If you’re outside of Japan, you might not be too familiar with the anime series called Kingdom. But in Japan, it’s pretty popular, and stacks right up there in viewership with other series, such as Attack on Titan and My Hero Academia, so maybe there’s something to it.
In fact, NHK recently announced that Kingdom will be getting a third season. To celebrate the good news, the series creator, Yasuhisa Hara, has posted a bit of art online.
So Kingdom Season 3 got announced finally. pic.twitter.com/Fy0gpXcGqU
— YonkouProductions (@YonkouProd) November 7, 2019
A new staff will also be working on this new season, with Hara supervising. Returning vocal cast members include Masakazu Morita as Shin (Xin), Jun Fukuyama as Ei Sei (Yin Zheng), and Rie Kugimiya as Karyō Ten (He Liao Diao).
Hara has also confirmed that this third season will be covering the Alliance Arc storyline from the manga series.
Kingdom is a historical manga that features the tale of an orphan slave boy named Xin, who dreams of becoming a general in the service of the state of Qin. One day, his friend Piao was taken to the palace for an unknown purpose but returns a few months later on the verge of death.
Piao urges Xin to travel to another village, where he meets another boy who looks identical to Piao named Ying Zheng, who turns out to be the current King of Quin.
Xin learns here that Piao served as the body double for the king and was mortally wounded by an opposing faction headed up by the king’s brother, who seeks to take the throne. It is here that Xin decides to aid Ying Zheng to reclaim the Qin throne and become a military commander during the Warring States China.
He looks to become the Greatest General in the World while helping the king to unify all of China.
The series first began as a manga in Shueisha’s Weekly Young Jump magazine in 2006. The 56th volume of the series is set to be released in Japan on November 19. Hara has stated that he is planning to write up to 100 volumes for the series.
The television anime series was adapted in 2012 by studio Pierrot. Funimation has licensed the series for an English language release.
There’s also a live-action film that opened in theaters in Japan on April 19 and starred actor Kento Yamazaki and directed by Shinsuke Satō.