Kingdom

China’s Warring States period, a raging dragon that would raze the land for 500 years, saw many kingdoms rise and fall, making way for the next generation of kings and generals to fight for supremacy. Eventually, seven powerful states emerged from the endless cycle of warfare.

In the kingdom of Qin, Xin, a war-orphaned slave, trains vigorously with fellow slave and best friend, Piao, who shares his proud dream of one day becoming a Great General of the Heavens. However, the two are suddenly forced to part ways when Piao is recruited to work in the royal palace by a retainer of the King.

After a fierce coup d'état unfolds, Piao returns to Xin, half dead, with a mission that will lead him to a meeting with China's young King, Ying Zheng, who bears a striking resemblance to Piao. Kingdom follows Xin as he takes his first steps into the great blood-soaked pages of China's history. He must carve his own path to glory on his long quest to become a Great General of the historic Seven Warring States.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Edit

Background

Kingdom adapts chapters 1-173 of the original manga.

Episode Videos

Edit

Related Anime

Adaptation:	Kingdom
Sequel:	Kingdom 2nd Season

Suwabe, Junichi
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Kamiya, Jun

Director

Takakuwa, Hajime

Sound Director

Noshitani, Mitsutaka

Episode Director

Kawai, Shigeki

Episode Director

Edit

Opening Theme

"Pride" by Nothing's Carved In Stone

Edit

Ending Theme

	1: "Voice of Soul" by Takumi Ishida (eps 1-19)
	2: "Destiny Sky" by Yuki Wakai (eps 20-30)
	3: "Never Ending" by Dasoku (eps 31-38)

Reviews

Nov 14, 2023

Ayushbh

Recommended

In simple word watch it if you can bear some shity animation because in the end it will be worthit. i give this anime 7 but it deserves 9 , i cut 2 points for animation only , usuallly i cut 1 point but this time studio pirreot has done more shit in animation then in naruto.......

So basically it about mc become a great worrior or general but unlike other anime this anime does not just focus on mc , you will get some episodes where there is focus on some other characters, which i really like. but according to me this season does not ...

Open

Gift

Feb 12, 2023

Mrlevinelitexx12

Mixed Feelings

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 ...

Open

Gift

Nov 26, 2022

perseii

Not Recommended

Funny

Well-written

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 1 ... of 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.

Open

Gift

More stacks

Interest Stacks

Anime with visible brutality/blood/splatter/gore etc

by zacha196

44 Entries · 136 Restacks

Good Anime with Low Tropes Part 2

by AnimeGeekAsif

47 Entries · 43 Restacks

Hard Working Protagonist Anime

by ren999999

50 Entries · 3 Restacks

More recommendations

Recommendations

View All

More news

Recent News

North American Anime & Manga Releases for January

Here are the North American anime & manga releases for January Week 1: January 5 - 11 Anime Releases Dai-Shogun: Great Revolution Complete Collection DVD Dai-Sho...read more

Jan 5, 2016 2:51 PM by trebmeg | Discuss (22 comments)

Second Season of 'Kingdom' Announced

According to Comic Natalie, the second season of Kingdom was announced to be aired from June. The first season will end in February. Source: Comic Natalie Kingdom 2 ...read more

Jan 23, 2013 1:15 AM by dtshyk | Discuss (55 comments)

More discussions

Recent Forum Discussion

Ou ki and Kyou Hacker075 - Apr 25	3 replies	by Justforseven1 »» Apr 25, 4:56 AM
Poll: Kingdom Episode 20 Discussion KiraYoshikage - Oct 15, 2012	27 replies	by Zedz_c »» Apr 17, 6:53 AM
Sub who uses the japanese names L1ncoln86 - Feb 6, 2023	9 replies	by ErwinsArm »» Apr 13, 1:02 PM
Should I start this?? Wildbergerrrr - Mar 25	22 replies	by Justp94 »» Apr 2, 6:47 PM
Poll: how is the dub for this Homura24 - Apr 24, 2022	5 replies	by Justp94 »» Mar 26, 2:56 PM

Recent Featured Articles

There are more manga being officially translated into English than ever before, but even the most popular series can still fall through the cracks.

by Shymander

69,375 views

In Numbers: The Best Anime of the Decade

What's the #1 anime of the 2010s? Which year was the best? What studio had the most hits? We have the answers to all these questions and more!

by Shymander

624,476 views

Kingdom

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

Episode Videos

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Xin

Lei, Qiang

Ying, Zheng

He Liao, Diao

Wang, Qi

Gong, Biao

Li, Mu

Duanhe, Yang

Teng

Chang Pin Jun

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

Recent Featured Articles

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Kingdom

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

Episode Videos

Visit MALxJapan MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

Recent Featured Articles

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-