Kingdom 5th Season

I suggest this anime if you're into strategic thinking, meticulous planning, and captivating characters, I highly recommend this anime. It's a compelling watch for those who appreciate the art of strategy and enjoy unraveling intricate plots. With its focus on clever tactics and the thrill of outmaneuvering opponents, this series keeps viewers engaged from start to finish. Each episode is a masterclass in cunning schemes and calculated moves, guaranteed to satisfy fans of the genre. So, if you're looking for an anime that will challenge your intellect and keep you on the edge of your seat, this is definitely one to add to your watchlist.

Probably the best long running series that nobody watches.

The 5th season of Kingdom is the shortest yet, but focuses on one of the most brutal arcs in the manga. This season draws an interesting parallel between our MC Shin and Kanki, arguably the most polarizing character in the series. The similarities in their backgrounds, as well as their vastly differing views on war and what is acceptable on the battlefield, paint an interesting moral dilemma, leading to conflict between the two. This builds over the entirety of the season, eventually boiling over and leading to a lot of growth and maturing for our ... boy Shin.

Kingdom is filled with amazing action and intense strategic battles, leading up to some incredible emotional climaxes, but I feel like what sets this series apart is the moments it zeroes in on the moral and political issues that all this warfare raises, and the lack of a clear cut “right” answer. Warfare is an ugly, messy affair and there is no way around this. There is no one who is entirely good or evil; there is no such thing as absolute “right and wrong” in the world. While these aren’t new or marvel ideas on their own, this series, and more specifically this latest season, display and reinforce these ideas masterfully. This season delivers on its main strengths, showing that the team at Pierrot truly understand the material they’re adapting.

Kingdom has always been a bit of a hard sell for new fans, since the first season (and first half of the second season) is filled with very outdated-looking CGI, which is an instant turn off for most newer anime fans. The animation greatly improves from season 3 onward, but the hard part for new viewers is making it to that point. The manga is incredible in its own right, but being nearly 800 chapters currently, it’s long enough to scare away a lot of people who are unsure whether they want to invest that much time (which is understandable). I will say though, that if you can brave the first season and/or take the plunge and read the manga, you will be rewarded with one of the greatest stories ever told in the medium.

Note: Since this is one of my favorite series of all time, my score of the 5th season is obviously bias, but even objectively this season is easily an 8.5-9/10. I can’t recommend Kingdom enough. Please watch/read it.

To the people who, wondering if they should watch it or not.
This anime is probably one of the greatest anime out there, that is probably least spoken about. I have never seen anime that great, that didn't get a spotlight on it. I can easily say, this anime dominated Winter 2024 season and it's not even close to compare them to any of those TOP ranked anime's this season.
I have watched hundreds of anime and can easily say Kingdom is one of my favourite anime of all time. I have seen people talking about Anime was bad adaptation of manga, but at the ... same time look at how Naruto started, One Piece and all of those great anime all started poorly in terms of visuals. Fun thing, is that it's only half of season 1 that was bad in visuals, but it had amazing story. Season two has already improved visuals and as always amazing story and great character development. After season 2, visuals in season 3, 4 and 5 are on point.
To conclude:
Highly recommend watching this anime and you won't be disappointed. Force yourself watching it through season 1 and eventually you will feel in love with this anime. It has amazing story, character development and I can guarantee it worth watching it. I don't think there is any War anime that can be comparable to Kingdom. I watch all of them and can easily say this is one of the greatest anime and most underrated anime of all time.

This anime is probably as real as it get's, when it comes to actual history. Use of different war tactics, diplomacy, strategies, different land marks, equipment makes it even more real and accurate, when it comes the story.