Kingdom, Vol. 1

The journey of young orphan Xin’s rise to glory as a great general in the Qin Kingdom’s quest to do what has never been done before--unify China.

Xin is a war orphan in a poor village in the kingdom of Qin. He has big dreams of becoming a great general, and when his best friend’s life is cut short by political machinations, Xin sets off to find a deposed ruler and help restore his place on the throne, while working his way up through the ranks of the Qin kingdom’s army to do what no one has ever done before--unify China.

Xin’s journey begins when his friend Piao, another war orphan who imparts to Xin the same dream of becoming the Greatest Generals Under the Heavens, is offered a position in court in the capital. He leaves Xin behind to train on his own, and to meet him there one day. One fateful night, Piao returns bloodied and on the brink of death, with his dying words being for Xin to go meet a boy who turns out to look exactly like Piao. But this is no ordinary boy--it’s the king of Qin, Ying Zheng! And assassins are hot on his tail!

Yasuhisa Hara was born June 9, 1975, in Kiyama in Saga prefecture. Before his career as a manga creator, he became captivated by the Chinese historical text known as Shiji, which was the inspiration for his hit series Kingdom. In 2005, he started working as an assistant under the esteemed manga creator Takehiko Inoue, while starting to work on Kingdom, which began serialization in Young Jump in 2006.

Kingdom follows the historical events outlined in Shiji, and Yasuhisa Hara allows himself creative freedom to fill in any holes in the historical records. Since the beginning of the serialization, Kingdom has sold 110 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling manga in the world.

Yasuhisa Hara won the 17th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Grand Prize for his work on the series. Kingdom’s anime adaptation began in 2013, and is still ongoing for over 10 years. The series has also been adapted into multiple live-action films.

Yasuhisa Hara is far and away one of the most influential and best-selling manga creators in Japan. His work on Kingdom is a testament to his dedication to telling a compelling story, using Shiji as a road map for one of the best historical epics in manga of all time.