'Kingdom' Live-Action Film Shares First Trailer

Kingdom stands as one of Japan’s most popular seinen series, but its reputation has struggled to [...]

By Megan Peters

Kingdom stands as one of Japan's most popular seinen series, but its reputation has struggled to travel far beyond Japan. However, it looks like the acclaimed manga will get a chance to wow audiences everywhere thanks to a live-action film, and the adaptation has shared its first trailer.

Above, you can find a first-look at Kingdom, the long-awaited adaptation of Yasuhisa Hara's manga. The lengthy clip reveals characters like Shin (Xin) and Ei Sei (Yin Zheng), and director Shinsuke Sato shows off a few action sequences in this new reel as well.

For those needing a refresher on Kingdom, its live-action film was announced earlier this year after its official Instagram went live. Sato signed on to direct the film with Kento Yamazaki leading the project. Hengdian World Studios is backing production on the film, and reports have circulated assigning Kingdom a hefty 2-billion yen budget.

A full cast and character list for the film has been made public following the trailer. You can check out the listing below, and fans will want to note the name change given to its characters. Originally, Hara's manga assigned Chinese names to its characters, but localized names for the leads were popularized in Japan as the manga grew in popularity. It appears the live-action film will use these Japanese names, so fans will want to keep that in mind as Kingdom nears its April 2019 release.

  • Ryō Yoshizawa as Ei Sei (Yin Zheng)
    Masami Nagasawa as Yō Tanwa (Yang Duan He)
    Kanna Hashimoto as Ka Ryō Ten (He Liao Diao)
    Takao Osawa as Ō Ki (Wang Qi)
    Kanata Hongō as Sei Kyō (Cheng Jiao)
    Shinnosuke Mitsushima as Heki (Bi)
    Masahiro Takashima as Shō Bun Kun (Chang Wen Jun)
    Jun Kaname as Tō (Teng)

What do you make of this live-action remake so far? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

If you are not familiar with Kingdom, then you have quite a bit to read. The series was created by Yasuhira Hara and is still on-going. The story is set in China during the Warring States period and follows two orphans named Ri Shin and Hyou. When the latter dies, Shin finds himself involved in a conspiracy which allows him to join the army. Shin dreams of becoming the world's greatest general, and the hero tries to do so by helping Ei Sei of Quin unify China before its internal conflicts split it apart.

Hara's series first debuted in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump in 2006, and has been collected into 48 volumes as of October 2017. The series was adapted into an anime series that ran for two seasons from 2013 to 2014, and has been adapted for an English language release by Funimation.

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