The blood is really going to start flowing now. Kingdom 2 – 11 Kingdom is well and truly being staged on two fronts now, with this episode evenly split between the political battle at the capital and the military one on the front lines in the State of Wei. And […] Read more
Given the choice between Sanada and the Queen Dowager, I think I’d rather negotiate with him. Mushibugyou – 19 I confess I’ve grown so fond of Kuroageha now that when she’s absent, something seems missing. But there’s plenty to fuel the engine that drives this episode, even as she’s separated […] Read more
Both these shows were playing emotional hardball this week. Mushibugyou – 18 You know the drill with Mushibugyou by now. Great straight-ahead shounen, solid action, a little innocent sex and some comedy, and one of the more well-constructed plots of the Summer. And as usual, the meatiest moments are generated […] Read more
Knowing how this storyline is probably going to end isn’t making things any less painful to watch. Zi Xia may be one of the characters that Kingdom invented for dramatic purposes – if she exists historically I’ve found no trace of her – but she’s fulfilling her role in the […] Read more
The one-word series summary bonanza continues. This time around, it’s “epic”. Kingdom has been sneaky good for a long time, but perhaps the most surprising thing is that while I’ve barely noticed the transition, it’s become quite an attractive show visually. Those horrendous days of bad CGI character animation seem […] Read more
Thank goodness for Kingdom, because it feels an anime niche I really like seeing filled, and one that hasn’t been for far too long. It says something about the breadth of Kingdom and its versatility that it can change gears completely and leave its main character behind without losing a […] Read more
A new episode of Kingdom? That must mean new cast members, then. Once again Kingdom delivers up a big, sprawling episode that serves notice that this series is telling the story with the widest scope of any anime on the air. There are times when I’m concerned it might be […] Read more
There was one major character element missing from Kingdom, and it looks as if it’s arrived. The scope of Kingdom continues to widen, and with it the already bewilderingly large cast (which is like two casts, given that everyone has two different readings of their name). Zheng’s challenge seems to […] Read more
Kingdom has so many big personalities I’m surprised they can all fit on the screen. This episode continues the theme of the last – that not all wars are fought on the battlefield, and that when soldiers die, the reach of the arm that wields the killing weapon can be […] Read more
Sometimes the fiercest battles come without the raising of a single fist. There’s no question that Kingdom sports some of the finest writing of any series in the past year. It stands out like a sore thumb for a multitude of reasons, that being only one: as a sweeping military/political […] Read more