Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m simply delighted to be returning to Ranking of Kings, where Bojji seems to have at last crossed paths with his would-be mentor. The road to Despa’s doorstep has been long and treacherous, fraught with near-death experiences and bitter betrayals. Through it all, Bojji has retained his strong conviction and gentleness of spirit, and after half a season of being punished for those laudable qualities, I’m more than ready to see him finally win something.

Meanwhile, it seems Daida has truly run out of options, and is now a prisoner in his own kingdom. Having gained too much power too soon, Daida was undone by his own confidence, favoring the words of those who flattered his ego over those who tempered his pride. This is not to say Daida was uniquely ill-suited for the throne; rather, that like all of Ranking of Kings’ characters, he has been sculpted this way by a lifetime of experience, caught between the preferential treatment of his mother and the indifference of his father. Ranking of Kings does not presume to characterize people as inherently good or evil, worthy or unworthy – we are all an accumulation of disparate experiences, all capable of rising to greatness or falling to despair. Let’s see if Bojji’s can begin his own rise from the underworld, as we return to the remarkable Ranking of Kings!

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I figured we’d check back in on Ranking of Kings, where our two aspirants to the throne are currently each contending with their own dire turns of fate. Having been betrayed by Domas and cast into the depths of hell, it seemed like this was the end for Bojji – but between Kage’s interference and the “protection” offered by his existing curse, our boy was safely carried to the King of the Underworld.

Unfortunately, it seems there’s no corresponding Kage-like ally here to rescue the young King Daida. Though he has claimed the crown he so fervently sought, he has in doing so pushed away all allies who might genuinely aid him, be they loyal protectors like Domas or the ever-hopeful Bojji. Fear of betrayal has ironically made him all the more susceptible to it, as by rejecting all who were willing to challenge him, he has left himself vulnerable to those whose unerring support was always a façade.

As Ranking of Kings has so consistently expressed, all people contain multitudes, and unique circumstances can always lead them to embrace their worse or better instincts. That is precisely why it’s so important to have companions who wish you to be your best possible self, and are willing to step in and say something when you embrace your less charitable instincts. Having spent his youth trusting in his own strength and always fearing betrayal, Daida lacks the sense of humility and compassion that would foster such relationships, putting his fate squarely in the mirror’s hands. Let’s see what fate awaits him as we return to Ranking of Kings!

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today the sky is bleak and overcast, and the summer heat has cooled to a murky chill, so it seems time for a show that will brighten this atmosphere. And what better source of light and joy is there than young prince Bojji, with his warm smile and generous heart? Surely we can count on Bojji to part these clouds, summon the sun, and generally restore vitality to this cold gray day?

Well, perhaps he could if not otherwise occupied, but as of now it appears that Bojji has been kicked into hell itself. Domas has carried out his terrible assignment, choosing loyalty to the crown over his own moral compass, and Bojji has resultantly plummeted from the surface world. Meanwhile, his brother Daida doesn’t actually seem to be faring much better, having been convinced by his mirror to consume his father’s power. It’s a messy situation for both our boys, but as Mitsumata once told Bojji, they would do well to remember that there are people who care for them. Let’s see how both prince and king handle these new obstacles as we return to the Ranking of Kings!

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Hello again, and welcome to Wrong Every Time. Today we’ll be returning to the world of Rankings of Kings, wherein Bojji most recently set off on a grand adventure. All the pieces are now set for a classic work of heroic fantasy: a young boy with grand dreams but untested abilities, a nefarious half-brother claiming his birthright, and a vast world sprawling out before him. But of course, even by this point, it’s clear that Ranking of Kings intends to complicate our understanding of heroism, justice, and righteousness.

For two full episodes, and up through the first half of the third, Queen Hyling was presented as an unambiguous antagonist to Bojji. She scolded him for his fundamental nature, marveled at his weakness relative to her trueborn son, and even led the charge to prevent his ascension to the throne. We were given every reason to believe Hyling belonged to a long lineage of evil stepmothers, whose motives require no unpacking, and whose role in the narrative is entirely one-dimensional.

And then, we learned who Hyling truly was. How she’d initially possessed such enthusiasm for connecting with Bojji, and how she genuinely respected his gentle nature. How they’d grown together, and then how the birth of her son had slowly drawn them apart. Crucially, what we learned about Hyling did not reframe her prior actions as secretly noble – Hyling has done both kind things and selfish things, sometimes operating according to her most charitable instincts, and at other times reacting out of fear, impatience, or simple frustration. She is the first to embody Ranking of Kings’ most central and urgent theme: that people are not simply good or evil, people are people, with complex motives, concerns we’re not privy to, and the capacity to act in both kind and unkind ways. Hyling was not drawn away from Bojji by some equally noble cause; she simply let love slip into indifference, and from there to resentment. So it goes.

Ranking of Kings’ general refusal to engage in moral absolutism, its understanding that we all contain multitudes, is its most compelling thematic thread. But beyond that, the show is also charming and beautiful and a generous adventure in its own right, embodying the strengths of its genre predecessors while dancing around many of their pitfalls. With Bojji at last on his way, I’m eager to see where his adventure leads, so let’s get right back to the delightful Ranking of Kings!

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’ll be diving back into Ranking of Kings, where Bojji most recently made his first real friend. Our first two episodes have offered a rough journey for both Bojji and Kage, as each of them have found themselves despised for their inherent natures. In the world of Ranking of Kings, it seems clear that maintaining appearances is crucial for success, or even just survival.

In Bojji’s case, he is reviled for failing to embody the virtues expected of a would-be king. Rather than evoking strength and confidence, he is a figure of frailty and sensitivity, with his deafness frequently leading people to believe he is simple-minded as well as physically weak. Even when he expresses excellence through his nimble swordsmanship, he is doing it “the wrong way,” and must be punished for his transgression. Bojji has plentiful gifts, but none of them align with his expected role as a king in waiting.

On Kage’s side, the base nature of his species has made him a figure of hatred and derision. The Kage we knew as a child was loving and trusting, but a world that despised him has battered him into the shape he was always expected to fill. Only now, with the considerate Bojji at his side, is Kage able to once again embrace his underlying compassionate nature. The distance between our true selves and the masks we must present to the world is already causing significant turmoil for our leads, and we’ve only just gotten started. Let’s return to the Ranking of Kings!

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Confession time: between the last Ranking of Kings article and this one, I took the time to watch the entire goddamn series, in preparation for 2021’s year-end article. This turned out to be a remarkably easy process; Ranking of Kings is a delight from start to finish, and its story winds in such unexpected yet ultimately satisfying ways that it’s easy to one-more-episode your way through the entire first season.

Bojji’s adventures feel simultaneously iconic and personal, with the show using its ostensibly archetypal characters to ultimately reveal the irreducible complexity of any one person’s experience and perspective. It’s simultaneously a work of fantastical invention and poignant humanism, a combination that describes many of the very best works in anime. It’ll take until the show’s second half to determine if Ranking of Kings stands among them, but for now, I’m happy to once again experience one of 2021’s greatest productions!

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’ll be embarking on a journey through a show that’s pretty much unanimously considered one of 2021’s best productions, Ranking of Kings. Having already screened the first episode back around its debut, I can affirm that Ranking of Kings is indeed The Good Shit, but let’s start off with a brief breakdown of the production situation inspiring its excellence.

Wit Studio roared onto the anime scene ten years ago, branching off from Production I.G., and swiftly gaining acclaim for their adaptation of Attack on Titan. Their productions in the years since have included such highlights as After the Rain and Vinland Saga, with the first of those properties highlighting the unique “makeup team” the studio developed during Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, and the second illustrating their tendency to bite off more than they can chew in terms of production scheduling. Though their attachment to the Titan franchise has afforded them a perhaps over-inflated reputation among general anime fans, the studio has built an undeniably impressive catalog over a short time, bringing a unique style of painterly artistry to projects ranging from Rolling Girls to Vivy.

For Ranking of Kings, the studio has assembled a top shelf team worthy of a prestige production, and appear to be consciously aiming to create a property that will fortify their artistic credentials. Art director Yuuji Kaneko has previously served as art director on projects ranging from Madoka Magica to Little Witch Academia to Patema Inverted, while the production’s roster of key animators includes many of the greatest working artists in the business. The economic conditions of anime production rarely allow for projects that strive purely to be great works of art, so I’m eager to see Wit’s artists apply their talents to something with such grand and admirable ambitions. Let’s get to it!

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