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Kingdom Manga Volume 60 Is First in Series With 1-Million First Run

The staff of Yasuhisa Hara's Kingdom manga announced on Friday that the series' 60th volume, which shipped on Friday, is the manga's first to have a first run of 1 million copies. Additionally, the series' compiled book volumes now have a total of more than 70 million copies in circulation.

Hara's historical manga began with 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 record-setting manga launched in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump magazine in 2006. Shueisha published the 58th compiled book volume in Japan on Friday. Hara said he is considering writing up to 100 volumes. A television anime adaptation premiered in 2012, and a second season premiered in 2013. Funimation streamed the series in North America and released both anime on DVD in 2016.

The anime's third season premiered on NHK General on April 5. Funimation has been streaming the anime as it airs in Japan. The anime is delaying the broadcast of episode 5 and later episodes after the government's state of emergency declaration against the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) greatly impacted the production schedule. The anime was later rescheduled to return in spring 2021.

The manga inspired a live-action film by Shinsuke Satō that opened in Japan in April 2019. Funimation began screening the film in theaters in the United States and Canada last August. The film is getting a sequel.

The manga is also inspiring a smartphone game titled Kingdom Dash!! that is slated to launch in spring 2021.

Source: Comic Natalie