Kingdom


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Kingdom (Japanese: キングダム, Hepburn: Kingudamu) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yasuhisa Hara. It has been serialized in Shueisha’s seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Jump since January 2006, with its chapters collected in sixty-five tankōbon volumes as of June 2022. Kingdom provides a fictionalized account of the Warring States period primarily through the experiences of the war orphan Xin and his comrades as he fights to become the greatest general under the heavens, and in doing so, unifying China for the first time in 500 years.

The series was adapted into a four-season anime television series by studio Pierrot. The first 38-episode season aired from June 2012 to February 2013; a second 39-episode season aired from June 2013 to March 2014; a third 26-episode season by Studio Signpost and Pierrot aired from April 2020 to October 2021; a fourth 26-episode season aired from April to October 2022; a fifth season is set to premiere in January 2024. A live-action film was released in April 2019; a sequel film premiered in July 2022; a third film is set to premiere in July 2023. The anime has been licensed for English-language release by Crunchyroll.

By July 2023, the Kingdom manga had over 99 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time. In 2013, the manga won the Grand Prize of the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize.

Synopsis

The story of Kingdom is a fictional adaptation of the Chinese history period known as the Warring States period, which ended in 221 BC when Ying Zheng, king of Qin, succeeded in conquering the other states and unifying China.

Several of the characters are based on historical figures. Many characters will take the names of people in history, and other times they will have completely different names; oftentimes, this is the result of Japanese kanji borrowing from Chinese characters, and some Chinese names have no equivalent characters in kanji.

Plot

Born during the Warring States period of ancient China, Xin and Piao are war-orphans working as servants in a poor village in the kingdom of Qin. However, they dream to become the “Great Generals of the Heavens” and train daily. One day, Piao is taken to the palace for an unknown purpose by a minister and Xin is left behind. A few months later, Piao returns to the village on the verge of death, urging Xin to travel to another village. There, Xin meets a boy nearly identical to Piao, Ying Zheng the current King of Qin. Xin learns that Piao served as a body double for Ying Zheng and was mortally wounded in a power struggle for the throne. Though initially furious at Ying Zheng for causing Piao’s death, Xin decides to seize the opportunity and aids Ying Zheng in ousting his younger half-brother Cheng Jiao and reclaiming the Qin throne. Successful in this endeavor, Xin starts his military life as a Qin soldier and then commander on the battlefields of the warring states of China. He relentlessly pursues his goal of becoming the “Greatest General in the World”, also helping King Zheng of Qin achieve his dream of unification to end the incessant warfare once and for all.