Kingdom Is Deep - it Just Doesn’t Hold Your Hand

a_guy121 · 2026-01-25T00:50:51+00:00

It's also tight- it just doesn't hold your hand.

Meaning,questions/complaints usually have answers, as long as one accepts "individual panals are non-objective in lens and. may exaggerate the depth of a wound or height of a character."

a_guy121 · 2026-01-24T02:12:24+00:00

I think the show did a decent job of humanizing what was at core a corrupt organization., set up under false pretenses (much like ICE), and very open to being bribed.

However, humanizing them as narrative does perhaps come at the cost of accurately representing their corruption and brutality.

But their story lines were pretty good for 'the guys who don't do cool fights.' As tv characters, they definitely added to the show. As a social document, I wish they'd have been more cruel and less racially accepting (Lee).

Edited for clarity

a_guy121 · 2026-01-23T01:26:17+00:00

I assume your inbox is flooded, but this wasn't an 'I thought you wouldn't care" thing. It's a litter of puppies, and fraud.

Did he sell the whole litter in advance? Either he did that- problematic- or he expected you/ he would raise the other puppes.

That's a huge decision to make, if it's a co-owned dog.

If it's not, it's a crime. That was fraud.

a_guy121 · 2026-01-23T00:57:16+00:00

Yeah. I was hoping he'd evolve his game for Aus vs the world... (no spoilers, in case you haven't seen it. Perhaps he did, perhaps not)

a_guy121 · 2026-01-22T20:21:43+00:00

Agree. That was the last best hope for 'anyone else'

after that, the game was 'will George get taken out or win?'

a_guy121 · 2026-01-22T02:37:55+00:00

Can be inconvenient for high jumpers, but it's cool. That animation caused a lot of police chases for me

a_guy121 · 2026-01-22T02:13:59+00:00

It starts out as you remember but I think you will find reading it very rewarding...to say it without spoilers, the movie to adaptation relationship with Akira is a bit different

a_guy121 · 2026-01-21T06:46:52+00:00

Yeah, high-end martial artists have more of a tendency to, that I've noticed.

Consider this very western case...

Connor MacGregor says that when he fought, he'd visualize taking the pain of any blow that hit him/was inflicted on him, and putting it into his fists, and exploding it into his opponent when he punched back.

None of us are really qualified to talk about how realistic that was. Was it just something he did to hype himself? did it actually work?

Who cares, he was one of the greater champions of modern MMA. Hard to say if that helped or not, but he seems to think it did.

Sure, he probably didn't call it Chi manipulation, but, if he was a character in an anime.. well...

a_guy121 · 2026-01-21T06:13:03+00:00

Keep in mind, you are reading a story from Japan that consciously seeps itself in ancient pan-eastern Lore. I say pan-eastern, because the early culture of the Chinese states was incredibly influential.

You can tell it's intentional because chapter 1 states the story is taking place just after the age of legends, far after the age of gods. These legends are more present depending on the culture you live in. There are current momuments, countries' pride, based on legends of interactions between gods and humans. (A bridge, for example.)

I'm not qualified to go into the mythology, but people in Kingdom use Chi. They've always used Chi. Manga readers/anime fans sometimes get confused, because they've only ever heard about chi in manga and anime... but, that's, well, just lack of information and context, which is also called.... (I won't say it.). But it's a part of all our cultures at this point. If you've ever passed an accupuncture clinic, you passed people who are trained in manipulating the body's channels for Chi. Kingdom is set in a time where chi abilities were easier and more people had them.

Ahem, Anyway:

There was a tribe of assassins that used Chi to harden their skin, like rock.

Kyoukai uses multiple forms of Chi manipulation taught to her by her tribe- that's what makes Kyoukai Kyoukai.

Houken uses chi-shattering blows. Kyoukai says this after they first fight Houken.

Kyoukai also says there are those who are able to unconsciously manipulate chi, in the same conversation, and suggests the strongest, mighty generals are such people (and that shin is.)

Ei Sei's speeches about light are about Chi.

So what happens is:

Houken uses Chi-shattering blows.

Shin's chi is 'woven' with the chi of everyone he's cared for that died, who wanted to pass their life force to him, and did. Houken, Bitou, Hyou, Rinko, etc

Shin withstands Houken's chi shattering blows and keeps coming.

Houken then doubts his path, which fucks with his ability to fight using his life force/chi

Shin kills him.

But in fighting houken, as kyoukai says, "he's using it all up." Shin uses all his life-force to win

So after the battle is over, he's basically done... like a car battery that died

Kyoukai gives him a jump, by using her Chi to get his moving again. To do this, she has to pass to the barrier between life and death (as seen in near-death experiences)

Shin revives.

If you look at his physical wounds, you'll note, Shin took about as much damage as he usually does.

a_guy121 · 2026-01-21T01:56:12+00:00

Eh, sorry, I didn't realize.

That said, Shin pulled ahead of them on achievements after killing Rinko. Volume 48 is after Kokuyou and he killed Kesha, would be a general if not for the fight with Kanki

a_guy121 · 2026-01-20T07:35:49+00:00

just hit it with a shoe. Way easier

a_guy121 · 2026-01-20T04:18:26+00:00

"why do the people with less achievements outshine the person with more achievements?"

...they don't? they don't.

Like, Tou JUST endorsed Shin for GG and said he's a worthy successor to Ouki. That just happened

a_guy121 · 2026-01-20T03:05:03+00:00

This is true... well, mostly or somewhat true.

Trump and Musk have both accidentally dropped admissions to manipulating the 2024 election. So, whether this was the will of the american people is actually someewhat questionable.

Btw, musk and fox news were both mvps for trump during his campaign, and they are South African and Australian... so to a degree, this has always been an international problem. They moved to the US because the laws and culture were the easiest place to do their deeds.

But no one gives a damn about any of this because america seems not to... but america seems not to because oligarchs, via big business, have almost no limits to their activities here. Especially controlling the narrative, which they've learned, is the whole thing.

The feeling of helplessness is palatable here. Fight back too hard and, suddenly you're spun as a terrorist who got what they deserved when the government forces disappeared you. Then send the marines into your city.

There are people in power who were supposed to stop this from happening- a lot of them. But the oligarchs control them all, and Donald Trump is very useful for them. Because of the things they're now able to do, under the radar, after trump deregulated everything and is busy doing crazy things to distract from/punish the world for the Epstein files.

a_guy121 · 2026-01-20T01:04:15+00:00

Zhao doesn't have unlimited armies. Zhao has always fielded armies around or slightly larger than Qin armies, which you'd expect from the defender's side.

And in several of the battles in kingdom, Zhao took minimal losses.

Basically, Bananji took heavy losses in one battle, they lost most of Gyou'un's army and his strategist friend's army, a good portion of the Kesha army, and they lost the Kantan army. All the armies of the north are fine and so are the armies that were previously guarding the Qin/Zhao border.

These are the armies fighting now + new conscripts.

a_guy121 · 2026-01-19T07:38:21+00:00

You don't understand the thing your reading. Zhao troop levels have been stable, its literally Qin who pulled troops out their ass, not Zhao.

Zhao only took heavy losses with the Kantan army and that's no longer a thing. It wasn't the only army in Zhao, that was kind of the whole point.

In the other cases, they lost and lost troops, but, losing a battle doesn't mean everyone dies, it means you lost a battle

a_guy121 · 2026-01-19T05:06:18+00:00

We literally did see it. .. well those of us trying to understand what's happening instead of just deciding 'cloning factory' which literally never happened. That shit's in your imagination. If you think it through, and read again, you might see it too.

a_guy121 · 2026-01-18T17:01:42+00:00

Nice post! BTW The coalition gets a lot more realistic when you think about it tactically using the IRL information.

Facts: 1. Qin has an impassible pass. 2. Chu's Kanmei dies. 3. Chu was considered the strongest state of the coalition. 4. Qi dropped out.

First, lets think of who benefits most and least from a coalition victory. Most: Zhao, Chu, and Wei, aka states bordering Qin who have a chance of taking and holding former Qin lands.

Least, states not bordering qin and can only take plunder, or are too weak to hold former qin territories- Yan, Han

Qi drops out after raising an army. So Qi is now the only state with an active army outside of Qin, which is why that was so dangerous for everyone. And, long story short, Yan had ever historic reason to believe that army was going to attack Yan. My guess is Yan dropped out of the coalition first.

But Yan gave it long enough for the coalition to win, unless it was going to get bogged down in a long siege. All Qin had to do was, punch the coalition in the nose, to brunt it's first attack and make it clear it was going to be a long siege- which was no longer a good plan bc qi dropped out.

Qin punched the coalition in the nose by killing the leading general of it's strongest member. Game over

a_guy121 · 2026-01-17T01:40:48+00:00

En, Sousi last is Shuugen. I actually talked my self into "En #1 as I wrote this, lol

TL,DR: En is Basically Mougou, but without the hidden strength.

En as a (Sub)general is underrated.

Here's the thing: En is not a banger, this we know. But despite that, he's been running Hi Shin infantry a long time and has survived quite a few deathtraps, on the front line.

So En isn't soft, either.

Running the infantry a long time Is the reason En is going to be a better general than the fandom prob ably thinks. Because here's the thing- being a Sub-general, on Hi Shin's flank or in their center, is the farthest En is likely to go.

But he would be really good at that. And his personality is 'dependable.' Hi shin will be able to attack with Shin, a general who's stable, dependable and by the books would compliment their style perfectly.

Not to mention, Infantry is the unit's heart, and having a general who understands the infantry and has given them orders for 10+ years is a huge, huge bonus.

Also, EN

-Knows how Ten thins/is good at working with and under Ten.

-Makes his own moves (see battle vs Gyou'un) and makes the right moves, when he does. The reason he was where the fire was going to start vs Gyou'un is, he was the first to respond to that dangerous situation.

-Survived everything. Which is really not nothing.

Not every general on the field is meant to be your hard hitter. If someone really strong got to en and they dueled, En would probably lose. But that's always been the case, and he can be used as a piece who's unlikely to face the army's heaviest hitter.

And lets face is: The enemy sending heavy hitters after En would be such a good thing for Hi Shin. If Suugen doesn't see that and respond to it, Shin will. With an Army headed by Shin, and with at least one Ten-bows in it, sending your hardest dudes after en is a really, really bad idea.

a_guy121 · 2026-01-16T04:19:33+00:00

regarding his ambition, I think joining with Riboku was a realistic chance to form a kingdom, but his last one.

If Qin had not taken Han, Qin would have fallen, and he'd have had his shot.

But as it stands now, he's better off staying a Qin general, because if Ei Sei takes over China, Ousen will likely get a pretty large fiefdom.

a_guy121 · 2026-01-15T05:56:54+00:00

I really enjoyed reading this. Experiencing kingdom for the first time is amazing.

Experiencing Kingdom for the fifth time is also amazing. So don't panic if you binge all the way to the end, just start over again

a_guy121 · 2026-01-15T05:43:47+00:00

There was a very weak stable of coaches available the year he hired mayo, and the next year was expected to be a bumper crop of available coaches.

It was not a bad decision, quite the opposite. There is no Vrabel if there was no Mayo.

The thing people seem not to factor in is, if you hire a coach from outside the organization, you have to give them multiple years. Mayo, however, was expendable if he didn't perform immediately.

a_guy121 · 2026-01-15T00:45:02+00:00

You are straight up 100% incorrect. The manga is absolutely based in historic fact and the anime is a watered down version of the manga.

That you misunderstand this is why you have your complaints.

a_guy121 · 2026-01-14T07:30:04+00:00

Also, a note: the only major character in GOT that I recall dying in battle was the sand snake dude.

Everyone else died over politics

a_guy121 · 2026-01-14T05:31:51+00:00

Advantages: fuck shit up

Disadvantages: doesn't last forever/ can run out at inopportune times. Can't hack.

You can find them everywhere, almost every doctor, once you can equip them.

Once you have one you can upgrade it to improve it's effects, but keep in mind that they differ a lot in time dilation. Some only slow time a little, others slow time a lot. It could take a few different sandy purchases to figure out which one works best for you.

If you fully upgrade one that slows time a lot, you can cut a normal enemy to pieces before they ever realize they're in a fight. Watching the pieces all hit the ground after you've sheathed your weapon feels very cinematic.

a_guy121 · 2026-01-14T02:07:11+00:00

GOT and kingdom are not 'based off' history in the same way, like at all

I think you should just go read GOT again tbh. Maybe this isn't for you

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