Ousama Ranking Season 2 Episode 5: The Law of The Underworld | A White Horse In Love | The Gentle Soldier, Hokuro
So I heard you wanted to put filler in your anime? Well, Ousama Ranking is effectively the gold standard for filler. Sorry, I don't make the rules. I just know something's good when I see it. Contextualizing previous events, exploring characters in more detail and where they find their starts and how they wormed their way into the story, and just plain dumb fun. This new season/OVA of Ousama Ranking does it all and then some, putting to shame entire series.
First thing's first though, this episode is more like two parts plus an interlude, if that makes sense. It's a piece about Ouken and the Underworld, followed by a brief break with Despa's horse Hakuo, and then followed about with Hokuro's story.
Let's go in order though, at least, meaning we'll start with the story of Ouken. This one was rather surprising, I wouldn't say it's simple but is has a strong beat to how the story's approached, and I'd say I definitely like it. Risking your life to find an answer to a curse is a brave thing to do, and I think they framed it well enough. It doesn't come off too preachy or out of touch with the core of Ousama Ranking, but stretches it just enough to get something different yet believable out of it.
In terms of what I didn't expect from this story, was that we find out just how Despa comes into contact with the people that he uses to test Bojji. A really interesting little detail that just serves to help flesh out that side of things, taking the opportunity to explain details and provide exposition on things they might not have otherwise been able to. Just feels like the perfect example of good filler in that regard, as it's telling its own story while weaving pieces of the main story into it.
Past that, I don't really think there's much else to say about this part of the episode. Well done, very well animated and storyboard, and enjoyable to watch. Though not as enjoyable as the Hakuo interlude.
This part was just pure comedy, and I loved every second of it. That's all there is to it, funny humor that gives viewers a break during the episode and runs with the freedom that filler/OVA gives teams.
And last but not least, Hokuro. Man, I really really liked this one. It's a great little story to show just how much Hokuro likes Bojji, and the impact he made on his life at a low point. It's incredibly endearing and heartwarming, and goes really far to show just how dedicated Hokuro is to Bojji.
Whether it's through learning sign language so he can talk with him, or becoming a soldier just so he can work in the same castle that Bojji lives in, or even putting his life on the line for the little prince when nobody else would. His character shows so much dedication and passion that Bojji was able to bring him.
And, of course, WIT goes all out for the episode once more. Creative and full of life and style, and the environment art continues to be absolutely stunning. Really, I'm going to run out of praise before this season ends. There's just too much good about each episode, so I've exhausted my vocabulary explaining them, and well, they're not massively important or big story developments, so there's not a world of stuff to talk about with them. Just an outstanding continuation for Ousama Ranking all around.
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Ranking of Kings Season 2 Episode 8: Kage's Yearning | A Great Mother
This is a filler anime. This is a filler anime. I have to remind myself of that. That this season is just back stories and side stories that flesh out the world. But it's out here literally changing entire art and animation styles for the sake of an episode. Absolutely incredible. And I want to talk about it.
Now I don't want to be mean or anything, but the first half/A part of the episode is sort of "as expected" in comparison to the second half. It's story isn't bad, nor is its direction or storyboarding or animation poor either. In fact, it ties in wonderfully with the latter half, as both stories examine the importance of parents and dreams, though in different forms.
The first part is all about Kage wanting to grow up to being a law abiding and pure hearted knight. However, due to his clan's history he's unable to experience that joy and excitement with other kids his age, instead he's left to hide in corners as they play knight and chase him down (a bit of a grim callback to his mother's death).
However, that bitterness doesn't stop Kage from dreaming, and I really love this scene where you can see the stars reflected in his eyes. Feels like a bit of symbolism for how full of life and potential kids can be.
Anyways, push comes to shove and Kage ends up standing up for someone else at in important time, like a knight should, and he gets rewarded by a knight stepping in to save him. It brings the story full circle and allows Kage to express his desire to become a knight to his mother. It's a really endearing moment, and carries strong emotions as his mother's overwhelmed with how strongly Kage wants to be a good person in spite of his clan's nature and past.
Which in turn leads to this last piece from the first part, which was just so amazing. His mother is staying up late at night working away on creating a toy horse for him to play with, and it's just so full of warmth and heart alongside her wish for Kage growing up.
Anyways, onto the B Part!
Man, this was incredible. Right off the bat the art style change is noticeable as they go for that style that pins pieces together to create movement through rotation. A very typical style for telling fairy tales, and I absolutely adore it.
Now, this second part follows a sort of similar story to Kage's A Part. Though, rather focusing on the child, it focuses on the parent. Namely in how Bosse and Shiina want to change and grow as people as they've found a new reason to get stronger in their son Bojji. I think it's really great to see them relinquish their pursuit of violent strength for something more constructive, and it's a really easy allegory for the importance of using strength for others rather than yourself.
Anyways, in terms of specific stuff I liked from this part, I loved this two shot piece of Bosse and Bojji. Originally, Bosse feels guilt and remorse for the curse placed on his son, and for his own violent ways, so he shies away from making contact with Bojji. But down the road Bosse does the right things, attempts to rectify his character, and in doing so finds the courage to be able to show his son how much he loves him.
Also, I really like how they use scale through both halves of this episode. With each you get a lot of low and high angle shots that establish the scale of each character in comparison to their environments, and it flows quite well from one episode to the other.
And last but not least, I love this scene from Shiina and Bosse about Bojji. The amount of love that parents exhibit in this episode is just so heartwarming. The utter faith and confidence they have in their children achieving their dreams and living how they want is so inspiring.
So there you have it. Incredible cute and incredibly important episode about the love that parents share for their children, and how experiencing that love can shape both parent and child alike. WIT continues to kill it with each and every episode, putting on a clinic for what the standard "filler" episode should be.