About the Manhwa
The Kingdom of the Gods (2019)
Author(s): In-Wan Youn (concept); Eun-Hee Kim (story); Kyung-Il Yang (art)
Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Drama, Horror, Historical Fiction, Supernatural
Demographic: Teen (16+)
Theme(s): death; duty and honor; politics; zombies
Status: Completed
Volume(s): 1
Trigger(s): gore
Summary
Years of war and famine and have plunged Joseon into chaos. Young Prince Yi Moon, after losing all his bodyguards to an assassination attempt, has no choice but to turn to the mountain bandit Jae-ha for help. But as the unlikely pair race to find safety in a world gone mad, it becomes horrifyingly clear that humans aren’t the only thing they must fear!
In a bonus story, a secluded island becomes a private battlefield as the notorious Japanese criminal Juu and the infamous Korean felon Han face off against each other. But they aren’t the only ones on the island…
From Goodreads.com
Review
⭐⭐⭐ | 3 out of 5 stars
The Kingdom of the Gods is the manhwa that inspired Netflix’s South Korean historical thriller, Kingdom. Much like its live-action adaptation, the main story of The Kingdom of the Gods is a zombie horror full of gore and mystery. There’s a lot to love about the manhwa; however, the progression of the story is hindered by an underdeveloped setting. By the end of the first story, I couldn’t help but think that there was too much missing from something so promising, something that inspired one of the greatest zombie horrors that Netflix has in their catalogue.
The characters
Prince Yi Moon is introduced as a bossy kid who uses his wealth to motivate Jae-Ha, a bandit, to be his body guard. Despite his young age, the prince understands his own importance as the heir to the throne.
Jae-Ha is first known as a mountain bandit, but his flashbacks reveal that he once served the king, Yi Moon’s father, as a general. The manhwa suggests that Jae-Ha has trust issues that developed after the king abandoned his people. However, this side of him seems to subside when Yi Moon tells him that he wouldn’t abandon one of his own, even to save his own life. Jae-Ha was first depicted as a self-serving individual, but he eventually embodies the role as Jae-Ha’s retainer.
Ju-Jeong is a woman who saves Jae-Ha and Yi Moon from a hoard of zombies. Although she identifies as a doctor, she’s a medical student who has experience dealing with the zombies after evading them in Jiyulheon. Ju-Jeong takes her work seriously. As an aspiring doctor, she’s devoted to helping others.
Other notable characters are the Shadow Warriors, who are a nameless group that hunt Yi Moon to assassinate him. They’re skilled fighters. However, not much is known about them.
And in a village called Saam-Ri, Yi Moon and Jae-Ha meet a little girl named Suni and her father. Jae-Ha accuses them of murder because they’re revealed to be cannibals. Although Suni and her father are minor characters, their purpose seems to be to give Yi Moon a glimpse of the turbulent lives of the impoverished, the victims of war.
The Writing
The manhwa has a great concept: a desperate prince seeks refuge in a war-and-zombie-ravaged country while escaping a group of assassins. However, the story only pokes at the political themes. The most that’s known about the prince and Joseon is that people are turning into zombies and that the prince must be kept out of harm’s way. The setting of the story is reduced to a zombie infested country. There’s little information as to why Yi Moon was targeted by assassins and who sent them. A conclusion to this plot hole can be made by the suggestion that the kingdom is at war with another.
Other information that’s relevant to the story is Ju-Jeong’s experiences in Jiyulheon while she studied to become a doctor. The zombie infestation began subtly until it grew into something more complicated and difficult to contain.
The themes
Poverty and hunger are often mentioned. Yi Moon learns that the people under the king’s rule have been facing violence and famine. This has prompted people to turn to cannibalism to quell their hunger. The zombification of the villagers only further emphasizes the turmoil that the innocent have been forced to face. Of all the themes, I think that poverty and hunger are the most well-crafted.
Duty and honor are explored through Jae-Ha and Ju-Jeong. As a former soldier, Jae-Ha realizes that his duty is to protect Yi Moon, who once expressed that he wouldn’t abandon his subjects. On the other hand, Ju-Jeong is shown to be a person who is devoted to her work. She doesn’t hesitate to save Yi Moon and Jae-Ha despite not knowing a thing about them.
The zombies, or “the living death”
Unsurprisingly, the manhwa includes the zombie theme that most people are familiar with. Yi Moon’s surprise of their existence lets me believe that either the infection is still limited to certain parts of the country, or that he was a very sheltered child due to his royal lineage.
In this story, the zombies are active when its dark out, usually after sunset, and they fall dormant again when the sun rises. They eat flesh and spread the infection through bites and the consumption of human flesh (though it’s unclear if the cannibalized corpse had to have belonged to an infected person). The infection itself is called “the living death.”
The creators of the manhwa created something unique with the zombie subgenre of horror.
A rushed finale and much needed answers
The manhwa ends with Yi Moon deciding that he wants to search for a cure. At Jiyulheon, he also learned that the source of the zombie infection is at the royal palace. This suggests that the royal family is involved in the spread of this zombie infection. But there’s more questions that arise from this finale than answers.
Netflix’s Kingdom includes a detailed explanation of the start of the infection and how it’s connected to the royal family. However, Kingdom of the Gods doesn’t work well as a stand-alone story. Readers might want to tune into the K-drama to get some answers.
Conclusion
You might be wondering if I like the story. Yes, I do. But I also think the manhwa is in, some ways, incomplete. Yi Moon’s new goal and the side characters’ arcs are hardly fulfilled. If anything, this manhwa reads more like the prologue of a greater story. I recommend this manhwa for Kyung-Il Yang’s intricate artwork and for In-Wan Youn and Eun-Hee Kim’s take on the zombie subgenre.
Note: My copy of The Kingdom of the Gods includes another story titled Burning Hell, a manhwa written by In-Wan Youn and illustrated by Kyung-Il Yang. It’s set on a penal colony based on an island called Kyokudo. On that lawless island, violent prisoners from each country are sent to live out the rest of their lives. Juu Juu from Japan and Kim Han from Korea are two men who have been exiled due to their gross crimes against humanity. Because this story is included in my copy of The Kingdom of the Gods, I’ll make a separate post about Burning Hell in the near future.
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