MY THOUGHTS ON RANKING OF KINGS
Alright so I gotta get this outta my system before my train of thought goes off a cliff, so here’s my thoughts on RANKING OF KINGS.
I just watched the first five episodes, and I’m not gonna say I was surprised, because I already expected this anime to be great, but the thing is that it’s AMAZING so far.
[Spoilers for Ranking of Kings ahead. If you haven’t watched it, DO IT because I PROMISE you won’t regret it. There’s only 5 episodes so far, it won’t take that long. DO IT]
Also goddamn this is about to be a long post, so buckle the fuckle in I guess.
TL;DR Ranking of Kings is GREAT and the characters are a major reason why
So to sum it up, Ranking of Kings is about a young prince named Boji, who is both deaf and mute. Because of this, as well as his small stature and physical weakness, people around him are constantly looking down on him and ridiculing him.
Or, you would THINK that, at least
Yes, there are a lot of people around him who belittle him on a daily basis, but it turns out that not everyone around him actually looks down on him.
Underestimate him? Absolutely. But it ends up not being as black and white as you would think, and THIS is what I think makes this anime great so far.
Almost right off the bat, we’re introduced to a bunch of characters who say things like “Oh he’s weak, he’s not fit to be king, etc.” One of whom is the Queen, his stepmother Hiling.
You immediately see this woman and think, “Oh, evil stepmother, here we go again.” And for a minute there, it seems like this is going to be the case, as she berates Boji and says that her own son is more fit to be king, and even altering her husband’s will after he names Boji king after his death. So it would make absolute sense to assume she’s gonna be a villain, right?
At one point, Boji got hurt pretty badly, and we a woman go to heal him, but we can’t actually tell who she is. And Kage (The little shadow thing) says something like “Oh man is she gonna hurt him?” But instead she heals him.
The literal thought in my head when I saw this was was “Wait is it the Queen? Nah, probably not, I don’t see why she would do that.” Only to later on be revealed that it was her and proven very wrong.
We find out relatively quickly that the Queen genuinely seems to love Boji, to the point where she ACTUALLY tried to dive out a window in an attempt to save him. We learn that her mindset isn’t that she doesn’t like Boji, but she doesn’t think he’s able to be King. She’s worried that the pressure would be too much for this small, weak boy who can’t even hear or talk. She isn’t looking down on him, at least not out of malice. She has genuine concern for him because she doesn’t see how he would be able to do anything challenging because of his weaknesses. But she still absolutely loves him.
And THIS is the best example of what I think is gonna be the real strength of this series.
GENUINE THREE-DIMENSIONAL CHARACTERS.
So far, we haven’t gotten ONE SINGLE major character who is all this or all that, all good or all bad. We have characters who are legitimately doing what they think is right.
A Queen who is worried about her disabled son.
A knight who will follow any order, even if he regrets it immediately.
A new King, who wants the same power as his father, but not at the expense of his memory.
His knight and teacher, who knows his duties and will carry them out, even if it means going behind his king’s back, or if it results in his own (apparent) death.
None of these characters are just a good or bad guy. They are people. And this is what carries a story like this to greatness.
And this is all of course ignoring the main character of the show and his new shadow best friend, Prince Boji and Kage.
Boji is one of the best and well executed hopeful protagonists I’ve ever seen. I’ve always been a sucker for this type of protag, and he is a prime example of how to do it right. You immediately wanna see him succeed, just like Kage does. He’s the type of person who really can win people over to his side just by being who he is. (And it also helps that he happens to be absolutely fucking adorable) He has a real disability, and he has people around him constantly thinking he can’t be good enough because of it. And it hurts him. It really, really hurts him.
But he keeps on a brave face around them, and only really lets himself cry when he’s alone. Whether it’s because he doesn’t want to worry people, or because he has his own pride, I’m not actually sure at the moment. I could easily see it being one or the other, or even both.
And then KAGE, Boji’s best friend (because I said so) and number one backer. This little guy started out bullying Boji and straight-up stealing his clothes for cash. He almost immediately changes his tune when he sees that Boji is REALLY TRYING HIS FUCKING BEST, and immediately tells Boji that he’s always gonna be on his side, and that he is GREAT as he is right now. He’s the first person who ever really acknowledges Boji like this. And it’s of course as heartbreaking as it sounds. (Were I not dead inside, I surely would have cried)
To sum it up (since I have essentially rambled for an entire page at this point) Ranking of Kings is amazing, and the characters are only one part of it that makes it so amazing.
Believe me, I’m doing you a favor by not starting on about the animation. (THOUGH THE ANIMATION IS INCREDIBLE AND BEAUTIFUL AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH IT’S SO EXPRESSIVE AND SMOOTH AND PRETTY)
So yeah, you should watch Ranking of Kings
Also I’ll probably have more thoughts on this later, and if I do, I’ll put links to them below or something, because I am NOT done with this series and what I have to say about it yet.
