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EP. REVIEW: Ranking of Kings


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Violet Park



Joined: 18 Jul 2018
Posts: 115
PostPosted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 11:42 am Reply with quote
NeverConvex wrote:
"Psyche! He's not dead!" hasn't bothered me in RoK so far. Certainly has fatigued me in other shows, though. May keep an extra eye out for it now, out of curiosity.

I think my biggest fear about RoK is that I am somewhat invested in every character, but not deeply invested in any of them. Even Boji -- I mean, I love the boy, good god. And he has grown. But much, much less than I would have expected of a well-written protagonist of so many episodes; a casualty of the rest of the cast being given depth, I think. And I feel even more ... impressively non-negligible yet not-quite-passionately about the rest of the cast?


Bojji's problem (so to speak) is that he is a paragon in a cast of complex, messy characters, the white to everyone else's grey. I love him to pieces but I find myself more invested in Daida slowly and painfully growing as a person, Bebin being a mystery, whatever is going on with Miranjo&Bosse and now Kingbo's own family drama.
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SHD



Joined: 05 Apr 2015
Posts: 1752
PostPosted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 1:13 pm Reply with quote
Violet Park wrote:
Bojji's problem (so to speak) is that he is a paragon in a cast of complex, messy characters, the white to everyone else's grey. I love him to pieces but I find myself more invested in Daida slowly and painfully growing as a person, Bebin being a mystery, whatever is going on with Miranjo&Bosse and now Kingbo's own family drama.

That's kind of my problem, too. I'm enjoying the show (even though the name puns have been getting lazier and more eyeroll-inducing than funny) but while I'm excited to find out what's going on with Daida, Bosse, etc., I'm just not invested in Bojji whatsoever. He's like a perfect human being whose character growth has been essentially going from an "aww poor little darling baby" cinnamon roll to an "aww our poor little darling baby became strong and determined in all the best ways and with all the best intentions!" cinnamon roll. And that's just kind of not interesting to me, especially as I can't help shaking the feeling that he's at least partly self-projection on the author's part. I'm sure a lot of people find him loveable and relatable, but as for me, he stands out from the cast and not in a good way.
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John Thacker



Joined: 28 Oct 2013
Posts: 1006
PostPosted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 8:54 pm Reply with quote
Wow, in the start of Episode 11 Prime Minister Sorii (already a pun with 総理偉大) brings up the sorites paradox with Daida. Amazing.
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Panino Manino



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
Posts: 734
PostPosted: Fri Jan 14, 2022 7:25 pm Reply with quote
I'm late, started following this anime this week.
I have just one thing to say: I hope someone will remember to protect Miranjo smile...

Seriously, it's curious, but I don't get the sense that she is all that evil actually. Those moments when she seems to be revealing her sentiments and being "good" to people seem to be genuine.

I think that somehow Bosse found and helped/befriended her and they set the goal to make him become number 1 King. In episode 2 someone mentioned that the number 1 had access to a magical treasure trove. So they want to get something from there, right? With all that I watched till now I think that there's a possibility that it's something that could restore Miranjo's body and make her "normal". At least it's the "obvious" alternative but there's also the alternative that she doesn't want the thing for her, but for Bosse.
As to why she is doing what we are seeing he doing now, I think it's that because Bosse "gave up" becoming number 1 because he is satisfied with the life and ranking he has now. He does have a good family and good allies, that's why Miranjo is attacking them because they are "holding him back".
I imagine that one solution to this would be Daida to become her friend/ally and continue trying to fulfill Bosse's goal of becoming number 1 for her.

The only thing I don't understand is... Hilling never entered her body's room to see the mirror there?
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NeverConvex
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Joined: 08 Jun 2013
Posts: 2269
PostPosted: Sat Jan 15, 2022 9:40 pm Reply with quote
Giant women only being able to have a single kid is an interesting population growth mechanic. It sort of weirdly implies we're either in the very earliest generations of giants; or that there are almost no giants left; or that giants are almost all female, give birth to almost all female giants, and are super polygynous (since their numbers should decline very slowly -- in the best case, losing about 1 giant per generation -- if almost every member of the giant population can reproduce, and the number of non-reproducing male giants is minimal; and, would decline exponentially if they had a sex ratio close to 50/50, like humans). Obviously not, uh, the point of that idea narratively, but once they threw it in I couldn't help thinking about that might actually work a bit more.
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thedarkemissary



Joined: 07 Apr 2010
Posts: 88
PostPosted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 3:36 pm Reply with quote
At this point, the episodes NOT featuring Boji outnumber the ones that do. And every other character has more development than either of the 2 leads. I guess it really was impossible for a character with such handicaps to be the main character and focus of the narrative.
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Covnam



Joined: 31 May 2005
Posts: 3629
PostPosted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 8:24 pm Reply with quote
NeverConvex wrote:
Giant women only being able to have a single kid is an interesting population growth mechanic. It sort of weirdly implies we're either in the very earliest generations of giants; or that there are almost no giants left; or that giants are almost all female, give birth to almost all female giants, and are super polygynous (since their numbers should decline very slowly -- in the best case, losing about 1 giant per generation -- if almost every member of the giant population can reproduce, and the number of non-reproducing male giants is minimal; and, would decline exponentially if they had a sex ratio close to 50/50, like humans). Obviously not, uh, the point of that idea narratively, but once they threw it in I couldn't help thinking about that might actually work a bit more.


Yeah, unless they were created by some deity or something en masse or all Giants were cursed at some point to have only one child, it would be extremely hard to imagine how Giants could have evolved with that type of reproduction.

It's possible since humans and giants can have children though that giants are a rare mutation from humans (like 1 in 1,000 births or something) and that's how they're around, but don't dominate due to the single offspring issue.
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whiskeyii



Joined: 29 May 2013
Posts: 2242
PostPosted: Sun Jan 30, 2022 12:59 am Reply with quote
I think the show is pretty consistent in showing that Domas is not the sharpest tool in the shed: he's easily manipulated, he's a rotten teacher for Hokuro, and he doesn't even ask the bare minimum of questions to figure out what's going on. He's probably the closest thing the show has to a himbo, though I'm sure that's not the archetype they're going for.

That said, I do think Domas' attempted suicide does a few interesting things narratively: one, it gives Hokuro the chance to shove Domas' pity party back in his face (deservedly so), and two, it makes Bojji's mind up for him. Not that there was ever really any real danger of Bojji going to the Dark Side, but I think it was a good way of showing and not telling that Bojji still cares about Domas despite what he did to him--after all, no matter how mad I might get at my friends and family, even when I'm really seething mad, it's not like I actually want to see them hurt or anything.

(Also, I totally forgot Desha was going for a coup til this episode showed up! Embarassed )
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Dayraven



Joined: 21 Jul 2021
Posts: 168
PostPosted: Sun Jan 30, 2022 4:39 am Reply with quote
NeverConvex wrote:
Obviously not, uh, the point of that idea narratively, but once they threw it in I couldn't help thinking about that might actually work a bit more.

The author does seem aware of how the numbers work, at least, since Bosse describes the Giants as being doomed to die out immediately afterwards.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4070
PostPosted: Mon Jan 31, 2022 11:25 am Reply with quote
Covnam wrote:

It's possible since humans and giants can have children though that giants are a rare mutation from humans (like 1 in 1,000 births or something) and that's how they're around, but don't dominate due to the single offspring issue.


Now there's an assumption. I would only go so far as saying Heiling is Bojji's mom in the same way Bosse is Daida's father. I haven't said anything on it because the mechanics alone is "beyond description" and I have been waiting and continue to wait for clarification before even knowing how I should feel about it.

How would I describe the pairing using everything I know at the moment?
"That's impossible." If you weren't thinking it then you weren't imagining the size of Bosse's... size.

Magic is involved at some point? I think that would have to be a prerequisite and it doesn't help when the mother is an unexplained witch. There's also a demon involved at some point because of course there is.
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whiskeyii



Joined: 29 May 2013
Posts: 2242
PostPosted: Mon Jan 31, 2022 12:14 pm Reply with quote
Animegomaniac wrote:


Now there's an assumption. I would only go so far as saying Heiling is Bojji's mom in the same way Bosse is Daida's father. I haven't said anything on it because the mechanics alone is "beyond description" and I have been waiting and continue to wait for clarification before even knowing how I should feel about it.

How would I describe the pairing using everything I know at the moment?
"That's impossible." If you weren't thinking it then you weren't imagining the size of Bosse's... size.

Magic is involved at some point? I think that would have to be a prerequisite and it doesn't help when the mother is an unexplained witch. There's also a demon involved at some point because of course there is.


The show has been pretty clear that Daida is Bosse’s biological son, even if the logistics are better left unexplored.

Though I’m not sure that it’s fair to call Hiling a “witch”, per se. Her magic seems very stereotypically “holy” and light-aligned (heck, she even senses “evil” in people and things), so in trope terms, she’s probably closest to a High Priestess or the like.

Whereas our “witch” character Miranjo has only ever had her powers referred to as alchemy, uses potions, and doesn’t seem to possess what other characters like Desha seem to perceive as “magic”, even if she does seem to be involved with devils.
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ab2143



Joined: 09 Jan 2021
Posts: 701
PostPosted: Fri Feb 04, 2022 7:48 pm Reply with quote
I’m also relieved to see that the story didn’t go in the direction of Bojji instantly forgiving Domas. It’s a shame Hokuro had to suffer too because of Domas’ actions…

That cliffhanger with Ouken has me really worried for Despa. I very doubt Ouken would recognise him considering that he’s not his former self anymore.
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Violet Park



Joined: 18 Jul 2018
Posts: 115
PostPosted: Sat Feb 05, 2022 5:23 am Reply with quote
The outcomes of this episode were refreshingly realistic while keeping with the hopeful tone of the show. Gigan joined the Underworld order, not because he has forgiven Desha, but to protect Bojji. Desha will deal with the consequences of his actions forever. Bojji may never fully forgive Domas and that's ok. I'm only sad that Hokuro got dragged into it, Domas should tell Bojji he was completely innocent and even tried to avenge his death.

We finally learned what happened with Bojji's mom. Can someone get this poor boy a therapist, please? There are some more questions left, like why Miranjo's men betrayed her and if Bosse tried to do something to save his wife or if this was the incident that opened his eyes.

Finally a little detail I liked is that Kage understands Gigan's language. I thought him understanding Bojji was a narrative convenience but it applies to everyone. A shadow clan thing maybe?
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whiskeyii



Joined: 29 May 2013
Posts: 2242
PostPosted: Sat Feb 05, 2022 11:52 am Reply with quote
I'm actually of the opinion that Bosse didn't know Miranjo was behind his first wife's death, and that Miranjo's betrayal at her accomplice's hands actually inadvertently helped her cover her tracks. Like, "oh no, we were suddenly attacked by this bad guy" and it looks way more realistic when everyone was attacked, including Miranjo.
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Violet Park



Joined: 18 Jul 2018
Posts: 115
PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2022 5:21 pm Reply with quote
Now that Bojji and Miranjo have finally crossed paths, I wonder how far she'll go to destroy him. Will she tell him how he came to exist and the reason of his disability? He already knows Bosse is possessing his brother and this piece of knowledge could be the final nail on the coffin.

I also want to know what kind of relationship they had prior to Sheena's assassination. Sheena and every Big Four except for Domas knew her, so she would have been as close to him as them, at least from Bojji's perspective. She also basically raised Daida, who's playing therapist for her younger self in the void, her conscience will probably get the best of her.
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