Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
MK_Alex
I haven't written a review in forever. Had to dust off the keyboard just to give my thoughts an relief valve so they don't give me a headache.
Lets get this out of the way, The production is very very good. The music is absolutely top notch, the art style and character designs are fresh and unique, the Japanese voice acting is great, and the animation and direction is excellent 95% of the time.
But unfortunately the great production and the solid first half of the show cannot save the show from the absolutely abhorrent writing that consumes the second half of the show.
I have not read the manga so I am not certain, but I am going to assume that the anime is a faithful adaptation to the manga and that all the flaws in writing are the fault of Sousuke Touka the source materials creator.…
Read at the sourceImpala
I really wanted to love Ousama Ranking. And honestly, the first half had me completely sold. The animation is gorgeous, the soundtrack is doing a ton of heavy lifting, the art style is charming in a storybook way, and I have no complaints about the voice acting. Bojji is instantly likable, the world feels cruel and unfair in a way that actually hurts, and for a while it felt like I was watching something special.
Then the second half happened, and it quietly kneecapped the whole show.
The core problem is simple: this anime is terrified of consequences. Like, full-on panic attack levels of terrified. No matter how bad things get, nothing ever sticks. Without spoiling anything, characters get mentally wrecked, physically destroyed, stabbed, crushed, cursed, whatever and it almost always ge…
Read at the sourceGsarthotegga
Ousama Ranking is well made, as is to be expected from Wit Studio, but the nice guyification of fantasy is becoming a tiresome trend. If it is not a pretense like "gray morality" that rules the day and reveling in vileness, then we are increasingly presented with (basic bitch) layered villains who have the most unbelievable redemption arcs of all time. This results in authors trying to inject a touching backstory into their villain's motivation and having the hero spare or forgive his arch-nemesis, even if what they have done is treacherous, resulting in the deaths of many and the ruination of the kingdom. The trend is a strange one because you'll often see the heroes ruthlessly dispatching their world's equivalent of personality-free stormtroopers or goombas without a thought, but for som…
Read at the sourcemarkphp
Minor spoilers ahead.
Ousama Ranking wants to be unique among the other shows in this era, and to some extent, it is, but only among Japanese ones. The setting is very similar to a classic European fairy tale, and even the story somehow manages to go in that direction. Still, it fails the litmus test very badly, in the sense that after the first couple of episodes, which are very similar to what I used to watch when I was a kid in Disney movies, the author of the series manages to reward the villain, the same villain that wanted to ruin the lives of millions of inocents, because she was a misunderstood woman all along.
The setting/world-building is not at all impressive, just like I said earlier, it's a classic fairy tale world (Some random towns each and there, some evil hole and that's…
Read at the sourcedouve_atomique
What happened to Ousama Ranking's story? Did someone kidnap the author halfway in and force him to write a mediocre battle shounen with terrible pacing? This show is incredibly confusing.
In short, Ousama Ranking felt like watching two different shows. Its first half or so was actually very enjoyable, making use of complex and interesting characters in a context à la Game of Thrones topped with gorgeous art and symbolic writing - albeit as subtle as a brick through a window -, but then the fire nation attacked the mangaka or something must have happened because everything turned to trash. After the first half I just kept wondering what happened, what caused such a shift in quality, I was so focused on this that I could barely comprehend what I was watching anymore but maybe that's a good…
Read at the sourceArchangelEST
Ousama Ranking, a story with a title that has zero relevance to anything, sporting visuals from the 90's that makes even early One Piece fans cringe, with a cast of characters each dumber than the other, and an MC that is so pitiful you want to put them out of their misery.
If this is a show that gets an 8.5 rating on MAL, god save us all.
Animation / Art / General Visuals - 7/10
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The show looks stupid. There, I said it. It does. The art style is just stupid.
The animation quality is however pretty good. If only the show didn't look like it was drawn by someone from the 90's. Still, the action scenes are quite fun. Though some of the fights are rather poorly directed and make little sense. I'm also not a fan of the ketchup/raspberry jam…
Read at the sourceAgonyOfTheGarnet
Osama Ranking is a disappointment with a lot of wasted potential. It is a show with a nice premise and a strong opening trio of episodes that slowly descends into an average revenge story and bad Deus Ex Machina.
Let me explain:
(Minor spoilers ahead)
Bojji is a mute-deaf Prince in a medieval European setting with the dream of being the best King in the world.
The first impression is that the story is going to be about the emotional journey of Bojji overcoming abuse and prejudice of society and family, doing the best for his kingdom despite his disabilities. The first emotional aspect is that Bojji is incredibly aware of the mockery he is submitted to, which he can tell by not only the physical language of others but also through reading lips. Now, I get that Bojji knows he is being abu…
Read at the sourceZolAvi
I wanted so badly to love this series in its entirety. Hells, I was warned by a friend but I didn't listen, I was drawn in to it by the beautiful animation and music - the classical literature slightly presented in a different angle - all combined to form something new.
Of course I was drawn in badly, and I'm a crybaby I'll be honest I cry easily and I was perhaps in a tearful mood so this anime suited me incredibly.
That is.
That is.
Until the ending they decided upon.
I had noticed of course as the story and mystery unravels itself, the more well... Subpar it became but I held on in hopes of fully understanding and comprehending the entirety of the series' story.
Alas. Alas.... My heart was stomped out the moment came back and said such ridiculous words in the second last ep…
Read at the sourceKyomaBritannia
Simply appalling. The first few episodes are nothing special, but you get the sense that you are about to watch a decently written underdog story set in a fantasy world that has a small semblance of originality. But the writers were just tricking you into wasting your time.
The story quickly devolves into nonsensical plot threads with characters acting completely unnatural, and the main character completely skips any sort of journey and just becomes OP on the spot. Characters that have been established as baddies are forgiven with literally 0 explanation, no matter how many or who they've killed in the past. Dozens of people die during the story, but not really because one character runs around fixing them all up every time. They pretend to throw a wrench in the cogs when one time they ar…
Read at the sourcePanchokechup
It is very sad that an anime so promising like this one has so much potential on it, but it was all wasted!
It has some really good firsts episodes, but it starts falling apart very quickly.
It really tries to subvert your expectations at every minute and almost none of them have impact.
The story focuses in the wrong places in each aspect, and the characters are very inconsistent both in motivations and ideals. One chapter they might be villains and in the other they might be Bojji's best friend, and then villains again, and so on...
And yeah, the villain is horrendous and has no redeemable qualities. How every character reacts to her and what their relationships are it's pretty much stupid or over the top.
The series tries to make character arc with characters WE DON'T EVEN CARE ABO…
Read at the sourcegadool
The best way I can sum up my experience with Ousama Ranking is disappointment.
The series has a unique art style and interesting concept. I liked how the bright “picture book” style contrasts with some of the darker themes that come up. I was invested for the first 10 or so episodes because of the story, art, great music, and good fight animation.
However, the writing and pacing destroyed my investment in the second half of the first season. In order to avoid spoilers, I will not list anything specific, but pretty much all of the deaths got reversed in some way. This is the BIGGEST problem I have with the series, so it’s not something I could avoid mentioning. It destroyed the stakes in the story, because if a character seemed like they were definitely dead, they would get “revived” no…
Read at the sourceDearlyBelobed
I feel a lot lately as if certain genres are testing the waters for how garbage they can be, before people seem to care. Shonen is especially guilty of this, this might be the 5th or 6th time in the last 2 years I have seen this story.
An 2 Dimensional protagonist, with the motivation of being the best, with a character flaw that makes them weak, but then they get training, get strong, and now everyone respects and loves them, despite not having made any changes as a character themselves.
Ranking of kings really does not challenge this idea at all, but perhaps worse, with an anime that brags in it's opening all of the kingdoms I thought there might be more character driven plot points, or world building. But, we only see 2 kingdoms. And a short journey through a forest, and nothing of…
Read at the sourcecld9100
The first five episodes of Ousama Ranking are the best first five episodes of an anime I've ever seen. No exaggeration: the art and music is top-notch; characters defy easy categorization and feel lived-in, each one capable of both mistakes and heroic moments of growth; the world is built on childish whimsy and nods to old fantasy tropes, but the story is deceptively mature, balancing light comedy with family drama, political intrigue, and sudden violence; the fights are visceral, gorgeously animated, and *restrained* to a degree nearly unprecedented in the genre. This is masterful stuff.
It's such an incredible shame how the writing nosedives after that. There are scattered moments of greatness in the next eighteen episodes, and the technical aspects remain elite, but the story consisten…
Read at the sourceThatAnimeSnobRE
Ranking of Kings was a standout in the roster of 2021 by looking like a European fairy tale. It also began as a typical underdog story about a weak prince nobody takes seriously trying to win his right to the throne, before becoming more elaborate by including themes such as psychological issues and political intrigue. Unfortunately it doesn’t do much from a point on and thus it never escapes the fairy tale vibe it began as. Most of the conflicts are resolved way too fast and in ways that insult your intelligence.
1) Selfish people and traitors will be changing their mind when they see the prince cry a lot or never give up, and will be forgiven almost immediately.
2) Bad guys are turned into misunderstood people with a last moment sad flashback that is making them tragic in an instant (e…
Read at the sourceMonadProxyy
************NO SPOILERS************
Ousama Ranking: How to create expectations and miserably fail to reach them!
Ousama Rankings is a cliché story about a boy named Boji and his journey to become stronger. It's filled with many plot elements found in the old anime times, it has many of these old shonen clichés and it doesn't even try to make its own but adding anything new except it's very own bullshit logic.
"Bro you need to get into OS, it's a very mature seinen anime that is just too good. You will love it!"
Okay so I can get how most people will love it - good fights and animation,
tries to be emotional and does hit for many, bloody and decent storytelling but in no way do I get how this is a mature seinen anime. The characters are dumb as hell and are written similarly to shon…
Read at the sourcemythical_k
Spoiler Warning:
Whenever I think of the phrase, "Never judge a book by its cover," this anime will always come to mind. Ranking of Kings was an experience I never expected to be good, but now, I understand that I truly love this anime to bits. There were so many incredible moments that made me tear up and cheer for the protagonist to achieve his dreams, which made this anime even better. Even though I never read the web manga it came from, Ranking of Kings is one of the rare moments an anime is better than the said manga. There are many things the anime did incredible with while occasionally having its flaws.
So many events occurred in both cours of the anime that each had their moments of excitement. At the same time, it was heartbreaking, showing the audience why this anime got class…
Read at the sourceBigDaddyTuesday
TL;DR Ranking of Kings had several amazing first few episodes and if the rest of the series followed it could have easily been a 9. There were legitimate stakes, the mystery surrounding the characters was intriguing, and the struggles of the protagonists were well handled. The middle half of the show is not as gripping as the first handful of episodes. Character motivations get spelled out for the most part and they do not live up to the mystery and intrigue shown at the beginning of the show. There are also issues with pacing, an overuse of tropes, and some characters getting completely shafted in terms of development and screen time. What follows is a resolution that does not fix the previous issues and instead makes weirdly questionable decisions morally.
There are also some badly inj…
Read at the sourceKANLen09
From a classic folktale (The Emperor's New Clothes) to an allegory that's worth more than a thousand words, absolutely NO ONE ever could've fathomed that mangaka Sosuke Toka's work would become more than just a classic underdog story. And instead, it took us the audience to new foundations and heights that really stand amongst the best of the best in the only way that this relative unknown author could've done, teaching us cases of human charateristics in morality, friendship, sacrifice and so much more that we just underestimated how grand everything just naturally works in every step of the way. Simply, wow, and I mean, WOW.
The thing that makes Ousama Ranking a.k.a Ranking of Kings work feels childish (or childlike rather) and tomfoolery, but trust me, it just simply works and exudes n…
Read at the sourceDramaddict
Spoilers
When a poster of a boy sitting on a throne wearing nothing but his underwear and a cape next to a shadowy figure whose unique design I’ve never seen before, you best bet I was intrigued. Scrolling through seasonal anime on MAL, this one quickly caught my eye. As I always do, I added it to my list and I wait. This one seems special, and I don’t want to dampen the experience by watching something weekly. But as the season went on, the show grew in popularity, and it rose to the top of the MAL charts. Now that intrigue has turned into interest and, dare I say, excitement. I’m not one to buy into the hype; I’ve been disappointed one too many times, but there was something mysteriously captivating about that poster. It was simple; it didn’t try to cram in the entire cast; it was itchi…
Read at the sourceMarinate1016
*Contains slight Spoilers*
While on the surface, Ousama Ranking may appear to be a cute Ghibli-esque show full of magic and wonder, it’s so much more than that. It’s a riveting tale of loss, grief and overcoming obstacles, and is by far one of the best anime of the past year.
Admittedly, I was a bit slow to pick up Ousama Ranking. I normally watch every seasonal every season, but wasn’t really gripped by the promotional PV and posters from the show. I assumed it would just be some cute adventure story with a prince. It wasn’t until about a month and a half ago that I gave it a try and I instantly regretted not watching it from the start. From the very first episode, Bouji’s story grabs your attention and you can’t help but want to see him succeed. A little deaf boy who is seemingly disr…
Read at the source