Reign: The Conqueror

Reign: The Conqueror, originally titled Alexander Senki in Japan, was produced by the acclaimed animation studio Madhouse and premiered in 1999. The series was born out of a unique collaboration between anime visionary Yoshiaki Kawajiri and the renowned South Korean comic artist Kim Jung Gi's contemporary, Peter Chung, the creator of Aeon Flux. The project sought to reimagine the life of Alexander the Great through a bold, surrealist lens that blended historical fiction with futuristic science fiction elements.

The visual identity of the series is characterized by its stark, avant-garde character designs, which deviate significantly from the conventional anime aesthetic of the late nineties. By utilizing a distinct digital animation style and sharp, geometric contours, the creators aimed to evoke a sense of displacement and otherworldliness consistent with the series' philosophical narrative. Upon its release, the show was received as a polarizing but technically ambitious experiment, noted more for its uncompromising stylistic choices than for traditional historical accuracy.