Forum - View topicKingdom (TV).
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Gina Szanboti
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Ep 21
Now that's the money! So glad to see Kyou Kai finally make an appearance, even if it was in a flashback. She still saved Shin's ass. 
My only real disappointment was He Liao's ongoing funk after her run-in with her old mentor. That's totally out of character for her, just for the drama of it. And there's still my ongoing frustration with the apparent inability of everyone to figure out how to thwart the ladders. Ladders are inherently unstable beasts, easy to tip over. Seems like a long, forked stick shoved against the top rung by half a dozen defenders would topple them. Even the English figured out the boiling oil pouring over the climbers thing. Toss netting over them. I can think of half a dozen different ways to keep them from making it to the top, and I think the Chinese were much more clever about devising such things than I am. I don't even get what happens at sundown. Do all the attackers just stop and scurry back down the ladders when the whistle blows to knock off? So every day is a new chance to try things to stop them climbing up. But no one even tries. Nice cliffhanger, but history kind of spoils the tension, ya know? 
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11356 |
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Ep 22
Best episode of the season! Lots of good dramatic moments, high tension (yeah, we know they're gonna win, but how is the kicker), some long overdue quiet moments between Shin and Ei Sei, and He Liao finally stepping up again instead of wallowing in despair. Nice to see the Fei Xin Force kicking some ass too. Still can't get over the lack of counter measures to the ladders, and probably never will. And yeah, nice miracle cavalry showing up. I did not expect to see them involved in this, so that's going to be awesome. Just wondering what Pang Nuan's going to do. He's not there just for show. Hell, at this point I wouldn't be surprised if Kyou Kai actually did take a break from her revenge tour to show up for the battle at this point. It almost feels like they've been foreshadowing that, what with her flashback and Ei Sei asking Shin if there was anyone he fancied. Though between Kyou Kai and He Liao, I'm not quite sure which of them the author is backing. Both have had their moments with Shin, and it's been clear for ages that He Liao is in love with him. But he's shown a bit more interest (as in not zero) in Kyou Kai, who may not even swing that way. She could even be ace for all I know. But as Shin said, "Who cares about that now?!" 
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11356 |
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Ep 23-25
So the cavalry arrives and kicks ass, while Shin battles it out with Pang Nuan. Ri Boku turns tail and sneaks off as the sneaky coward he is. And Pang rides off befuddled that the battle didn't go his way, but I guess both live to fight another day. But today is saved, yay. Everybody gets their Star Wars rewards and promotions (I was delighted that they didn't forget to reward the villagers too), and they're off to the next battle. Meng Tian apparently survived, so that's cool, and I like that he's still proud of his father, no matter how much they butt heads. Wang Ben not too pleased with Shin's promotion. But Shin, you little jerk. The new troops were marveling over how awesome He Liao is and you're all like, "Nope, she's not the awesome one, that'd be Kyou Kai." I mean, c'mon, they're both awesome, let her get some of the spotlight, m'kay? And while Kyou Kai did miss the big battle, she's finally shown up in real time! I don't really get Yū Ren's followers. She seems to be an outlaw herself now, so why are all these clanswomen on her team? I must've missed/forgotten some of the details of the rules this cult operates under. Anyway, Kyou Kai's holding her own against them all for now. Next week should be quite the duel. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11356 |
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Ep 26
And the climactic battle did not disappoint! I was kinda bummed that the season ended without Kyou Kai coming back to the Fei Xin Force, and that they also sacrificed that lovely terra cotta army ED for titles on a black background...and then voila! After credits! Yay!! I thought it was funny that while Shin has been looking more and more like Naruto with the slash marks on his face during the battles, suddenly he's got the flawless glowing skin of a teenager on a Proactiv regimen! Looking forward to season 4 next year!
And after wrapping up this season, I went ahead and watched the live action movie which was really great. The casting for everybody was perfect, but Ou Ki totally stole the show. Takao Osawa nailed the character and his affectations, while still coming across as a truly formidable person you wouldn't want to cross. And Masami Nagasawa as Yō Tanwa the mountain King was awesome, like a Japanese Xena. I believed this woman could rule a tribe of warriors. Made me want to go watch the early episodes of the anime again. My only complaint was the ED song. It's a pop song by OK Rock that just clashed so hard with the period mood, with lyrics that sounded more like a love song than a "Let's Build a Kingdom" song, though it was ostensibly written for the movie. I mean if they'd just changed the lyric from "don't want to waste another night" to "day" it would've gone a long way toward fitting the movie. They're supposed to be making a sequel, but Covid has delayed the hell out of that, so who knows if or when we'll ever get that. Fingers crossed! |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11356 |
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And the 4th season begins! It's off to a great start, with Kyou Kai back, shooting for dai shogun, and ready to make babies with Shin! Loved how they set up the group spit-take for that.
Too bad no one has really told her how babies are made. Her reaction when He Liao filled her in was priceless, especially since it was all really tiny in the background.
And we say farewell to Meng Ao. And hello to Baby Rei, Daughter of Ei Sei! Meanwhile, Ri Boku is just chilling out in the Zhao boonies in Domei, after getting slapped down for losing the coalition war. I guess everybody's kinda just cooling their jets while recovering from that war and prepping for the next one. Interesting point about the winner being the country that will go through the most upheaval in the aftermath. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11356 |
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Wow, didn't realize it had been this long since I posted in here. Guess I got tired of talking to myself.
Anyway we're deep into Season 5 now. 
It's been a pretty slow burn, what with most of the season so far detailing the endless battle for Koku You Hill. Kyou Kai is back, hurray! He Liao is really coming into her own as a strategist and sub-commander. There's been lots of good characterization for a number of main characters which has been nice. Fei Xin unit is really a force to be reckoned with now, no doubts from most of the Qin troops. But episode 10 really pulled out the stops with the raw drama. Huan Yi (Kan Ki) really is a right bastard, so I hope either Shin or Kyou Kai takes his head off at some point. My one real beef this season was how contrived Kyou Kai's failure to assassinate Ryuu Tou (Liu Dong) was, in order to get her in position for the old lady's death to be personal. Instead of just lobbing in and taking his head, as an assassin of her caliber would, she practically talks him to death, giving him the chance to survive. But otherwise, it's been a good ride so far. |
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