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Overview[]
The episode features Kino and Hermes drifting down a river on a raft while recalling some of the people they've met during their travels. The episode mainly focuses on the chapters 「Her Journey」 —Chances— and 「Her Journey」 —Love and Bullets—. It also includes 「A Tale of a Wise Man」, which is not a chapter in the light novel series. Part of 「A Land Not Permitting Discrimination」 —True Blue Sky— features briefly within that story.
Her Journey —Chances—[]
- For the novel chapter please see Her Journey.
Her Journey —Love and Bullets—[]
- For the novel chapter please see Her Journey.
A Tale of a Wise Man[]
Kino and Hermes drive alongside a river, with Hermes complaining about potentially running out of fuel. Kino recalls that they are approaching the residence of a Wise Man, and they decide to take shelter from the rain there.
When Kino knocks on the door of the shabby-looking shack, a young lady opens the door. Kino asks if she can take shelter from the rain, and the young lady lets her and Hermes in. Kino asks if the young lady is the Wise Man, but she says she is only his caretaker, and that the Wise Man is resting downstairs, ill. She then offers to take Kino and Hermes to the Wise Man, which Kino accepts.
The young lady leads the pair down a tunnel in a cave. At the end of it, they find an old man resting in a crevice. The young lady tells Kino that he's known as the Wise Man because he lives a life without worldly desires, and that he was granted the title when he asked a passing king who would grant him a wish to move because he was blocking the sunlight. The Wise Man denies his title and the young lady leaves.
The Wise Man proceeds to explain his words. He was born in a country rife with crime, and the country was trying to solve the problem. He doesn't recall much about his country, but he recalls being imprisoned for a crime. The country then experimented on him with a brain procedure that was meant to remove a person's self-consciousness. It was successful, but not in the way the country wanted, as they wanted someone who was still motivated to work. The country threw the Wise Man out of the country, calling him a failure, and thus the Wise Man began his wandering life.
One day, a passing hypnotist tells him that he knows how to return the Wise Man to his former self. The hypnotist says something, and then claps, wiping the Wise Man's memories of his words. He then writes what he says on a paper in a bottle and throws it into the river. Before parting, the hypnotist gives him a hint: "These words are the only true words in the world." The Wise Man has no desire to return to normal, but follows the bottle through many countries and eventually gains the title of Wise Man.
The inspector posted outside the Land Not Permitting Discrimination.
Hermes wonders if the hypnotist's words were like the "True Blue Sky" problem. Kino relates the story to the Wise Man, saying that there was no such thing as the "True Blue Sky". The Wise Man, upon hearing the story, breaks out into a laugh, realizing the hypnotist tricked him and that there was no way to return himself back to normal. Ironically, as soon as he realizes that, he begins feeling the emotions that were once wiped out of him and cries, wondering what his life was for.
Later, outside the shack, Kino speaks to the young lady and discovers she is from the same country the Wise Man is from. Whereas the Wise Man was a failure, she was a success, and was sent to watch over the failure and ensure he didn't return to normal. In the case that he did, she was to kill him. Kino asks why the young lady chose not to kill the Wise Man, but she does not know. Now that her job is over, the young lady says she may go on a journey as well, and wonders if one day she'll be called a Wise Man too.
Differences in Media[]
Notes[]
- The story of the True Blue Sky that Kino recalls in A Tale of a Wise Man was taken from A Land Not Permitting Discrimination —True Blue Sky—. In the novel, after visiting a country, Kino speaks to an immigration inspector posted outside the country's walls who tells her about the True Blue Sky question. This is the person that appears in Kino's recollection in the anime.