English Dub Review: Ranking of Kings “The Prince’s Sword”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Despa’s training is over, but has Bojji mastered the art of the sword? He has mastered the so-called Despa Art at least! When the three of them go to a local tavern to celebrate, they’re approached by a group of goblins and Bojji uses his newfound skills to incapacitate them. Kage marvels at Bojji’s sudden turn around and but realizes it isn’t so sudden after all—Bojji has always been quick and was taught by Bebin’s scary two headed snake friend. So Bojji had powers now, but how will he choose to use them when his kingdom is in trouble?

Our Take:

Ranking of Kings has always been an odd bird, even for someone who likes weirder shows like me. Up until now, I wasn’t convinced that Bojji and Kage were main character material. The past several episodes had proved to me that the show was most interesting when the main duo weren’t on screen. But this week’s episode The Prince’s Sword changes things.

I think in the past, Bojji’s character relied a lot on pity, whether that was the intent or not. Everyone mocked him, laughed at him, and doubted him. Even Kage admits to himself that he lost faith in Bojji for a bit. With Despa’s training, however, Bojji feels less like a burden and more like someone who can hold his own and take up the space he needs to as a protagonist. From training with a snake monster to studying his past to predict his kingdom’s future, the Bojji in this week’s episode is root-worthy in a way I haven’t felt from him before. It almost seems like the entire first half of the season was just build-up to this moment, this turning point, as Bojji decides to take on a quest and return to set his kingdom to right. And this makes me wonder if the season could’ve been better paced. Maybe I my overall opinion of the series would improve had it gotten to this point sooner instead of making us endure multiple episodes of Bojji clowning around and getting beaten up.

Anyway, this episode really did do a good job of showing off Bojji’s power as well as introducing a few head scratching question marks. Like why was Despa meeting with the goblins and kingdom guards in secret? Did he merely hire them to challenge Bojji as a test, or is there something more sinister at foot? And what’s up with that last second reveal of a prisoner in the castle chowing down on a rat? That was metal AF. I’m not sure even Bojji’s skills could handle a desperado like that.

His new fighting style really is kind of cool, though. Basically, he uses the force of his opponents and redirects it, which isn’t anything novel, but combined with his eagle-eyed accuracy and sharp as a needle sword, it makes Bojji a formidable force to be reckoned with. Despa over-explains it a bit, going into details about blood vessels and how Bojji can knock out a person with a single jab because he momentarily stops the blood flow to their brain, which… okay I guess? The point is, Bojji’s a bad ass now.

And with that bad-assery comes a newfound responsibility. At the end of the episode, Kage tells Bojji about the state of his kingdom and the child has to make a choice. I suppose this is the real moment he started to feel like a main character. Up until now, he’s been a little adrift, perhaps making fewer decisions for himself and following the lead of Kage and others instead. But it takes a real hero to return to a place that treated him so poorly, and that’s just what Bojji is setting out to do.