The dark fantasy anime "Kingdom of Hell," scheduled to air in the fall of 2023, combines a futuristic, sci-fi world with highly advanced science and technology, with a fantasy world of witches and magic. The story centers around a powerful and brutal revenge tale. Today, we'd like to take a closer look at this world!
In the world of "Kingdom of Hell," there are witches who wield magic!
In "Kingdom of Hell," there are witches who can use magic. All of the witches are female, and each one has their own unique magic. Witches, who look like humans but have a different biology, have been close to humanity since ancient times, using their magic to save humans from disasters and epidemics. They have remained good neighbors, never using their power to dominate humans.
The Kingdom of Hell is set in a highly developed future world!
The Kingdom of Hell is a fantasy story about witches and magic. Humans live in a highly developed future city. The Lydian Empire, one of the nations where humans live, experienced a dramatic advance in science and technology known as the Super Industrial Revolution (Gear Expansion), which led to a major event in the advancement of civilization. Humans live in this futuristic city, integrating the pinnacle of science and technology.
A witch hunt is launched under the orders of the 23rd Emperor Goethe!
Until now, humanity has overcome disasters and epidemics with the help of witches, but with the advent of new technologies, humanity can now survive without relying on witches. Witches have been objects of worship, but they have also been feared. Goethe, the 23rd Emperor of the Lydian Empire, believed that in order for humanity to survive in the future, it must break away from its dependence on witches and its complexes, and so he launched a "witch hunt" to hunt down witches.The weapons developed by humanity were able to directly oppose witches, and some of them were even capable of neutralizing magic, so witches were hunted down one after another.
The protagonist, Adonis, and his teacher, Chloe Morgan, are also targets of the witch hunt.
The protagonist, Adonis, was raised by the renowned witch Chloe Morgan, and despite being human, he mastered the art of magic. The two continued their journey, pursuing each other in search of a safe haven. However, they were forcibly summoned by a teleportation device developed by humans. Furthermore, a device created by humans to neutralize witch powers meant that Chloe was killed in a gruesome manner, leaving her unable to resist, and her head was displayed on display. After losing his beloved mentor right before his eyes and seeing the people laughing at his death, Adonis vows to exact revenge on humans and falls into a deep sleep.
Why was the protagonist Adonis spared?
After witnessing his mentor's brutal murder, Adonis was sealed away by humans as a threat level SS designated for lifelong confinement. Adonis, an extremely dangerous individual who actually committed a massacre the moment his seal was broken, was sealed away instead of killed. It seems the reason he was sealed away was to study his human ability to wield magic. However, it seems his magic was ultimately unraveled.
The Witch's Country, where the witches live, has already fallen...
Witches used to live together in a place called the Witch's Country, but the Witch's Country fell to humanity's witch hunts, and the Tree of Life that gives birth to witches was almost entirely burned. Only a few witches remain, but they are still trying to make a comeback somewhere. Incidentally, the Empire has almost completely eradicated witches through witch hunts, but the world has not yet achieved peace, and wars continue to rage in various places.
Are witches an exclusive and conservative group?
Witches have always been good neighbors to humans, but they have been virtually powerless against human attacks. They consider their magic to be special, and banished Chloe, who taught it to Adonis, from the Witch Kingdom. They tend to be exclusive and conservative, sometimes helping humans while also watching over them. However, it's entirely possible that they secretly looked down on humans.
Where are the remaining witches?
After humans conquered the Witch Kingdom 10 years ago, the witches were almost completely wiped out, but they were not completely wiped out. In fact, the surviving witches used human technology to escape to the moon. Unlike humans, witches seem to be able to adapt to outer space, eliminating the need for technology like space suits. The few witches who survived there attempted to make a comeback. Furthermore, it's said that somewhere in this world, there are witches who came to this world from outer space. Perhaps there are other surviving witches out there.
The technological innovations of the Super Industrial Revolution (Gear Expansion) are amazing!
The Super Industrial Revolution has brought revolutionary changes to humanity, including transportation technologies like fully automated trains and airships, communication technologies like smartphones, weapons capable of easily killing powerful witches, and improved medical technology. This includes long-distance physical teleportation, which even witches cannot use, making it a technology that can be considered equivalent to magic. While people live in peace, the authorities seem to have complete control over all electronic device data, creating a rigorously controlled society.
Environmental pollution is serious... There are no more ways to restore the environment...
Humans have built a highly civilized society, but environmental pollution seems to have become a serious problem. In particular, the "magic-neutralizing device" that killed many witches and Chloe Morgan emits large amounts of harmful rays. If used in the current atmospheric environment, it would instantly expose people to massive amounts of radiation, causing the worst possible environmental pollution. In fact, witches' magic could have improved the environment as a means of environmental restoration, but since humans themselves killed the witches, there seems to have been no way to restore the environment. No matter how advanced technology becomes, there are some things that cannot be achieved.
The Light and Shadow of the Super Industrial Revolution (Gear Expansion)
The Super Industrial Revolution has brought great development to the Lydian Empire, but at the same time, people from developing countries, refugees, and escaped slaves are forced to live harsh lives outside the empire. Those living in polluted air and desertified land are called contaminated people, and although their lives are far from those of an advanced civilization, some contaminated people seem to be surviving with determination.
Many cities and small countries have naturally disappeared...
In the small countries and cities surrounding the Empire, many have become ghost towns, as people have emigrated to take advantage of the Empire's scientific and technological advances. The Super Industrial Revolution's impact has not stopped there. Technological advances have led to the development of sexaroids that are virtually identical in appearance to humans but more powerful than humans. As a result, men have stopped having sex with real women and have begun selling unwanted women as slaves for the Empire. It seems that many countries have perished because children are no longer being born.
Five nations remain, including the Empire!
Five nations have been confirmed to remain in the human world: the highly developed Lydia Empire, the military-industrial state Mica with its advanced military technology, the Wago Suzure nation with its strong Eastern cultural influence, the single-mother nation Orion Sonoh, which has captured witches and turned them into a bio-based nation, and the Mark Point Medical nation with its highly developed medical system. Regardless of the intentions of the four heads of state, the Lydia Empire is the central player, and they appear to be willing to comply with the Empire's requests.
[Kingdom of the Dead] World Setting Summary
I'd like to introduce the world of the anime, Kingdom of the Dead, which will begin airing in the fall of 2023! While it may seem like a glorious future world thanks to the development of an advanced civilization, behind the scenes, social problems such as environmental pollution and population decline are also emerging, making you wonder if humanity will eventually perish even without Adonis's efforts. As the world setting is explored, it changes from fantasy to science fiction, and I thought it was an increasingly interesting work! It's actually quite interesting, so if you're interested, I recommend you check out both the original manga and the anime!
