It’s going to be a bit of a short one this week as I’m traveling at the moment. But I always want to use that qualifier with an episode like this one, lest anyone mistake brevity for lack of enthusiasm. This was yet another killer episode of Ousama Ranking, which just keeps hammering them out week after week. I’m in the midst of compiling my top 10 list for 2021 (one of the hardest if not the hardest I’ve done for LiA), and I can say with complete confidence – if Ousama Ranking were a single cour series and eligible, it would be my top show of 2021.
It’s especially agonizing to be so brief with a series as densely packed with content and deep as this one. First of all that whole business with Miranjo being in the same prison as Daida – what are we to make of that? Did mirror Miranjo consume this one as Bosse did Daida, or is something else going on here? In any event it’s further character development for Daida, who falls into protector mode naturally despite what the others in the void – Miranjo’s victims – say about her.
I quite enjoyed seeing Bebin and Sorii (Sorii is the prime minister, if you forgot – I know I did) mentor the young Daida. The adults in this cast are all fascinating, complicated people – but then, so are the kids. Hilling tried to set Daida on the right path by pushing him to look after Bojji, but he lost the way. Being brought low has accomplished what Bebin and Sorii’s trips to town did not – showed Daida that he doesn’t understand what real strength is, and that he’s no one to be judging others. Daida has done some bad things to be sure, but he’s a child and showing the ability to grow through his mistakes. He’s earned a second chance on my book.
Meanwhile, we have someone using a “lost power” to free dangerous criminals (most especially the swordsman Ouken) from the Underworld’s prison. Who and why isn’t made clear, but for Death-har this is an opportunity. Under the guise of sending his men after the criminals, he wants to take advantage of the chaos in Bosse’s realm – a “civil war” as he calls it – to steal the kingdom. It seems very likely that Death-har and his brother are going to wind up on opposite sides of a major conflict, though I’m not sure either of them is aware of it yet.
If Death-par does turn out to be a bad egg, I’m going to be pretty pissed because I’ve really come to love the guy. He’s a perfect combination of goofiness and genius, and his affection for Bojji seems absolutely genuine. He arranges for Bojji to ride along with the king’s guard (which implies at least a professional courtesy between them) in order to get home more quickly. After being scattered to the winds for a while most of the major players in the story are on a collision course – which was a fitting way to end the first cour, as we head into the new year break. One last thought – the music this week was absolutely epic, which perfectly matched the tone of the episode itself. Bring on that second cour – if it’s as good as this one, 2022 has a very strong contender for AotY on its hands.
Chaitan
December 25, 2021 at 1:26 am“Who and why isn’t made clear” – why is it not clear? Miranjo freed them to kill Hiling, she was using a portal to enter Underworld dungeons right after Daida’s encounter with the girl, and later they can be seen behind her when she returned from the gate.
And based on Miranjo’s remark at that moment – “my heart feels a little bit lighter” – we can suppose that the girl is Miranjo’s soul, or a “true Miranjo”.
Gina
December 25, 2021 at 11:57 pmPerhaps the spell to bring Bosse back into the real world casted Daida’s soul into some sort of spiritual abyss, where a vestige of her soul also resides, since she does not truly have a physical body. Also wondering if this could allude to Miranjo being a witch hence having villagers and folkspeople vindicating her in some sort of witch-hunt.
Misguided would be a good word to describe Daida, he never really bore ill-will but thought he had the right to make decisions for the general good.
Chaitan
December 26, 2021 at 6:37 amWell, several theories about Miranjo are possible. The most straightforward explanation so far is this: we know that she can possess and control things (the dancing doll) and she knows a spell to possess a human host’s body with other person’s soul. Perhaps, she is from a “monster” race who have this possession ability. Remember that Miranjo-like frozen woman in a hall with frozen monsters?
So a “monster” Miranjo could possess Miranjo-girl’s body in the past. As the result, the girl’s soul was ejected into this dark space, exactly as happened with Daida when his body was possessed by Bosse.
Then a monster-Miranjo committed all these crimes using the girl’s body. This can explains the girl’s insistence that she “didn’t do anything wrong” and the victims are “mistaken”, and that the girl only remembers Bosse when he had no children. And by the way, the victims said that there were many such “monsters” who destroyed their country and killed them.
A bonus crazy sub-theory: it is also possible that Bosse’s Giant body was actually possessed by a different soul, a “true Bosse”. Otherwise it is hard to explain why Bosse retained all his strength in Daida’s body.
The question is, why Miranjo’s heart “feels a little bit lighter” when the girl is feeling better? And where are the souls of other Miranjo’s hosts? And why the girl has a power over the victims? She clearly forced them to disappear when she smelled Bosse in Daida.
The second theory is that Miranjo is a victim of a power-stealing deal like Bojji. So the reason she doesn’t have a body is that her body was literally stolen from her. And there is some glitch in demon’s conditions which allowed Miranjo (like Bojji) to become very strong. In this case, the girl is Miranjo’s soul. But the victims’ role is unclear in this case.
Another bonus crazy sub-theory: Bojii is deaf, and Miranjo may actually be blind in her normal human body, despite the fact that her eyelids were moving during a talk with Apeas.
Marty
December 25, 2021 at 10:05 amIn a way, I’m glad Ousama Ranking will be in 2022 rather than 2021’s Top 10 List. It would be too obvious for this to be #1 this year, at least the likes of Vinland Saga S2 and Mob Psycho S3 will give it a run for its money next year.
Red
December 25, 2021 at 1:32 pmI may be severely underestimating them but I have my doubts that Hiling’s 3-man reinforcements + Dorshe is enough against the convicts which includes Kingbo(!) (Checkov’s gun suggests this is Kage’s clan’s last king) and the underworld order’s commander Ouken. The underworld army seems to be more of a detachment because of their small number though I may have missed some things regarding this.
This convergence of various forces is reminiscent of Hxh’s yorknew arc. Next episode can’t come soon enough.
blargnobia
December 27, 2021 at 9:31 amRandom thoughts on this episode–
1. In hindsight it was obvious that Domas was a horrible teacher (just compare how he and Despa handled Bojii) but it was pretty funny hearing Horuko say it out loud.
2. Did Hilling get, like, five feet away from the kingdom before turning back? Miranjo seems to really want her dead, so I’m worried. I will say characters don’t die very often in this series (well, except Kage’s clan), but it’s still possible she won’t survive. Arriving back home to find his step-mother dead would traumatize poor Bojii. Hopefully Bosse has something in mind to save her.
3. Is Bojii once again traveling with some who is plotting to kill him? The underworld king didn’t outright order an assassination, but one can only interpret “steal Bosse’ kingdom” so many ways.
4. Hilling’s hoopskirt armor was cute as hell. I don’t need to justify my tastes.
Bounty
December 29, 2021 at 7:24 pmThe next episode is gonna be a blast, such a shame that they are going on a pause for the next week. Still, top tier episode.