Contains very minor spoilers. Anything relatively major has been tagged appropriately. As always though this review isnt suitable for those who want to go into this anime completely blind. I dont think I was the only one whod never even heard the name Ranking of Kings until the day this show started. Even as an avid manga reader and someone who likes to keep up with new anime announcements it just wasnt something Id ever even heard of in passing let alone actually stumbled across. So why as weve all started to wonder has this anime suddenly become so huge? How did it manage to cement its place in so many peoples favourites before itd even finished airing? How did it get me so invested in its characters and world within the first 15 minutes of its pilots runtime? It achieved some insane feats during its run so I hope youll join me as I go through them one by one. Synopsis In this world theres a mysterious organisation that decides the global ranking of each kingdoms king and grants he who is ranked 1 one treasure of his choice from the Divine Treasure Vault. To date every king who has entered has picked the same treasure and then gone insane. We witness the story of Bojji a deaf mute and almost completely powerless prince who is the first born son of Bosse king of the Bosse Kingdom and 7 in the rankings. Bosse is widely acknowledged as the strongest man in the world and Bojji dreams of becoming like him despite his weakness and disability. The whole kingdom openly ridicules Bojji for his ambition but Bojji is always able to put up a smile through this and never fights back. One day he meets a creature called Kage the final remnant of the wipedout shadow clan and after a few hiccups the two become friends. Kage is touched by Bojjis kindness its genuineness reaching him because he himself had been exploited and abused for most of his life and swears to become his loyal companion. Sounds interesting already right? Ranking of Kings presents us with a setting and a premise that I dare say is almost impossible to not get invested in. Even in the first episode were given such an indepth impression of the shows world and how its built even though were hardly given any specifics about its history or wider cast of characters off the bat. It builds this intrigue through its immaculate execution of this factor and ropes us all in through its storytelling and quirky series composition. The plot of course only becomes more and more interesting as more of its mysteries are unravelled. Id been following it since its pilot and week on week it consistently had me at the edge of my seat always disappointed when episodes ended and excited for what next week would bring. What truly made it so interesting to me personally was its unpredictability as every single character has a different set of motivations and unseen sides to their personality that contribute to the wider narrative and it slowly compiles all of these different threads of the story into one big plotline before we reach the series climax which by the way has some of the most nutworthy episode and animation direction I think I have ever seen. Without saying too much and wandering off into spoiler territory the narrative of Ranking of Kings is one of my favourites possibly of all time just because of how well it handles its world and characters. I love stories that slowly reveal background information and the reasoning behind a greater conspiracy throughout the plot itself and this anime did that absolutely perfectly. The way it loops back around to different plotlines right as you think theyve been forgotten? Immaculate. The way it keeps world aspects such as the rankings relevant without constantly shoving them down our throats? Divine. Even the blatant tone shift we witness in the shows second cour doesnt feel unnatural because of the amount of buildup wed gradually been fed throughout the first. Ranking of Kings was nothing like how Id expected it to be after coming out of episode one but I mean this in the absolute best way possible. I do have my complaints though which I unfortunately have to add after watching episode 22. Characters Ive mentioned this a little already but the characters are something that absolutely shone in Ranking of Kings for me. Its cast is actually bordering ensemble levels in size but thats just not something you notice because absolutely none of the relevant characters are lacking in development. All of them have a different character arc and a set of goals that we get to see them try to accomplish throughout the story and its fascinating to watch how some of these motives change through their interactions with each other. It feels like we as an audience truly get to know all of them all of their struggles and emotions which is part of why Ranking of Kings is so standout compared to your average bogstandard fantasy kingdom anime that revolves around three or four mains with a group of underdeveloped side characters that come and go because of plot or well whatever excuse writers want to use for not bothering to at least try to develop their wider cast. Im going to avoid individually reviewing any of the characters because really most of the fun comes from discovering them yourself through the show but you can absolutely take my word that itll be very difficult to hate any of them by the time you finish episode 23. Even the most initially evilseeming characters become understandable by the time you learn of their pasts or watch them walk in their futures ready to atone for their mistakes and this is what makes them all feel so human despite the fact that a solid chunk of them arent even humans at all. Theyre perfectly imperfect and their struggles are so relatable sometimes that you just want to reach in and hug them through the screen and dont even get me started on the bond we witness form between Bojji and Kage because I am never going to admit that I got emotionally invested in a fucking black blob so hard I was crying by the end of the second episode nuhuh. Ranking of Kings is ultimately a story about empowerment but through its characters it also gives you this feeling of perpetual forgiveness and the sense that its not too late to become and live as a better person even if you can barely forgive yourself sometimes. And this I think is what makes it as beautiful as it is. Art Animation Therell be at least a few people reading this who were initially put off Ranking of Kings because of its art style. And Ill be the first to say it: I dont blame you. Ranking of Kings is an example of an anime that really doesnt look like an anime at all in a traditional sense and is stylised to look far more simplistic and fairy taleesque. It looks like its jumped right out of a story book you read in second grade which might be offputting to some especially considering some of the substantially less story bookish themes it covers through its story. But honestly? It works for the kind of show Ranking of Kings wants to be. The simplicity of it almost accentuates the horror of some of its gorier scenes and serves to be a surprisingly good contrast to its darker narrative. As much as I adore more realistic and detailed art like Urasawas or Miuras when it comes to series that deal with more serious themes Ranking of Kings simplicity actually serves to contribute to how serious it can get at times and despite my initial tentativeness towards its visuals I never once found myself thinking this would look so much better if it was drawn in a more typically anime style while I was watching. Mixing darker themes with what looks like a stereotypically childish art style actually works supremely well here and it creates a lasting impression as well as a new kind of naive atmosphere around the show which reflects its tone immaculately. The animation is also beautifully fluid which is something we perhaps need to thank the simplistic style for and some of the fight scenes the show pushes out are honestly on par with if not better than those you can find in mainstream shonen anime. Its clear that a lot of care has been taken around composing the art and tonally allowing it to fit into the narrative which is true in a visual sense as well because the show has this certain aesthetic to it that holds true for its entire run. Something I adore specifically is the watercolour feel of the backgrounds since it compliments the cartoonish animation and style and really does make Ranking of Kings feel like the tale of a young prince. I really cant fault it so I just want to say to any people here who are as tentative as I initially was about watching this anime because of its art that its worth it and is absolutely something youll grow to love. Voice Acting I dont have a lot to say here but then again I never really do because the answers always the same: the voice acting is impeccable and I have absolutely no complaints. I remember going into Ranking of Kings wondering how they were going to go about handing the voice acting performance for a deaf character who cant really speakIve only seen this done once before and I dont think I need to tell you what movie it was inso newcomer Minami Hinatas ability to encapsulate Bojjis speech as she does came as a pleasant surprise to me and once again showcases how much care and thought has been put into this anime from all angles. I have no idea if its particularly accurate to real life but it still felt oxymoronically true to me and is an endearing contribution to Bojjis overall realism and lovability as a character. The other characters voices are equally amazing emotional in all the right places and all perfectly fitting their respective characters in terms of pitch and tone and I think its wonderful that such a diverse cast came together to bring all of these beloved characters to life and contribute to making them as beloved as they are. Music Heres a confession: music was the sole reason I actually started watching Ranking of Kings. I remember a friend of mine sending me a tweet that listed the first cours theme songs and me subsequently going apeshit when I saw that King Gnu was writing the opening. Ive loved King Gnu even before I witnessed their work on Banana Fish and naturally they lived up to my expectations. The first opening King Gnus BOY fits the initial character of Bojji absolutely perfectly. Its a banger of a song and its coupled with some beautifullycomposed animation that allows us to explore the world through the eyes of Bojji and Kage. Its a rare case of a song being so carefully constructed around a series without outright being about the series that it just feels genius and Im glad the band put so much into making it so for the sake of this anime. And once again it fucking slaps. The second opening Vaundys Hadaka no Yusha or Hero Laid Bare in English is one that blew me completely away the second I first watched it. I remember saying to that same friend immediately after Id watched it that it was going to be the best opening released in 2022 and so far I still stand by that. It is absolutely immaculate. The animation is Kaikai Kitan levels of pure uncontrollable sexiness and at this point I think its impossible for me to ever skip it I just have to watch it the whole way through every time its on so I can fawn over how pretty it is. It conveys the series tone shift onto its more dark narrative beautifully and also represents the change in Bojjis character as hes wrapped up in all of these conspiracies. The song itself is also just the type youd want to loop for hours to cry and/or headbang to because its Vaundy and Vaundy is incredible. I have substantially less to say about the ending themes and OST because Im both a chronic ed skipper and a voice actor hyperfixator but I really cant find much flaw with either of them either. The softness of the endings in contrast to the actionpacked openings is beautiful and encapsulates the animes gentler themes perfectly and the OST is subtle enough to not intrude upon emotional voiceheavy scenes while still being strong enough to build tension and poignance where its required to. On the whole? The music is utterly fantastic. All of it is very fitting for the type of series Ranking of Kings is and the theme songs are some of the best Ive had the pleasure of witnessing in a while. Full marks. Conclusion I dont think its an exaggeration to call Ranking of Kings a masterpiece. Sure it cant really compete with alltime classics like Fullmetal Alchemist and SteinsGate yet but that doesnt mean it cant join the two on the podium of holy shit this show absolutely fucks and I can say for sure its not something any of us will be forgetting in a hurry. There were a lot of shows that were released last year and very few of them stood out to me like Ranking of Kings did. Its fresh and new and unafraid to deal with themes every other mediaeval kingdom fantasy anime tend to shy away from and its this aspect of it that immediately makes it stand out in the best way though of course this would mean nothing without its incredible narrative structure and cast of wonderfullywritten characters. Not even a slipup near the ending could ruin this show for me and Im a critic at heart if that puts into perspective how much that means from me. I would recommend Ranking of Kings to absolutely anyone as many of my friends know because I have been incapable of shutting up about it to them for the past few months solely on the basis of the messages it conveys because I just think many of the themes it explores need to be touched upon more in anime and honestly media as a whole. 400https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/758351427856236546/956587566239477760/OusamaRanking0110.jpg Thank you for taking the time to read my review I hope you were able to get something out of it