Kingdom Season 5 Premiere Postponed After January 1 Earthquake!

The official website for the Kingdom manga's anime adaptation recently announced a delay in the premiere of the fifth series, citing the New Year's Day earthquake at the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture as the cause. Originally scheduled to debut on January 6, the first episode will now be broadcast on January 13 at 24:15 JST, a move attributed to NHK's coverage of the earthquake.

The highly anticipated fifth season of Kingdom introduces a mix of new and returning cast members. DeNeel contributes the opening theme, titled "Shirubebi," while Novel Core presents the ending theme, "RULERS." Among the new cast members are Kentaro Ito as Kan Ki/Huan Yi, Haruka Nagamine as Koku'ou, Kenji Nomura as Raido, Motoki Sakuma as Ma Ron/Mo Lun, Katsuyuki Konishi as Na Ki, Taku Yashiro as Rin Gyoku, Takehiro Hasu as Zenou, Kōji Ishii as Ki Sui/Ji Hui, Kenta Miyake as Ba Tei/Ma Cheng, and Yoshihisa Kawahara as Ryuu Tou/Liu Dong.

The Kingdom anime first premiered in 2012, followed by a second series in 2013. Both were streamed by Funimation in North America. The third series, which debuted in April 2020, faced interruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic but resumed in April 2021, restarting from the beginning. The fourth series launched in April 2022 on NHK General, with Crunchyroll streaming it as it aired.

Yasuhisa Hara's historical manga, which began serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump magazine in 2006, revolves around Xin, a slave boy with ambitions of becoming a great general for the state of Qin. The story follows Xin's journey as he aids Ying Zheng, the young Qin king, in his quest to unify China and rise to power within the state. The manga has achieved remarkable success, setting records and garnering widespread acclaim.

Fans impatiently await the continuation of Xin's saga as the fifth season promises to deliver new adventures and challenges in the quest for unification and military prowess in ancient China.