Screening 6 years after the second, the third season of “Kingdom” brought shattering changes to the franchise, as Studio Pierrot brought in Studio Signpost in the production and changed the character designers, resulting in probably the sole significant issue of the franchise, the artform, improving significantly.
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The political aspect is even more restrained this time, essentially being restricted to half an episode taking place in the palace, with the 24 out of the 26 episodes of the season dealing with a large-scale battle, while the last two focus on Kyou Kai's arc. In that fashion, the nation of Qin faces its biggest challenge yet, as a coalition army of a number of other nations led by Li Mu attack the kingdom. As the invasion begins, the Qin strategists figure that the best way to defend their country iss to abandon all posts and gather as many troops as possible they could afford at the walls of Kankoku pass, the northern path leading to the capital city. Li Mu, however, has set a number of plans in motion, one of which involves a secret attack which includes Pang Nuan.
Check the review of the previous season
Probably the best part of the story, of Kazuya Monma's direction, and essentially, of the whole season is the way the different fronts are presented in the narrative, allowing for the inclusion of many and quite intriguing characters, as much as a non-stop series of captivating battles. It is not just the way the soldiers are presented fighting with each other, or the astonishing one-on-ones, which are also induced with a sense of drama since no one knows when a ‘good guy' will lose, but also the succession of the scenes moving from one front to the other, with the direction and editing in that regard emerging as truly top notch.
The fact that, in the first part of the invasion, Qin seems to win in all fronts, without, though scoring crucial victories, the small wins the coalition army gains, and moreover, the secret campaign by Li Mu in the second part, induce the story with a sense of agony and drama that definitely benefits the story here. As usual, the Deus-ex-Machina trope is implemented repeatedly, but even this ‘trick' is well embedded in the narrative and does not look particularly artificial. Furthermore, the inner politics among the many generals of both factions, and the aftermath of the battle add another level of intricacy in the story, which, even if not thoroughly explored, does lurk above the story in the most entertaining fashion.
The presence of the ‘death dealer' Pang Nuan, and the danger he poses, as much as the fact that his personality is analyzed more thoroughly this time, adds yet another catalyst factor to the narrative, cementing the intricacy of the story. Lastly, Kyou Kai's arc adds much to the dramatic aspect of the season, while concluding a rather interesting act by adding even more to the analysis of the particular character.
Technically, this season is definitely on a whole other level than the other two. The cheap CGI has been replaced by hand drawn sketches, apart from some very brief sequences, and the result is impressive, both in the army and the one-on-one battles. The many panoramic shots look astonishing, with the amount of detail on the backgrounds following suit, and the presentation of the various disasters being among the most memorable scenes in the series. The characters' design definitely looks sharper and with more detail, with Hisashi Abe, Sin Rin and Hiroshi Tomioka's work in the department being excellent in all aspects. The appearance of a rather loud, comic-relief character is thankfully restricted to the first episodes, while the appearance of a sultry female general induces the title with a slight fanservice element, which is, though, organically implemented.
“Kingdom Season 3” is a truly masterful title, probably one of the best war/epic anime of all time.
