Ranking of Kings

王様ランキング (Ousama Ranking)

9.3(1)

OtakuDen

8.5(403,145)

MAL Score

Ranked #175

Popularity #306

Adventure
Fantasy

Episodes: 23
Duration: 22 min per ep
Aired: Oct 15, 2021 to Mar 25, 2022
Status: Finished Airing

Synopsis

In a kingdom that measures worth by strength and stature, young Prince Bojji is dismissed for his inability to hear or speak. Branded “The Useless Prince,” he endures constant mockery from those who mistake his quiet demeanor for foolishness.

Everything shifts when Bojji crosses paths with Kage, a shadowy creature whose presence could have left him shaken. Instead, Bojji reaches out, and the two begin meeting in secret—an unlikely bond that gradually softens even Kage’s rough edges. With Kage at his side, Bojji sets out to face his fears and insecurities, determined to rise above the ridicule and become the best king he can be.

Otaku Consensus

Ranking of Kings earned its reputation as one of 2021's breakout anime by pairing Yousuke Hatta's emotionally precise direction with Wit Studio animation that treats simple fairy-tale designs as a vehicle for unusually nuanced acting. Critics and fans consistently single out its character development, emotional peaks, and adaptation confidence; the main reservation is that the later stretch can feel crowded, with conflicts and character turns resolved more neatly than the strongest early episodes prepare for.

Why You Should Watch

Watch Ranking of Kings if you want fairy-tale fantasy with the emotional bite of a prestige drama: royal politics, swordplay, disability, bullying, and found companionship handled through visual storytelling rather than lore dumps. It scratches a similar itch to Mob Psycho 100 in the way it builds compassion around an underestimated lead, while its storybook kingdoms and moral reversals may appeal to viewers who like classic adventure without the cruelty-forward tone of darker fantasy. The show is especially rewarding for fans who notice direction: pauses, gestures, and facial animation often carry as much meaning as dialogue. If you want a two-cour series that turns a deceptively simple art style into a full emotional language, this is the draw.

Key Characters

B
Bojji(VA: Minami Hinata)
Bojji stands out because the anime asks viewers to read courage through posture, timing, and expression rather than speeches, making him one of modern fantasy anime's most visually performed protagonists.
K
Kage(VA: Ayumu Murase)
Kage is beloved as the sharp-tongued counterweight to Bojji, with Ayumu Murase giving the character enough warmth and comic snap to keep the partnership from becoming sentimental.

What Makes It Stand Out

1
Wit Studio adapts Sousuke Touka's fairy-tale visual identity instead of sanding it into conventional action-fantasy polish, giving the series a picture-book surface with surprisingly fluid motion underneath.
2
The protagonist's disability changes the grammar of scenes: body language, reaction cuts, and interpreted communication become central storytelling tools rather than occasional character details.
3
Taku Kishimoto's series composition supports a genuine ensemble structure, shifting attention across castle politics, assassins, magic, and family loyalties without reducing the story to a single hero's power climb.
4
The 23-episode run aired across two consecutive cours from October 2021 to March 2022, giving the adaptation enough room to build emotional payoffs before moving into larger political and magical stakes.
5
The action is not the sole selling point; fan discussion repeatedly frames the series' strongest appeal as its emotional highs and lows, with swordplay functioning as one part of a broader character drama.

Fun Facts & Trivia

Fun fact 1: The anime is based on the original work by Sousuke Touka, with Yousuke Hatta directing and Taku Kishimoto handling series composition for the Wit Studio adaptation.
Fun fact 2: Atsuko Nozaki served as character designer, with Maki Kawake credited for sub-character design; the production also lists Masaru Ooshiro, Nozomi Fujii, Shin Ogasawara, and Kanako Yoshida as main animators.
Fun fact 3: On AniList, the show's strongest tags include Disability at 95%, Coming of Age at 92%, Fairy Tale at 92%, and Language Barrier at 84%, which neatly explains why the series is discussed as more than standard medieval adventure.
Fun fact 4: Its reception numbers are unusually strong across major anime databases: MyAnimeList lists it at 8.48 from more than 400,000 votes, while AniList records an 83/100 score and 9,936 favourites.
Fun fact 5: The series finished airing on March 25, 2022, after premiering on October 15, 2021, placing it squarely among the most talked-about anime releases of the 2021 broadcast year.