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REVIEW: Kingdom episodes 1-8 streaming




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Chipp12



Joined: 30 Mar 2012
Posts: 300
PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 4:03 am Reply with quote
Animation : B-
W-W-W-W-WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT? Shocked
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danilo07



Joined: 25 Dec 2011
Posts: 1580
PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 4:54 am Reply with quote
Chipp12 wrote:
Animation : B-
W-W-W-W-WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT? Shocked

Well he said that it later improves.Did you see all 8 episodes?
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Konopan



Joined: 06 Oct 2011
Posts: 396
PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 4:55 am Reply with quote
Battle manga tropes are battle manga tropes. Has nothing to do with demographics
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Takamachi Ryoko



Joined: 27 Apr 2008
Posts: 332
Location: 東京, 日本
PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 6:49 am Reply with quote
I'm probably one of the few people who enjoy Kingdom, while it's nothing lavish, it's fun to watch. The 3D graphic was annoying at first, but it gradually improves. I didn't expect to see a review of it on ANN, and from Key nonetheless. It's a fair review, though I'd give the music a higher grade though. Very Happy
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casualfan



Joined: 24 Jul 2012
Posts: 333
PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 10:34 am Reply with quote
I'm another one who enjoys this show so far. The shonen elements unfortunately cause the history to be butchered, but makes for good entertainment. I'm also glad they don't pull their punches with the seinen elements, in that they actually show the torture and massacre.

I find myself loving the characters. Xin is irritating in the beginning but I find myself rooting for him now. I also like how the show simply depicts the villains as corrupt rulers, without any melodrama to justify any of their actions. Hopefully it doesn't get overly tragic later on.
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18137
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 10:36 am Reply with quote
Takamachi Ryoko wrote:
I didn't expect to see a review of it on ANN, and from Key nonetheless. It's a fair review, though I'd give the music a higher grade though. Very Happy

I am the staff's resident licensed History teacher, so me doing it shouldn't be too surprising.

And to the OP: Please do actually read the comments in the review about the animation before getting too dismayed about that grade. Rolling Eyes
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Otaking09



Joined: 24 Feb 2009
Posts: 637
PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 1:19 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
I am the staff's resident licensed History teacher, so me doing it shouldn't be too surprising.


What is surprising is how "This fanciful, ambitious account of a boy who helps a young king down the path to eventually becoming China's first true emperor is a work of historical fiction done largely in shonen action style, which makes for an uneasy stylistic mix" isn't already enough to piss off actual history buffs.
If it takes two VERY opposite ingredients - loud mouthed nonsense = FTW, plus sophisticated historical drama narrative - won't the immediately suffer regardless of what it chooses to concentrate all?

What happens when something... historical happens? The show is a trainwreck waiting to happen.
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 2:47 pm Reply with quote
Otaking09 wrote:
What happens when something... historical happens? The show is a trainwreck waiting to happen.

I don't disagree, but the future emperor doesn't do anything that's specifically noted by history until he gets into his early 20s, so barring a timeskip at some point we have a long way to go before being worried about that. (And we may never have to worry about that if the series doesn't timeskip.)
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Otaking09



Joined: 24 Feb 2009
Posts: 637
PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 3:38 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
(And we may never have to worry about that if the series doesn't timeskip.)


Point taken; the "look at the episodes I'm reviewing"- clause halts me yet again.
But the fact remains that its mixture will polarize. History buffs may tolerate a colorful adaption but if there's enough equal treatment for both shonen/history fans constantly this far down the line then something will give way. I'm just curious about how effective this kind of show can be if it never had ample handling from the get-go.
It's a sizzling fuse of dynamite just hurrying down until..... BOOM!

Frankly, the character designs' Blue Dragon's simpleness feel quickly put me at odds with taking anything serious here, even if it wants to sincerely educate.
It's like replacing the leads of Romance of Three Kingdoms with Dragon Ball's tweeny kids; it just don't digest well with me in the long run. I guess 38 episodes is better hope for change than none.
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MaxSouth



Joined: 11 Oct 2008
Posts: 1363
PostPosted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 1:30 pm Reply with quote
At start this series is a showcase of bad cliché:

1) as always, Chinese people are depicted having distinctly oriental eyes comparing to cases how (absent here) Japanese people are -- even though both nations belong to same race;

2) as always, supposed king is depicted with bigger eyes and over all more noble looking and behaving comparing to typical ever irritatingly screaming bumpkin boy.

Such things give you really bad vibe, and it is really annoying. You can not imagine such show ever originating from USA with those nationalistic and social hierarchy cliché being used so blatantly. This country passed this stage like fifty years ago.

Some day animated history dramas will be drawn better than with Uncle Tom attitude from XIX Century.
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Chagen46



Joined: 27 Jun 2010
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 1:54 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
1) as always, Chinese people are depicted having distinctly oriental eyes comparing to cases how (absent here) Japanese people are -- even though both nations belong to same race;


You...you somehow managed to criticize the racism of Japan towards the Chinese while simultaneously being racist towards both races.

Chinese and Japanese people are not related. At all. If there's any race the Japanese could POSSIBLY be related to, it would be the Koreans, but that's still debated and may or may not be true.
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MaxSouth



Joined: 11 Oct 2008
Posts: 1363
PostPosted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 2:04 pm Reply with quote
You certainly do not understand the difference between nationalities and races, do not you? (Chinese and Japanese being drastically different nations in their roots has nothing to do with those nations belonging to the same race.) Learn a thing or two before you start accusing others of racism.

And I am well aware about scientific findings on Japanese nation background. Your attack against me just makes authors of this series look even worse since you go with their idea that Japanese and Chinese are different races -- you and they wrongly think so -- hence their tradition to depict them differently is somehow justified.
________________________________________


I agree with comments that elements of poorly backed conceptually, ridiculously unrealistic shonen superpower fights do not necessary fit well with "historic" genre, and tamper with viewers' way to submerge into the story. You are just sitting and thinking: "Oh no, here we go again with this overworked fantastic nonsense..."
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
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Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 5:56 pm Reply with quote
MaxSouth wrote:
You certainly do not understand the difference between nationalities and races, do not you? (Chinese and Japanese being drastically different nations in their roots has nothing to do with those nations belonging to the same race.) Learn a thing or two before you start accusing others of racism.

And you're standing on shaky ground to insist that Japanese and Chinese racial backgrounds are the same. That's just one theory that is based primarily on Chinese legends. Scientific studies have more strongly suggested a mixture of a Korean connection with indigenous Aboriginal populations, although that is also far from definitive.
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MaxSouth



Joined: 11 Oct 2008
Posts: 1363
PostPosted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 8:56 am Reply with quote
I do not insist and do not even suppose Chinese and Japanese people have the same racial background. Those oriental eyes that are feature of Asian race might come from very different backgrounds genetically (as another example, black nations in Africa have at least three drastically different roots, yet the race is there; or some white nations in Europe are totally different in their backgrounds, and still they belong to a race, too). But it is different subject, because the problem of how certain nations are depicted in anime is only around the way how people look, not from where they obtained those looks.

By the way, I finally understood what is the issue with the voice of bumpkin hero: it is the same actor who voiced Ichigo/Strawberry in Bleach series (yes, I am slow and stupid, all right?). Poor guy was abused by that character for ten years, where he had no other option than to do a lot of screaming. And now they gave him role with even more screaming. I suppose this actor could do much more than just that, but, alas.

As an addition to earlier comment about ridiculously unrealistic fights, I have to specify in more details what exactly makes them so unrealistic besides fantastic capabilities of heroes: "historism". This anime does not officially declare that this is world of fantasy and magic, that superhumans exist and walk around. So there is no explanation why those crazy superpowers are exposed in heroes. This makes whole thing very unconvincing and cheap.
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MaxSouth



Joined: 11 Oct 2008
Posts: 1363
PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 7:05 am Reply with quote
I have to be masochist because I am still watching it. Now I am at 12th episode, and depicted events are so ridiculous, unbelievable and nonsensical that you could only think that you are watching a D-rated cheapo production. It was a long time since I watched so poorly plotted/scripted show.

The saddest part is that while much better anime shows get only 13 or, maximum, 26 episodes run, and this insulting exercise is going to last 38 episodes. Rolling Eyes
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