Ranking of Kings: Season 1, Part 2 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Ranking of Kings: Season 1, Part 2 Blu-ray Movie Review

Ranking of Kings: Season 1, Part 2 includes the second half of the first season of the hit anime series. Created by Sōsuke Tōka, Ranking of Kings: Season 1, Part 2 includes episodes 12-23 of the first season. Executive produced by Atsuhiro Iwakami (After the Rain, Call of the Night), Jōji Wada (The Empire of Corpses, Great Pretender), Kyōichi Takeda (Great Pretender, The Promised Neverland), Masayuki Aoyagi (Bloom Into You, Hula Fulla Dance), Yasushi Kuwata (Call of the Night, Muv-Luv Alternative), and Yukio Haruyama (Moriarty the Patriot, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime), Ranking of Kings: Season 1, Part 2 features vocal performances by Minami Hinata and Ayumu Murase.

The anime features animation produced by Wit Studio (Attack on Titan, Vinland Saga). Produced by Kazuki Ōshima (Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku, The Promised Neverland), Kenta Yamada, Maiko Okada (Great Pretender, Hello WeGo!), Megumi Inoue (Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage, Raven of the Inner Palace), Ranking of Kings: Season 1, Part 2 brings more action and adventure for fans of the series to enjoy. Newcomers may wish to begin at the start of season one but established fans will find more adventures to entertain.

Bojji (Minami Hinata) might be tiny and different from most princes. The young prince is both deaf and weak. With flimsy arms and an inability to easily carry a small children’s sword, Bojji is not a typical leader by any means.

Yet Bojji perseveres on and the journey of a lifetime continues. New threats continue to unfold as The Magic Mirror brings with her a swarm of evil followers. With these followers, a fight for the control of the throne is underway. Can the Magic Mirror succeed with these diabolical plans?

Bojji fights for the future of the kingdom while trying to help the knights in an epic battle. Can the knights keep the control of the castle? Despite his weaknesses, Bojji pushes forward as a fighter and is now faced with one of his biggest opponents to date – family. Bojji’s father causes problems on the way to victory. Even if others look at Bojji as weak and unimportant, Bojji won’t give up the good fight.

The animation is one of the highlights of the production and there is a lot to appreciate about the art style. The first thing to notice is the impressive character designs by Atsuko Nozaki (Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky). The designs are a nice component of the series and are noteworthy for their distinct creative style. The designs on the series are more reminiscent of the character designs one might find on a Cartoon Network Adult Swim animated series than on most Japanese anime productions. If one enjoys the art style, the designs here work well and add to the production.

The series has some excellent art direction by Yūji Kaneko (Little Witch Academia, Trigun Stampede). The artistic style utilized on the production is certainly a key component of the animation. The art style has creativity in spades. The animation is smooth and well-produced. The line art for the animation looks impressive and the animators certainly did a good job bringing the television series to life. There is certainly much worth noting here – and it wouldn’t have been possible without the excellent art direction by Kaneko.

The cinematography by Kazuto Izumita (Nagareboshi Lens, Revue Starlight) and Noriyuki Ueda (Sirius the Jaeger, Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage) is another highlight of the series production. The animation is enhanced through the cinematography and the style used for the series works. An impressive visual element and the light and bright colors of the animation are enhanced by the visual style.

The score composed by MAYUKO (Cells at Work!, How to keep a mummy) is entertaining and enjoyable for the production. The score adds a sense of action-packed charm to the series. There is something undeniably fun about the music and it fits the saga well. Though the score composed by MAYUKO actually might not seem top-tier in the realm of anime scores, it still sounds solid and adds some entertaining elements to the series.

Written by Taku Kishimoto (Silver Spoon, Fruits Basket), Ranking of Kings: Season 1, Part 2 includes more fun for the franchise devotees. The journey of the lead character is one that fans of the program will be excited to continue on with. The script offers some comedic elements alongside the more serious and action-oriented aspects. Kishimoto certainly has fun playing in the sandbox.

Directed by Yōsuke Hatta (One Punch Man, Death Parade), Ranking of Kings: Season 1, Part 2 will find footing with fans as the saga continues. Those invested in the saga will find more episodes exploring Bojji and his journey. Despite those who treat Bojji like someone who is worth nothing, Bojji still is someone who pushes forward and fights – aiming to be the best he can be – and the director has certainly made Bojji an interesting lead.

Ranking of Kings: Season 1, Part 2 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray from Crunchyroll, Ranking of Kings: Season 1, Part 2 is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The presentation is impressive on the release. The colorful animation is brought to life with solid video encoding by Crunchyroll. The animation is bright and fluid. The encoding showcases the art style. Encoding is free from egregious compression woes. The high-definition visuals certainly help the animation to soar on the release. A solid effort from Crunchyroll.

Ranking of Kings: Season 1, Part 2 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (with English subtitles) and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound. The lossless audio provided on the release capably presents the series sound direction by Yasunori Ebina (A Certain Magical Index, Future Card Buddyfight). The lossless Japanese stereo audio track will be preferable for audio purists who prefer the most authentic viewing experience (over then English dub). English dub fans will still be pleased with the addition of a surround sound mix as this provides a slightly more enveloping surround option for those equipped. The English subtitles on the release are generally excellent and free from egregious spelling or grammatical errors.

Ranking of Kings: Season 1, Part 2 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The one major downside to the release is the lackluster supplemental package on the release. The supplemental package is a let down with hardly any content included. This seems to be par the course with many anime releases and it is always unfortunate to see so little effort made by the company to provide more content for fans of the series. The release could have benefited somewhat from having some more supplements – such as audio commentaries with voice-actors, behind-the-scenes video featurettes, and making-of material. The release also could have used some photo galleries as well. Unfortunately, the set only provides the bare minimum for supplemental content on disc as described below:

Web Previews (HD, 6:23)

Textless Opening Song (HD, 1:32)

Textless Closing Song (HD, 1:31)

Ranking of Kings: Season 1, Part 2 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Ranking of Kings: Season 1, Part 2 includes the second half of the first season of the hit anime series. The series explores the journey of the underdog prince Bojji. Even though some look down on Bojji as only a weakling, Bojji pushes himself to be his best. The Blu-ray release includes an impressive video and audio presentation. Unlike the limited-edition release (which comes with some bonus pack in goodies to entice fans), the standard edition only offers a paltry supplemental package. The release could have used a more robust extras set with audio commentaries, making-of material, and behind the scenes. Instead, the release only includes web previews and textless opening/closing songs. Even despite the lackluster supplements, fans who wish to own a copy of the series for their shelf (and with the best presentation quality available), the release still holds merit. Recommended.