DESCRIPTION

CAST

CHAPTERS

ANIME ActionKingdom
ANIME ActionKingdom 2nd Season
ANIME ActionKingdom 3rd Season
MANGA ActionKingdom: Soushuu-hen
ANIME ActionKingdom 4th Season
ANIME ActionKingdom 5th Season
ONE SHOT ActionKingdom Bangai-hen

REVIEWS

• 

  KaizokuOtaku

  85/100
  One of the best seinen out there with focus on war and strategy with a rich world and politics. An absolute must-read

  Kingdom is undoubtedly one of the most criminally underrated manga out there if you were to ask me. It doesn't get near the amount the love and attention it deserves. Quite peculiar since it could easily hold a candle to the likes of "One Piece and "Berserk," even "Tower of God" if we are talking about webtoons. More or less all which falls in the same category as those mentioned above. It already has over 50 volumes of content and is still going strong. The author stated it might go well above the 100s. It's one of the most complex and detailed manga. I had the pleasure of reading. Also, one of a kind, and I highly doubt anyone would be able to find something completely similar. Even if someone whereby some miracle. The core themes and the execution would probably not stand a chance against it. The author, Yasuhisa Hara, handles big topics like "war" and "politics" with so much love and care. But it doesn't stop there, he knows how to give the readers enough, so it doesn't come off as overwhelming. Not to mention, that's the bare minimum you can be guaranteed of receiving in Kingdom.

  Includes spoilers from the first few chapters and subtle ones as possible from deeper parts

  Story

  Starts out relatively simple and straightforward. Set around before the common era (BC) in the middle of the year 200. Centers around two boys, Shin and Hyou, and their journey toward becoming the "Great Generals" for their home state of Qin, which also means they want to make sure their name rings in the entirety of China long after their death. That is the highest title anyone apart of warfare can receive, and it's the greatest honors to a soldier. Only select few have that title, and it's incredibly difficult to attain it, one will not even be able to get it during his lifetime. In the end, that's only the end goal of the story, one they will solely accomplish ones the smaller (not by any means really) are fulfilled first. But trust me, it's not as easy like it sounds; they are the foundation and necessity for their life long goal after all. To give everyone a better understanding of Kingdom. It would be wise to go through the core themes first. China is split into seven pieces, this period is known as "Era of Warring States," our location starts from Qin, but you will get to experience all the different states and see what makes them different from each other. The reason behind the 500-year war and so much else that you can be excited about to encounter and behold. Above all else, Kingdom is profoundly focused on the themes I've mentioned from before. The very first arc is one of the more straightforward and not as complicated, unlike all the others the reader will come across during the journey. This one, in particular, is about overthrowing someone unfit of the throne of the state of Qin. From the underlying issues to all the consequences that follow, everything will be provided, so no one is reading blindly without a clear understanding of the situation. Moreover, it's done in such a way that it's both tasteful and comfortable to digest. Then whenever the threat is dealt with, you'll learn that there is someone more significant operating behind the shadows. A political struggle that has been going on for a very long time now. It's merely engaging to watch these two-party fight it all out with mind games. Trying to outwit one another with some of the most brilliant and believable tactics I have come across. I can't have enough, and whoever decides to dive into Kingdom will most likely feel the same. This battle is not something you will witness once during a specific set of chapters. More of something that has weights and value that follows through with you. Until the last segment of the struggle. Of course, it additionally happens to have one of the most complex and dense world-building to date I have seen. During the rebellion period, when our characters are trying to get into the capital of Qin "Kantan," you'll learn about the world as the journey continues. Of the mountain people who were born outside of the ordinary and wealthy ones. You get to feel their culture and see what kinds of characters they are. Learn part of their history and also what makes them secluded from the one who is living in the exterior part of the state. This is still one of the starting phases, so you can expect to see some good and even more remarkable set of world-building and culture segments as you continue with the journey. As previously implied: to gain the ranks of a "Great General," one has to not only make earth-shattering changes that shake the hole China to its core like killing someone else with that title or many enemies as possible. Soldiers also have to rack up precious accomplishment during the war that causes these changes to have a meaningful impact in the first place. When the seven states go to war against each other, they will, for the most part, try to obliterate the different nations and gain full control ultimately. Most of the ones who are successful, their inhabitants will suffer dire consequences, gruesome torture, rape, pillaging, and slavery and all the nasty in the world people can't even begin to imagine. It does not shy away from gore at all; you will see dead bodies, blood, heads, and even limbs flying. The cruelty shows no mercy to children either. Hara does a terrifyingly great job to show you how far messed up the world was during those days. It's not like this is displayed everytime either, he knows when it's enough. However, once he keeps going, you will see some genuinely horrifying sight. In which case Kingdom is defintely not for everyone. It's listed as a seinen, and it no doubt deserves it; I can with certainty assure everyone of that. You might've noticed, "war" is another core theme that plays a massive role during the "Era of Warring States." But if it were mere states going at one other trying to pillage and obliterate each other, it would become boring in the long run. This is where "strategy" comes in, which is another vital component, not only to warfare itself but to make the clashes a lot more than just brutal bloodshed. A typical objective could be to overtake one of the smaller cities in a state, which is still undeniably a so-called "stepping stone" for the more magnificent achievement. It could be to turn the town into a stronghold and make preparations for the next strike, chipping tiny pieces at a time until eventually, the whole state falls into an enemy or the allies' hands. Hara does an outright outstanding and impressive job at tastefully explaining his ideas and messages, so you don't get too big of a spoon of information forced at you at once. We even had one arc about establishing a state, and while it's some of the smaller ones. It packed lots of exciting information about the process, the issues that some could across, and much more I wouldn't be able to state unless I want to dip deeper into spoiler territory. Nevertheless, you can rest assured knowing the authors does an impeccable job in execution, his writing, and art style (more on that soon). There is one arc; in particular, I consider one of my most favorite of all time. It's just about a hundred chapters long but is one of the most thought-provoking and downright excellent story arcs I had the pleasure of reading, and many fellow readers, I feel would agree with that statement. Just like the latter, there is still a bunch of impressive arc waiting to be discovered.

  Art

  Kingdom undoubtedly already starts out with a unique and well-detailed style from the getgo. Of course, it does continuously get better as we move forward. All the emotions in the art style are depicted with utmost accuracy and heart. In the future, the details get even more robust. Some of my favorite panels are without a doubt from Kingdom. To the background and character's design, everything is thorough, and it stands out. The depiction of "horror" in the characters face when death closes in or excitement, all of which are executed flawlessly.

  Characters

  Up to now, it should be abundantly clear that Kingdom excels in pretty much all the categories, one way or the other. Of course, characters are no exception to that. You will come across all kinds of odd with weird personalities or structures. Someone you might loathe with all your heart and want nothing but their suffering or worse death. With that in mind, you can also expect their counterparts. Though just like "One Piece" and "Tower of God" expect the focus to shift from the main characters to other individuals. It's a recurring thing, but let me tell you to know that every aspect of them gets thoroughly fleshed out and developed (of course, all this applies to the main cast too). Easy to go from not thinking much about a character to completely loving them in the next moment or even hating. Hara, he handles it with the utmost care and takes the pacing full into account before he takes the plunge. He uses flashbacks in a very sophisticated and professional manner. The backstory can easily be a chapter to several long or even be split across, but you will without fail start to care for the characters in the short time you knew them, I know this from first-hand experience all too well. Kingdom is undeniably a "war" manga, but you can expect to see some subtle romance here and there as well. I never felt like we didn't get enough, because somehow Hara always manages to satisfy me at least without fail once it shifts the focus over to that.

  The Negative

  Just like all media and literature, even Kingdom has, it's fair to share of weak spots, or rather I could see some consider it that way. I don't have much problem with them. One good example to start with is "chapter amount," which I can see being a problem for some. Though, every one of them is undoubtedly important and needed if you were to ask me. Not long ago, I went through the entirety of it till the latest chapter again. During my time of the reread, I never once taught any part was a chore to read or dull. My goal was not to read it from the start, but some of the arcs I wanted to re-experience instead. Nevertheless, when I finished the first chapter, I was already well-enough invested in keeping going from there until I ultimately caught up. In other words, once you keep going, it would be a miracle if you stopped at some point. Of course, it depends if you have the time necessary to take on such a massive beast. Well, I am all crazy about Kingdom, so much, in fact, I caught in less than a week, and I don't regret it one bit if I didn't make that clear enough. With the amount of chapter you have to go through, I can see "pacing" is yet another issue that would make the newcomer slightly annoyed, if anything. Just like others long-running, reading in the binge will offer the most entertainment for many. Not to say you can't read it weekly, but the pacing is slow. Except, every chapter will, without fail, gives new content to process and provide a chance to center your strategy around. And the last obstacle would have to be the "dialogue," which can get heavy at times. In Kingdom, almost every panel will have some information that can be important down the road. It can contain everything from the foes or allies' strategy plan for the war to some history lesson. All in all, I wouldn't quite consider any of the above as something "negative," but rather something necessary instead. In any case, If any of those points irks you in any way, then Kingdom is unfortunately just not for you, and that's a tremendous loss unquestionably.

  Conclusion

  In the end, to fully understand all of my enthusiasm for Kingdom, you have to start from chapter one and go from there. Since there is only so much, I can do with words, and it's better to experience it yourself. I barely tipped the iceberg during this review and only tried to give the readers a taste of what they can expect. Hopefully, I was able to pique curiosity a great many newcomers into this intricate and massively dense universe. Also, from what I can tell, the majority of people that don't like Kingdom are those that have yet to experience it for themselves. Don't let the amount of the chapter scare you; take a dip in, and you might find yourself another piece of art rivaling all the manga mentioned earlier, maybe even surpass them. Won't know for sure until you give it a try, and you might love it for all you know.
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• 

  GGShang

  95/100
  A story so focused you can't help but get swept along for the ride

  When I think about the themes, characters, plot and all that kind of stuff with Kingdom, I find it hard to explain why I enjoy it so much. It seems so simple, and yet it somehow all works out to make a really fun reading experience.

  Kingdom is the story of one young ruler's desire to unify all of China and one young man's desire to become the strongest general in the land. It all starts out with our main character Shin who has been training with his best friend in order to become the two strongest generals in China when his friend is killed after being mistaken for the crown prince. From here, Shin meets said crown prince and they team up to achieve both of their goals. From here on, Shin finds himself in the forefront of the battlefield, making his name by taking out enemy generals and eventually getting more and more people placed under him. On the flipside, Shin is back in the capitol fighting a battle on the political front with shifty and power hungry nobles. The plot generally follows one of the main characters for an arc before changing pace to focus on another. All throughout the story the readers are treated to insights on how people fight on the battlefield, different tactics and maneuvers, how to control political power through influence, how to rule a nation. There are two major dynamics in Kingdom, with half of it being full of action and the other half full of drama. This split may be a little annoying for people who are only fans of one side though, since both are developed heavily.

  When I think about the characters in Kingdom, they come off as very one dimensional: they are always singly focused on one goal, whether it be being the strongest, unifying China, getting revenge, or anything else. While you could say that this means that the character writing in Kingdom is bad, I'd argue that it's highly effective for a story like this. We are very plainly given an end goal at the beginning of the story, and everything every character does is pushing us towards that goal. Like a war drum that keeps the army marching forward, you get to see how every little action works towards the bigger picture, giving you a grander view of the story as a whole, which is the entire theme and point of this manga. And still, we are also given more nuanced character development, where even though the end goal doesn't change, the reasoning behind it might. For example, Shin goes from wanting to be the strongest since it was a promise to his friend to wanting it because he sees the vision that the crown price has.

  The art style of Kingdom is something that I wanted to talk about briefly, since I think it is unfortunately a deal breaker for a lot of people. Yes, it is kinda funky for those who are not used to it, but I actually think it adds a lot of power to the characters. There is just something about it that feels weighty and unlike a lot of other manga I've read. I get that for a lot of people, art really matters, but I would highly suggest putting that aside to experience all that this manga has to offer.

  Overall, Kingdom is a single minded and focused story about war and politics. You get easily drawn into the story and the desires of each of the strong willed characters you'll find, which leads to a read that you can't help but to binge. Also, don't let the chapter count scare you off, about 1/5th of the total story is pretty much just random people dying, so it goes by much faster than you'd expect.

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• 

  ehempoy

  92/100
  up there with top tiers manga like berserk and vagabond,one piece and of the best war arcs u will ever see in manga

  PLOT
  quick overview of the plot, this is a story about a young boy and his friend desire to be a great general of the heavens and dream of unifying china in this warring state era that divides china into 7 states that's been at each others throat for centuries
  MY REVIEW
  an underrated manga that's like berserk in terms of gory and a story that's one of the best, and its base on real life history in my opinion as my favorite manga is one piece and berserk this could be your cup of tea because it can hold on its own with this 2 big manga, its really underrated. the characters are all badass and the setting of the arcs is almost perfect the calm before the storm and suddenly all shit is loose. u will see that this an ass pull when the protagonist win because its base on real history,the bad points about this manga is one character that possess unbelievable strength, and acts like an deus ex machina of the manga which a lot of people doesnt like including me because of its plot device which is not even mention in real history, the strong points of this manga is that almost all major characters are base on real life.
  STRUCTURE
  this manga focus on war, and politics so i don't expect anyone to understand the greatness of this story especially under aged reader as this is a seinen not a shonen so its not really for everyone, but if you like gory and war mangas this is for you as a total war player my self and a history enthusiast this is the perfect manga for me as i understand the politics and strategy of there approach in war in this manga, which is not only accurate in terms of real life battles but also display the horrors of war which isnt mention in any of our history books, the rape, the massacre what people think and emotions before a battle,etc it all display that, it even shows how a state can be formed and over thrown which is in it self is very impressive for me.

  CHARACTERS
  kingdom features a lot of different characters some that u will love, someone that u wish will die a painful and horrible death its not like other manga that some characters dont need just to be likeable, but overall the backstory and flashback in this is well put together and well placed at the right time theres no stretch in back story just so u can like a character it is well paced

  ART
  kingdom at first doesn't look special in terms of art style but it will continue to get better each chapter ill consider it like berserk or very close to that kind of level, it features a lot of different faces and a lot of characters which u will probably forget lol. it feature all of there emotion, what they going through u can see it in the art which the mangaka and one of the best manga panels u will ever see in mangas the background, the overall environment of the art is compelling the battles, the gore, the fightings its all exceptional.

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