Kingdom

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.

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Comments on plot and characters
plot=5
... Comments 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.
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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.)
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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.

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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.
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Enjoyment =5
Overall=5

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

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 Unit
... He 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.

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 regards ... to 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.

Compared to other animes and ofc the manga, had to say that the first season is bad, really bad. I'm going to make this short.

The Kingdom manga easiest one of the top 5 seinen manga. It's a huge crime that they made the first season look like some old PS2 video game.

Kingdom manga is known for its gory battles and war, the fact they censored the whole season is disgusting. No blood, really? Yes there's some blood, but gray colored?

Opening and its music are top notch, voice acting is OK, and the story still following the original manga content.

For manga readers, it's ... okay for you to watch this but bare it and be strong because the visual may hurt your brain and eyes. As for anime only, I DON'T recommend you to watch this but start from season 3 instead.

The CGI will make you cringe, but the concept behind the battles is pretty cool.

The story picks up after the first arc

A certain character gets armor after his first battle but the studio just decides not to animate him having it on in any battles after that.

I hear the manga is cool but this is a very poorly executed anime, I'm only watching because I saw later seasons in the top 50 on MAL

I suggest you have it running on a second monitor while you play some games so you don't have to watch the terrible CGI

Literally made an account just to shit on this show. Read the manga not too long ago and it was absolutely AMAZING. The art was fantastic and the story gave an exaggerated but semi-realistic look at war in warring states china. The fighting and tactics/strategy wars were super enjoyable and the main character was strong but not overpowered or made to be the absolute center of everything from the get go. He fails, messes up and faces consequences for his actions. Hell even some supporting characters of varying importance get killed. The anime takes a lot of what is good about the manga and shits ... on it. The gorgeous art gets ruined by some cgi type shit. The bloody cut in half shots that gave some of the panels power in the manga are just typical anime sword slashes that leave much to be desired. So far the only thing i've liked is the way the show has portrayed kyokai's dance technique. Manga is 11/10. Anime is a 4 or 5. Unless you wanna waste time just read the manga.

" An eye for an eye and the whole world considers you an organ trafficker. " - Every madman ever

Kingdom is good. It's that part of the meal, we all are indifferent to. It's the spinach with spices in our thanksgiving meal. Not hated as much as that FREAKIN USELESS CORN ON COB. But of course not loved as much as granma's mac&cheese. Sorry, got dragged a bit there. Back to the subject, I'm indifferent to Kingdom season 1.

Animation: Bad.... ill be frank, no rollercoaster rides here. It's like watching a bird lay an egg and suck it back in the middle of the process; ... cause they actually animate a few scenes and the rest is CG. It makes you think you're senile, cause at one moment a character looks badass and amazing and in the next he looks worse than the addict down across your street, but in CG.

Other all criteria for scoring: it's good. Good plot, Good enough appeal, good characters, good setting, just good music.

Overall: Watch it, just so you can watch the more amazing later seasons. It's good. Its the right show to watch when you're thinking that you wanna change your usual routine of watch lists and try something which hit you like a haymaker. Yes, albeit these instances might be very rare, but that's the moment to watch Kingdom Season 1.

Thanks for reading you, beautiful bastard
See you on the bright side

As an history lover I came across Kingdom. After Vinland Saga wasn't what I wanted it to be (realistic, strategic battle/war), I looked forward watching Kingdom.

Art/Animation
The first thing, which caught everyones eyes was the animation, and it was not because Kingdom has a high quality animation, but it has the most horrible animation I have every seen since Ajin (Ajin was better though).
The uneccessary 3D, CGI Animation, the censorship ruined the whole seriousness of this so called "seinen" anime. I liked to drop the anime after I watched 2 minutes, but I thaught to myself, that it will be getting better, and I will get ... used to it.

No, I didn't get used to it. It was easier to overlook because the anime constantly switches artstyle (from unmature to more mature, from censorship to non censorship). I can say, that the animation ruined most parts of the anime for me.

Genre: Seinen
When I red seinen, I expect an anime to be realistic, believable, as if it could have happend in real life. I really liked the fact that some events took place in history.

But Kingdom is not a seinen anime, it is a shounen.
While I myself can overlook the really bad animation, the realization, that the MC is an overpowerd, young boy, who is loud and annoying masacred the whole atmosphere.

There were points where I had forgiven him, or said to myself, that the MC grows mentally, I get dissapointed again by him throwing a bunch of adults in the air. That is shounen for me, not seinen.


Characters
MC, Xin, is not that great but nevertheless he knows, what he is doing. He isn't questioning to long, he knows what needs to be done, thats good.

Our king, Zheng is a great character, I love how quiet but clever he is. Everytime I thought I know what he will say based on sterotypes he acted different.
One scene however didn't fit into his character (when he got angry, after Buwei leaves the hall and Zheng acts like a little child having a tantrum).

Diao, the child doesn't fit in. I wished for her (its so obvious that he is a girl) to be more powerful and not childish (in the past "children" were more mature than children are now) especially, because she survived all alone in the most dangerous places in Qin. Pointless Character.

All generals are great characters, I especially loved Wan Qi and Buwei, I wished we could have seen more about the six great generals rather havin Xin has our MC (he really weren't that much of a MC in the Nuan Peng arc)


War
I want to talk about the Wei war and Zhao war (Feixin wu). The Wei arc started promosing and introduced us to the wu group building, also, how war really looks like (the long marsh, motivation, people dying just because they get trampled on from their own comareds). I enjoyed the Wei arc, but the Zhao, Feixin Arc was unrealistic. Xins whole unit survives even when they are clearly outnumbered? Not even one died!


Final Statement
It was not, what I wanted it to be, just like Vinland Saga. I hope, Season 2 will be better. Kingdom has definetly high potential but it was wasted because of poor, bad, horrible Animation and false genre potraying.


Overall
Story: 8
Art: 2
Sound: 5
Character: 5 (MC: 4, Zheng: 6 Diao: 2, Generals: 8)
Enjoyment: 5
Overall: 5, but thats to harsh, so 6

I already read manga until the last chapter and wanna try anime version.
this is utterly garbage holy shit why this greatness becomes shounen.
Animation so shit. art and movement not good at all, bloodless make them worse. this is should be seinen.
But I will still give 10 for the story because in future who still fine with animation you won't be disappointed totally greatness, but when you already read manga and start to try animation you will really disappointed.
For example in the second episode, Assassin Shikyuu got beheaded but in this Anime only got splash blood that scene really triggered me to write this review fck.

The main turn down for me was the way in which storytelling was done through animation. Seeing first few episodes of Kingdom anime made me realise for the first time how a bad anime could be made out of a good story (I have read just few chapters of the manga, but it seemed good).
I am no expert on animation. But here are the problems which I felt were there:

Character development lacked. For the changes in the feelings of the characters, there was no proper transition. The characters hopped from one emotional state to another. It was as if the anime was just making sure ... to cover all the checkpoints in the story, and didn't care for the how it made it there.

Animation in places was pretty lousy. I think blame might lie on direction. For example, in episode three, when the Generals are talking and fighting on horseback, it doesn't convey the sense of danger and urgency that comes out of life and death situations. If there wasn't a dialogue that explained things, you wouldn't know they were trying to take each other's lives.

The animation seemed computer generated, and I think it wasn't handled properly. The problem may lie with higher frame rate it allows. The creators are not adding subtleties that should be added to accompany a higher frame rate. Our brain would probably expect greater details in movements in higher frame rate. An analogy would be— showing a low resolution image on retina display. It would be a waste.

I really like this historical, action type of anime, and was highly recommended to watch this, so i was really looking forward to it. Also, seeing the high scores here got me really hyped.....and maybe that was the issue, the higher your expectations, the higher the disappointment when they are not met.

This was particularly frustrating as i really liked the story, is engaging, and has all the right ingredients for an entertaining watch.

Except that the story is completely overshadowed by:

1) Horrific cgi animation, really, really bad one at that. It made me want to drop this many times, i just kept going as i was ... told it would get better but, honestly, did not.

2) One of the worst voice acting i have ever come across, (I watched the dub version, maybe the sub is better).
The voice acting was atrocious, and most dialogues were cringe worthy. Most of the time felt like characters were reading off a bad script with no acting or emotion behind it.

3) Missed opportunity to proper develop characters that had potential to be great. It was just like bad acting, it did not take the audience with it. They lack depth, even with sad back-stories or thrilling scenes, they fail to really engage with the viewer.

When you watch an anime this long, you get really invested in the characters and the story, and feel all the roller-coaster emotions, but it just did not happened here.

So, even if the story was good, the anime did not deliver on it. The over-relied on the story to carry the anime and that was not quite enough.

I wanted to like this, and wanted to score it higher but i’m afraid that it was just pretty average, not sure i will carry on watching the other seasons...

I hope someone would take this and do a proper remake to do the story justice

*KINGDOM_SEASON:1*
I just finished watching Kingdom season 4... and it was awesome!
Now looking back at the season 1 anime adaptation of Kingdom, I have to say it, It was not good... but it was not bad either.
My first view of season 1 was that it was badly adapted. With the overuse of CGI, I hated it. I mean it is an anime adaptation, people prefer anime over manga because their favorite characters are alive with animation, voices, soundtracks, etc.
The only reason I kept on watching this anime is because of its interesting plot.
I will deduct 2 points for its bad animation and our ... main character shin. Kingdom is an anime about politics, and war with clever tactics. But our boy shin is beating high lever commanders with recklessness and ease! It made war look easy and fun!
And most of all, WHERE IS BLOOD!?? This anime is rated R for violence and blood but where is it??
But these were all bad things I found in this anime... otherwise, it is a damn good anime that gets better over time. There are many intense battles, twists and turns, goosebumps, and heartbreaking moments too.
And as the season goes on... it gets better and better!
overall, I liked the anime enough to give it a whole 7 rating.
I went through all CGI boring fights and it was worth it all.