© 2023 yoruhashi/MAG Garden, Project’The Kingdoms of Ruin’
I like dark, bloody anime, but sometimes it’s too much, too much. I can think of a few popular anime that have crossed *my* boundaries and I no longer want to watch. Currently, Kingdoms of Ruin is going in that direction for me.
I love – admire – the relationship between Chloe and Adonis. It wasn’t overly flirtatious or sexual, yes she was teasing him, but I could sense that the two really cared deeply about each other and Chloe wanted to help Adonis learn and grow positively. extreme magic. I thought to myself, I can’t wait to spend more time with this duo!
Then, the way Emperor Goethe brutally, brutally and mercilessly stripped and murdered Chloe in front of a crowd horrified me – and Chloe begging for Adonis’s protection left me heartbroken. It’s a lot.
Humans can be so terrible and terrible. It’s important that this is depicted and discussed in art, but I can’t let myself feel this way often. It would affect my mental health – and with some anime, it’s relentless.
So after watching that terrible scene, I don’t know how much longer I can take it, speaking of the intensity of that part.
We then meet Doroka and Anna in a concentration camp. The puppet scene broke my heart again, Doroka was so brave. I can see myself loving this character. Then she finds a way to escape, helps the prisoners escape, and helps Adonis escape! Let’s go!!!
Adonis, after being tied up and imprisoned in a mechanical compartment for 10 years, raging about losing Chloe there, became seething, unleashing his rage on the Redia Empire. Doroka tries to convince him to stop the destruction, explaining that she is a witch and she wants to save him and bring Chloe back—then she is shot by Eekhout, CEO of the Redia Empire .
Okay, there are two episodes and this is a lot. Humiliation. Escape. Massacre. Brutality. This show is absolutely chaotic, but I’m incredibly intrigued by this world. The fall of humanity, the destruction of witches – I wanted to know more and see what would happen to Adonis.
Episode 3 has no shortage of crazy or tragic details. Doroka’s flashback shows us that humans are purging witches, using technology that suppresses magic, and it’s devastating. Doroka escapes and goes to see Madam Ophelia—who I believe will be a major character later—who seems to be a superior in the wizarding world. Doroka died. Adonis retaliates with a HUGE bullet and blows Eekhout away.
We switch to the perspective of the Redia Empire. Yuki (the girl with pink hair, a bow, and thick eyebrows), the military commander’s younger sister, Yamato (the guy with big ears) wants to release the magic blocking technology to fight Adonis, but the scientist learning the Theta (reminder) me of Ritsuko from Neon Genesis Evangelion) revealed that magic suppression technology killed human soldiers exposed during the witch hunt, causing “Cellular Dysfunction Disease”. human cells”—and since all the witches have been killed, humanity will perish because there is no way to “clean” our environment anymore. That’s a lot. I know. Three episodes in and my jaw is on the floor every time.
But we don’t stop there. Theta also tells us that Emperor Goethe’s illness was caused by the technology when he released it on Chloe. You thought that would be enough to stop Yuki, but no. It wasn’t that she tried to activate the technology, but Theta stopped her—both compromised and exposed. Why Yuki? Why.
I thought to myself: “We’re done, nothing more wild can happen.” Then, a blue-haired female soldier beheaded Adonis. That’s not his head. I knew it immediately. There’s no way we’re beheading and taking out Adonis in episode 3. Not happening.
They took the head to the lab and as I foretold, it wasn’t his, and Adonis’s eyes opened BUT WHERE?
Yes, that’s right, a lot. Now how many times have I said that? But I mean, practically every episode I was thinking what the hell is going on-and I got a little confused and had to rewind the episodes a few times because I thought-did I get it all right? ?
This anime got off to a strong and passionate start. I checked a bunch of different polls around the web and people ranked it high this season, and rightly so. It was quite dark and uncomfortable, so I was a little afraid of what would happen…but the animation was beautiful. All the twists and turns have happened–I’m here for it (also, I’m here for it because it’s the anime assigned to me to review, but anyway).
I hope to see a softer side of Adonis, I want to see him connect with some other characters on a deeper level, I hope it happens with Doroka (RIP) and I can’t wait wanting to see more of what exists in the wizarding world and see glimmers of it from the past. You could say the anime has put a spell on me… for now (it was so bad that I had to end it). See you next week!
Rating:
The Kingdoms of Ruin is now streaming on Crunchyroll.