The radio silence since Kingdom’s season 5 announcement was broken with the first major visual. With restrictions on production details lifted, members of the cast and crew also took to social media to express their excitement at the news.
Via Twitter, the main image showcases Unit Fei Xin as they prepare for war against the Kingdom of Zhao. Masakazu Morita takes on the role of Shin, with voice actors Jun Fukuyama (Ei Sei), Rie Kugimiya (He Liao Diao), Yoko Hikasa (Qiang Lei), Susumu Akagi (Yuan), Kōsuke Toriumi (Wei Ping) also reprising their roles. The teaser ends with an ominous, “The curtain of the Battle of Koku You Hills is lifted [Japanese]heralds the beginning of the war against the Zhao Kingdom.”
Composer Kohta Yamamoto [Kingdom, Attack on Titan: The Final Season] also confirmed that he will be in charge of the music alongside Hiroyuki Sawano, who will also be recording for the upcoming Solo Leveling anime. One of Xin’s most formidable rivals in Huan Yi is reportedly set to play a big part this season, with Yamamoto teasing that “as a Huan Yi fan,” he’s “really looking forward to this fifth season.”
The Kingdom season 5 news comes as part of a huge summer of anime announcements, with Classroom of the Elite releasing a new key visual for season 3, Junji Ito’s “terrible” trailer for Uzumaki, Cowboy Bebop creator Lazarus, etc. Kingdom is widely considered by many fans to be part of the “Big 3” Saga character design, along with “Big 3” creator Seinen and Vinland. done with unique illustrations of Thorfinn.
Based on the manga of the same name, Yasuhisa Hara’s Kingdom is one of the most successful manga series of all time with over 99 million copies in circulation as of 2023. After experiencing a rough start in previous seasons, with seasons 1 and 2 being heavily criticized for using CGI, season 3 of Kingdom returned six years later in April 2020 with a full transition to 2d animation. Since then, Kingdom has released regular anime with season 4 ending in October 2022.
Kingdom season 5 will premiere in January 2024.
Source: Twitter