When “Ranking of Kings” was first announced, the biggest thing that drew me in was the artwork. It’s not like your typical big eyed, fancy haired characters you’d usually see when watching anime. It’s more down to earth, expressive, and just interesting to look at. A story by Sōsuke Tōka, “Ranking of Kings” has quickly become one of the most critically acclaimed shows on Crunchyroll.
The story centers around Boji, a deaf mute that has trouble communicating with others. Or really, they have trouble communicating with him. He meets someone from the shadow clan one day, a black blob named Kage. Through this chance meeting he makes his first real friend and it kickstarts the story of their adventure together.
It’s a heartwarming adventure of a little boy who’s trying to find his place in the world. Boji, being the older(yet smaller) son of King Bosse was intended to inherit the crown after his passing. Unfortunately things don’t go as planned and instead his younger brother, Prince Daida takes it. Now beside himself, he asks his step mother Queen Hilling if he can go on an adventure. At first she says no but after Boji trying to leave on his own she sets down some rules.
The best thing about this story is that when you think it will go one way, it veers off into something else. You won’t be able to guess the outcome of some of these situations which makes it very interesting for non-anime fans. My husband for instance does not care for anime. But, after watching just two episodes of this he was hooked. I contribute this fact to how loveable Boji is. I mean, the character did win Crunchyroll’s Best Boy award in 2022. It was also nominated for Anime of the Year, Best Fantasy, and Best Character Design.
Another great quality is that it’s made for all ages. You can have kids and parents tune in and watch together without worry of anything crazy happening. There are fights and some blood, but the animation makes it not scary in the least. My personal score for this anime, 10 out of 10.
Watch “Ranking of Kings” now on Crunchyroll. You won’t regret it!
