Kingdom

This story is absolutely amazing from start to finish all the characters are easy to relate to. The deaths that are in the story are very dramatic which will cause you to cry

The villains are done well to where you hate them from the moment they step on the screen tot the end. The final villain of season 1 is so evil that you will want anyone to kill him

The opening is amazing and you sing along to it every time and the way they construct the opening is well planned out to where you can see all the major characters and what they look ... like.

This is an amazing show. People don’t give this show a chance because the CGI animation in seasons 1 & 2 is horrendous. But if you like anime like Attack on Titan, Fullmetal Alchemist, Berserk, other mature shows with complex plots and engaging characters, you will eventually love this show. And by the time you get to seasons 3 & 4, it will be one of your all time favorites. This isn’t just my opinion; seasons 3 &4 are in the Top 50 shows on MAL.
Story: 10/10 Kingdom is loosely based on Ancient China’s Warring States period, following the rise of a young soldier ... named Shin in the Kingdom of Xin. It is a very masculine show with lots of fighting, as one would expect with the topic. The political and personal narratives of characters and nations unfold during endless battles and warfare. In this, it is much like AoT, except the battles are real (reimagined) ones. The character development is excellent, the battles are surprisingly clever, tense and engaging, and the overall narrative gets better and better. One of the more fascinating aspects of the show is the complexity of the military engagements and the cleverness of the tactics. It’s really where the show shines, and I credit the author for both his imagination and meticulous research. It’s a lot more than just endless power ups and shonen stuff.
Production: 8/10 The pace and acting are excellent. The Japanese voice actors are some of the best. The two main characters are the actor who plays Ichigo in Bleach and the actor who plays Lelouch respectively; many others are award winners from AoT, Fate, other top shows. I can’t speak for the English actors because I do not watch dubbed. Unlike a lot of weekly anime shows, I never felt like Kingdom was dragging things out unnecessarily, and I never got bored. The background music is awesome and adds to the warfare and fighting. The intro/ending songs aren’t awful, but not my favorites. Overall, Studio Pierrot knows what they’re doing and how to make a good show, and the excellent source material keeps it engaging.
Animation: 3/10 It’s bad. It looks like Pinocchio on a horse with a sword amid NPCs from a Chinese Android game. It does get a little better by season 2. By season 3, a new studio took over and got rid of the CGI. By then, it looks amazing. But yes, you have to slog through 80 episodes of bad animation to get there. It is tolerable, and it’s totally worth it. If you give it a chance, the story will get you hooked and you won’t care about the sub par animation.

I’ve never bothered writing a review, but I was so surprised that I had never heard of it I felt the need to share. It’s rarely in recommendations or top lists, despite the later seasons being so highly regarded. It’s easily in my top 10 shows of all time, though I completely understand why it’s slept on. The animation in S1&2 is very offputting. But I promise you that if you get past it, you’ll love it.

After reading this manga and enjoying it quite a lot, this anime was a disappointment for two main reasons.

The first, and probably most jarring, is the unfortunate overuse of computer generated graphics. Contrary to the animation team's apparent belief, computer generated graphics do NOT look good. Their movement and expression, despite many years of video game advancement, STILL look stilted and odd when used on main characters and in closeups. If the animators had only kept the computer generated stuff to backgrounds, armies and wide shots, it would not have been a problem but half the time, the main characters ... are computer generated and half the time (for the main character, probably less than half the time) they are hand drawn. This makes the difference in quality GLARING - with the overwhelmingly better quality of the hand drawn stuff making it hard to tolerate the computer images.

I imagine computer generated is cheaper, but in the case of this anime, it cheapens the look almost to the point where I don't want to even watch it. I thought I'd get used to it after 18 episodes, but if anything, I find myself pointing out when the main character is hand drawn and when he's computer and it is really distracting.

There's nothing that can be done about the animation, but I feel as if I'd actually rather just keep reading the manga if the animation is going to continue this way.

The second thing that has been irritating me has to do with the subs - after reading the manga, I know what the characters names are and they are written correctly (for the most part) in the English versions of the books. HOWEVER - in the anime, though you can hear the Japanese voices saying the names as they are presented in the manga, the English subtitles are presenting completely different names! If you have listed to subbed anime for as long as I have, you can pick out lots of words and I know when they are saying someone's name and they have a completely different set of names in the English subs!

Maybe they have done more research than I did and have corrected names, but it's really disconcerting when you can hear the Japanese saying the old names and they don't match what's written AT ALL. I think for the sake of continuity, they should have just translated what the Japanese actors had said regardless of what names they wanted to give the characters.

If inconsistent animation bugs you as much as it bugs me, I'd suggest passing on this one. It's followed the manga very faithfully so far, so you might want to try reading that instead. It's very well written and the animation hasn't offered anything above what the manga has so far. In other words, you won't be missing anything if you read the manga instead.

This is by far the best anime I've watched in a very long time. I know I might be setting someone up for disappointment when I say that, but I've rewatched this anime about 4 times now. It's even gotten me to finally start reading manga. I can only tell you that it gets better and better.

I believe we are all biased in a way towards anime in general. Some will argue the plot is weak, because it's not mind bending and their ability to predict the plot from an accumulation of having already seen many war stories keeps them from scoring any higher in ... that area. While others, like myself, are comfortable with this degree of story telling so we aren't too hung up on it to find the rest of it enjoyable. After having watched the anime and read the entire manga, I think the plot is great. It starts off really simple, but gradually builds up. It's too bad there's no season 3+, because it gets super crazy and the strategy in some of these wars really gets you fired up for more.

If you're the type that likes action and inspiring anime that gets your blood pumping, Kingdom definitely fits the bill. If you're the kind that doesn't like 3D in your anime, you should know that it goes away in season 2. I highly recommend people to keep watching. It might be boring to some people (not me) in the beginning, but it really does keep getting better after every episode.

Art:
When coming into kingdom people tend to be put off by the fact that this is animated using CG. If you've read the manga then you tend to be even more disappointed since the animation style really doesn't do the manga justice. Once the anime gets further along the animation does improve. They start to only use the CG for scenes with a lot of characters. They start to abandon the CG when it comes to the more intense scenes they begin to properly, for lack of a better word, anime this anime.

Story:
Being caught up on the manga I know the story all the ... way through the anime. I can say that the adaptation of the story from the manga to the anime is quite well done. It keeps true to the story and does not cut much of the story line. It keeps to the natural progression of the story and the anime is able to retain the intense feeling that the anime gives off.

Characters:
The characters keep true to the anime as well. The personalities transfer over almost perfectly. When the anime first starts you get the feeling that Xin and Piao are going to evolve together and continue on. Instead they abandon one of the main characters. You watch Xin fight and fight in battles and war. The story makes Xin progress, with a progressing that is actually visible and evident. He gets stronger and stronger. At the beginning he starts off as an arrogant and cocky kid. Once he loses Piao he starts his evolution, but once again he gets the motivation to grow stronger and stronger. Xin is able to acknowledge his evolution and realize that he needs to keep growing stronger. Other characters, both rivals and friends alike, have the intensity and personality that you may expect. Most of the characters, even the antagonists are likable and inspire the desire to see their interaction with Xin.

Overall:
Overall I really do enjoy Kingdom. The animation does put viewers off a bit, but the story more than makes up for it. The beginning is the hardest to get through since you don't get to the point where the story really takes off. If you can get through the first couple of episodes then it becomes much more bearable. As you keep watching the animation style gets better and better.

No content spoilers beyond the synopsis.

I ended up enjoying this show much more than I initially expected. I had noticed this show was currently in the process of having a 3rd season released with very good ratings and seeing how the plot and setting intrigued me, as I haven't seen many shows set in this specific era and location, I decided to give it a go.

As I started watching the first episode what definitely stuck out right away was the animation. I must admit, I don't much mind 3D animation like this, having seen shows like Berserk 2016 or Ajin it really doesn't bother me, ... however, I can see how this will be the major turn-off for most viewers, which is a shame. Binging the show I largely didn't even notice the shortcomings after a while. Some scenes did look worse than others, but overall it was not painful to watch.

The story is truly what makes this show so absolutely great. Being based on historical events it will follow the overall flow of what had actually transpired. I find this very refreshing as it often breaks the molds of traditional storytelling to create something new, the same kind of allude that made shows like Game of Thrones (at least in the first few seasons) so popular. You can never predict how any one situation will progress and are left on the edge of your seat. While such surprises are nice, they haven't overdone them either. Each situation feels very natural in its progression.

While the story overall is based on history, the characters are largely fictional. While many of them will find historical equivalents, most of what they do and the choices they make will have been at the discretion of the author. This might be due to a lack of documentation on what specifically happened with each historical figure (which is reasonable for a show that's set ~2200 years in the past) or to make the story a little more comprehensible/entertaining than a purely documental show would've been. Either way, the characters, alongside the overall narrative really bring everything together. Sadly since I am not including any spoilers I won't go into concrete examples, however, each (major) character just exudes atmosphere. One aspect that is a bit questionable is the strength of characters, however. The show gives you a great insight into exactly how each character is. You can immeditatly tell how strong each of the opposing parties is while watching. This strength of any one faction is inconsistent sometimes, but not to a degree where it'd cut into the enjoyability or reasonability of each situation.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this show. It's really quite a shame that it's not any more popular. The animation definitely improves a lot going from season to season, so I can't recommend enough to at least give the first few episodes a try.

Ano, eto.... I am not too articulate so here's some thoughts I wanted to share since I feel this anime doesn't get the love it deserves.

I actually dropped this anime halfway through the first episode because of how off putting the animation was. However, please please do not let the 3D animation discourage you! it gets used alot less and is done so so much better as episodes go on.

Hands down the best historical war anime I have watched so far.

Fantastic pacing. 81 episodes are out at the moment and It never felt rushed or too slow.

There is lots of interesting political warfare with ... a wide cast of great characters.

The character designs and artwork when not in 3D are, in my opinion incredible. Its far from typical and once again gets alot better as the show progresses.

Overall I enjoyed kingdom immensely and would 100% recommend it to anyone looking for an epic wartime anime.

Arigatou for reading :)

First of all, English is not my Mothertongue so please forgive me for any mistake.

Kingdom is one of my Favorite Manga and I really love this series. It have Good Characters and Storyline.But the main Issue with this Anime adaption is that it ruined almost everything with its poor execution by Producers. Don't know why, they used both CGI and 2D animation. 2D animation was above avarage and was bearable but CGI was very bad. Sure Slow Motion CGI shots were good for Action scenes, but they should have used 2D only, instead of swapping between 2D and CGI. The only thing that saves this ... Anime is it's story, but they have changed many things. 80% of Anime is okay, only last part with the Final Battle between Qin and Zhao was were I enjoyed the Anime most. And they should also change it's rating to PG-13 instead of 17+ as there is almost zero gore and Blood. It's an One Time Watchable Anime, with few Great Moments.

I feel as though they had an opportunity to use characters better, but didn't expect the anime to run as long as it did.

Aside from that, its a great 'growth underdog' anime, which are my personal favourites.

I would have liked to see the main character grow older, and wear the armour the mofo purchased. But still great




I feel as though they had an opportunity to use characters better, but didn't expect the anime to run as long as it did.
...
Aside from that, its a great 'growth underdog' anime, which are my personal favourites.

I would have liked to see the main character grow older, and wear the armour the mofo purchased. But still great

"I'm gonna become the greatest general under the heavens"

A phrase said by many people over the course of the show. The question is... who will it be?

this is less of a review. and more of a small text spreading awareness of the awesome war based anime, which is kingdom.

The anime 'Kingdom' is based on the manga of the same name.
The manga is ranked #9 here on MAL.
The anime is also rated quite highly. but the problem is, not a lot people have actually watched it.

... The second season is ranked over #1600 in popularity, but rated close to #100.

This is an anime combining 2D and 3D animation. So if it's completely impossible for you to watch 3D animation, then at least give the manga a shot. But even with an artstyle that's less than optimal for a lot of people, kingdom still manages to keep itself intense and very enjoyable.

Kingdom is not underrated in the slightest, but a lot of people don't know about it.

I have now watched both seasons so far and my verdict might be influenced a little by the 2nd season. Well... on the point!

Story: Really stubborn and simple-minded boy is fantasizing to become the greatest general under the heavens but the road is quite rocky. I haven't read the manga so I cannot say how closely the anime follows the manga but the story telling is great.

Characters: Almost every major character or even a little lesser character has an (deadpool voice) ORIGIN STORY!!! (if you don't get it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njgqALr080U). Most of the characters are really lovable and few of the sidekicks are putting quite a ... show for the viewers.

Sound: Nothing super special. Everything is well balanced. Maybe a little too much yelling and screaming but those focus on battle so it's normal.

Animation: Huge minus for random computer rendered scenes with low fps. I almost quitted watching the series after the 1st episode because of the CGI, but am I glad that they only used it on really hard scenes.

Overall: Your Evergreen Forest God Tapio commands you to watch this anime! (Well that is not exactly what he told me in my dream but so what.. watch it!)

The manga is A-AMAZING so I'm soooooo disappointed with the anime adaptation. And to think I've always liked studio pierrot's creations but this time they let me down. I don't know what's up with them trying out 3d with 2d overlay but it totally failed them in this anime.

I have high expectation for the anime because afterall, kingdom (manga) is one of my all-time favourites but this just killed my buzz.

Fight sequence: So, one thing that I watch anime for is the see the fight sequence but it's so stiff and the 3d blocks is so strong in this one.

Censors: violent and ... gore scenes are not directly shown and I understand it but at least make it subtle, it destroys the flow.

Endnote: If you watched kingdom before reading manga please, PLEASE give it a chance because it's miles and leagues better despite being in printed form. You'll totally forget about the bad animation.

This is in my top 5 anime of all time. The first season lacks quite a lot because of the sub-par 3D animations, but the story is still extremely good. I personally loved the 1st season even with the 3D animations. If you can sit through those animations you will have a very enjoyable time.

The characters are the best part of this anime. They are very memorable and are constantly changing.




The second season is definitely the best and the 3D isn't completely cut but for the most part they go back to regular anime animations. A must watch for anyone who's into action ... anime.

Great battles , great characters and great story this is the beginning of my review of this anime that makes one love watching battles upon battles as the you grow to hate and love different characters.

For the story i love the whole taking back what is ours and then take some more. The story brings forth everything from the devious political parts while showing the epicness of battles. This anime doesnt rush anything it follows its own pace and brings it forth in the way it wants. I flows smoothly and i love that its an battle/war anime that doesnt zoom in on ... just the battles or the politics but both and see how one thing affects the other.

The art is appealing thats really all i can say and i find it to be unique from many other anime that i have watched and the sound really grasp that old china feeling.

So for the characters. Xin is one of the few mega idiot anime main characters i have grown to love and let me tell you why that is. He actually have the powerns to back it all up eventhough there are times he gets his as whipped by someone stronger which is natural. The fighting scenes using him are never boring and its just like you want to see more of the battles with him in them.
Zehng is one of those guys you really hate with passion in the beginning but takes a little time to get the same feel as one gets with Xin just from the political side if one might say that. Hes at times arrogant , cocky and so on but he has a side of him that makes all that makes sence. Zheng is the type you want to see speaking down to his opponents and outwit or find out as much from them as possible which is counter to xin who uses his muscles mostly and animal like sences.

This is one of those anime i just find myself loving more and more as i rewatch it and find new things that i might have not seen or might not cared about. This anime is probably one of my favorite anime when it comes to using politic and war in the same. Its never melodramatic which some of these have a tendency to be and its never to rushed.

Overall there isnt much bad to say about this anime its a resounding 9 for me since i love everything from the story that grabs a hold on you pulling you with it and the characters whom you cant help to love while some you cant help but to hate with passion. There are probably some things i dislike but i really thing i have to wreck my brains to find them so 9 it is

This is an add on sort of if someone ever asks are there any similar anime like this then i honestly will say that no and as far as i know there never will be no anime brings war and politics together in this perfection. Whenever i need a new anime and cant find one this is one of my big ones to rewatch.

This show really surprised me, in a good and a bad way.

The story was WAY more interesting and better than what I was expecting. I'll be honest, I didn't have very high hopes going into this show, it was just something I decided to put on when bored. I was just expecting another mindless show I can watch in the background while doing something on the side. Turns out, after the first episode, I was already hooked. The characters were entertaining and I could fee myself getting more and more invested into the story as the episodes progressed.


Now, with a story this good, of ... course it had to have some drawbacks. I mean, there's a reason this isn't listed on the top pages. The art and animation are just... Awful. Like, Berserk (2016) levels of awful, probably worse. They clearly weren't expecting this show to do well to begin with and just hired literally anyone they could find to animate it, and it really shows. Truly a shame. Oh well, at least the 2nd and especially the 3rd season improves on this quite a bit.

You don’t have to read the Kingdom manga to get the story, but if I hadn’t and really loved the story it would probably get a much lower rating from me. It has all the ingredients for a good shounen story (character growth, high ambitions, friendships, lots of swordfights). It’s a feast for history buffs since many of the people and events in the story are real (some things have a rather different spin, though, even if they play out the same in the end). I also like that the cute characters are few and far between, if you’re looking for moe, this is not ... what you want. It’s more of a parade of ugly men with a wide and strange variety of beards. Since it’s such an extremely enjoyable story, the anime would get a ten from me, hands down, if it weren’t for the crappy quality. The 3d backgrounds are gorgeous, but the character animation, particularly in fight scenes, sometimes looks like a quite dated game. The game feel does not end there, sometimes it’s like playing one of those large- scale strategy games that I haven’t played for years and years (*cough* let’s just say a very long time). But the voice acting makes up for much of the animation faults and many of the best are in it and doing a great job (some say that the studio blew their budget on voice actors and had to skimp on the animation, I don’t know if that’s true or not). It was a little confusing in the beginning since I only knew the Japanese names from the manga, but in the anime (at least the version I have) the names are Chinese in the English subtitles but everyone is called by their Japanese name. Another thing I really like is that there are strong women in the story, even generals. And they don’t go to war in skimpy bikinis or have bosoms bigger than their heads (there are a few strong guys who have bigger biceps than heads in some scenes, though, which is almost as bad, but I guess that’s just crappy animation). The animation gets better (or maybe it’s just a matter of getting used to it) in S2.
A slight warning might be prudent. It’s all about war. Extremely violent wars where people fight with spears, swords and other edged weapons, often under a rain of arrows. In the manga severed limbs and heads fly around like snowflakes in a blizzard, but that is much toned down in the anime. There are only two severed heads and one is completely covered. In the beginning of the anime blood is sometimes white for unknown reasons, but maybe that seemed too silly since they changed it in the latter episodes. The severing people in half is replaced with the feared chop to the shoulder (as we all know that is often extremely deadly in every swordfight, at least when the hero isn’t the recipient).
All in all, I would love a third season or more and if it is made, I really hope it gets some quality animation, since it really deserves better.

I will start by saying that the story of this anime is absolutely amazing. It's your typical weak to strong hero journey but it's truly well done. I haven't read the manga but it seems like it goes even deeper into the plot. Now that that's out of the way, let's focus on other aspects.

The weakest aspect in my opinion is obviously the quality. 3D cgi simply does not work. There's no way around it. It doesn't matter how great your stories or characters are, if the delivery is weak, it will definitely impact the overall quality of the show. If a studio can't properly ... make a show, don't do it. Stop with the philosophy of milking huge manga/LN while delivering trashy content just to please your boards members. Corporations need to put fans in the creative side of the production to make sure that we don't end up with this travesty.

But that didn't prevent me from enjoying the show. The fight scenes were, for the most part, pretty decent and well done. The animation was clanky at times and amazing at others. We can clearly see that they mixed 3D and 2D animation from time to time.

The strongest point of Kingdom so far, and that I didn't expect while starting it, is the characters. I have my own issue with the MC but I won't dabble on that. But the rest of the characters are simply well defined. Be it the main cast close to the MC or the background characters, none of them feel like archetype or cliche. They each have their unique personality and view on things. They handle things differently and very rare in a fantasy, the villains aren't one dimensional. They are fully fleshed out and have a purpose, feelings, you can empathize with them.

This show is truly a masterpiece. I hope that S2 has better animation.

The first season was quite good and held a focus on the main character on a journey to become a general. Sure, some of the dialogue was meh...and some of the characters where under developed. Still, it was exciting.

The second season loses that focus and introduces needless characters that detract and even contradict what we saw in the first season. To much time is given to plots outside of the main character and the addition of other never-before-seen 300 man squads who are more powerful than the main character's squad, even though we were lead to believe his squad was very ... well known and feared, seems like pulling a rabbit-from-the-hat for the sake of conflict. It comes off as pointless and is not great story telling.

There are many relationships that make little sense with the inclusion of other relationships. Why would the main character be invited to the castle over these newly included squad commanders who are nobles and apparently have better squads? Why are other powerful veterans so taken by the main character in season one when other commanders exist who are around the same age and are shown to be more powerful? Basically, the story has some logical inconsistency purely for the sake of conflict. Logical inconsistency is ok in some varieties, but this really was irritating and contradicting to the previous focus and plot.

Its still pretty good, but I found myself glued to the first season, and losing interest fast in the second season.

THE AFTER TASTE IS WHAT MATTERS. Kingdom a show which takes place in ancient china, revolves itself around the wars which were waged in the course of history. The two main protagonists Li Xin an aspiring military general and his close friend the king of Qin seek to unite all of China under one king hence the title ''kingdom''. This show starts off with bad CGI animation and later on in season 3 changes animation completely , so do keep in mind while watching the first seasons that the animation gets bettter just like a form of aftertaste. The story is a progressive one right ... from the beginning and is fun to watch. If not into the anime completely do try to read the manga. :)

Story 8 - Kingdom is one of my most favorite manga so obviously I would watch the anime. I decided to write a review now even though it has been quite some time since I watched it. Anyway, the story is based on historical events so spoilers cannot be helped. I have always enjoyed war genre and I find Kingdom really entertaining and detailed. The story is straightforward and consistent. The military strategies and tactics are also detailed and can be easy to grasp but sometimes it's hard to understand because I am not knowledgeable with war so I always play thos parts twice.

Art & ... Animation 6 - I have conflicted feelings with the animation. The animation is CGI, and although there are some anime the pulled of CGI like Ajin, Kingdom unfortunately didn't. I understand it's because of the low budget, but as a fan, the disappointment of not being able to watch my favorite scenes get animated properly can't be helped. There is also a scene which made me emotional in the manga, but the feels are different on the anime because of the animation.

Sound 9 - The sounds are great. I was skeptical when I first heard them but now I always vibe whenever Kingdom songs get played on my phone.

Characters 10 - I love the characters. My favorite, Shin the MC, is an idiot but a very straightforward person. He also says some smart things from time to time. He also clearly knows his priorities and has a clear goal of what he wants. Sometimes he can be hotheaded and I like that he knows how to reflect on his actions and knows his shortcomings.

Ei Sei is also cool, too. I didn't like him at first because I thought he's an arrogant brat who only wants people to work for his sake but clearly he isn't like that.

Overall, even though I felt conflicted towards the animation, I enjoyed the anime. If you are a fan of war genre, I guarantee you'll enjoy Kingdom.