Third season of “Kingdom” anime series to kick off in April 2020

For fans of the anime series “Kingdom” (adapted from Hara Yasuhisa’s popular manga series), a third season will be broadcast in April 2020.

Under the supervision of Hara, the third season will feature a completely new production team.

TVアニメ「#キングダム」第3シリーズ
2020年4月（予定）NHK総合にて、放送開始決定！

原作：#原泰久 監修の元、物語は「合従軍編」へ…

原先生より描き下ろしイラストとコメント到着！
『皆さんの期待に応えられるアニメーションになると思う』

▼コメント全文はこちらhttps://t.co/oWFJx3iGVi pic.twitter.com/ofgO5e1CRl

— TVアニメ「キングダム」第3シリーズ (@kingdom_animePR) November 8, 2019

In 2006, mangaka Hara Yasuhisa created his award-winning manga series “Kingdom”.

A fictionalized account of the Warring States period, the series has sold over 20 million copies in 2015 and was the grand prize winner of the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2013.

The anime series adaptation produced by Pierrot aired on NHK in 2012-2013, with a second season having aired in 2013-2014.

The anime series began with the introduction of two war-orphans, Xin and Piao.  Both often training their fighting skills and have their dreams of becoming “Great Generals of the Heavens” in the kingdom of Qin.  But both are peasants and are household slaves.

Xin is more of the hotheaded and blunt of the two, one day while fighting, a minister arrives and gives Piao the opportunity to have a position in the Palace, while Xin who is saddened he would be separated from Piao, knows that if one of them can make their dreams come true to become a general, then their dreams will be fulfilled.

A short time has past and one day, a bloodied and near-death Piao arrives and tells Xin that he must fulfill a mission as he is unable to make it.  Piao tells Xin that an assassin hired by the Cheng Jiao Faction is responsible and that their dreams will now be up to him but he must take a map and fulfill the rest of the mission.  Piao dies and Xin wants revenge on who is responsible for killing him.

Xin is joined by Heliao Dao, the last descendant of her Mountain Tribe, the Kyuumei and has disguised herself as a male.  Both try to find out what happened to Piao and it was learned that the reason why Piao was taken to the palace was to become the body double of King Ying Zheng who was targeted by opposing forces.  A job which Piao was proudly to take.

As Xin takes up the mantle to protect Ying Zheng (in reality, would become the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang and the person responsible for unifying China), the journey of the anime series would show how Xin would develop his skills, learn from the best generals and eventually become a field commander and prepare for his journey to make his dream of becoming a general come true.

But every step of the way, the kingdom of Zhao and their powerful generals are bent on destroying the Qin and their legendary general, Wang Qi.

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