Anime Review: Kingdom

 Kingdom is both very hard and very easy to recommend as an anime. Its based on the best-selling manga by Yasuhisa Hara, although that's not available in English translation.

Using real life characters from China's Warring States period, circa 250 BC, the story follows two main characters; Xin, a servant who saves a boy king, Zheng. The story follows Xin rise to general and Zheng's path to first consolidate his rule, and then his ultimate goal to unify China.

 

It is mainly a war anime, focusing on Xin's achievements in various battles; however it does also deal with the intrigue behind the scenes in Zheng's court. There is a circle of supporting characters around these two, including a female warrior and female tactician, which helps lower the testosterone level a little. The characters are well-delineated, with distinct personalities and designs.

So why do I say its both hard and easy to recommend? Nothing to do with the story, which is absolutely amazing. Its all down to the animation. Unfortunately, the director of season one decided to go with a very strange and random mix of 3D cel shader and 2D drawn animation. Literally, it switches back and forth from scene to scene, which is very jarring. Once again, it shows that anime really should only use 3D cel shader on environments, props, and crowds, and definitely stay away from using it on characters. It looks like subpar game cut-scenes, and prevents the viewer from staying immersed in the story. Which is a shame, because the story of season one is really exciting and interesting, as it lays the groundwork for both leads' motivations.

Thankfully season 2 switches to mostly 2D animation; fairly mid, but allowing the viewer to concentrate on the story. Season 3 has much better animation, and this is where Kingdom as an anime really comes into its own. The season concentrates on a major invasion battle and a siege, and these are both handled very well. The siege of Sai episodes are extremely gripping and well-done.

One weirdness to remember if you're watching this with subs; the subtitles will give the Chinese version of the names, but the Japanese soundtrack has the Japanese version of the names, so for example Meng Tian is spoken as Mou Ten.

The animation is now in the middle of season 4, so if you're interested in massive battles and political intrigue, this is the anime for you!