Kingdom (South Korean TV series)
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| German title | Kingdom |
| Original title | Kingdom ( 킹덤 ) |
| Country of production | South Korea |
| original language | Korean |
| Year (s) | since 2019 |
| Production company |
A story |
| length | 50 minutes |
| Episodes | 12 in 2+ seasons |
| genre | Zombie , horror , action , mystery , historical |
| Director | Kim Seong-hun , Park In-je |
| script | Kim Eun-hee |
| First broadcast | January 25, 2019 on Netflix |
| German-language first broadcast |
January 25, 2019 on Netflix |
| occupation | |
Kingdom is a South Korean zombie series from the streaming service Netflix from 2019 with Ju Ji-hoon , Bae Doona and Ryu Seung-ryong . The series takes place at the time of the Joseon Dynasty and is based on the Manhwa The Land of the Gods by Kim Eunhee and Yang Kyungil. Directed by Kim Seong-hun . The Netflix original series was released on January 25, 2019. The second season has been available on Netflix since March 13, 2020.
action
1st season
In medieval Korea of the Joseon Dynasty , the king appears to have contracted smallpox . However, there are doubts. Rumors arise that the king is dead. Hardly anyone has seen the king. The Queen does not allow the worried Crown Prince Chang into the palace. In addition, the soldiers seem to be listening to Cho Hak-ju, the leader of the Haewon Cho clan. One day, Crown Prince Chang sneaks into the palace and notices a putrid smell in the separated area reserved for the king and a being that makes noises like an animal. However, he cannot exactly see it. The king cannot be found. The Crown Prince was told that he had left the palace for a short time.
Through Muyeong, Chang finds out that the doctor Lee Seong-hui from Dongnae treated the king. He decides to visit him to get to the bottom of the matter. However, the place was hit by a plague. Dr. Lee arrived there a few days earlier with the body of his assistant Dan-i. This was bitten by the king and fell ill, then also succumbed to this disease. Since there is hardly anything to eat, Yeongsin secretly steals the body and cooks it so that the villagers can eat. However, this turned the residents into zombies.
Chang asks around and, during his research, comes across an herb that can bring the dead to life. Dr. Lee worked on it. He meets Lee's assistant Seo-bi. She tells him about the herb. Seobi locked the zombies in Jiyulheon Hospital near Dongnae. However, Chang and Muyeong notified the Dongnae officers who were collecting the bodies. Seobi says, however, that these would come to life at night and attack people who would transform themselves after a bite.
When they get back to the village, it gets dark and the undead transform and attack the people. Together with his companion Muyeong, he can survive the night and the next day the notes of Dr. Look at Lee. In doing so, he finds out that the king actually died and that Dr. Lee brought him back to life at the direction of Cho Hak-ju. Chang concludes that the Cho clan feared a loss of power with him as king. Instead, the unborn child should now take the throne. The king should therefore be kept in the state of a zombie until he is born. For this purpose, the queen has locked the palace inaccessible. The scholars, however, are skeptical because of rumors from inside the palace.
Meanwhile, Chang decides to visit Prince Ahn Heon, who is highly regarded throughout the country, in Sangju .
Pregnant women from the surrounding area are invited to the palace and treated courteously there for no apparent reason. It turns out that the queen is not pregnant at all. She wears a dummy belly and waits for one of the women to give birth to a boy who can serve as heir to the throne.
The undead begin to wake up by day. It becomes clear that day and night are not decisive, but the temperature.
Cast and dubbing
| actor | role | Main role (episodes) | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ju Ji-hoon | Crown Prince Lee Chang | 1.01- | Sascha Draeger |
| Bae Doona | Seo-bi | 1.01- | Christina von Weltzien |
| Kim Sungkyu | Yeongsin | 1.01- | Johannes Semm |
| Jun Sukho | Magister Cho Beom-pal | 1.02- | Jens Wendland |
| Kim Jongsu | Kim Sun | 1.01- | Michael Bideller |
| Park Byungeun | Min Chi-rok | 2.02- | |
| Kim Taehun | Lee Kang-yoon | 2.02- | |
| Jung Suk-won | Cho Beom-il | 1.01–1.02, 2.03–2.04 (flashback) | Nicolas King |
| Heo Joonho | Lord Ahn Hyeon | 1.05-2.02 | Joshy Peters |
| Kim Sangho | Mu-yeong | 1.01–2.03, 2.04 (flashback) | Konstantin Graudus |
| Ryu Seungyong | Cho Hak-ju | 1.01-2.04 | Jürgen Holdorf |
| Kim Hyejun | Queen Cho | 1.01-2.06 | Franciska Friede |
production
Kingdom was originally designed for a season with eight episodes. However, the budget was already fully exhausted and even exceeded with six episodes. Each episode cost an average of 2 billion won (about 1.78 million US dollars ). Even before the broadcast announced Netflix - CEO Reed Hastings to a second season. Director Kim Seong-hun said he won't be directing the second season, but he might act as an advisor. Filming of the second season began in February 2019. The first episode of the second season was again directed by Kim Seong-hun, with Park In-je directing the remaining five episodes .
reception
In English-speaking countries
On the aggregator side Rotten Tomatoes , the first season received a tomatometer rating of 93% based on the evaluation of 14 reviews, of which 13 were rated as predominantly positive ( fresh ) and 1 as predominantly negative ( rotten ). The average rating was 8.0 out of 10 points. For the second season, the Tomatometer rating was 100% based on 6 reviews, all of which were positive. The average rating was now 8.25 out of 10 points.
Rafael Motamayor ( The Observer ) thinks that Kingdom mixes Game of Thrones- style political intrigue with Parasite's social criticism against the backdrop of an outbreaking zombie pandemic. The series shows how a society slowly goes under due to selfishness, irresponsibility and incompetence of the ruling classes.
Mark Zoller Seitz ( Vulture ) sees Kingdom as a parable of a society with a death wish, which is inexorably falling apart, as society is unwilling to make a system change that would be necessary to stop the decline. The series is so remarkable within the zombie genre because it describes a detailed panorama of the social disintegration that ultimately leads to a zombie apocalypse, in contrast to most works in the genre, the plot of which only takes place during or after the apocalypse.
In German-speaking countries
Manuel Kellerhals ( Blick ) writes that Kingdom has everything that belongs to a good zombie drama. The series is bloody, exciting and entertaining, and with medieval Korea as the setting, it has an unconventional setting with excellent show values.
Nathanael Häfner ( Musikexpress ) sees Kingdom as a mixture of Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead and says that it gives the zombie genre a much-needed fresh wind. He is enthusiastic about how power politics and palace intrigues in Korea of the 16th century are combined with a zombie story and elaborately staged.
Web links
- Kingdom in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Kingdom on HanCinema
- Kingdom on Netflix
swell
- ^ The Kingdom of the Gods. In: YLAB. Retrieved January 19, 2019 .
- ↑ Burning Hell. In: Carlsen Manga . Retrieved January 27, 2019 .
- ↑ Kim Sujeong: 김은희 작가 신작 '킹덤', 원작 만화 '신의 나라' 에도 관심. 조선 배경 으로 한 좀비물… 만화 스토리 작가 데뷔작. In: NoCut News. March 9, 2017. Retrieved January 19, 2019 (Korean).
- ↑ a b Sonia Kil: Netflix Extends Unreleased Korean Series 'Kingdom' for Second Season (EXCLUSIVE). In: Variety . July 16, 2018, accessed January 23, 2019 .
- ↑ Pierce Conran: Season 2 of Netflix's KINGDOM Begins Shooting in February. Key Cast Members Return for Netflix's 1st Korean Original Series. In: Korean Film Biz Zone. KOFIC, January 7, 2019, accessed on January 23, 2019 .
- ^ Kingdom: Full Cast & Crew. In: Internet Movie Database . Retrieved March 16, 2020 .
- ↑ https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/kingdom_2019/s01 (accessed April 4, 2020)
- ↑ https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/kingdom_2019/s02 (accessed April 4, 2020)
- ↑ Rafael Motamayor: Ditch the Other Zombie Shows and Watch 'Kingdom' on Netflix Now . The Observer, March 6, 2020
- ↑ Mark Zoller Seitz: Zombie Epic Kingdom Is Remarkable and Resonant . Vulture, March 15, 2019
- ↑ Manueler Kellerhals: Hidden streaming pearls against boredom - Nobody talks about these Netflix hits . Blick, March 24, 2020
- ↑ Nathanael Häfner: "Kingdom" (Season 2) on Netflix: The new zombie scale from Korea . Musikexpress, May 16, 2020