This review does NOT contain any spoilers.
Story 10/10- The story of kingdom is quite simple, Xin wants to become the greatest General of all time, in doing so you are taken on a journey between China's waring states, and how that came to be. Kingdom brings an array of emotions. You will laugh, you will cry(I did anyways), you will be pumped, you will be angry and you will be mind blown by its badass nature. It's very rare you come across an anime where you can have the massive scale of war and so many characters yet be able to simultaneously focus on a main protagonist effectively. I can only compare this type of well done world building to one piece. I feel like the story's pacing is great, it never feels rushed if anything it can be a bit on the slow side which in my opinion works great, its a slow burn type of anime and that makes waiting for the heart pumping wars all the more enjoyable. If you do not like war/strategy anime do NOT watch this, it is not for you.
Art 8/10- Kingdoms art is a HUGE improvement from the very first episode, it is almost not even comparable and feels like a totally different anime, in a good way. It still keeps its classic art style which suits an anime set in China but it is way smoother and not nearly as choppy. Is it the best art of all time? No. Is it good? Absolutely.
Sound 9/10 - Not much to say here, it gets you hyped up and is very loud and an opera type, it suits this anime perfectly as this is meant to have a very boisterous type of soundtrack.
Characters 10/10 - Along the way we encounter many characters of which you grow to love. This show has quite a few people coming in and out but the main characters usually always stay. It will make you love characters you once hated and hate characters you once loved. There really is so much character development for Xin and the people surrounding him. The enemies we encounter and the strongest people in this Kingdom universe are always interesting and very intriguing. Every general on Qin's army is really badass, likewise with every general in the other states. They really nailed the "mighty general aspect" but also really nailed the common common soldiers with a higher goal just like Xin.
Enjoyment 10/10 - I have never in my life screamed and shouted and had my heart pumping in an anime before, that is until kingdom came along. You will just feel like a man watching this anime, what is more manly than running into battle with your sword pointing at your enemy agter a huge speach you had just given your comrades, an army behind you screaming ready to die just for you. You are going to shout when they are running into battle too, especially when you don't know the outcome. You just feel great after watching this anime, its on a much greater scale compared to for example Vinland Saga, so a 500 thousand man battle really gets your heart pumping, when Xin jumps into the middle of it since he has no fear of anything that's when it gets even more enjoyable.
Overall 10/10 - Do yourself a favour and watch this anime, it will make you feel like a real man man and bring out a bag of emotions in you, it really annoys me that this anime is not huge. It should be up there with naruto, bleach and one piece its really impressive, my only hope is that it comes more popular. Again I say do NOT think because its not popular that its not good, most underrated anime of the decade in my opion, a true hidden gem.
