Yasuhisa Hara is the creator of Kingdom one of the best selling Manga series in Japan these days. The fourth highest first print run of a manga volume of the last year; 950,000 copies to be exact. It boasts more than 100 million tankōbon in circulation worldwide, Kingdom is one of the best-selling manga in history.
It’s also won awards. In 2013, Hara won the Grand Prize of the 17th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize for his work on Kingdom. It also won the first annual Tsutaya Comic Awards’ All-Time Best Section in 2017. In 2021 150,000 people voting for their top 100 manga in the Manga Sōsenkyo Poll ranked, Kingdom at thirteenth.
With over 110 million copies sold worldwide, Kingdom has inspired an anime adaptation, two live-action films, PlayStation and mobile games, so VIZ media has a right to take pride in their announcement of an English language translation. According to Head of Global PR & Publicity, Chantelle Sturt, Kingdom will be hitting US bookshelf’s in November of this year. The series will also join their Shonen Jump service following the release of each graphic novel.
Kingdom offering readers a window into one of the most transformative periods in Chinese history, set during China’s Warring States period. It follows Xin, a war orphan from the kingdom of Qin, who dreams of becoming a great general and uniting China. After his closest friend, Piao, dies under mysterious circumstances, Xin embarks on a journey to fulfill their shared dream. Along the way, he meets Ying Zheng, a young king bearing a striking resemblance to Piao, who seeks Xin’s help to reclaim his throne and change the course of history.