Magazine commemorating manga’s 20th anniversary features new art, poster, poll results, interview
Image courtesy of Viz Media
© 2006 by Yasuhisa Hara/SHUEISHA Inc.
This year’s 29th issue of Shueisha’s Young Jump magazine revealed on Thursday that Shueisha will publish a special magazine for Yasuhisa Hara’s Kingdom manga titled Kingdom Magazine on August 19, as part of the manga’s 20th anniversary.
The magazine will have new art from Hara featured on the cover, and will also include a poster with the same art. The magazine will also have the results of the manga’s third character poll, a long interview with Hara, a look back at the manga’s past 20 years, and more.
Hara’s record-setting manga launched in Shueisha’s Weekly Young Jump magazine in 2006. Shueisha published the manga’s 79th compiled book volume on May 19. Viz Media licensed the manga, and released the eighth volume on June 16.
The historical manga centers around the slave boy Xin and his dream of becoming a great general for the state of Qin. Xin helps Ying Zheng, the young Qin king who shares his desire to unify China, rise to power within the state. Xin does all he can to become a superior commander of an army capable of defeating the Seven Warring States.
The anime adaptation’s fifth series premiered on the NHK General channel in January 2024.
The first television anime adaptation premiered in 2012, and a second series premiered in 2013. Funimation streamed both series in North America and released both anime series on DVD in 2016. The third anime series premiered in April 2020. The show went on hiatus after four episodes due to COVID-19, but then resumed airing in April 2021. The anime restarted its airing from the first episode. Funimation streamed the anime as it aired in Japan. The fourth series premiered on NHK General in April 2022. Crunchyroll streamed the anime as it aired.
The first live-action film opened in Japan in April 2019, and eventually earned a cumulative total of 5.73 billion yen (about US$53.2 million). Funimation screened the film at Anime Expo in July 2019, and screened the film in theaters in the United States and Canada in August 2019. The second film Kingdom II: Harukanaru Daichi e (To Distant Lands) opened in Japan in July 2022, and earned 5.16 billion yen (about US$37.8 million), making it the highest-earning Japanese live-action film in Japan in 2022. Kingdom: Taishogun no Kikan (Return of the General), the fourth live-action Kingdom film, opened in Japan in July 2025. Netflix is streaming the film. Kingdom: Tamashii no Kessen (Decisive Battle of the Soul), the fifth live-action film, will open in Japan on July 17.
Source: Young Jump issue 29
