Kingdom 3: Flame of Destiny ( Japanese: キングダム 運命の炎 Hepburn Kingudamu: Unmei no Hono) was released in the summer of 2023 [1]. It is a Japanese historical war film directed by Shinsuke Sato which is based upon the sequence of events from the Chinese Historical events based around the Warring States Period.. The film is a movie adaptation of the manga of the same name by Yasuhisa Hara, the film is the sequel to Kingdom 2: Far and Away(2022). The film stars Kento Yamazaki, Ryo Yoshizawa, Kanna Hashimoto, Takao Osawa, Masami Nagasawa as returning stars for the film.

A fourth movie has been reported to come out in 2024, later reports which includes the teaser trailer proclaimed that it would come out on July 12th of 2024 ^[3]

Cast

• Kento Yamazaki as Xin (nicknamed Shin)
• Ryo Yoshizawa as Ying Zheng
• Kanna Hashimoto as He Liao Diao (Nicknamed Ten)
• Takao Osawa as Wang Qi (nicknamed General Ouki)
• Masami Nagasawa as Yang Duan He (nicknamed Outcast)
• Ken Aoki as Souetsu
• Jun Kaname as Teng
• Masaya Katô as Shishi
• Takahiro Miura as Bito
• Kôichi Satô as Ryo Fui
• Shinnosuke Mitsushima as Bi
• Yusuke Hirayama as Mobu
• Ainosuke Kataoka as Feng Ji
• Seiji Hino as Wan Ji Guard
• Eri Murakawa as Yuu Ri
• Amane Okayama as Bihei
• Hinako Sakurai as Tou Bi
• Nana Seino as Qiang Lei

Story

The film begins 6 months after the events of the previous movie where the Wei army had marched into the state of Qin. The king of Qin hears news of Li Xin (shin) being found in the lawless lands where he was training under General Ouki (Wang Qi) to become a 100-man.commander.

The Zhao army begins to invade at this time where they have enacted a massacre of the castle and its citizens as a vengeance to a slaughter that Qin had inflicted upon Zhao many years prior.

The first half of the movie follows a format where Lin Zheng explains to General Ouki the reason for his desire to unify China. This part of the story showcases how Lin Zheng made the decisions and words he did and said in the first movie. General Ouki makes his decision to become Commander-in-Chief of the Qin army.

The next half of the movie, showcases the large scale battle between Qin and Zhao. In the end, General Ouki tasks Shin and his new 100-man unit with the task of sneaking into the left side battlefield to take down the commanding general of that side. As a reward for accepting the task of this assassination attempt. Ouki provides the name of Hishin Squad to the unit under Shin. Under Shin's leadership, the 100-man squad or Hishin unit successfully reaches the 2nd layer of defenses protecting the left side army. They breakthrough but meet an obstacle in the high slopping mountains where the Hishin unit is forced to split in half. Through this action, Shin, Kyokai (Outcast from the previous movie) and the rest of the unit were able to break through to the enemy headquarters. As the Zhao commander was about to fall back, Shin had delivered the finishing blow that caused the Zhao army to break apart. The left side Qin army arrives in time to reinforce the Hishin unit.

After the Zhao army retreats into the nearby mountain range. Back at the Qin palace, it is learned that there is a hidden Zhao commander who goes by the name of Hakon and is the one who killed Great General Kyo. A fellow commander alongside Shokobun and Ouki. The very same general slayer who has approached the camp of the Hishin unit. The belief is made that Hakon has arrived to kill General Ouki after being defeated by him 9 years prior.

Box office

The films total domestic box office gross is 4.916 billion yen (33.55 million USD) on 3,435,000 admissions, making it the fifth top-grossing film of 2023 in Japan. ^[4]. Yet During its opening weekend, it was listed as the number one film, Earning 5.1 Billion yen(US-$34.88 million) that Sunday. ^[5]

References