If there's a comic that Kingdom should learn from, it should be this one. The "war" and "politics" in Kingdom is not only shallow, it's almost utterly meaningless. The violence in Kingdom is so desensitised, so casual, it carries no weight. I never felt the tension or the weight of the situation in Kingdom because of how convenient and inconsequential all of its aspects are. To start, Kingdom could show both side being the sides of the same coin and not just the generals but most importantly the politicians. After all, the true "hero" depicted here is the hated enemy of the Confucius followers, whom he massacred and burn their books. To add to it, Kingdom felt like one of those right wing advocate piece of work that glorifies combat. The comic version of Dynasty Warrior, endless, indistinguishable grunts slaughtered for the sake of drama. It simplifies the complex ideology and school of thought in Late Spring Autumn period into: I want to rule with law, without showing what's govern the other side. It's extremely one dimensional in its portrayal of history, sickening at best. Here, the conflict is much more complex, a "gray vs gray" rather than the "white vs everyone else". The impact on the populace is also show succinctly and combat death feels much more cruel simply because the characters are drawn like human being: distinctive. I think anyone who likes Kingdom narrative compares to this one is secretly endorsing mindless slaughter. There's nothing more effective than portraying your enemy as non-human to boost cruelty capacity. Just look at how bravery is portrayed. In Kingdom it's charging and fighting the enemy leader, in Maiden's War it's a young lady stands up to protect her comrades and her own innocence in the face of cynicism. The success of Kingdom is saddening.