Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
shrishkalenja
At first you will be curious about the high ratings this show has..and then you watch the first episode and get hooked. But it is just downfall after that. You would assume this show is all about how the brilliant mc will raise to the top and remove corruption and how he handles situation with his brains along with the other mc who is strong in combat . you would think this show is about two who raise to the top together. but the show gives them barely any role . kills of interesting characters. and filled with bland characters.,. It just has a very different type of story telling and art . which somewhat keeps you in the hook only for the story to be unsatisfactory . the art fools you into thinking this is good . but surely doesn't deserve the high rating it has..
Read at the sourcekingdom_45
Nippon Sangoku — A Surprisingly Great Anime
After finishing all 12 episodes of Nippon Sangoku, I can honestly say this was one of the shows that surprised me the most.
The first episode immediately caught my attention. It starts really strong and gives you a good idea of what kind of story you're getting into without wasting much time. From there, the story keeps getting more interesting as the political conflicts, different characters, and battles start to develop. The series does a good job of making me curious about what will happen next.
One of my favorite things about it is the art style. It looks very different from most anime, and that's something I really appreciate. The character designs, backgrounds, and overall visual style give the show its own identity. It might look unusual…
Read at the sourceSirMadijeis
A good military-themed story has to do a bunch of difficult aspects right: character development, economic and political setting and the actual tactics and strategies. Nippon sangoku is appallingly bad at setting the first aspect, does a somewhat poor job at the second and it's barely mediocre with the third. The technical quality of the anime is great in its first episode and declines sharply, so if you were attracted by its intense style in the first episode I'm sorry to disappoint you.
I don't really need to tell you why you need good characters for a good story, but I'll point out it's importance for military storylines: there is a very deep psychological component to warfare, if you were to study the writings of historical commander you'll come to see the many doubts, assumptions an…
Read at the sourceCaptainKenshiro
For supposedly being the dark horse of the season, Nippon Sangoku didn’t strike as that dark to me but it did have its fair share of horseshit in it. For all the praise I’ve seen of it from both casuals that checked it out of curiosity, and critics/elitists as the hidden gem/best show of its season, I expected a lot more and thus consider it my disappointment of the year so far.
Most of the criticism I have with it has been said somewhere else already. The beginning is pretty meh, the setting has some inconsistencies, the main character didn’t act according to his characterization at first, the characters are kinda plain, and the finale is super rushed. For most of those, we will take a look extensively at the first episode.
This is a retrofuturistic post-apocalyptic Three Kingdoms in Ja…
Read at the sourcemairwaa
This is Kingdom with all the sauce but absolutely no substance.
The good parts are that, again, so much sauce, amazing style, animation, the voice acting is *chefs kiss*, pretty much all you want from anime as a medium.
The bad parts? phew. expositions on top of expositions. it tries to have complex mind games but one side is frustratingly dumb and unfair, what even is the point anymore. misumi and tsune-chan san are legit the only interesting parts of the show and they don't! show them! at all!!!! the over narration as if it's a real war makes me laugh, because it's not a real war, and they were so heavy handed with the narration it's honestly a bore.
it's not the worst thing in the world and i will be tuning into the 2nd season (if it has one) but eh i wish we had more of the actual p…
Read at the sourceduckingaround
Totally recommend this if you don't expect it to be too deep, and if you just enjoy it in a comedic way then i think it's a good use of time. Basically copying Three Kingdoms thingy, with people dying. It got one big cry out of me, in the later parts of the anime when someone died, and that's totally worth it to me already. Not many animes can make u get one big cry. The dynamics between the main characters are funny too so yeah. Comedy at its peak idk. Love Ryumon and Kaku A LOT. Even if many ppl don't think it's hitting the spot of mature animes, it's seriously worth watching yk. Totally.
Read at the sourceMonteMonte
Nippon Sangoku is a show that on paper has an interesting premise, with a young man named Aoteru Misumi trying to reunify a divided post-apocalyptic Japan. The show sells you on a great premise of a complex narrative, but is in way too much of a hurry to actually let the viewer enjoy any of it.
So, the premise: nuclear war leads to crisis, refugees, revolution and conflict, and ends up in a Meiji-era Japan divided into three warring states. Does it make sense? No. But it's a unique enough premise that's also well executed so it's no biggie. Its biggest drawback is, however, the pacing. Episode 1 sets the stage, and gives a fine exposition, but after that the viewer gets bombarded with info non-stop. Endless hordes of new names, factions, political tricks and troop movements are thrown at…
Read at the sourcesaada_
What if you took Kingdom and stripped it of its plot and rich strategy? You get Nippon Sangoku.
One of my biggest nits with this show is the fact that it puts up a front of strategy, but instead of diving deep into game theory and having each side as trying as hard as they can until they get genuinely outplayed, most victories come from one side displaying cartoon-level foolishness or the writers pulling shit out of their ass to save an unwinable situation.
Furthermore, the characters are not believable at all. Misumi doesn't have to work his way up the ladder through hard work and demonstrated achievement. Instead, he has one lucky stroke (the agriculture policy he implemented) and all of a sudden he has the complete trust of his seniors. So much so in fact that they were willing to be…
Read at the sourceStanis150
The first episode created the illusion that it could be something serious and interesting, but it turned out to be typical of today's childish-teenage primitive caricature clownery, which was simply thrown on top of a little bloody cruelty and an atypical visual style.
The characters are terribly boring, they don't have a drop of life or any nuance, they constantly speak slogans and pathetic phrases even in private conversations. Remember how in your first Power Point presentation you threw all possible effects and transitions on the slides? This anime feels the same way, as if the author got hold of some book with quotes and stuffed them everywhere where it is needed and not needed, and so as to make it as much as possible.Typically for low-quality anime, all the "smart" characters here…
Read at the sourceGilbert_D_Piece
I really recommend this anime—it has everything you could want for a little anime marathon: drama, comedy, military strategy, and above all, conviction. There are plenty of references you’ll pick up on as you watch. I think you should give it a chance because each episode is somewhat unpredictable, and the soundtrack adds a perfect sense of immersion that keeps you glued to the screen. Best of all, every episode is connected, from the first to the last. Trust me, you won’t regret watching it. Keep an open mind and remember that, in the end, it’s just fiction. I’d like to add that the graphics are truly beautiful and unique—it’s a visual delight to observe the detail in the characters, the settings, and the many objects on screen. You’ll also encounter a variety of characters that you’d typ…
Read at the sourceBowlerConspiracy
"Painfully delusional."
-- the following is an examination of how a tired and boring lead, as well as a completely invalidating ending, can make something so worthy of praise hard to recommend. reader discretion is advised. --
I don't want to tag this as a spoiler because, despite later in this review me examining events in a lens that could definitely be seen as such while still attempting to avoid too specific specifics, I think it's really important for anyone interested in picking up this show to know this right off the bat.
Nippon Sangoku has a weak lead protagonist and not only fails to stick the landing of everything it sets out to do, but rather completely breaks both legs without fail upon impact of the lackluster arc conclusion / next arc introduction.
Aoteru is like Ayanokou…
Read at the sourceSSJester
To be honest, after watching the first episode, I was quite skeptical about this anime. The premise seemed lacking in originality, and quoting Sun Tzu is used as a terrible cliche in so many places. I also always worry that a title with excessive violence will use it clumsily. However, the visuals and the directing of the episode kept me from judging based on just one entry, so I knew I had to watch a few more.
And it was not in vain. Everything I previously considered a downside turned into the anime's unique strengths for me, because in skilled hands, even cliches can be used to bring pleasure to the viewer. For now, I can't say that I’ve truly connected with the main character, Misumi Aoteru, but just like with all the characters in this title, I expect great things from this young man…
Read at the sourceHERMIT_PAIMON
" A well crafted idea "
I am a big fan of war and tactical kind of series and usually watch most of them every year but they lacks impact in terms of decisive politics and characters who take action instead of overthinking which wastes half of eps . Nippon Sangoku came like a silent fire . "No hype No promotion No sound " but the impact which it made is loud and clear . Just a straightforward banger , author and studio cooked hard in terms of everything .
2026 is a banger packed year . We getting many peak sequels like jjk , bleach , tensura etc and other anticipated series back to back still this shit made it's way to top at least in my list of top 10 anime of year . Well nothing more to say if you like war and military stuff then it's a must watch show . Can't wait for season 2 .
Read at the sourceLabracadabrador
Nippon Sangoku checks off a lot of good things in their good animation, plot, and a variety of characters for you to like and dislike. The convictions of the characters make sense and the setting is also interesting in the fact that it happens in a post-nuclear war Japan. It's a decent watch if you're just looking for something to watch for the sake of watching.
However don't go in expecting to really take anything away from this anime. It's main focus is the overarching storyline and is incredibly fast paced and in turn sacrifices fleshing out really memorable characters. You generally know what they all want to accomplish but there's nothing that really draws you to any which character. As if they're all just kind of there on one big chess board game to fulfill a certain role but are es…
Read at the sourceJohn_Banana
Anime. Our beloved medium, especially in modern times, is synonymous with waifus with voluptuous bouncy milkers, loli vampires with a lifetime spanning aeons, and cute autistic kuudere elven waifus, and protagonists so dense he would make The Kowloon Walled City blush. Sometimes, though, there will be shows that decide to be a bit grown-up about it, rejecting such childish and uncouth tropes and tackling more intellectually stimulating topics such as strategies and war, which demands its viewers to put their big boy pants on to engage. However, a lot of them are not as sophisticated as they might have led you to believe, such as is the case with Nippon Sangoku. Peeling off its posh exterior of Sun Tzu and Zhuge Liang's coat paint, you get a show filled to the brim with inconsistencies and…
Read at the sourceP_F_V
Sometimes this anime feels too good, too tailored. It’s hard to describe, but where a high-quality production without artistic merit could be described as “assembly-line,” this production, which has artistic merit in spades feels… I don’t know, like a king commissioning a painting during the Renaissance? A lot of this comes from the “made by Amazon” card at the beginning of each episode, but there is a slightly impersonal feel to Nippon Sangoku that prevents it from having a more visceral impact.
But pay no mind to any of that, because this is really good. The art style of the anime and the aesthetics of the three nations really give this anime a Japanese flavor you don’t get with the more abstracted, universal designs of your typical anime. It has such rich characters and such interestin…
Read at the sourceFlowMAL
Just one episode. That’s all I ask you to give Nippon Sangoku. Because I genuinely believe that’s all it will take for this anime to hook you in.
What impressed me most was how quickly Nippon Sangoku made me care about its world. The premise is about three nations fighting for control of Japan, each leader with their own claim to power. It sells the world through the leaders, their goals, and the decisions they make. You slowly start to see how one person’s choice can affect not just their own nation, but the other nations as well. A leader commanding another nation to surrender could cause a revolution in that other nation. Every choice feels like it can shift the balance between nations; it’s really an anime of cause and effect.
That’s what makes the political warfare so fun to watch.…
Read at the sourceRxssa
After reading other reviewers' comments about moving slideshows, the show being boring, animation lacking, character design, etc.—I think I can explain why I found this enjoyable and why these things didn't bother me that much.
Character design: So, I am surprised that other people may feel that the character design is lackluster, though it is understandable—some characters look very similar. However, I feel that this is a nitpick because, in most other anime, I feel this way about the characters, so for me it didn't really have that much of an effect. Also, there were indicators showing the difference between certain characters which clearly distinguishes one from the other—e.g., Wajima, a female lead, has a purple tiger tattooed on her face; the MC has a certain hairstyle; etc. I actual…
Read at the sourceMarinate1016
Nippon Sangoku was easily the biggest surprise of the season for me to the point where I wasn’t even going to watch this show because of my insanely stacked Saturday-Sunday lineup, saw a few good tweets about it so decided to give it a go and boy was this unlike anything I’d really seen before. Post-apocalyptic Japan that’s essentially reverted back to the Sengoku era in terms of the country being divided into smaller states and constant wars, but instead of focusing on combat, the emphasis is on strategy and Misumi working his way up the ladder to change Yamato after enduring tragedy. This was such a great watch with a compelling narrative, great MC and a genuinely great villain that you don’t just want to see lose, you NEED it with every fiber in your body. Must watch for strategy and wo…
Read at the sourceAsh_li
Nippon Sangoku is the kind of show that anime needs more of. An intelligent and engaging plot, interesting and lovable/hateable characters, intense scenes, beautiful animation and direction and a nice unique soundtrack all come together to make it one of the better anime of the year. It's definitely an anime you can't afford to miss out on if you're tired of the usual fare, and just want something a little more mature and unique.
Story/Plot
Being a military based anime, Nippon Sangoku’s story feels very reminiscent of classic war dramas like Attack on Titan, Kingdom and Legend of the Galactic Heroes. With the three warring factions you have action, politics, military strategy and mind games. From the beginning, the show gets straight to the point. Every episode is filled with meaningful…
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