English Dub Review: The Kingdoms of Ruin “And So, Our Story Begins”

Overview (Spoilers Ahead):

Witches were once entrusted with protecting mankind. However, humans have grown to fear and hate witches. This is something that the witch Chloe and her apprentice Adonis witness first hand.

Our Take:

The story goes that God created witches to protect the humans with their magic. Over time, humans have made advancements in science and technology. They no longer need witches. In fact, many humans have come to fear and despise witches.

A witch named Chloe is traveling with her human apprentice Adonis in search of a new home. That is, until they are located and transported to Emperor Goethe. Adonis tries to charge at him, but he’s detained by the guards. Chloe tries to attack, but her magic doesn’t work. The emperor then rips off Chloe’s shirt and humiliates her in front a massive crowd. He then calls for Adonis to be killed, but Chloe begs that he spares Adonis’ life. The emperor does, but not before publicly executing Chloe with Adonis staring on in horror.

We later see a scene at a prison in which a prisoner named Doroka manages to free everyone. The most vicious prisoner is released as well, and this is where the real story will begin.

This is an interesting story because it does seem like a Salem Witch trial type of situation, but in a more modernized setting. Humans in this world have made incredible advancements in technology, even enough to nullify a witch’s magic. I think humanity in this world is impressive in that regard.

Their attitudes toward witches, however, is abhorrent. They fear them and hate them simply because they can use magic, simply because they’re different. When the emperor rips off Chloe’s shirt, everyone is taking pictures and making rude remarks. Even when the emperor shoots her, the crowd cheers louder than ever. If that’s enough, Chloe gets blasted to bits by machine guns, and then decapitated. It’s a gruesome sight to behold, especially for Adonis.

We find out that Adonis is a human who is learning magic. He also hates the way that other humans treat witches. It’s safe to say that watching others human kill his beloved master only caused that hatred to grow stronger. Chloe only wanted to protect him, and this is how that ended.

The only other character of note at the moment is Doroka. She’s a prisoner, who puts others before herself, much like Chloe did. She gives her bread to another prisoner, and she puts on a puppet show for her friend Anna when she starts to cry. Plus, she manages to figure out how to open the cells and release the prisoners. She’s either really intelligent or really lucky. Either way, she’s kind, funny and entertaining. I can’t wait to see more of her.

The first episode of The Kingdoms of Ruin is pretty heavy. This is going to be a show full of hatred, full of violence and full of monsters. This is a great introduction to a story like this, and I can only imagine what mayhem will ensue later on.