English Dub Review: Ranking of Kings “Older and Younger Brothers”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Trapped in the underworld by Miranjo, King Daida finds that he isn’t alone in his strange exile. There’s a small child there as well, and she’s being attacked from all sides by vengeful spirits. Daida stands up to them and rescues the trapped child, but what he doesn’t realize is that he’s saved Miranjo herself… or at least a side of her that she left in the underworld.

Back in the outside world, everyone is going about their business. Domas is trying to be a trainer, Hiling is searching the countryside for Bojji, and Despa is saying goodbye to his pupil. But what they don’t know is that a horde of criminals and convicts have just escaped from King Desha’s prison and are holding the kingdom of Bosse hostage!

Our Take:

The eleventh episode of Ranking of Kings feels a lot like a culmination of everything the show has been working toward. After a season where we would spend several episodes with a handful of characters before switching to a new batch, Older and Younger Brothers finally gets everyone together in a single episode that wraps up their individual storylines and pushes them onto a new path that looks like it will bring them all back together once again.

Things start out with Daida. Still trapped in the underworld, there’s not much he’s been able to do. But when he spots a fellow captive in need, he goes to their rescue and tells them that they’ll escape together, binding his destiny to theirs. But actually it’s Miranjo? Child Miranjo? Good side Miranjo? It’s definitely a little confusing, since the Miranjo we know of is running the show aboveground as the magical mirror, but as a show with clear fairy tale inspirations, duality plays a big factor. We have Daida and Bojji, Domas and Hokuro, Despa and Desha, and so it makes a certain twisted kind of sense that we also have two Miranjos. My current guess would be that this is the human/good half of Miranjo, and the other one is a corrupted version that is more hard than human, but time will tell.

I’m definitely interested in spending more time with Daida in the underworld, and thought that is where this episode would keep us, but to my surprise this episode actually jumps around quite a bit, something the show hasn’t done much of in individual episodes. We check in with Domas and Hokuro, who are training while awaiting the King’s orders to open the underworld portal. Domas is kind of a terrible trainer, which is funny for us but unfortunate for poor Hokuro.

Things move over to King Desha’s prison, where a band of renegades have escaped from jail and are apparently heading for Bosse. This whole setup seems to be preparing for a new arc where everyone will be coming together to help rid the kingdom of these intruders and restore order, but I wish it had been foreshadowed better than suddenly saying ‘oops there were six prisoners here and now they’re gone and now they are holding Bosse hostage’. It would’ve been cool if we’d gotten a peak at them earlier, maybe when Bojji was meeting with Desha upon first entering the fiery realm.

The episode finishes off with a goodbye between Despa and his pupil. It’s a little weird because Despa admits he’s never been able to understand Bojji, but Bojji acts surprised about this? Like wouldn’t he know if his teacher could understand him or not after all this time spent with him? Ah well, it’s a strange moment in the middle of an oddly touching scene, as Kage and Bojji ride off into the sunset. I’m still not convinced that Despa’s a great guy, but he sure seems to have put a good dose of confidence into our boy Bojji.

Next week’s episode seems primed to put us back into the swing of things as Bojji and Hiling and Hokuro and Domas return to a castle that’s been taken over by thugs (including the creatively named “Kingbo”). Bojji hasn’t had much of an opportunity to put his newfound powers to the test, but I guess it’s already time to return and hope that he’s learned enough to best six baddies. If Domas and Dorshe are with him, he might stand a chance…and who knows, maybe  Hilling and Hokuro will lend a hand as well.