Bojji the King

Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage Episode 6 is the first episode to take place at the end of Season 1. It takes place during the final episode of the season. So, that means it’s possible that at least one episode will take place after Season 1.

The first of two stories in this episode focuses on Bojji’s short time as king of the Bosse Kingdom. This is after he saves the kingdom from Miranjo, Bosse, and the Demon. But, it’s also after Kage leaves the kingdom. And without his best friend, Bojji doesn’t know what to do.

He’s finally achieved his dream of becoming king. But at what cost? If being king means losing his best friend, then being king isn’t that important to Bojji. However, this first story takes place before Bojji decides to give up the crown.

Now, despite how he looks, Bebin is a nice guy who cares about Bojji. And he’s one of the first people to recognize the impact Kage’s absence has on the new king. So, to take Bojji’s mind off things, Bebin suggests they take a trip into town.

In town, Bojji interacts with a few of the children. While they’re the same size as him, we should keep in mind that Bojji is small for his age. He’s probably almost a teenager at this point. But, anyway, during this trip, he continues to show how much he cares for others.

He communicates with some children using sign language. He gives his clothes to a child whose clothes were eaten by goats. And he helps some girls find their lost pet bird. This was a nice change of pace for Bojji. But, we later find out Bebin was also using this outing to look for Kage.

The Melancholy of King Daida

The second story of Episode 6 takes place at the very end of the first season. This is when Bojji gives up the crown to Daida and sets off on his next adventure with Kage. But, rather than following Bojji, we’re following Daida this time around.

When Daida becomes king (for the second time), he recognizes how much the people like Bojji. Bojji is beloved by everyone. Daida, on the other hand, is partially seen as being to blame for the recent upheaval. After all, it was his body King Bosse was using when he usurped the throne with Miranjo.

And, to make matters worse, Miranjo is now Daida’s queen. So, to many, it might seem like they usurped the throne once more. With that in mind, Daida determines to take a page out of Bojji’s book and be a king of the people.

Like Bojji, he takes a trip into town to mingle with the commoners. And when he does this, he listens to the needs of the townspeople. He wants to know what their struggles are so he can help solve the problems the kingdom still faces.

One problem is what to do with the old barracks. Now that the kingdom is at peace, there’s no more need for the aging barracks. Rather than rebuilding them, Daida wants to set the land aside for something else. However, he’s not sure what to replace the barracks with. What does the kingdom need?

As soon as Daida ran into the blind and deaf man in town, the answer was clear. The kingdom needs a school that teaches sign language. But, even after that interaction, it took Daida a while to come to that conclusion. I guess he forgot that most people don’t actually know sign language.

Miranjo-sensei

Daida only has the idea to build a school after he catches Miranjo in the act of indoctrinating children. That’s right, she was teaching them wicked arts in secret, such as how to read, do math, and use sign language. Oh, and she was celebrating with the children and had a cake for them.

Apparently, the children love Miranjo and refer to her as sensei even though she’s the queen. So, it only makes sense for Miranjo to be the teacher at the new school Daida is going to build. It’s kind of the perfect solution to all their problems.

First, the kingdom gets a new school, which benefits society as a whole. Second, the construction workers get a job. Third, Daida gets the credit for having the school built on the grounds of the old barracks. And finally, Miranjo is able to repair her image by working with the children of the town.

Something I want to point out is the age difference between Miranjo and Daida. After Bojji saved the kingdom, Daida took Miranjo as his wife. But, this is a bit weird for a few reasons. The first is the obvious age difference between the two.

Miranjo looks young. But, she’s older than Daida. And I don’t mean slightly older. I mean like decades or centuries older. Regardless of her physical appearance, it’s weird for her to be married to a literal child. I get that Daida is mature and the king. But, he’s also like 10 years old or something.

That’s not the weirdest part of their relationship, though. As you may remember, Miranjo was Bosse’s mistress. So that means Daida took his late father’s mistress as his wife. That has to be weird for everyone. Like, how does Hiling feel about that?

Conclusion

What do you think of Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage Episode 6? Is Bebin your favorite of the Big Four? Do you think Daida is capable of being a king on par with his brother? And, how do you feel about Daida taking Miranjo as his queen? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on your social media of choice — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. And I’d like to thank Key Mochi for supporting at the Senpai tier. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 7 is available now.

The Law of the Underworld

Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage Episode 5 picks up where Episode 4 left off. It continues the story of Ouken’s curse of immortality. But, this time it’s from the perspective of Fren, 2nd in command of the Order of the Underworld.

As we saw in Episode 4, Fren overheard the three brothers discussing how to save Ouken. He learned of Ouken’s immortality and also of the possibility that a devil could save him. And so, being Ouken’s best friend, Fren wants to help search for this devil.

The problem is that the laws of the Underworld don’t allow for this. Apparently, monsters cannot leave and go to the surface. This may have been explained in the main Ranking of Kings anime. But, I’m not sure who it was who decided on this law.

Did the Underworld create the law? Why would they ban monsters from leaving the kingdom? To me, that sounds like surrounding kingdoms imposed the law on the Underworld. Like, the other countries wanted the Underworld to keep the monsters. You know, because racism and stuff. But, that’s the law. No monsters can leave.

Of course, this doesn’t stop Fren. Even if it means breaking the law, he’ll do whatever it takes to save Ouken. But, there is one problem. It’s not just illegal for monsters to leave the Underworld. It’s also punishable by death. And so, King Desha sends the Order of the Underworld after Fren to execute him.

Now, I’m going to skip over the rest of what happens in this story and get to the end. Fren is the one who finds that the devil has a connection to Miranjo. And he found out that Miranjo is in the Bosse Kingdom. And for that, he isn’t executed.

A White Horse in Love

The second of the three stories in this episode is all about Despa’s noble steed, Whiteking. It really doesn’t add all that much, though. And, that’s a good thing. I didn’t need half of the episode to be about Whiteking. About a quarter was enough.

So, as we know from the main series, Whiteking gained a lot of weight. She used to be Despa’s prized horse. But, after he left the castle, Despa left her in the care of the Captain of the Order. And the Captain didn’t exactly take care of her.

In fact, he forgot about her. And left to her own devices, Whiteking spent all her time eating grass and gaining weight. So, once the Captain remembers her, he attempts to get her on a diet.

First, he tries limiting the amount she ate by locking her in a cage. But, she easily breaks free and goes back to eating as much as she wants. Then, he tries to get her to exercise by bribing her with food. This also doesn’t work. But, he finally figures out a way to motivate her to lose weight.

You see, Whiteking likes another horse who looks a lot like Sasuke. So, the Captain tells her that this male horse is probably only interested in horses who aren’t obese. And that’s enough to get Whiteking to start exercising.

Unfortunately for Whiteking, all her effort was for nothing. She did end up losing the weight, which was surprising. But, it turns out the Sasuke horse already has a wife and child. So, in her depression, Whiteking went back to her old ways of eating to cope with her emotions. And that’s where the main story picks up from.

The Gentle Soldier, Hokuro

At the end of Episode 5, we get Hokuro’s backstory. Hokuro is the knight who went with Bojji and Domas on their adventure. And while his backstory wasn’t all that interesting, I did enjoy it. Though, that could be because it followed the story about the fat horse.

Hokuro isn’t one of my favorite characters, by any means. But, in this episode, we got to see how much he cares about Bojji. In fact, he specifically joined the knights because he wanted to serve Bojji when he became the next king.

Simply wanting to serve Bojji isn’t enough, though. So, Hokuro put in the necessary work. He actually taught himself sign language so that he could communicate with Bojji. Though, he never actually communicated with him until the beginning of their journey. However, this effort is what made all the difference, in the end.

When Bojji’s journey was announced, only one knight volunteered to go with him: Hokuro. And yet, that wasn’t enough for him to be selected for the job. He had to prove his worth by showing Domas that he’s capable of protecting Bojji. And, Hokuro failed to do this.

But, he then started showing off his ability to use sign language. And this is what earned him his spot on the journey with Bojji. After seeing that Hokuro learned sign language for Bojji, Queen Hiling selected him. Anyone who’s willing to learn sign language for Bojji must truly care about him.

And sure, this should have been Hokuro’s time to shine. But, Queen Hiling stole the spotlight from him in my mind. Once again, she showed me why she’s my favorite character. She recognized how important it was for Bojji to have someone he could communicate with. That’s why she allowed Hokuro to go.

Conclusion

What do you think of Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage Episode 5? Why do you think monsters aren’t allowed to leave the Underworld? Could you have done without the Whiteking story in this episode? And, did Hokuro’s backstory make you like him more? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on your social media of choice — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. And I’d like to thank Key Mochi for supporting at the Senpai tier. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 6 is available now.

Satun, King of the Underworld

Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage Episode 4 is the perfect episode. It’s not two short, extra stories stuck together. Instead, this episode gives us the entire backstory of Desha, Despa, and Ouken. This is something I felt the main series was lacking.

So, the episode starts off with Satun, King of the Underworld and father of Desha, Despa, and Ouken. Apparently, the superpowers these brothers possess are the result of their father’s experimentation. Much as Bosse did with Bojji, Satun sought to sacrifice his children to gain more power.

However, Satun sought different power than Bosse. And he used different means in his attempts to achieve it. His plan was to awaken immortality in one of his sons and then take their body as his own. And to do this, he engaged in large amounts of human sacrifice.

According to Satun, both Desha and Despa were failures. Sure, Desha has an amazing superpower that lets him control lightning. And I believe Despa’s power is that he’s a genius when it comes to strategy and tactics. But, those powers aren’t the immortality Satun wanted. With Ouken, however, Satun finally succeeded.

It’s also important to note that all three brothers hated their father. Due to his lust for immortality, Satun made the underworld a living hell. He slaughtered his own people to further his experiments. And, this is what ultimately led to Satun’s downfall when Desha rose up against him.

After Desha killed Satun, Satun’s spirit attempted to take over Ouken’s body. But, Ouken’s will was too powerful and Satun wasn’t able to take hold. Desha then used his lightning to eradicate Satun’s soul, bringing an end to Satun’s reign of terror. This is only the start of the brothers’ struggles, though.

Immortality and the Three Brothers

One of the scenes I found most interesting from Episode 4 is when Desha smashes the statue of himself. When Desha becomes King of the Underworld, the town erects a statue in his honor. But, the then walks up to it and smashes its face.

Why did he do this? Is it because Desha thinks he looks ugly compared to his brother, Despa? That’s what Despa said in the main series. But, based on the context of this episode, that’s not quite it. The reason Desha hates what he looks like is that he looks like his father.

Despa is probably the one who hates his father the most. He’s the one who wanted to save the country from his father. He’s the one who killed his father. And, when Despa said his actions during the war reminded him of their father, it was clear Desha didn’t like that.

But, the thing about Desha is that he deeply cares for his brothers and the people of the Underworld. He’s willing to make tough choices and be the bad guy as long as it benefits his family and country.

This is something we see every time he interacts with Ouken. When Ouken wanted Desha to train him, Desha didn’t hold back. Desha also promised Ouken that he’d find a cure for the immortality curse. And, Desha uses his power to stop Ouken’s rampage.

It’s important to keep in mind the sacrifices Desha made in each of these cases. Despa saw him as cruel for not holding back against Ouken in training. To cure Ouken’s immortality, Desha sought out a demon to make a deal with. And he really didn’t want to have to hurt his brother when stopping him.

Ouken’s Fall

From what I remember, the explanation we got from the main series is that immortality made Ouken go mad. I don’t remember who said it, but someone mentioned that being able to live forever is what broke him. Everyone he knew and loved would die, and he would continue living on.

However, we get a very different perspective in The Treasure Chest of Courage Episode 4. And the reason this perspective is so different is that it’s Ouken’s perspective. Everyone else can only speculate about what drove him mad. So it was interesting to see what really happened.

In a way, Ouken’s immortality did have a negative impact on his mental health. But, it was because he stopped caring about what happened to himself. He knew that no matter what injuries he sustained, he’d just recover. And that seems to have done some amount of psychological damage to him.

The real problem for Ouken, though, is that the ghost of his father haunted him. This is the trauma left over from when Satun’s spirit attempted to steal Ouken’s body. Ouken became paranoid and began seeing Satun everywhere he looked. And this is ultimately what led him to madness.

At the end of the episode, Desha stops Ouken by hitting him with a lightning bolt. He then has Ouken thrown in a prison cell. This is both to protect others from Ouken and to protect Ouken from his own actions. And it’s not until the events of the main series that he escapes.

Also, speaking of the main series, Ouken’s curse was never lifted in the end. Desha didn’t get his hands on the demon and so wasn’t able to form a pact with it. Will Ouken ever have his curse lifted? I’m looking forward to finding out.

Conclusion

What do you think of Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage Episode 4? Do you agree that this was the best episode of the series so far, not just of The Treasure Chest of Courage? Has this episode changed your opinion of Desha? And, do you think Ouken will ever be cured? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on your social media of choice — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. And I’d like to thank Key Mochi for supporting at the Senpai tier. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 5 is available now.

Hiling’s Old Friend

Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage Episode 3 focused on some side characters. The first story of the episode was about Queen Hiling. And the second story of the episode was about Prince Daida. Of the two, I liked the first story more.

Hiling is my favorite character in Ranking of Kings, so it’s no surprise that I liked the story about her. In this story, we got to see how Hiling put together her dream team for retaking the Kingdom of Bosse. Or, at least, we got to see the start of this process.

Before Hiling was Queen Hiling, she was a traveling monastic. And it’s very possible that this is how she learned her healing magic. If a monastic was going to use any kind of magic, it would probably be healing magic. But, unfortunately, we never saw when she learned her magic.

It was during her time as a traveling monastic that Hiling met Ann. Ann was one of the soldiers tasked with guarding Hiling. And now that Hiling needs soldiers to help her rescue Daida, she’s once again calling on Ann.

It’s unknown if Ann had some sort of allegiance to a country back when she and Hiling met. But, at the time of this story, that doesn’t appear to be the case. She’s living in and protecting a rural village with a male soldier — who may be her husband. And the reason they’re there is to protect the village from bandits.

Ann and the male soldier can’t just leave the village to help Hiling. They need to take care of the bandits first. So, Hiling and Dorshe decide to team up with Ann to take out the bandits. And, unsurprisingly, Hiling is the star of the raid.

Death Promise

The only type of magic we know Hiling can use is healing magic. But, at the end of the fight against the bandits, she uses another spell called Death Promise. As she explains it, if the person she casts the spell on goes against her wishes (such as by being violent), they’ll die.

Of course, Hiling was bluffing when she cast this spell. Death Promise isn’t real and Hiling didn’t actually cast it. But, she used this bluff to scare the bandits into turning over a new leaf. Now, instead of terrorizing the village, they work to support it.

The thing is, though, that Death Promise could be a real spell. We don’t know much about magic in the world of Ranking of Kings. But, we do know that there’s a wide variety of magic out there. So, there’s no reason Death Promise couldn’t be real.

What other types of magic do we know of? Obviously, we know there’s healing magic. But, Desha also uses some kind of lightning magic. The Demon has some kind of magic it uses. Miranjo lives inside a magic mirror for the majority of the series. And Ouken is immortal for some reason.

According to Hiling, there’s not much you need in order to use healing magic. As long as you have a strong desire to heal someone, you can use it. We see this later in the episode with Daida. But, what’s interesting is that this means all magic could work similarly.

If someone actually had a strong will to use Death Promise, could they? I don’t think Hiling could ever actually use a spell like that. Considering she can use healing magic even on her enemies, I have a hard time seeing her want to kill someone.

Daida and Magic

The second story of the episode sticks with the healing magic theme. But, this time, it’s about Daida learning to use it. At the start of the story, we see Hiling teaching Daida how to use healing magic while Bojji does his own thing.

I wonder if Bojji ever expressed any interest in learning, as well. And, I wonder if he’s even capable of using magic. When Hiling uses magic, we see that it leaves her physically exhausted. That may imply that magic is something Bojji wouldn’t be able to use. His body might be too weak.

Anyway, Daida doesn’t have much luck with magic at first. But, later on in the story, we see that he does have a knack for it. All he needed was to be healing something he cares about — like his brother Bojji.

Bojji injures his leg after being pushed off a cliff by Daida (it was an accident). And this is the perfect opportunity for Daida to prove he has what it takes to use healing magic. He climbs (also falls) down the cliff and manages to reach Bojji. And when he does, he puts his magic to the test.

At first, Daida can only manage to use a small amount of healing magic. But, when he puts his mind to it, Daida manages to do some pretty significant healing. The green glow from his magic was visible to the people searching for him and Bojji from far away.

I’m not sure if the amount of light that comes off when performing healing is an indication of its strength. But, that’s what I would assume based on everything we’ve seen. And if that’s the case, Daida might have even greater magical potential than Hiling. He is Bosse’s son.

Conclusion

What do you think about Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage Episode 3? Are you glad we got to see Ann’s backstory? Do you think the Death Promise spell could actually be real? And does Daida have more magical potential than Hiling? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on your social media of choice — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. And I’d like to thank Key Mochi for supporting at the Senpai tier. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 4 is available now.

Beasts of the Wilderness

Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage Episode 2 was better than Episode 1. As will likely be the case with every episode in this spin-off series, Episode 2 was still filler content. But, it was more interesting filler content.

Both stories in this episode take place during Bojji and Kage’s trip back to the Bosse Kingdom. At this point, the Order of the Underworld is accompanying the pair on their trip. And this episode covers their trek through a desert.

According to the captain of the Order, dangerous beasts come out at night in the desert. It’s said that these beasts eat unsuspecting travelers. So, to protect against the beasts, the Order has guards stationed around their camp all night. But, it’s not the guards who stumble upon a beast — it’s Kage.

In the middle of the night, Kage hears a strange growling sound and sees a large shadow. Obviously, he assumes this is a wild beast and wakes Bojji up to help him investigate. But, right from the start, it was obvious that Kage didn’t actually see a beast. And in the end, it turned out to be a sleepwalking knight.

However, before that reveal, Bojji and Kage were convinced there was a beast somewhere. And during their search, they came across a cottage that had clear signs of a struggle. Luckily, the inhabitants of the cottage weren’t harmed. But, the “beast(s)” that attacked them returned.

Apparently, there’s a trio of robbers who roam these parts of the desert. It’s unclear if the rumors of beasts in the desert originated from these robbers. We never get a definitive answer. So, it’s possible. But, it’s also possible the beasts are what we see in story #2.

A Mysterious Desert

The second story of the episode begins with a sandstorm in the desert. After the sandstorm subsides, Bojji and Kage notice an oasis nearby. As their party makes its way into the forest around the lake, they’re greeted by strange creatures.

Although the creatures resemble animals we’re familiar with (cats, rabbits, etc.), they’re different. Nobody would mistake these creatures for those animals, despite the similarities. And since these creatures are so mysterious, the captain of the Order is suspicious of them. He doesn’t want Bojji approaching them because he might get hurt.

The fact that the captain looks out for Bojji so much is kind of interesting. From what I remember of the main series, he wasn’t tasked with protecting Bojji. He and his men just happen to be heading in the same direction and so party up with Bojji.

Remember, at this point, Bojji is heading back to the Kingdom of Bosse to reclaim the throne. And the Order of the Underworld is going there to capture Ouken (and Miranjo, if possible). So, it’s not like the captain’s job is to protect Bojji.

Also, the captain knows Bojji isn’t actually as weak as he seems. He knows that Bojji trained with the legendary Desha. So, he should understand that Bojji isn’t weak. But, I guess this has always been how everyone treats Bojji. Because of his appearance and disabilities, they underestimate him. This even happens when they know what he’s capable of.

Anyway, back to the creatures of the oasis. Bojji and the rest of the group quickly learn that they’re friendly. That is until a giant one appears and begins chasing them. Though, it’s important to note that it never once actually attacked them. It was all a misunderstanding.

Creatures of the Oasis

So, what exactly are the creatures of the oasis? We don’t know for certain. But, we can make some assumptions based on context and something Kage pointed out. Kage said that they look like the creatures from “that one time.”

Thanks, Kage. That really narrows it down. But, he’s referring to the creatures from Episode 4 of the original series. This was the episode in which Bojji spent some time with the hunter in the woods. And toward the end of his time with the hunter, they saw a mysterious creature.

The creature Bojji saw back then looks very similar to the large creature we see in this episode. What was that creature, though? In a sense, it was a god. We saw that it sucked up the souls of dead animals and gave them new life.

So, with that in mind, what are the creatures of the oasis? Are they gods, as well? Not quite. At the end of the episode, we see these creatures themselves get sucked up by a larger creature. The implication here is that the larger creature is what Bojji saw in the past.

And if that’s the case, it would mean these smaller creatures are the spirits of animals. That actually makes a lot of sense if you consider that they look like animals we’re familiar with. So, my best guess is that the creatures of the oasis are spirits waiting to be reborn.

The fact that the world of Ranking of Kings has these mysterious beings is something I love. Stuff like this is what makes a fantasy world interesting. We’ll never get a definitive answer regarding what the “god” creature is. But, that’s okay. The mystery adds to the world.

Conclusion

What do you think of Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage Episode 2? Do you think there were actually dangerous beasts in the desert? Do you agree with my theory about the creatures being animal spirits? And, what do you think the giant creature that sucked them up is? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on your social media of choice — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. And I’d also like to thank Key Mochi for supporting at the Senpai tier. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 3 is available now.