"Kino no Tabi 22" by Shigusawa Keiichi. A new collection of worlds with real and imaginary elements.
This volume broke the 11-year streak of having a new volume of "Kino no Tabi" in October, by being released few months later in July 2019, just after the start of Reiwa era. The later release date pushed this volume into the 20th year since the start of "Kino no Tabi" series, an anniversary highlighted in the author's afterwords chapter. This has been a special volume from a growth perspective.
Signs of growth include a chapter on Kino's birthday, a chapter on the early days of Shizu's dog, and a chapter on Photo's new assistant. This last new character might not be a recurring character yet, but every other recurring character has gotten fair representation in this volume. The chapter with the most action is still allocated to Kino and Hermes, but the world had definitely expanded beyond just Kino's personal journeys.
The chapter with the most action involves the demise of a country, in the classic spirit of this series where Kino lays a path of destruction to every other country she visited, sometimes intentional. The real world and imaginary worlds may be ever changing, but some things always maintain the same consistent quality. Looking forward to more offbeat countries cross paths with Kino.
Previous (2019-07-11): "Seishun Butayarou wa Logical Witch no Yume wo Minai" by Kamoshida Hajime
Next (2019-08-30): "Seishun Butayarou wa Siscon Idol no Yume wo Minai" by Kamoshida Hajime