minerva.marquardt - 2015-02-02 20:41:45

this anime is far more greater than what it seems to be. although the animation is a little poor but it seems that the story is way to good from being a slave to the greatest general and uninting all of china.

angel.mcclure - 2013-11-25 19:10:19

Summary:

(Character names are written differently in different translations)

The time is warring states of China. Young Xin and his childhood friend Piao, were both orphans who lived as slaves in a small village. At that time a slave had no choice but to be a slave for the rest of their lives. Xin and Piao did not agree with that, so they decided that they will become the greatest generals in all of China. So they trained every day while they were still working as slaves waiting for the right moment to strike. Fate began to move and Piao was noticed by some nobles and taken to the capital while Xin was left in the village. Turns out Piao was used as a double for the new young king Zheng who was fighting a rebellion by his half brother. In an attempt to assassinate Zheng, Piao gets heavily wounded. Piao manages to reach the village where Xin lives and asks Xin to protect Zheng in his place and then falls to his wound. Xin enraged decides to avenge Piao by killing king Zhao. After meeting and talking with Zhao, Xin decides to follow him as Piao had wished. Here starts the adventure of Xin to become the greatest general in China.

In my opinion the story is really good, especially if you like history and historic wars. The state of China at that time is really well explained. This anime covers both sides, the battle against the other nations and the battle inside the nation itself. The tactics and organisation of armies are also really well explained and shown, which is the most important in an anime like this.

The story progresses fine and does not get in useless episodes. It is well written and makes you want to watch more as Xin climbs the ranks in the army.

10/10

No matter how much I love this anime I can't defend the animation. The animation was just horrible. I already am not a fan of 3D animation and in this anime it just looks disgusting. It was really really bad but the story started so intensely that it made me not mind the bad animation.(the animation gets much better in season 2)

4/10

The sound was good but nothing impressing. Voice acting was well executed(Japanese), and the OST was solid.

8/10

The anime contains a lot of great characters but I will focus on the main 4.

Xin:

The main character. At first glance he is like a normal shonen main character but the difference is that Xin has no problem killing his opponent.Well it is a war after all. His resolve and will are strong which makes him a good main character.

Zheng:

The illegitimate son of the late king of the state of Qin. He is the successor for the throne but his half brother does not agree so a fight ignites between the two. Zheng is strong and always looks like he has the situation under control. He does not show his emotion and his look is always firm, this makes him fit to be a leader.

Diao:

An orphan from the mountain folks. He helps Xin and Zhao escape from an ambush and latter joins them in the fight against he rebellion. Diao is young and smart but has no fighting strength. That is why Diao decides to become a strategist instead of a warrior.

Lei:

As member of the female assassin clan "Chi You" Lei is a highly skilled swordsman. Meets Xin on the battlefield and becomes drawn to him for reasons she can't comprehend. Her only purpose in life is getting revenge for her sister. But as she gets to know Xin more will she get another purpose in life? She is by far the strongest among the foot soldiers and is a great help to Xin.

overall characters get:

9/10

I did enjoy this anime a lot. Even if the animation was shit I could not help myself but enjoy this show. I simply love everything about it.

10/10

This show would get an 20/10(yes 20) if it was not for the shitty animation. That is why I will give it only nine out of ten.

9/10

tkoch - 2013-11-05 03:17:36

*As I am writing this review the second season of Kingdom is ongoing, and one quick thing to note is that the animation is getting progressively better with time.

First of all Kingdom is something that should be looked at completely subjectively, from the outset you'll notice the crappy 3D characters standing out on the 2D backdrop, the first season really struggled with this because there were many times it was so bad that it took away from everything else that was going on. It is something that takes a bit of looking past and if you're someone who is easily bothered by that, you wont make it very far through this anime.

Now for what I really enjoy about Kingdom:

- The main character Xin is somewhat of an overly done character in shounen very comparable to Naruto from part 1. They both have clear goals and they both start at the bottom of the ladder. (This may be something many people find annoying but it gives us a strong idea of where the series is headed)The major difference about him is that he is far more aggressive in taking what he wants.

- The other strong point that really makes the series stick with me and gives me a reason to watch is the ancient Chinese setting, i'm sure we all get sick and tired of our anime being set in a Japanese High School.

-With this setting even though we have our standard war arcs, it was able to deliver on the strategic aspect of war that most shounen arcs lack.

Overall, at its core Kingdom has many similarities to our popular mainstream shounen, but its was well worth the watch and when the time comes when you're in the mood for a good generic fodder smashing series I suggest you give Kingdom a chance.