Quick Look: Kingdom

I had this on mine and my son's Summer watch list. It was a historical anime and period piece that I do enjoy. It is referencing the Warring Period in China which was also something you don't see. It is intriguing that they did this on China and not Japan.

***** SPOILER ALERT *****

This starts out about 2 war orphans Shin and Hyou. Hyou is more level headed while Shin is the more emotional one. After meeting for the first time, they begin a quick friendship and battling with wooden swords. Since they are slaves now, they have a limited chance of becoming Generals like they dreamed of. This however quickly changes as a chance meeting with a Minister from the Capital of Qin. He ends up later picking Hyou to join him, leaving Shin behind. What ends up being as great chance for Hyou, will soon turn to tragedy for both. Thus opens a new path for the story.

I think I will end the intro here as I have given you enough to peak your interest. Here are some of my comments on the first 3 episodes of this series.

What's COOL

The theme music is well done and choreographed with the visuals quite nicely. The backgrounds are quite detailed and really works of art. The character design however will be discussed later.

The story I feel after 3 episodes is moving along at a nice pace. This seems to be multi-layered which adds to the show. It isn't just about Hyou or Shin, but about the politics of the Warring Era. I think this is a bit different from what you would expect in a series. There are still a few well placed 'characters' that let you know this is not a documentary however.

The sword fights involving Shin are intense and crazy. It has been exciting to see him fight in the battles. No matter the foe, he has the resolve to continue to fight to the end. Though he does have a soft side that may yet get him killed.

What SUCKLES

Not sure why, but the 1st episode was 50 minutes long - WTF is the reasoning behind that? Were you thinking it would be so push aside in the first episode, that you combined them to keep everyone attention? After this, it is back to your normal 25 minutes per episode thankfully. Also the opening part of the episode is a bit confusing seeing how this show shapes up later.

Not really bad, but not really good, was the graphics. When I started watching this, I was reminded of the SD Gundam series. The way the artwork is very much reminds me of the same here. It is too computer generated and was expecting a more refined animation technique. It looks more like a game than a series on TV.

It also seems to be a dire twist on the story of the Prince and the Pauper.

FINAL COMMENTS

After the mixed bag, I have to say I like how the story is being fleshed out. With the few twists and turns in the first 3 shows, I think it will keep your attention to the very end. There are a couple of characters that you will be keeping your eyes on. The best match up so far is the relationship (or there lack of) between Shin and the King.
 
OVERALL RATING:  C

This is due to the graphics being so 'different' than I was expecting. This may also only appease to a certain group since it doesn't have flashy weapons and boobs bouncing.

Keep or Throw: I am still on the fence with this one, so may continue to watch and then again may not - so confused o_O