Hametsu no Oukoku

First two episodes were like a strong 7/10, maybe even an 8. The hook is really there and you wanna see how this epic revenge story pans out. But unfortunately the overall quality and writing just falls off one cliff after another. Every. Passing. Episode.

The animation gets awful the last half of the season and they essentially just keep throwing dark themed plot twists and blood fiestas in your face for the sake of it, hoping it will be enough keep the viewers interested. Sadly it doesn't, at least not for me because if you keep trying to plot twist your way out of ... every given scene, the fact that a twist is coming will even that eventually become predictable.

It's such a shame because the premise is actually good, the world seems well thought out and interesting and I somewhere genuinely like this kind of character dynamic between two main characters. One drowning in hatred and cynism, the other kind hearted and hopeful to the point of being very naive. (Almost Naruto and Sasuke'esq) With proper development I was looking forward to them eventually meeting somewhere in the middle or just one proving the other wrong. But not now when it's apparent the writing just isn't there, at ALL.

If you're not picky about well paced story or character development, writing that makes sense or animation quality, you might actually still find it enjoyable though.

This one started out really strong. I was all in for a "kill them all" type anime. And it seemed like that's what we'd get. It was easy to get invested in the demise of the human race. They were horrible. The humans were jealous creatures that hated witches because they were not as powerful as them, so sought to destroy them. They hated magic. They used science to overcome the magic and the witches. However, within a few episodes, the humans attacks seemed more like magic than the actual witches. Their techniques would be hard to ... distinguish from the magic jutsu BS from Natuto, down to the calling out of the attack name as they do it. Alll of the characters are unbelievably dumb, and it feels like everything is done just for the shock value vs any semblance of a plot. At this point the story is so disjointed that its hard to see (or care) where it is headed anymore. After week 1 it was near the top of my rankings for the season, and now I'd rank it somewhere in the middle.

I don't usually write many reviews, but I had to share my thoughts on this anime. "Hametsu no Oukoku," or "The Kingdoms of Ruin" – even the name, unrelated as it is to the anime, feels overly edgy. It ticks all the boxes of what makes an edgy anime, featuring a protagonist with black hair and red eyes. Let me be upfront: I just don't think this anime is good, and if you're over 18, chances are you'll agree with me.

Let me quickly break down the basic plot. God creates humanity, realizes it was a mistake, then creates witches and shares his powers with them ... to help humans, and they agree. However, when humans no longer need their help, they decide to purge all the witches. Here comes our edgy main character, Adonis, a human who despises his own race for their treatment of witches. Chloe, the witch training him, tries to change his perspective, but they get captured by humans using teleportation before she can say much. Apparently, we've become so advanced as a human race that we've mastered physical transfer technology, something even the witches, with the power of God, can't use. I know, right? The witches, who have the power of God, can't do something us humans can. Things unfold, and Adonis embarks on his emo arc.

You probably understand the show's central theme by now: humanity is portrayed as a big mess, and not a single human has ever stopped to think that mistreating the beings who once saved us might not be the way to go. But at least it gives Adonis a target for his resentment. Then there's Doroka, our deuteragonist, who is the complete opposite of Adonis. Witnessing two women fighting over bread, she doesn't advocate violence; instead, she selflessly gives away her own loaf to prevent another girl from being chosen as a slave.

The animation is surprisingly well-done for what seems like a trash anime with no substantial story. Though in the later episodes in does start to go down. I'm genuinely impressed by the quality of the animation, arguably the only redeeming aspect of the show—filled with intense, bloody scenes that's always on the screen. Here's a game for you: watch episodes 1-5 and count the amount of blood you see. Trust me, it'll be a lot. The funny part is that the show doesn't even attempt to establish a convincing power system. Adonis's magical abilities involve just thinking of whatever nonsense he wants, and it happens. Everyone else shouts random ability names, presumably to make it look cooler. The show doesn't try to conceal its primary target audience: a group of kids with short attention spans, likely influenced by TikTok. And you know what? I'm not above exploiting that audience either—use those attention spans all you want; it works. I'm just saying, if you're not in the right mindset going into this anime, you'll probably hate it. But if you are, you might just love it.

MAL gave this show around a 6.6, and I can tell you it's going to drop down HEAVILY after this review, but I give it a 6.

I regret sticking with it till the end... I'm just glad it's over so I can wash my hands of it and forget it exists.

It keeps stringing you along with a few amazingly well written scenes (some for the edge Lords and some for the misanthropic cynics) making you hope that it would get better as it goes, but nope, it's a train wreck that doesn't know what it wants to be.

Feels like each episode had a different premise so it failed to deliver on every promise that it made including the revenge plot that it opens with. The main character failed to take advantage ... of his powers and his intelligence was nerfed after the first half of the first episode, therefore he is the most underpowered main character in revenge plot history.

The author probably had a fetish for guro and beating women too. My eyes feel violated. I wish I could undo the last 5 hours of my life.

Story: WTF/10
Music: 7/10
Plot: Massacre/10
Characters: 5/10
Worldbuilding: 8/10
Enjoyment: 2-8/10(varies by episode)

First episode shows some potential, but right after that it's just bad. Nothing makes sense and quite boring. The music is good and the character design looks good so far although character's personality is very common and nothing great. Adonis also makes some very questionable decision and behave like a jerk and an idiot. Acting all arrogant and so aggressive then giving up on revenge so fast. Doroka so far seems a little like though naive stupid annoying girl but will need to watch more to see. Chloe is stupid and arrogant also although she's supposed to be a very strong witch. I'm also sensing ... some "grooming" here but we'll see. Will keep watching to see if it gets any better.

(Currently on episode 6)

The show is written extremely terribly, yet here I am still watching it. Our MC is a literal psychopath who wants to exterminate his own race, we then learn that he just doesn’t care; he just wants to punish the world, at least it seemed that way to me.

This shows the definition of so bad it's good. What’s mainly keeping me around are the plot points, as subpar as they are. The revenge is enacted so badly, the humans lack a basic moral compass, and our MC’s so fixated on revenge that he involves innocent people —bro just doesn’t care. ... In addition, the anime overuses gore for the sake of shock value; to the point where we the audience have gotten desensitized to it. You can't even sympathize with the main character, unlike Chloe, Doroka, and the innocent civilians. Adonis goes on and on about his fight for quote-unquote “revenge”, but his actions just make him seem like an unhinged psychopath —itching for any excuse to bring genocide on his own race. What irritates me the most are the people drawing parallels to Adonis and Eren Yeager. Despite both committing literal genocide, at least Eren had a reason. Adonis on the other hand is a literal psychopath, forget killing the KIng or military, let me kill my entire race. People were actively praising that he’s different, and quote un quote “stands on business”. These same people were also dogging Doroka for being the literal voice of reason; expressing how annoying and naive she was to them —and glad that her talk no jutsu didn’t work on Adonis. So I'm not really shocked the anime has a 7.11 rating on MAL. Don't get me wrong, the show does have some minor philosophical elements, but it's written so two-dimensionally for me to care. I'm only really interested to know how this cesspool ends, especially with how Adonis, the Queens, and Doroka all have different motives. The Kingdom of Ruin comes off as if were written by an edgy teen. I give it a 5/10, I’ll try to finish this season don't know about the second :P

I had high-ish hopes for this anime, based on what I'd heard about the source material, a story about how violence only leads to more violence, and how forgiveness requires accepting loss, but was upset by what I saw as startling inconsistencies with the actions and spoken thoughts of the MC. At certain points he seemed to be some kind of 4-dim chess/tactical genius, but at others, his logic, was just incomprehensible. As for the FMC, she was annoying, but considerably more consistent in her character development (which they at least provided some justification for, near the end of the season), compared to MC. I ... think plenty of the "would-be-villain" characters were infinitely more interesting than the main ones. The music, particularly the OP, was easily the best thing about the series. I haven't read them myself, but I'm guessing the books are way better, so I'll just continue my journey there, as I don't have any hopes for a second season, especially after what I just sat through.

Hametsu no Oukoku starts off with a strong premise, introducing a main character consumed by the desire for revenge after the tragic loss of his beloved. The initial episodes (1-7) are engaging, setting the stage for a promising narrative filled with intensity and emotion.

The turning point comes when the main character encounters Doroka, who imparts a lesson about the pitfalls of revenge. This development adds complexity to the storyline as the protagonist grapples with conflicting emotions. While the idea of a character evolving and questioning their motives is intriguing, the execution falls short due to poor writing, leaving viewers more annoyed than empathetic.

One major flaw ... lies in the rushed pacing of the plot. The anime attempts to cover significant ground in a short span, resulting in a lack of proper development for both characters and story arcs. This rush undermines the potential depth and impact the narrative could have had with a more measured approach.

On a positive note, the animation quality is surprisingly decent. While not groundbreaking, it manages to complement the story well and provides an enjoyable visual experience. The animation's contribution to the overall enjoyment of the series cannot be overlooked.

In conclusion, Hametsu no Oukoku presents an initially promising story with a strong start, but it falters as the main characters undergo abrupt changes and the plot feels hurried. Despite these shortcomings, the animation remains a redeeming factor, making the series still worth a watch for fans who can overlook the narrative flaws.

The Pens Edge Is Mightier Than The Gun.

I hate the lazy line “It fell off” anime fans with the attention span of a Chihuahua on G-Fuel use to write off stories that slow down their pacing to build up narrative tension. However, The Kingdoms of Ruin is one of the few anime I will allow the description “It fell off” to accurately apply.

Humans have overtaken magic with advanced science and now plan to wipe out the witches for good in a bloody and very edgy genocide. After his beloved witch teacher Chloe is humiliated and murdered in front of him and a crowd of propaganda-brainwashed ... masses, Adonis vows to destroy the human race with the magic he was taught by his teacher. It's a tale of bloody violence and revenge folks and I love John Wick.

I was fully on board with this anime to start with. If you’re into gritty revenge plots, fantasy settings and fast-paced carnage, Kingdoms of Ruin had it in spades. I was on the edge of my seat watching Adonis decimating an entire country to the ground, destroying the humans that fully deserve his wrath after the excellent setup of the first episode. Learning about the world, Adonis and Chloe’s place in it, the witches, and the narrative twists along the way was a joy. It even offsets Yokohama Animation Lab's poor art and animation. In a season filled with edge lords, The Kingdoms of Ruin stood on top… for a while.

Unfortunately, after episode six the show flatlines. We have three very slow-paced episodes, two of which had nothing of meaningful, narrative substance to them but were instead filled with bizarrely out-of-place comedy humour between two people who haven’t had any character chemistry since they partnered up. By the time episode ten aired and the fighting started again, it was hard to ignore the janky animation and the lifeless fight choreography. A pair of potentially interesting new characters had just been introduced only to be off-screened to build up hype for the next bad guy and it was at this point I realised I don’t need to keep watching The Kingdoms of Ruin anymore. There are better shows worth my time.

Apart from the completely meaningless episode 8 and the “sex robots have feelings too, waaa” episode 9 the main issue that kills the pacing of the show is Doroka. Doroka is constantly trying to take the moral high ground over Adonis’ actions by reminding him that killing is bad and that humans and witches should get along. The problem is Adonis anger is 100% justified to the viewer so having a pink cinnamon roll get in his way every time he's in a fight to the death or watching her brethren getting slaughtered by the military of a fascist regime hell-bent on killing her kind by spouting meaningless words of peace and kindness is really infuriating. She is also supposed to be the comic relief character but this also falls flat because Adonis doesn’t want anything to do with her and has threatened to kill her multiple times if she gets in his way again.

The Kingdoms of Ruin has a great first six episodes. I enjoyed them. However, I cannot recommend going any further as it does “fall off”. It reminds me of how Darling in the FranXXs went from a must-watch to a disaster after episode 15 (or possibly 16, I haven’t watched it in a while).

4/10 Disappointment.

The Kingdoms of Ruin appears to be quite a surprise so far. It seems to have a decent plot, characters with proper motivation, decent animation, decent sound design, great voice cast and so on. Though, the thing remains to be seen whether it can do anything constructive with it. For the lack of a better word, at the moment this Anime can only called EDGY, now whether that becomes Akame ga Kill kind of edgy, or AOT kind remains to be seen.

Plot: The synopsis adequately instructs you about the Anime, there isn't much to add apart from that without delving into spoiler territory. There are ... two clear sides, humanity and, witches and allies. While humanity in this particular case is portrayed as the evil side, witches are shown to be the bearer of good. Now, once that is established, then begins the plot proper, as a ruthless witch hunt is initiated by humans, and our protagonist, who is also a human, though he grows up under the loving care of a witch. It is interesting to see where it can go from here, as a certain AOT also began in quite similar(similar, not same) fashion, so did Akame ga Kill by the way.

Having said that, it all depends on how certain things are handled. There are things that can seriously ruin the interest in the plot. For instance, if the show ends up treating death like Dragon Ball does, I'm afraid most of the seriousness will be done then and there, and so will probably be the interest. It can similar if treads the Terra Formers route, or Gantz route, or even Akame ga Kill route. For another, events must have consequences, if huge things go down, and there is almost zero consequence, again, the whole premise falters hugely. Since the Anime wants to be that kind of an Anime which treats itself seriously, the serious things must be taken seriously, or it will only gore itself to death with it's own edge.

Characters: Apart from the protagonist, a few of the main cast has already been shown, and so far one could be cautiously optimistic about them. I'd hesitate to call the protagonist edgy just because of the way acts. Is there motivation behind it, if so how much, is that enough for him to be who he is. For instance, a pretentious angsty snowflake can call Eren Yeager, or Lelouch, or Light Yagami, or even Johan edgy, but does that make it so?


Again, one must ask, whether one note, typical archetypes can be considered proper characters, because at the moment this Anime is ripe with them. One can not be simple enough to have only one mode, that's the mark of a typical flat character. I'm afraid flat characters never really make for good stories. On the other hand, it still early days, there is enough time for at least some of them to become interesting.

Animation: The frames that are animated are decent, though one could hope for a little more fluidity going forward. The action scenes looked really well done, the static frames were neatly drawn, the dynamic frames could have done with a little more speed, but that'll be nitpicking. Thus far, a good job done by the studio. Keep up the good work.

Music: Apart from the opening and ending themes, I'm afraid the music has been barely noticeable. Which perhaps is both a good and bad thing. Good because, it compliments well what's occuring in the screen, so much so that it immerses one better into the Anime. Bad perhaps, because like most other Anime, even the better ones, the music will be forgotten as soon as the Anime season concludes.

Enjoyment: I've been intrigued enough to give it a chance. Though, I'd also say to sally forth cautiously. The point is how many times have we seen some random Anime have a moderately decent first arc within a few episodes, only to fizzle out in the end rather unceremoniously. I can merely hope it continues to be decent enough with cautious optimism.

A show filled with magic, machines, revenge and violence, is what you get after humanity decides to hunt all witches and replace it with human technology.

The kingdom of ruins is about a world where humanity wants to be independent from witches' magic, and decides to eradicate all witches to reach their goal. The show follows the only human apprentice of a witch, where after the witch hunt is over, is he fueled by revenge.


The plot’s basic idea is a great base, that humanity should be punished for their witch hunt. It is also greatly shown in the beginning of the show and follows a very ... clear thread, which gives a lot of room for world building. But that is sadly falling behind in the middle of the season, where the show takes some alternative twists, without giving enough room for the show to evolve, and ends up feeling rushed because of the lack of depth. Towards the end though is the show once again making more room for world building and character development.

The characters fall in the same problem as the plot, where there is some clear progression and exploration in the start and at the end, but is lacking in the middle of the show. So it was looking promising, disappointed, and then had to build it up again.

The show also has its fair amount of gore and action, which is animated with great detail and is barely holding back in the gore department. The fights in general also look great and are clearly very epic, thereby truly falling into the action genre. Sadly the fights sometimes seem like a bit too much, and are dragging some effects and abilities a bit too far.

Overall is it a bit of a mixed one here, the premise is great, the beginning and the end is also quite entertaining, but the middle part just really fell behind. So if the premise seems really interesting to you, or you like action gore animes, would it probably be a good anime to watch. If not, would I recommend that you look at some other options.

Who are the true monsters in reality.

Many animes have come and gone, and really told that story of that this or that creature is vile, and are monsters. When in truth, humanity look more like the monsters tat they claim.

Story and characters: 8
What I will say about the show, is that it can do things good, but do things right in a sense. Keeping a watcher on their toes, though, as long as they don't result into pure shock value, as if to overload it, to the point that each hit becomes less and less. But thankfully, so far with what we are given, ... it seems to be going in a more good direction, than a bad. My only big issue right now, is that it does feel a bit fast paced, and if it slowed down, and lead into it more. Maybe it'd be better received, but in general, it's a good story. Just, it may harm it a little, with too much going on at once, as if they really went with the three episode rule, and threw everything against the wall to get one hooked. While the story elements as a whole, can keep one engaged, if it keeps going too fast, it won't leave room to digest what happened.

The story as explained is pretty straight forward. Imagine the 'true path to humanity's evolution' filled with science, and technology. Making other means pretty much obsolete in their eyes, and as humans normally do, they'll attack, and remove it for good. Or least try to. But this comes at a cost of really alienating a whole species of people, which has caused our main character in Adonis to act the way he is, which is certainly justified, but it's a bit blind justified as well. I can't really dive too much on the characters, as it more less feels like it's expanding on how this world works, as you'll know by the obvious faces, who is who, and they'll flesh out more as the series progresses. But we do see how their personalities really drive the anime home.

It's why I say this show can be good. If it let things breath a little, it'd come off better, but being a bit too fast paced, can hit at the story and what it's trying to deliver. It reminds me of Yui from SAO. How she was there for a second, and then not, and we're supposed to feel sad about it? Not a chance.

Art and sound: 7
The art style doesn't hold back when pulling it's punches. Being really graphic when it needs to be, and really showcasing just how bad things are in terms of how the world is, while also really making things look like a utopia. Really shining, and animating real good in terms of how everything flows and moves,to make a good looking product. Followed up with a decent sound quality, to really add to each and every scene.

This show clearly isn't for the faint of heart, and if it took a breather for a few minutes, it'd be more quality than it is. I'd watch for sure.

This is one of those shows where you like it, do not, or just can't figure out the premise.
Every episode so far has so much differing opinion for me, one can be great, and another you question the MC's intentions.
But this is kinda dumb enjoyment to some degree.

Firstly the Problems:
1. The MC "Adonis" does really infuriating things that are just plain stupid and make zero sense because he can resolve 99% of the issues he encounters with his magical quill. In this way, most of his injuries he sustains are basically his entire fault, mainly because he can use his quill to give himself ... the best armor possible that can resist attacks from swords, and use force fields to block bullets from hitting him, etc. The main problem about the MC so far is that he is selective on when to use his magic, and only uses it when its blatantly convenient. This anime does not have an MC that acts like one of those generic reincarnation isekai's that have an MC with immense logic, and he is basically the opposite of that, he is hotheaded, has zero compassion, and possibly bipolar considering how quickly he can be "normal" then go all out in a split second.
2. The second MC "Doroka" really has been just annoying and overly obnoxious, trying to stop Adonis from harming others, knowing that he will not stop his "revenge" for her pleas for it to stop. This is not even considering they really don't know each other personally, like they probably communicated 50-100 words to each other by end of episode 7.

Secondly the Good:
1. The story is so stupid that it is numbing to watch, and I still cannot see where the show is going even at episode 7, but it is still entertaining and captivating for some reason. This is possibly since it is quite different then most anime premises, but I do hear that this is similar to Code Geass, but I (Sadly) haven't watched that yet (I hear its good), so I can't compare it, but for me the closest anime I can compare this to is "Saga of Tanya the Evil", with an MC that is just blatantly shows no emotion or care for others. Non anime wise the MC seems similar to Anakin Skywalker from the Star Wars prequels when he moves to the dark side, mainly get this similarity in the angst, arrogance, and zero care of life.
2. The animation is really good and makes the fight scenes exciting to watch with good visuals. I quite like the character designs, and have no qualms.
3. Characters while a bit dislikable, seem to actually getting into a much better arc, I assume that the writers purposely made the characters dislikable at the start of the series and that this is all part of the show and is supposed to eventually change into a later arc that better explains both MC's intentions.


I think people are being a bit harsh so far on this anime, and it probably needs a few more episodes to continue the arc and improve the characterization.
As I see it, the prologue and start of the anime has only ended on episode 6, and it's actually getting into it's main arc now. A friend of mine that read the manga said it should get better and get real from episode 7 onward. But only time will tell if they are right.

But me personally am enjoying this as a dumb no nonsense gore filled action anime. But I can 100% understand why people do not, like I see why people would get upset at an MC that is purposely made to be ignorant and for some people that is what makes them drop this. That's perfectly fine and is a valid opinion, I was close to dropping this by episode 4 for that reason.
So as such I think this show really is one that is judged on your preferences in anime more then anything, I would recommend to give it a try and see if you enjoy it for the reasons I do, or if you get tired of the MC's ignorance and drop it.
I would go and finish up until the end of episode 7 and decide if you just wanna go and finish or to drop it, by this point you can probably make a good choice considering it seems to be the end of the first arc.

7.5/10 for me. Might be different for you.
Thanks for reading this drawn out opinion 🗿

Honestly a little over hated but they aren't necessarily wrong. It goes from a badass revenge story to a weird love story with bad pacing. I do like that the creators used some gore and language then at times they go way to ham everything positive has a negative. The one thing that sets it apart is it has a full story a little rough around the edges and kinda pasted together but a story. All and all very mid tier anime nothing special but at the same time if you've got nothing else to watch throw this on a second monitor and play a ... game.

Pretty much each episode is a race to the bottom, the darker, the better. In the name of bloodfest targets would just stay still and wait while their enemy readies himself to butcher them. It looks like clowns have a civil war - absurdity, gore, unmotivated violence, etc. One "interesting" thing that this story have is a carnage spectacle.

If you cant find yourself laugh at this madness and stupidity I doubt you can enjoy it. And even with that after some time it become boring and repetitive, as there is nothing interesting beside gore and madness.

Every other side of this anime production quality is ... average.

Final review (12 ep) -
Turned into an average damsel makes life difficult for MC (antagonist/revengist) show after the 3rd ep.
Seen this trope everywhere and it is equally irritating everytime. (Not just anime but even TV shows like 24).
The amount of non-sensible plot holed twists happen is unbound after ep 4.
Not sure what the next seasons even have planned other than random story and fights.
Watch it at your own risk.

See the difference with preliminary review -

Preliminary Review (3 ep) -
... The series started off at a high pace. There are cliffhangers at end of each episode.
It is a revenge dark-fantasy anime. Seems like a decent watch so far.

I was afraid they had Jojod it. But hopefully they haven't.
I found negative reviews because the MC has massacred delusional brain dead people who enjoyed the MC's teacher/parent being killed along with a decent population of Magic users being massacred in front of his eyes.
The MC is relatable or completely unexplainable depending on your privilege or your attention to details.
Pretty much similar trope is present in the last season of a huge successful famous manga/anime (AOT) which has the worst/dumbest ending.
The pacing could have been better for the backstory but they must prefer having flashbacks, when needed,
to convey the importance/relevant matter.