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 disregarded and not taken seriously by his attendants and even his own family. Despite his handicap and preconceived notions about him, Bouji sets out to become stronger. He doesn’t allow his disability to dictate his life and is determined to become someone worthy of the crown. Who doesn’t love an underdog story, right?
On Bouji’s journey, we’re introduced to a slew of interesting characters with their own motivations and backstories, as well as a sinister plot to undermine his kingdom. Each one of the characters we meet adds something new to the story and aid in Bouji’s development. What I really liked about the type of storytelling we got here, is that it reminds me of literary classics in the sense there’s not really anything deep or crazy intricate going on in the plot, instead we have a simple story of overcoming adversity. As everyone knows by now, simplicity does not equate to bad writing. In fact, being able to adequately get the point of a story across in such a short and concise way is really a sign of literary talent.
While Ousama Ranking’s story is simple and sweet, it’s not without its flaws. Without going too much into spoiler territory, I was disappointed with the way Bouji’s brother Daida’s arc was wrapped up. In the second to last episode, he makes a proposal to a certain character that I really feel undermined his arc and was questionable writing at best. It’s one thing to get the tradtional shonen talk-no-jutsu “I forgive you” spill that we’re accustomed to, but to do that… just really made no sense to me.
Alas, nothing’s perfect and I was still largely satisfied with the way Ousama Ranking turned out. Its combination of lovely art, surprisingly good sakuga, great voice acting and a powerful tale of overcoming adversity made it one of my shows of the year. Ousama Ranking gets 10 mirrors out of 10.
