Kingdom

キングダム

7.9(93,161)

MAL Score

Ranked #1033

Popularity #1085

Action
Historical
Military

Episodes: 38
Duration: 25 min per ep
Aired: Jun 4, 2012 to Feb 25, 2013
Status: Finished Airing

Synopsis

During China’s Warring States era, centuries of conflict reshape the land as kingdoms rise and fall, until seven dominant states stand locked in an unending struggle for power. Amid this brutal age, the state of Qin prepares for the next wave of rulers and commanders who will decide the fate of the realm.

Xin, a war orphan living as a slave, throws himself into relentless training alongside his closest friend, Piao, both driven by the same ambition: to become a Great General of the Heavens. Their bond is tested when Piao is chosen to serve in the royal palace, and a violent coup soon tears Qin’s court apart. Gravely wounded, Piao returns to Xin with a final request that draws him into the orbit of the young king Ying Zheng—whose face mirrors Piao’s—and sets Xin on his first steps toward carving out a name in the bloodstained history of the Seven Warring States.

Otaku Consensus

Jun Kamiya’s direction gathers real authority once the series moves beyond its cliffhanger-heavy opening and into the larger campaigns of episodes 20–38, where battlefield strategy, political pressure, and character advancement begin reinforcing one another. As an adaptation of Yasuhisa Hara’s manga, Kingdom captures the scale and momentum that inspired its following, but Studio Pierrot’s conspicuous early CGI, uneven pacing, and initially simplistic treatment of Xin remain substantial barriers.

Why You Should Watch

Watch Kingdom if you want warfare treated as a test of command, morale, and personal ambition rather than a string of isolated duels. Its 38-episode runway lets minor fighters, court figures, and rival officers accumulate weight, while the back half shifts toward larger strategic payoffs; viewer reviews repeatedly identify episodes 20–38 as the point where the season finds its force. It scratches the mass-combat itch of Dynasty Warriors and the command-room tension of Legend of the Galactic Heroes, but from a rougher, ground-level coming-of-age perspective. The price of admission is Studio Pierrot’s conspicuous early CG and uneven opening pace. Viewers who can tolerate that dated presentation get increasingly effective battlefield staging, sharper political friction, and a hero whose advancement is measured through responsibility as much as strength.

Key Characters

X
Xin Li(VA: Masakazu Morita)
Xin’s blunt confidence can be abrasive, but his appeal lies in watching raw combat instinct collide with the discipline, judgment, and accountability demanded by military leadership.
Z
Zheng Ying(VA: Jun Fukuyama)
Zheng provides the series’ political counterweight to Xin, projecting royal composure while making power feel like a burden of calculation rather than a decorative title.
Q
Qiang Lei(VA: Youko Hikasa)
Qiang Lei stands out through reserved intensity and highly controlled swordsmanship, offering a quieter and more technically precise presence than the louder personalities around her.
D
Diao He Liao(VA: Rie Kugimiya)
Diao brings practical intelligence and quick improvisation to an ensemble otherwise dominated by warriors, making observation and planning feel as valuable as physical strength.

What Makes It Stand Out

1
Studio Pierrot uses a conspicuous hybrid of 2D drawing and CGI for soldiers, movement, and large formations, particularly in the opening stretch. CGI is consequently one of the series’ strongest AniList tags at 92% and the production choice most frequently criticized by viewers.
2
The season runs for 38 episodes rather than using a compact single-cour structure. Reviews consistently describe a marked improvement after roughly episode 20, with the penultimate episode singled out as one of the season’s strongest installments.
3
Naruhisa Arakawa handled series composition under director Jun Kamiya, giving the adaptation room to alternate personal progression, royal politics, and full-scale military action instead of reducing the material to consecutive fights.
4
Character design was divided among Atsuo Tobe, Noriko Ootake, and Masatoshi Hamada, while Junichi Higashi served as art director. That unusually broad design credit accompanies a production tasked with differentiating a large, predominantly male military cast.

Fun Facts & Trivia

Fun fact 1: Yasuhisa Hara, creator of the source manga, is credited as the anime’s original creator; the first season is therefore the opening television adaptation of his long-form historical war narrative.
Fun fact 2: The season aired continuously from June 4, 2012, to February 25, 2013, reaching 38 episodes across roughly nine months rather than following today’s more common 12- or 13-episode seasonal format.
Fun fact 3: The principal voice cast connects several major anime roles: Masakazu Morita voices both Xin and Bleach’s Ichigo Kurosaki, Jun Fukuyama voices Zheng and Code Geass’s Lelouch, and Rie Kugimiya voices Diao and Fullmetal Alchemist’s Alphonse Elric.
Fun fact 4: Reception differs noticeably by platform: the season holds 7.86 from 93,034 MyAnimeList votes but 74/100 on AniList, where it has 1,085 favourites. The gap fits the recurring split between enthusiasm for its strategic scale and frustration with its early visual execution.