"War educates the senses, calls into action the will, perfects the physical constitution, brings men into such swift and close collision in critical moments that man measures man." – Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1882. Yasuhisa Hara’s Manga takes place in the warring state period of China, as the country is divided into seven smaller nations, each trying to conquer the other. It follows a young war orphan named Xin from the Country Qin, who one day on his way returning to his village with his best friend witnesses a battle between two armies, inspired by the spectacle before him, he vows to one day become one ofthe greatest Generals alive. The first arc of the show serves as an introduction to the warring times, demonstrating the harshness of living in such times and the brutal power struggles. At this time Xin meets the young king Ying Zheng and after offering his assistance and proving himself, gets drafted into the army and given a chance to turn his ambitions into reality. Kingdom showcases some extremely large scale military battles and for the most part does an outstanding job in capturing the atmosphere on a battlefield. Kingdom doesn’t always revolve around the fighting, but on the different strategies the Generals implement to try to gain the upper hand over an opponent. The strategies remain diverse and differ depending on the general and may change at a moment’s notice depending on the situation on ground, showing that adaptation is an important factor. While it does contain an abundance of strategies, it does well in the fact of not overwhelming us with too much of it, the ‘brain vs. brawn’ argument is also laid bare and the series hints at reading the flow of battle, anticipating what your opponent will do and knowing the right strategy to apply always wins the day. Kingdom also demonstrates that a battle is never a one man mission, it requires co-operation between several squads and sub-squadrons given different tasks to carry out that ensure victory. Our protagonist, Xin, is indeed powerful when compared to a normal soldier, but the series carefully makes sure not to depict him as over-powerful, and it never tries to make the mistake of making him take center stage in a battle, as of course an overpowered MC from the get-go would indeed be boring. At every battle Xin’s squad is given a particular task to perform on the battlefield, this task may mildly or adversely affect the whole state of the battle and after which he withdraws to a supporting role as other squads and different part of the army take the center stage. In the rare cases Kingdom does shy away from the battlefield it deals with simple character interactions or matters of Diplomacy and state. The emotions the show throws at you are also immense, battles get so tense it may literally have some people at the edge of their seats and just writhing in agony at the prospects of what may happen next, more so when characters find themselves in a seemingly hopeless situation. Survival is of course the main objective but the soldiers also display a sense of chivalry about them, in the sense of even when greatly outnumbering an opponent, once their commander is killed, they usually withdraw. The pacing remains almost flawless all through, never dragging on but also not moving too fast for audiences to lose sight of it. The script is also very well written, while not too simplistic or psychological, characters engage in smart dialogue that doesn’t seem redundant and is always straight to the point never beating around the bush. Even those pre-battle speeches a commander gives, serves as more than just a morale booster. 3DCGI has always looked wonderful in games and full CG animations, why? Because these forms of animations have always been aimed at making the art of the show look as close to real life as possible. However, when incorporated in anime, which takes its pride in being different from real life, it’s a completely different story. Its plastic appearance and mechanical motion has made a great number of anime that incorporate heavy use of CG to be assessed as mediocre. Kingdom makes extensive use of CG animation, first of all the CG actually has varying qualities, there are times when it looks as terrible as it’s known but other times it’s truly a spectacle to behold. I find myself most frustrated with the quality of the CG at the start of the show, the quality of the first couple of episodes was quite poor and did nothing but chase away any potential viewers who might have wanted to stick with it to the end. Once you get past the bad quality of the initial episodes, the animators reward us with some high quality CG that certainly impresses with some great choreographed action sequences. The studio also didn’t fail to take full advantage of the CG on the battlefield, the number of characters drawn on the screen was indeed much but they always made sure these characters moved independently for the most part and not the ‘Foosball table’ combat one may have anticipated. 360 degree camera rotations and different camera positions are also plentiful. Despite the shows seemingly low production values, it had a number of very popular seiyuus, the likes of Fukuyama Jun and Morita Masakazu grace us with some very powerful performances, almost all the seiyuus left powerful impressions on their characters. The soundtracks in Kingdom mostly comprise of orchestral pieces and the sound director did a great job of adding the right track to suit a situation, be it a dramatic, comedic or tense moments. Kingdom also spans an OP and three ED songs. Kingdom features one of the greatest character growths I have ever witnessed in any anime. Our protagonist Xin, not only grows physically in his strength and sword fighting skills but also grows mentally, when we first meet him, he is your everyday brute that solves all his problem with the throw of a punch or the swing of his sword but as he gains experience in battle he starts to use a bit of intellect to his duties. One can’t help but feel proud of the young lad who rose from obscurity when we see him gain accomplishments on the battlefield and one can’t help but do a victory dance every now and then when he succeeds with all the odds seemingly stacked against him. Even simple events like Xin receiving his first ever payment or him buying his first ever piece of armor are events that truly warm the heart. The supporting characters also receive a decent slice of the pie, their personalities of most of them are unique and also at the same time enjoyable, the show has no shortage of standout characters and you may have a hard time picking a favorite. The majority of the female characters in the show in particular, although few and far in between, were all great, they never act weak, play the damsel in distress or used for profane fan service and actually are capable of single handedly dismantling a large number of their male counterparts. Despite the large number of cast, Kingdom does a great job in developing most of them in very enjoyable fashion whilst keeping the pacing near flawless, I was honestly shocked by the amount of content that went into 38 episodes and the show never beats around the bush with needless flashbacks and dragging themes but always stays precise and straight to the point. Kingdom has indeed for me been a diamond in the rough, it had a lack luster opening but slowly grew into something impressive. The CG may bring it down a notch or two but it more than does enough to cover for it in with its vibrant story and great characters. The decision of the author to put character growth ahead of everything else has indeed proven a perfectly worked out formula. While the large, heart-wrenching and pulse-pounding battles will receive the most attention, we can’t deny that it was a show that attempted to impress in all departments. To create a show with such a large world that almost accurately captures the principles and aesthetics of ancient warfare is indeed quite a feat, but to execute it with so very few flaws, absolutely boggles the mind.

First 14 episodes = 4/10 14–20 = 5/10 20+ = 6/10 Average=5/10 In episodes 20–38, a few episodes deserved 7-8 scores, noticeably the penultimate episode. _ Comments on plot and characters plot=5Comments for episodes 1-20: The plot is garbage. It just relies on cheap cliff hangers and plot twist to keep the audience watching every single episode. The characters are bad. They are superficial, so little is known about them which obscures any possible affections for them. Their dialogue is also atrocious. The protagonist is illogically over-powered, and he incessantly spews cringe-evoking dialogue. The humour is forced and inserted wherever possible. The execution is subpar. It is difficult to take this show seriously when its logic is absurd. The characters have logic defying strength and super jump. The problem is the show offers no explanation for the unnatural strength of the characters, so it cannot be accepted as anything but a flaw. The only exceptions are the clans that call upon God’s strength because there was at least a modicum of explanation. A myriad of plot conveniences run rampant, especially in battle spoiling the mood. Also, the protagonist Xin receives special treatment because he’s the main character as opposed to any logical consequence of the plot. A few plot holes are apparent: Xin buying armour and never using it in combat; the absurd battles throughout the anime—a tiny group against thousands; the part where Wei, Ping elected to be a decoy by leaving a blood trail, yet he was able to escape. That must mean they never followed him or caught up which is near impossible; there are also those preposterous premonitions that frequently occur. There were no redeeming factors until episode 20. Episodes 20+ Pass that, it’s actually enjoyable. Wang, Qi and his army became likeable despite previously being loathsome. Xin is still annoying. The only other likeable characters were the brothers that helped Xin out. Some of the negatives mentioned above are experienced to a much less degree or are unrealized. The major flaws are still present, so this arc receives a 6. It should be emphasised that armour cannot be easily penetrated with generic swords. A specialised weapon or sword suited to combating each specific armour is needed. _ Character=4 Most characters were ridiculous and/or unlikeable. These ratings are based on the character design and how well they were used. Zheng=bad Piao=fine Xin=bad Lei=average Diao=bad Bi=average Wei, Ping=good Wei, Dao=good Wang, Qi=fine Pang=bad (Too little is known about him, and he defied his own logic when he didn’t beat Wang with his own strength. Also, how the army found him to begin with is rather dubitable.) _ Art=9 The animation style (3D and high detail) complemented the war and action theme of the anime. The 3D aspect evoked a vibrant experience. However, seldom are the wounds shown upon contact of the blade. This detracts from the show’s realism. _ Sound=9 Most of the sounds were appropriate, and the sound tracks were superb. However, one absolutely detestable thing was that song or tune that played every time Lei danced. It was abject cringe. _ Enjoyment =5 Overall=5

Have you ever wandered why Dynasty Warriors was not an anime? Well, Kingdom is pretty damn similar. Kingdom is an anime that amazingly and almost perfectly portrays strategic war in medieval China. Story: 10/10. At first, I was a bit sceptical about the idea of an anime based on medieval Chinese war. I thought that there would be a lack of a protagonist, that the whole anime would revolve solely around the strategy involved in medieval warfare. However, I was amazed with the layout and structure of the story, and how it caught my interest from the first episode. Kingdom's protagonist, Xin, is a young, but vastlystrong boy, whose goal is to become 'the greatest general under the heavens'. The anime brilliantly shows his progression as he participates in battles to obtain achievements, and seeing him edge closer to his goal makes the anime that much more enjoyable. It may seem strange that an anime based on war in medieval China would revolve around a boy, when one man may seem so insignificant to whole wars, but Xin upholds his protagonist aspect as he makes large differences everywhere he goes. Art: 8/10. The three dimensional art of Kingdom may put some off, however, it enhances the sense of Chinese war. Seemingly unique, this art style looks very similar to some Japanese style games, such as Rogue Galaxy. I was a bit sceptical of it at first, but as I breezed through the anime I grew to like it, as without the strange style, it would seem more like a Japanese war, which clearly is not Kingdom's intended style. Sound: 10/10. The soundtrack of Kingdom is simply amazing, and it is always timed right where it needs to be. Uplifting music when a general is shouting a morale lifting speech, intense and fast soundtrack when a battle is commencing, it all holds the anime together and makes it all the more enjoyable. The voice actors starred in Kingdom are also spectacular. Morita displayed outstanding voice acting in this anime. After hearing him voice Ichigo's calm, soothing tone for so many episodes of Bleach, I could hardly believe it was him voicing angry little Xin in Kingdom. But not just the protagonist has incredible voice acting, every single character does, including the minor foot soldiers that only speak one sentence. Character: 10/10. Each character is developed incredibly. Xin, being angry and blunt. Piao, being intelligent and modest. Zheng, being high, mighty and fair. All of these aspects are conjured brilliantly by each character's reaction to different happenings. Each general has his own strengths and weaknesses, and no two of them are the same, or even remotely similar. Some may ignore strategy and go full on attack, while others may spend nights dreaming up new tactical defences to best their opponents. While some characters may seem a little useless (yes, that's right, I'm looking at you, Ten), they too of course have their strengths. Some surprising aspects may emerge from some characters occasionally, which of course is necessary for every anime, and each character has a personality that is finely clipped and demonstrated perfectly. Enjoyment: 10/10. I wasn't sure I could enjoy an anime based on medieval Chinese war. The most I've looked into this topic is playing Dynasty Warriors 4 on my PS2 for a few hundred hours. However, the strategies displayed in Kingdom are carefully demonstrated to the audience in a way so that anyone can understand, and be a part of. Having a protagonist like Xin in an anime like this gives the watcher another reason to cheer at their laptop like an idiot, and a few other ridiculously overpowered characters bring tears of joy to the audience's eye. Overall: 10/10. Through an overwhelmingly well displayed storyline, art that strongly creates an atmosphere of medieval China, soundtracks that bring shudders to your spine and incredible enjoyment, Kingdom has earned itself a place in my top 10 anime. If you don't like the concept of the anime - Chinese warfare, strategic battles, etc - then there is still a high chance of you loving Kingdom.

The Art and Animation in this Anime can make anybody think twice about watching it, i even dropped it half way through the first episode. But when you actually sit down and just watch the Anime it's a whole new level. The MC, Story and Character development is Amazing, they way it builds up, the fighting, Character Relations you can't get enough of it. It makes up for the terrible Animation and makes you just want to watch more. The MC overall is someone most people want in a Protagonist. Strong & Ruthless, He doesn't care about his own well being and relies on brute strength butcan also be quite cunning. The story revolves around a lot of Strategy type war over Land across China, I'm really looking forward to see what direction the creator takes this Anime, The upcoming battles & Struggles is full of Hype and Anticipation. Overall worth while watch 8.8/10

Kingdom Season 1 is a big disappointment. The show is a historical epic about wars and heroes, but it does not dig into the setting deeply. It is closer to an action adventure show about a kid fighting strong opponents, but follows a simplistic, obnoxious protagonist that barely develops. On top of these, the poor production quality hampers the excitement and the storytelling. I had a somewhat high expectations for Kingdom: - I had heard the manga described as one of the great historical epics, mentioned in the same breath as Vinland Saga. I had not read either, but I was absolutely blown away by Season 1of Vinland Saga. - I was very interested in its setting, the warring states period of ancient China, since I enjoyed reading "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". - Kingdom Season 4 was airing at the time and holding one of the highest MAL user ratings of that season. I appreciated how Kingdom S1 takes great care in depicting warfare. I enjoyed the build-up to a battle, when generals discuss strategy and foot soldiers prepare themselves. Once the battle starts, the show frequently explains strategies and the thinking behind them. On the ground, characters are constantly figuring out how to carry out orders without dying, and the emotions go through highs and lows along with the flow of battle. However, the show is severely lacking on the visuals side to really deliver the full impact of the battles, and it hurts especially in 2022. While the use of CGI allows sweeping camera shots and huge melees, the extremely stiff and simplistic animation fails to make them convincing or exciting. One-on-one fights are not much better; the characters simply swing their weapons at each other really hard. It does not help that the environment design and background art often looked completely flat and uninspired. Some of the hand-drawn animation does look more pleasing and expressive, and I wish the show had more of it. Also, the character designs manage to be a lot of fun. The characters have simple, distinct personalities with a variety of backgrounds and motivations, and their looks clearly communicate them and make the cast memorable. This brings us to the biggest problem I have with the show... The main character, Xin, is very annoying and uninteresting. He is a country kid, the simple-minded and brash type, always excited to battle, with boundless ambition and confidence, and most importantly, LOUD. He has no other memorable personality traits or quirks to him, and he is given little motivation beyond "I'm gonna be the very best". He does not develop much through the season, because he is very rarely seriously challenged in his beliefs or suffers failure. On the battlefield, he displays superhuman strength and agility from the very beginning, which is never really explained. He is consistently rewarded for these personality traits and his martial prowess. This style of writing, combined with stiff CGI models, makes it hard to understand or sympathize with Xin. Kingdom S1 spends an overwhelming majority of its time with Xin, so the other characters are not given much time to shine. Zheng is introduced as "the other half" of the story (as seen in the poster), and he offers a very different type of story and point-of-view from Xin's. However, his story almost completely takes a back seat to Xin's later in the season. We do spend a lot of time with one particular side character, exploring his personality, motivations, and battles. He becomes a stand-out in the show for me, and even has some impact on Xin as a character, but he comes late in the season. The show misses out on exploring other storylines by focusing so heavily on Xin. With a large cast entangled in power struggles and wars, the show could have explored palace intrigue, statecraft, diplomacy and espionage, and even everyday lives of the commoners and the nobles, etc. While the show touches upon some of these briefly, it does not follow up on them; for example, a powerful figure is introduced as the de facto ruler of the country and a dangerous rival, only to disappear from the story shortly afterwards. The later seasons supposedly expand on what has been set up, but I am struggling to have faith in the series. Despite my many complaints and general dissatisfaction, I have sat through all 38 episodes of the season. A part of me just wanted to be able to say I finished it (and leave a review), but another part of me wanted to see it improve and realize its potential. The show does steadily get more interesting as the season progresses, but the earlier parts are much too clunky, and the later improvements are not significant enough. Kingdom has announced a Season 5 at the time of writing, so I may come to enjoy Kingdom more in subsequent seasons. However, after these disappointing 38 episodes, I will not be bringing myself to watch Season 2, at least for a long while.

Compared to the Manga this Show is bad. The first Season is almost unwatchable because its very poorly animated. But compared to average Shows its still good. Shin is like a combination of Ruffy and Guts. But Shin is not the secret to Kingdoms greatness. The secrets are the epic full scale wars. Great generals like Kanki and Ousen. Battle of Wits on the Battlefield but also in Politics which is displayed here also.The english Dub is great. The Story is of course epic. Also the animation in the second Season is way better. Its similar to the Berserk Goldenage Movies: You can watch it but its way better to just read the Manga

4.0 to 6.75/10 depending on the season. In my long journey of waiting for Once Piece to conclude or at least waiting for an announcement of the end, I have finally come to Kingdom: Kingdom Season 1 is physically pretty had to watch, having essentially PS1-2 Graphics. I feel like we got the Berserk 2016 treatment which is pretty shit. Similar to FF14 if you can get past the first part, the pay off is pretty good, but the first... 15-20 ep, are pretty bad and unbearable to be completely honest. If it was not for the fact that I was 'watching' this while working, andit having my 2nd or 3rd thing for my attention I never would have made it past ep3 or so. Kingdom is a Historical Fiction based on the forming of China about 2300 years ago, from what I can tell if you look at everything from the big pictures, like what generals, what countries and what battles were fought, all of that is more or less true history, everything else is filled into to be a drama. This is personally my favorite genre of story telling so I am a huge sucker for this. In reality Kingdom is basically Dynasty Warriors the Anime/Manga with how overpowered anyone with a Name really is, and because of this, I get some Berserk Golden age vibes too which really hits home. Honestly if you NEED something to watch, and you can get passed the first 20 episode garbage then the pay off is worth it, as season 2 IMO is like a 6.5-7/10. But if you dont NEED something, I would probably push this down your backlog of things to watch.

Kingdom is a historic war-action series focused on Xin, a war orphan living in China's Warring States period who aspires to become a general. Coming across the exiled prince Ying Zheng, Xin assists Ying with trying to reclaim rule over his kingdom of Qin and unify all of China under him. To my understanding, Kingdom mixes around historic facts and fictional storytelling in its exploration of Xin's struggles as a number of major characters are based on real-life historical Chinese figures. I am not well-versed enough in Chinese history to understand how much of what is depicted in the series is historically accurate. But in regardsto the characters seen throughout the series, they are a bit of a mixed bag. Some of the major characters follow stock archetypes typical of shounen battle anime as Xin feels too much like the hot-headed, dense and battle-loving action hero that the genre loves to milk and He Liao Diao mostly serving as a sidekick character. Many of the battles in the series also have the feel typical of a shounen battle anime with characters blindly charging into battle and taking plenty of punishment in fights, yet continuing to persevere and eventually overcome their foes. Not helping matters with the battles in the series are the show's awkward efforts to mix its regular animation, with CG animated sequences that are quite glaring to see when scenes switch between the different animation styles and the fact that the rendering of characters in said CG sequences look quite rough compared to the regular animation. On the plus side, the historical elements implemented into Kingdom allow its storytelling to have some elements of sophistication that give it a smidge more depth compared to most shounen battle titles. A number of characters are given a good deal of dimension and depth to explore their personalities and what drives them in making the decisions they do. The developments in a decent chunk of Kingdom's first half lead to growth in the characters of Xin and Zheng. Also with the great deal of focus on planning for warfare provided at a number of points in the series, the more battle-savvy leaders in the series are shown to deploy a good amount of tactics and strategy when leading their squadrons against enemy threats. In spite of the praises though, Kingdom suffers quite a bit in having an uneven focus with how it wishes to portray itself between wanting to be a historical war title dabbling into military strategy and famous figures of the Chinese Warring States period or a shounen battle anime that dabbles into a number of the typical cliches of the genre. If Eastern historical anime titles grab your interest, Kingdom is certainly not one of the best offerings of the genre and I would certainly not be in favor of watching it more than once.

I've never been a fan of warfare or of the same sort, but Kingdom intrigued me in a lot of ways. So I gave it a try. I've never seen a detailed anime than Kingdom when it comes on old warfare. Story : 8 The story is set on middle kingdom, where 6 states are at war to further their own states. The story revolves around a young slave named Xin. Xin dreams of being the greatest general in middle kingdom. As he pursues this dream of his, a lot of tragic happenings will befall him. His wits will be tested, A LOT. Anyway, that's the mainplot though. This particular season contains 3 arcs, and I'm only going to tell the first one, and its up to you if you'll watch the series. The first arc is centered on Zheng, the king of Qin, which Xin(seriously, this names are confusing me in a lot ways.) lives at. Zheng's throne has been stolen from him, and after some tragically happenings which made me shed a tear or two. Xin will accompany Zheng on reclaiming the throne that was stolen from him. I found every arc interesting so I gave it a 9. Art : 7 The first reaction I made when I first saw Kingdom's art was "WTF is this sh**?!". God, it was horrible(maybe its because I've only been watching recent animes, so that's why I was expecting great art.). Kingdom really emphasized the usage of CG's. A lot of scenes were made with CG's, so its not unusual to see awkwardly running characters and movements. I considered dropping the series, but! You'll eventually get used to it though. I would have given it a higher score if they stick on their drawings, I mean, look at those battle scenes which weren't done by CG's! Its effing gorgeous! But worry not my fellow art critic! The art in here is constantly improving. Characters : 8 Characters on Kingdom really stand out, every main and supporting characters were drawn good. I like how they made some characters look weird. Background characters looked like each other. But its okay, its a warfare series! Who in the staff would want to draw individual looks on one background character if he's air time is only 3 seconds?! Music : 7 Not much to mention on this one. Kingdom has 1 OP and 3 ED. I only listened to the OP though, it was made by Nothing's carved in stone. Enjoyment : 8 As far as the story goes, I enjoyed it. Overall : 8 It might be weird to say this, but I cried a lot in this series. Now that I think about it, its really hilarious! I want to laugh at myself now. Well, it just might be in the spur of the moment. The camaraderie on Kingdom is really admirable, and the way they make things more tragic amazes me in a lot of ways. The series though is an action packed anime, and I love the strategic things they make, and the way they explained it and how it works in quite good too! Overall, this series is really good. And if you're looking for action, I highly recommend Kingdom. That's about my review on Kingdom! Happy watching!

Kingdom (English Dub) Review Story (5/10) Average (Because of this adaptation changes) The story for Kingdom I thought in this anime adaptation was mediocre at best, not nearly as good as I wanted to be because of the reasons I will explain below. Firstly the censorship, I am someone who is coming fresh off of the manga and with that being said hell yes I am once again pissed off at Studio Pierrot for butchering and so poorly handling a great manga like this. They've done it with Tokyo Ghoul and then they've done it here with Kingdom, one of Young Jump's to best sellingmanga in recent of all time doesn't deserve this. The reason I feel the censorship in a series like this isn't doing it justice is because firstly this is a seinen with war and death thrown in your face constantly watering it down to shonen levels of censorship is a blatant disrespectful for the truly mature rated series that Kingdom should be treat as. One would say "oh all that dismemberment and nudity doesn't make that much of a difference" and to you I say "I feel the series and others like it ie Berserk would have never have sold as much as they did if didn't have such content, it's integral to what makes them what they are and removing/censoring it makes the scenes that were showcased in the manga have far less impact than it should have had." Not only that but then when it comes to the actual story, although debatable if the Assassination Plot Arc and the Training Arc were truly important I personally feel they the reason they were removed weren't because "oh you can live without them" but when you look at characters like Lei, Qiang (btw all the names I refer to is what MAL calls them) majority of her characterization happens within those two arcs we get a deeper understanding of her and also the fight between her and Li, Xin which was great and also removed. This I feels should not have been skipped over and it I felt it hurt the overall story's quality. To be honest the only true reason Studio Pierrot removed those arcs was not because they were short but because like they wanted to cut corners and save a buck here and there. (like damn near every category when it came to this adaptation) Art and Animation (3/10) Poor Oh man oh man where the hell do I start.. this is by far the biggest offender to this entire adaptation of one of my favorite manga. Studio Pierrot I hate your decisions with a burning passion! I know the genre that Akatsuki no Yona is similar to that of Kingdom and although I have not watched that series yet I doubt that from an animation standpoint that war anime series was not butchered as badly as this was. This is by far some of the worst CG I've ever seen in an anime for the time it came out, this is definitely down there with Berserk 2016/2017 honestly I would put this below them because at least in that dismemberment censorship wasn't a thing. You would think for the serious and most important fight scenes in the Arcs that were adapted by Studio Pierrot they would do it justice NOPE damn near all in censored CG bullshit. And even when it was in hand-drawn only like small percentage of the time did it look the way it should. There were scenes where also the hand drawn scenes just looked down right dreadful also and I was more even than offended when I saw that. Sound (6/10) Fair More Specifically (6.75/10) Fair+ The sound for Kingdom I feel was one of the little things Studio Pierrot got right at least. For the most part for sound effects, voice actors (which I'll get to in a minute) and definitely background music they did quite a good job. If there's anything I enjoyed the absolute most was the opening anime theme song for this adaptation, I never skipped it because I love the song that much same can be said about the first ending song I loved it, the other ones not so much. As far as the English Dub is concerned I felt majority of the voice actors they chose fit the characters they were assigned to which is very good but when it came to the voice acting that the voice actors gave off they where hit or miss most of the time for me. Damn near all of the voice actors sometimes instead of acting out their lines just sounded like they were just reading their lines off the script and forgetting to put the right amount of emotion behind said lines when needed. They would also do this weird pause within a middle of a sentence that isn't completed, this pause would be like a second and a half before they continued and that broke the immersion a lot for me multiple times, it felt like they were reading their lines, got to a point where they had to think before they read the rest of the line and then continue the rest of the script, it was mad annoying and for season 2 I will be watching it in sub. Characters (7/10) Good When it came to adapting the characters Studio Pierrot did an ok to good job they didn't really fuck anything up here, majority of the characters were adapted well. Like I said though with the removal of the two arcs I feel that was a hit on the characterization of Lei, Qiang and at least for the Dub voice actor the character of Nuan "Hou Ken" Pang they made him speak in Thous and Shalls which felt extremely out of place since the manga did not do this for him and even if it did no other character spoke like this so it I felt out of place and it kind of ruin the character who "as far as the manga portrayed" as a character to be feared wasn't as fearful to me. Wang, Qi 's english voice actor I felt sounded exactly the way he was suppose to but there were times in his final fight I felt his rage was not portrayed correctly either that's more of the voice actors fault though. Other than those three characters all of the other ones where nigh perfectly adapted. Enjoyment (2/10) Dreadful Dreadful is definitely the first word that comes to mind when I think about my enjoyment level when it came to this adaptation. I heard it was bad but I just had to see for myself. To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if the reason I put this entire series on hold 3 years ago and didn't come back until now was because of how terrible this adaptation was. The censorship in nudity and dismemberment, the English dub's spotty voice acting and last and definitely not least the pathetic CG animation quality and spotty hand drawn animation quality are all some of the biggest insults you can give to any manga series when it comes to adapting it into anime format. I was frowning for damn near my entire time watching this adaptation in my head constantly was telling myself "why the fuck I'm I watching this garbage?" Overall (4/10) Bad More Specifically (4.75/10) Bad+ I rarely give out 4s let alone finish them or even go as far as to write a written review about them, but as a Kingdom fan I feel I have to give my full thoughts on this and my constant hatred for Studio Pierrot continues to burn. Studio Pierrot other than like Yu Yu Hakusho I feel have let me down time and time again recently, I heard GTO and Akatsuki no Yona aren't bad but man everything damn near else they just can't help to not do a great job on in my eyes. Kingdom as a series deserves far better than this and this anime adaption will make many newcomers to the series that don't read manga stay as far away as possible which sucks. I heard many many people say that Season 2 isn't nearly as bad as the first so I'll see about that when I get there.

Kingdom is the kind of anime that starts as a slow burn and transforms into a historical epic that commands your attention with every episode. If you're patient enough to push past the rough edges of the first season's CGI, you'll be rewarded with one of the most intense and character-driven stories anime has to offer. Set during China’s Warring States period, Kingdom follows Xin (Shin), a war orphan with dreams of becoming the greatest general under the heavens. What starts as a simple tale of ambition evolves into a sweeping narrative filled with grand-scale warfare, complex political intrigue, and unforgettable character development. What makes Kingdom amasterpiece: Strategic Warfare at Its Best: Unlike many anime that treat battles as flashy spectacles, Kingdom excels in military strategy and psychological warfare. Every battle has weight and consequence. Victory isn’t just about strength—it’s about mind games, timing, and leadership. Unrivaled Character Growth: The journey of Xin from a reckless boy to a disciplined leader is inspiring and realistic. Along the way, we meet a cast of generals, soldiers, and rulers, each with their own ideals and ambitions. Characters like Ei Sei (Yin Zheng), Ouki, Kyou Kai, and Riboku are brilliantly written and bring immense emotional depth to the story. Massive World-Building: Kingdom is a historical epic in the truest sense. It portrays not just war, but the politics, alliances, betrayals, and reforms that shaped ancient China. The stakes are always high, and you can feel the tension building as the series progresses. Emotional and Inspiring: From rallying speeches to tragic losses, Kingdom delivers emotional punches without relying on melodrama. It's raw, powerful, and, at times, incredibly moving. Final Thoughts: Kingdom is a rare gem that matures with every season. It’s a long ride, but one well worth taking for fans of historical dramas, tactical warfare, and deep character arcs. It’s not just about war—it's about vision, leadership, and the drive to change the world. Don’t let the early animation turn you away. Stay for the story, and you’ll find yourself immersed in one of the greatest underdog tales in anime history. Watch it. Stick with it. And prepare to be amazed.

Intro: It is sad, it is funny, it is thrilling, it is catchy. An anime series based on actual historical events that unfortunately has many flaws. Anime vs. Manga character names: King Zhen = Ei Sei Xin = Shin Qiang Lei = Kyou Kai Li Mu = Riboku Wang Qi = Ou Ki Meng Wu = Moubu Fei Xin Unit = Hi Shin UnitHe Liao Dao = Karyo Ten Lian Po = Renpa Story: 7/10 The story revolves around the slave boys Piao and Xin who share the dream of becoming The Greatest Generals under the Heavens. After tragic events Piao dies asking Xin to make their dream a reality, saying goodbye to his best friend. With his friend's death, Xin's journey for revenge and achieving their dream begins, on this journey Xin will meet the fallen king Zheng, and toghether they will work towards achieving their goal of uniting all China. Kingdom has great worldbulding that is surprisingly well executed. I also liked how they portrayed the political struggle and battles between the king and his brother, later the king and the chancellor. The plot is fairly complex and highly entertaining but it does have multiple flaws and holes: 1. Piao and Xin, two slaves boys trained each other in swordsmanship to the extent that Xin is able to defeat enemy generals and such. That is very, very difficult to believe and very improbable. 2. Wang Qi goes from being gay to being pedo, wanting to marry a 16 years old girl. 3. Some of the war tactics are hard to believe. 4. These generals appear to have infinite strenght, with one sword swing they can blow away 10 soldiers. 5. The Pang Nuan scenes are just dumb. 6. The battles are unrealistic. 7. How did Wei Ping escape when he was leaving a trail of blood that enemy soldiers were following?Piao and Xin, two slaves boys trained each other inswordsmanship 8. Why does Xin not wear the armor he owns? 9. Do the mountain people not have human bodies? After being stabbed, shot with arrow, etc. they get back up and keep fighting. 10. Liao's past is hard to believe. FYI, Liao was one of the 6 Great Generals of State of Qin at the age of 17. Hmm, something is not right. Characters: 6/10 The characters are failry generic but they are decently characterized and get some development. Xin, the MC, is the typical shounen protagonist that is dense and dumb, has a short temper but is very strong and can defeat just about anyone throuh the power of being the MC. Xin is so dumb that he can not create a succesful strategy, he oftens says cringy lines, his only strenght is his body and the ability to raise the moral of his soldiers. Xin has the dream of becoming a great general, which is impossible with the simple mind he was born with but he will somhow succeed in following that dream. I believe Piao would have been a much better main character. Zheng is the king of the State of Qin. Zheng is a higgly intelligent boy who will face many future obstacles in the pursuit of his goals. With Xin's help, Zheng regained the power after being dethroned by his brother and toghether they will help each other and follow their dreams. Wang Qi is a great general and an important character that greatly influenced the development of the story and Xin's character. The rest of the support characters are fine, nothing special. Animation: 6/10 The animation for the first 2-3 episodes is bad (beacuse of CG) but it gets better with each episode, being fluid and having nice art. What I found extremly annoying was the censorship pf the gore. The show contains almost no blood or gore and that is just ruining the mood and the hype. Sound: 8/10 The opening theme is good, the ending theme is nice and the OST is well suited to the tone of the show, the voice actors do a good job as well. The result is an overall good sound experience. Enjoyment: 7/10 KINGDOM is an entertaining series with good plot and decent characters but the censorship and lack of gore ruined many great scenes. Overall: 6/10 A good series that has the positives outnumbering the negatives and is very much worth the watch. I recommend giving Kingdom a try.

A brave anime in an era of fan service and product placement. Imagine a large production that has nothing to do with high school, with no fan service, with a well thought and developed story that actually takes its time to mature, strong characters and actual moral impact. Such a thing cannot exist in a time when costs of animation sore, and yet it does, almost a miracle. It is an enjoyable series that has taken many risks, from the animation point of view with its 3D effects, to the moments when the story stops to explain medieval military tactics, and last but more shocking the factthat deals with the tale of one of China's greatest heroes in a moment when the relation between both nations is in an all time low. I hope it goes on beyond the 2nd season.

I'm frankly disappointed, and its for two major reasons: 1. The studio artwork, sound, and pacing were a bit off at times. Some scenes that should have taken longer were cut short and vice versa, the sound was at best average but the worst was the animation. Not only did it fail to capture the depth of the manga even remotely, but the use of CGI at certain scenes wasn't appropriate. I don't have an issue with CGI use, but it was clear that they were still figuring out when to use and not use it in the first season. The artworkalso was lacking for some scenes. 2. The manga in of itself is lacking. I love the gritty artwork and historical backdrop, but the characters are severely lacking. The main character (Xin) is the typical "Naruto" character, with ridiculously long speeches about arbitrary or childish points, superhuman strength, a crudeness that everyone seems to overlook at take as charm? Him, like many other characters, are incredibly one-dimensional and the entire premise of his character is pretty ludicrous. The guy is so strong that he might as well be one punch man where the occasional loss is so minor that its really just more plot armor to justify himself being even stronger in a world of already ridiculously strong characters (that get introduced out of the blue to create challenges for Xin to overcome or pillars for him to aspire towards). It was a great premise, but the execution did not age well and that was primarily due to characterization and how the story revolves around that characterization. Is it worth a one-time watch? Yea...it might even be nostalgic for many people. But it is a heavily flawed anime, and the 1st season is a mix of its best and worst all in one. I did enjoy the humor though...

This Anime would not be well knonwn to the common eye, originally a friend told me about it, which I reluctantly researched here and further aside. I came to the conclusion that I'll get it and give it a go in the near future. I flicked through some shows that I was going to watch having taken a break from watching the 10th last episode of Beelzebub. Watched the first episode, which I thought was only 24 mins long turned out to be a double episode. Paced myself and got into it, the opening song doesn't really appeal to you until you start watching and watching it, by episode 20 you'll likeit. As for the endings, composed of 3 different ones, #1 and #3 won't appeal to most people as they're quite bad, but #2 was brilliant. The artistic style of the anime is weird, at some points it looks like it hasn't been hand drawn digitally or on paper, but like a game with people on axcel movements, but you'll overcome that if you continue watching the show. There's two main protoganists, Zheng and Xin. Zheng is the King of Qin, who has a goal to unit China under one king, while Xin's goal is to become the Greatest General among the Heavens and serve under Zheng. It's quite a simple story, but throughout the anime you meet new people, new stories unfold and new paths are forged. Many people will be turned off by the low score of this anime, but heathe not, this anime may be a seven out of ten, but does not subsuquently mean it's bad. As the story is quite simply, the anime is overly enjoyed, I've had a break for summer holidays for over three months, and throughout that time, I barely watched more then one episode of an anime all through the day. Normally I watch it at night time, when it's not as roudy. Continuing above... After watching the first 5 episodes, I got into the anime and I started watching it during the day, taking breaks eat, rest or play League of Legends (3 matches from level 30 on EUW!), only anime's I'd of done this for would be Naruto, Bleach and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. But it's not the greatest anime you'll come across but hey, it's not about being the best, it's about whether you enjoyed it or not, doesn't matter what other people think about it, so long as you enjoy it, that's all that matters. As this review is just about finished, I will say, for those whom liked FMA or Bleach's Voice actors, then this would be for you. If i'm not mistaken Xin is Kurosaki Ichigo and another person is Alphonse Elric. It's quite weird hearing Ichigo in another anime, but oh well, give it a go, see what happens, and most of all, enjoy!

Summary: (Character names are written differently in different translations) The time is warring states of China. Young Xin and his childhood friend Piao, were both orphans who lived as slaves in a small village. At that time a slave had no choice but to be a slave for the rest of their lives. Xin and Piao did not agree with that, so they decided that they will become the greatest generals in all of China. So they trained every day while they were still working as slaves waiting for the right moment to strike. Fate began to move and Piao was noticed by some nobles and takento the capital while Xin was left in the village. Turns out Piao was used as a double for the new young king Zheng who was fighting a rebellion by his half brother. In an attempt to assassinate Zheng, Piao gets heavily wounded. Piao manages to reach the village where Xin lives and asks Xin to protect Zheng in his place and then falls to his wound. Xin enraged decides to avenge Piao by killing king Zhao. After meeting and talking with Zhao, Xin decides to follow him as Piao had wished. Here starts the adventure of Xin to become the greatest general in China. Story In my opinion the story is really good, especially if you like history and historic wars. The state of China at that time is really well explained. This anime covers both sides, the battle against the other nations and the battle inside the nation itself. The tactics and organisation of armies are also really well explained and shown, which is the most important in an anime like this. The story progresses fine and does not get in useless episodes. It is well written and makes you want to watch more as Xin climbs the ranks in the army. 8/10 Animation No matter how much I love this anime I can't defend the animation. The animation was just horrible. I already am not a fan of 3D animation and in this anime it just looks disgusting. It was really really bad but the story started so intensely that it made me not mind the bad animation.(the animation gets much better in season 2) 4/10 Sound The sound was good but nothing impressing. Voice acting was well executed and the OST was solid. 7/10 Characters The anime contains a lot of great characters but I will focus on the main 4. Xin: The main character. At first glance he is like a normal shonen main character but the difference is that Xin has no problem killing his opponent.Well it is a war after all. His resolve and will are strong which makes him a good main character. Zheng: The illegitimate son of the late king of the state of Qin. He is the successor for the throne but his half brother does not agree so a fight ignites between the two. Zheng is strong and always looks like he has the situation under control. He does not show his emotion and his look is always firm, this makes him fit to be a leader. Diao: An orphan from the mountain folks. He helps Xin and Zhao escape from an ambush and latter joins them in the fight against he rebellion. Diao is young and smart but has no fighting strength. That is why Diao decides to become a strategist instead of a warrior. Lei: As member of the female assassin clan "Chi You" Lei is a highly skilled swordsman. Meets Xin on the battlefield and becomes drawn to him for reasons she can't comprehend. Her only purpose in life is getting revenge for her sister. But as she gets to know Xin more will she get another purpose in life? She is by far the strongest among the foot soldiers and is a great help to Xin. overall characters get: 9/10 Enjoyment I did enjoy this anime a lot. Even if the animation was shit I could not help myself but enjoy this show. I simply love everything about it. 10/10 Overall This show would get an 20/10(yes 20) if it was not for the shitty animation. That is why I will give it only nine out of ten. 8/10

This is an irredeemably bad anime. Its title might as well been "Exposition and flashbacks". Who would EVER consider creating an anime about ancient wars / close combat sword fighting and create such a clunky pos. Without exaggeration, 90% of the anime up to episode 17 took place in the past. Every action sequence the viewer might actually enjoy during the other 10% is censored and badly animated. I am not an overly serious person and the comedic relief has yet to make me grin, not to mention laugh. Not a single major side character that has been introduced so far has been an actually likeableperson, the pendulum swings between obnoxious, belittling and aloof. How this anime manages an average of 7,9 is completely beyond me. The only reason I'm giving this 3/10 pity points is because it gets slightly better at episode 25+ which no reasonable person is going to wait for.

I must say I really enjoyed this anime. I had a feeling that people wouldn't give the pacing a chance which is why the rating was low in the beginning. Although I must say that if your able to get through the slow parts of the series which is the beginning it can definitely be defined as one of the top series out there and the story is amazing! So my advice to the people that are going to watch this is to bare with it in the beginning and stay with it till the end because you will be impressed eventhough there are complaints with the animation which doesn't bug me at all once you get use to it xD.

Kingdom is absolute master piece when it comes to the manga, but Studio Pierrot found a way to fuck this story up. I'm sorry, but this is pathetic. To just throw this anime in the dumpster, and give it the CGI treatment. What in the world were you thinking. In all fairness this could've turned out amazing, the story will hook you right in. Just brush away the CGI fuckery they added, and focus on the story. Hope this is a lesson to you editors in Weekly Young Jump out there who try to contact studios for an anime adaptation. Don'tjust go for the money look at what the story has, and see if the content they're providing will look well in this type of animation. I hope this series gets the same treatment One Punch Man got, and another studio picks it up. If you want to get engulfed in this story more please give the manga a chance, and read the first few chapters. You will love it.

I finished it and came to write, I honestly don't have emotional words to describe the mix of feelings I felt from the beginning of the anime until the last episode. At first I honestly hated the animation, it's not something I usually criticize in relatively old animes, but it could be better, but if after episode 5 you get used to it, it wasn't a problem. Now talking about the story, emotion, development of the story and the characters, I only have one word, "CINEMA" what I felt emotionally even though I knew it was a war and everyone could die is not easy toexplain, the anime makes you to like all the characters and know them enough to feel the consequences of the problems that arise. and that ending, without words, but MALE TEARS FLOWED