Ranking of Kings (Ousama Ranking)

Due new years there's no episode next week, Episode 12 will air on January 6th (7th in the west).

They give a PV in anticipation: https://twitter.com/osama_ranking/status/1474349147444682782

I’m almost certain Miranjo is a case of a wrongfully persecuted witch who became the monster her assailants painted her as.

Oh boy, next episode is going to be juicy.

Episode 12:
Of the 6 people foreshadowed in EP 11 (Zokku: the Bandit Leader, Gigan: Monster of Steel, Kingbo: the Fallen Royalty, Ouken: Sword King of the Underworld, Black: the Brunet Assasin, and Red: the Copperhead Assassin), one of them, Kingbo, died from hubris (well, perhaps it was), knocked off the stolen throne that once belonged to Bosse by none other than Ouken. Zokku took the throne thereafter. Meanwhile, Daida!Bosse was locked up, Domas and Hokuro wrapped up training wih Domas giving Hokuro his giant crossbow, Bebin buried the body of Kingbo (how excruciating that must be for Kingbo), Dorsche and Hiling returned to the castle to find Apeas and Miranjo looking down on them and Miranjo revealing her plan to destroy the kingdom, and Bojji and Kage move closer to the castle while also learning of Despa deciding to go to where they're heading on his trusted (but weighty) horse.
Interesting start to the 2nd cour. I like the new OP! Really brings out the emotions!

Edited by thuse on Jan 7th 2022 at 2:34:24 AM

I was a bit scared this was gonna be a pure recap episode, but I guess studio WIT figured viewers would appreciate a refresher.

The new OP SLAPS.

Despa is the gift that keeps on giving. The guy’s as dorky as he is dandy.

I’m not sure what Bosse’s play is here, he’s just letting Miranjo sic those criminals onto his kingdom.

Speaking of those criminals, Ouken is a sicko. He’s got some voodoo mojo going. Also interesting that Kingbo’s father seems to be one of those kings that went crazy. In fact, I think he’s the loony bin Bojji met in the forest. The bandit king at least seems to have brains.

Episode 13:
Dorsche and Ann, a newly introduced chara, fought valiantly against the monster dogs, Red & Black, and Gigan, but by the end, they were mostly down for the coumt, with Dorsche losing a leg. Meanwhile, Domas and Hokuro have infiltrated the underground, Bebin found a locked-up Bosse in Daida's body, and Ouken, somehow fine after taking hits from throwing knives due to regeneration, proceeded to massacre the town just as Desha's forces (with Bojji and Kage) arrived. Two things from Despa to the leader: (1) He must not engage with Ouken until he comes, (2) Ouken must not face Bojji as he is Bojji's natural enemy. Then, Miranjo gets stolen by Red & Black with help from Zokku's hit to Apeas's balls. Man that was a lot to take in...

Dorshe is still getting all the best fights. Dude even covered himself in blades to better fend off the hounds. Ann was also a badass and I'm glad Hiling managed to save her. Speaking of which, it's cool that Hiling has an easy-access tube for potions rigged into her armor. It's also kinda neat that her healing takes such a heavy toll on her, it increases the weight of the deed.

I'm also digging how Apeas is conflicted on whose side he should take. At least that bandit deprived him of the agony of choosing, for now.

Ouken is a loony bin. Possibly undead?

Overall one of the weaker episodes though. A bit too much idling around.

Episode 14:
I guess whatever happened in EP 10 was no fluke. Bojji can really destroy anything, in this case, Gigan's hammer, because it turns out Bojji got more from Despa than just his rapier and techniques! Also, we got Mitsumata with the save, more Hiling healing (POWERRRR!!), some misunderstandings, and most of the fallen foes given mercy. And then, a reveal about Ouken from Despa which basically goes, "Who Wants to Live Forever?". Meanwhile, Desha discovers Miranjo's portal to the underworld...

Man, a lot has been going on. I'm interested in seeing if Ann shows up more in the future now that she's safely exited the Fight Zone, and as much as it was great to see Bojji reunite with Hiling and the formation of a generally pro-Bojji camp, it feels like everyone kind of forgot there's an active coup attempt going on.

Edited by RedSavant on Jan 21st 2022 at 2:42:02 AM

Definitely think Ann will be back. Anyway, it was nice to see the return of the prince! He gets back, kicks ass with his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception and now has a retinue of beasts under his command.

Hiling commanding Dorshe to apologize for her was hilarious. Glad her reunion with Bojji was so sweet.

Really curious about Bosse. He’s clearly torn. He was about to save Hiling, then he thought of Miranjo. I got the feeling he doesn’t want to fight Miranjo directly, but he could also be wary of some curse or spell or contract? I’m not sure.

Also Despa and Desha can somehow communicate with each other like they have phones, which they use to coordinate a long-range lightning strike. Desha’s not rank 2 for nothing.

Animation still a bit spotty this episode, and there were too many flashbacks, and some of them messed with the flow of the story. Like I really don’t think the flashback about the burning house was necessary.

Edited by fillerdude on Jan 21st 2022 at 7:18:06 AM

Yeah, I agree with you there. I didn't notice too much out of the ordinary in terms of animation, though.

As of right now, it seems likely that Bosse feels indebted to Miranjo, if not for helping him create his kingdom in the first place, probably for helping him maintain it. I also wouldn't put it past her to have some sort of "doing this for your own good, whether you like it or not" thing going on toward him, as well as possibly wanting him for herself at the expense of Hiling (and, in all likelihood, Bojji's mother, too).

Well Bosse has known Miranjo longer than any of the current cast and she's been pretty actively involved in the building of his kingdom so she's definitely someone very important to him

Also, doubleposting to point out something I see hasn't been brought up yet - the names and their puntastic natures.

Bojji = bocchi = lonely/solitary, in Japanese
Kage = shadow
Hiling = healing = she's a cleric
Bosse = boss = he's the boss
Miranjo = Probably miraa no jo (lady of the mirror)
Bebin = hebi = snake
Dorshe = sherudo = shield
Apeas = supea = spear
Domas = Swordomaster
Hokuro = mole (his one feature)
Desha = Hades = king of the underworld
Gigan = Gigantic
Zokku = sanzoku = bandit
Ouken = ou (king) and ken (sword)
Redd and Blakk, as well as Kingbo, are pretty obvious.

Daida's name is the most brutal, though. "Daida" means "pinch hitter", or backup.

Miranjo did seem to have a horrific childhood, and I would not be surprised if Bosse underwent a similar ordeal and it’s what drove them to establish a peaceful kingdom. Through any means necessary.

Also Bojji seems to be a play on both bocchi and oji. The naming sense is actually kinda cute in how it fits the fairytale vibe of this show.

Edited by fillerdude on Jan 21st 2022 at 7:21:02 AM

Episode 15:
Major Events: Domas vs The Order of the Underworld, Domas & Hokuro finding out that Bojji's alive, Domas vs Desha, and Desha revealing his intentions to take Miranjo for what she has unleashed.
My Reaction: My thoughts exactly, Kage. I still haven't forgiven Domas for what he has done. I mean look at Bojji's reaction upon seeing Domas.

I started watching this recently and caught up this week. What I assume to be the first season was great. It really impressed me with how tight the writing was. Especially that no character was wasted, everyone has their complex history and internal life. But also with how there was barely a scene wasted, almost all were either used to set up or pay off and everything moved forward with a steady clip.

Then the OP changes and, well, it feels like they've gotten a lot more sloppy with that. Scenes feel a bit more meandering and I notice myself thinking small thoughts like "Wait, so earlier these beast were super bad ass, four of them would have been certain death to the shield guy and now there's a pack of them and the threat is less?" or "Wait, so Hiling just needs anything named 'Potion', so the stuff Kage has are good?" or "Right, Dumas climbing the stairs to have a more defensible position is smart, but a normal army troop would have some ranged option to just pepper him with, so the Undeworld folks not having anything like that seems kind of convenient" and then half a minute later "Wait, they did have crossbow and they're shooting at him at the same time as their frontline is charging him and they're shooting in a convenient single timed volley he can swing at with a sword?" Etc.

The emotional core of the show is still there, but that feeling of admirable tightness and control is gone. Am I the only one feeling like this? After thinking this I did some minor looking around and found a claim that after the first season the show is moving to areas not covered by manga, which instantly made me go "Oh, of course", but that might just be me using that to justify my own impression.

Not that I'm dropping this or anything, the first season was so good it got me invested enough to forgive a few more meandering episodes. Even the new characters introduced are still good ones, with proper internal worlds, so there's still stuff to like.

Edit: I suppose a big part of my gripe is that the set power levels seem to be suddenly swinging wildly. Like Dumas single handedly beating like 30 Underworld troops who were apparently enough to destroy nations? The thing I mentioned about the demon doggos, etc. Boji's sudden hyper power up too, though that was partly earned.

Edited by GabrieltheThird on Jan 27th 2022 at 8:25:42 PM

Hilling rushed in without a real plan, so she ended up with a mess where things quickly fell apart when she had a few Knights aid her in opposing Miranjo. When it comes to her boys she tends to lose to her feelings over her reason. Still I agree the fighting isn’t handled the best. She really needed a bigger army of knights.

And we had set up in the first half for what Bojji was capable of since he can’t rely on raw strength and he can do things like run up walls just relying on his agility. It’s why Ouken is his worst enemy being immortal with no physical weak spots. It’s honestly telling of just how strong Bojji would have been if he was never cursed.

Edited by OmegaRadiance on Jan 27th 2022 at 10:35:01 AM

The second half has definitely been weaker in my book. Agree with several scenes being meandering, and I was also disappointed in the Underworld troops. They don’t seem like a powerful army capable of toppling countries at all. I definitely noticed how the first three attackers swung their spears at the same time and from the same direction when it would have made more sense to attack Domas from different angles.

Also just for clarification: episodes 13 and onwards are still part of the first season, so we’re still in manga territory. I am curious though if the source material handled these events differently.

All in all, though, this is still a pretty good show. Desha was having fun flexing his power level in this episode.

Edited by fillerdude on Jan 27th 2022 at 10:34:37 AM

The anime generally doesn't change much about the manga outside of condensing some scenes or shifting them around.

Episode 16:
Major Reveals: (1) Bojji's birth mother died protecting Bojji from arrows from Miranjo's command. Miranjo then got shot after by virtue of betrayal, and I can only assume the Devil had a hand in her remaining alive via the Mirror. (2) Gigan's backstory: originally a warrior fighting with Desha against his father, he betrayed Desha's army after seeing his own kind get brutally killed and tortured. He ended up a criminal afterward. Now, he is to return with Desha to the Underworld as part of a plan by Despa; however, that plan would involve Bojji fighting his father Bosse. (3) Ouken is back, and his eyes are now red with vengeance.
I mostly liked the fact that Bojji never forgave Domas for what he did. Seriously, Bojji seemed traumatized from the event; of course, Bojji would never forgive him!

Oh boy, this is the war crimes episode.

Man their dad must have been really shitty.

It's interesting that a show about a prince who wants to become the greatest king ever may be one of the most anti-monarchical shows I've ever watched.

Yeah the story is very interesting in that way. "Good" leaders often have their leadership built on the exploitation of others, there's straight up records of the kings that manage to reach rank one losing their minds and if that strange hobo is any indication abandoning their kingdoms.

Really, what Bojji wants is less about being a king and more about acknowledgement from the people around him that he can be competent. He's got decent development but at this point I don't think him or anyone in the current court should be ruling over anyone, they're priorities are rather selfish.

To be fair to Bojji he is still just a kid (look at him racing Kage up those stairs) and probably has a childlike view of what a king does.

Loving Despa giving it to Desha straight, that the king of the underworld with lightning magic was no match for the precious muffin.

I think it’s BS that Desha kept Gigan locked up for so long if he knew Gigan wasn’t a bad guy at heart. Agreed that I would also like to learn how much of an asshole Desha’s father was that Desha was willing to commit war crimes to maintain the morale of his troops.

Also interesting that Desha mentions that Bosse could have taken first rank if he wanted to.

Holy crap did Miranjo have no chill. She was going to kill Bojji if she hadn’t been killed first. And Bojji had to literally wade in her dead mother’s blood.

I like that Domas was not Easily Forgiven. Too bad Hokuro got branded as a traitor too…

Episode 17:
Defitinely drives home the trope "Who Wants to Live Forever?". Also, we got some Bojji vs Ouken, the fight Despa didn't want but we got anyway, and it's definitely clear why Despa didn't want that... Oh, and it's pretty appropriate for Ouken's immortality to kick in at 25, what with that being the prime of humans and all that jazz!