Well, after a fairly indifferent start I can safely say Ousama Ranking: Yuuki no Takarabako has really leveled up.  At this point we’ve had three good episodes in a row, and even if this is not absolutely essential material for the mythology, it does feel tied-in to the canon story.  I don’t know the exact extent to which mangaka Touka Sousuke is working on the scripts here, but at this point the material feels connected to the main story rather seamlessly.

Last week we got out first episode-length story – here we split into three chapters for the first time.  First up is a direct continuation of last week’s effort, as Fren, second-in-command of the royal guard, seeks permission to go search for the demon whose head can supposedly clear Prince Ouken of the curse of immortality.  Since monsters (presumably anyone non-human) are not permitted to leave the Underworld, Desha refuses.  Undaunted Fren runs, promoting the kind to order him captured and executed.  Fortunately the guard captain has a soft heart (as we saw in the first season), and concocts with Fren’s pals a plan to save him.

Whiteking is the subject of the next chapter.  I confess, her appearance in S1 consistently left me LOL – Wit was obviously having great fun with this character, a perfect fit for Despa.  There was nothing meaty or meaningful about this bit, where the guard captain tries to get Whiteking to lose weight to catch the eye of a stallion ikemen – it was strictly comic relief.  But that’s exactly what a Whiteking chapter should be, and you won’t hear me complaining about comic relief that works this well.

Finally, Hokuro gets a spotlight dance with a chapter that fleshes out his background and reasons for being committed to Bojji.  Again we have nothing monumental happening here, but giving some depth to a background character with relevance to the main story is a good use of time for a series like this one.  That trip Hokuro worked so hard to get himself added to (thanks, Hilling) was obviously fated to end badly for all parties, but you certainly can’t fault Hokuro’s motivation.