Motorrad

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A motorrad is a purely fictional motorcycle in the novels and anime Kino no Tabi (or Kino's Journey). Though motorrads seem to be commonly accepted by everyone in the anime, other than Hermes, no other motorrad is ever shown. It is questionable as to whether or not all motorrads speak or not.

The term motorrad is also the German word for motorcycle: "motor" meaning mechanical and "rad" from the German word Rad meaning bicycle. it is possible that this was a translation mistake that was not caught until it was too late, though it is also possible that this use of the German word was intentional as to keep away from the possible restrictions of the word motorcycle.

[edit] Anime Hermes

Hermes is the secondary protagonist in the anime Kino no Tabi, and accompanies Kino on all journeys. Hermes is speaking, though whether the intelligence is magical or created mechanically (like a robot) is never properly explained in the anime, and left only to speculation. Often Kino takes Hermes into lavish hotel rooms and houses, rather than leaving the motorrad outside. While this seems like a peculiar practice to average people, in the countries that Kino visits it appears to be acceptable (as it is within some real world biker communities). In fact, during the short movie "Life Goes On," Hermes is offended when a young Kino leaves him outside.

In the anime, Kino no Tabi, Kino's first meeting with Hermes (エルメス, erumesu) is shown in Episode 4 when adult Kino (sometimes referred to as "Kinou" simply for the purposes of distinction) arrives in the town where young Kino lives (her name was not Kino at that point, but rather the name of a flower. Speculation has been made that the flower is sakura due to her comment that if one changed the pronunciation, it becomes an insult. "Sakura" is similar to "mekura," blind, and "dokura," slow, as explained by a character in episode 13, so it is the most likely choice).

Throughout the anime series Hermes is characterized by saying "Kino!" in a whiny voice, and for mixing up metaphors, aphorisms, proverbs, and sayings. Because Kino tends to be very calm, composed, and quiet, Hermes asks most of the questions and makes a lot of assumptions that carry the dialogue along.