12 Kingdoms

I wanted to talk about 12 Kingdoms more in depth about the things I loved and disliked about the anime, because it's a series worth talking about, it's an anime that needs more recognition for being so good and unique.

[Spoiler Free]

I had heard a lot of good things about the series from the few people who have watched it and while I did trust their opinion, my expectations weren't very high because I knew it was an isekai, a sub genre I almost gave up on. And this anime showed me how good the genre could be.

One of my biggest problems with modern isekai is it's uninspired and lazy world. And 12 Kingdoms shine in its world and it's worldbuilding. There is so much creativity and thought put into the world. It is very refreshing and original. For example, little things like humans being

born from trees is so bizzare but it's written in such an interesting, well executed way, embedding these very original ideas into its world, making it so alive yet different. It's not just the best worldbuilding in Isekai, it has one of the strongest worldbuilding in the medium.

One thing I was warned before starting the series is how the protagonist was "annoying" at the start but comes into her own later on. But I think that's one of the most fun parts of a story - overcoming their own weaknesses as a person. And her journey is wonderful.

I love the idea (and execution) of following a protagonist who never learnt how to govern any nation but put in a position of power in a world she knew nothing about. How the ignorance of the MC is tackled, how the world and internal poltics worked were all excellent.

The narrative is very interesting. It's purposefully slow, with multiple point of views from different characters from different parts of the world, with very different life experiences and they all feel equally relevant and each of their character arcs were amazing and different

However there were two characters in particular who's writing were not that good. Isekaied side characters feel like they're becoming relevent just because the authors wants them to. The characters act however the plot wants them to, it felt forced & affected the writing quality.

My biggest problem of the series was its final stretch of the story. It had a beautiful finale at episode 39 but for some reason the creators thought it was a good idea to add a mediocre arc that had nothing to do the story and it just felt filler and underwhelming after that

beautiful high. Im genuinely surprised the creators thought they could get away with having recap episode as it's finale and made me drop the score from a 9.

12 Kingdoms is a must watch. It's the absolute peak of isekai anime. It's beautifully animated, the characters and the world are really well written, the designs are gorgeous and the story is unpredictable for the most part.

Amazing underwatched show that deserves to be watched

Score : 8.75/10