe these caricatures are reflections of how Kino views the world, with all the societies except one having fatal flaws in their approach.

But should I agree with the supposition that all of the ones portrayed in this anime are inherently bad?

Citizens in each country are cast as simpletons who can't think for themselves, a textbook symptom of a writer who has no faith in humanity.

While this helps each episode push its point along at a brisk pace, I can't help but feel as if I'm only being fed one side of the debate.

And perhaps that's Kino's perspective on things. If that's true, she's a lot more protective of her lifestyle than I initially thought.

But the problems with each society are irrelevant to Kino's desire to travel. She merely want to be free of a society's responsibilities.

So having people acting so stupid in their flawed society kind of adds a bit too much for my taste.

Maybe that's the entire point. People have to be this stupid in order for these societies to even exist.

And that just comes back to the cynicism of the entire narrative. Interestingly though, Kino still believes that the world is beautiful.

Given everything I've seen her go through, however, I have a hard time coming up with why she'd ever think that.

Unconditional love, maybe? Perhaps for the sake of collecting interesting stories? The thrill of the neverending journey?

Nevertheless, maybe marathoning this show was a bad idea.

Karin ;_; I'm sure they'll all get cured in the end, though.

Hahah, aren't you optimistic.

Madoka Yuuna will use her hero potential to save everyone by becoming one with damaged/dying Shinju, separating herself forever from Homura Tougou when she becomes an existential concept and force for good in the world. In the process the others are healed and carry on optimistically, and also Madoka Yuuna heals the heroes of the past.