Ousama Ranking – 04 [First Trip]

Alright, this week’s goal is to generate ZERO controversy with my post.  Just a nice, simple post saying how great this episode was, how I love the show, and how everything is hunky dory….well, that was the plan anyways.  Unfortunately, this week had some issues.  Looks like controversy’s back on the menu!

Two good points this week: world and characters.  This week had a TON of worldbuilding.  To start with – clarification on the all-important Ranking of the Kings.  I had thought it was a tournament or something….it kind of seems like a magazine feature with a spooky divine prize.  Alright, a bit odd, but we’ll go with it.  There are a ton of locations in this episode, from the nice hamlet to hell’s gates to a spooky basement in the castle.  Say what you want, but Ousama Ranking has a fantastic world, and judging from some of the oddities in it (like the wild animal vacuum clearner), there’s plenty of depth there.

Characters were solid this week.  There’s a great moment where Domas and Bojji finally communicate after Domas’ many efforts…that’s the kind of small victory we’re looking for.  The eccentric hunter (king?  he has a crown) was a trip, but the dance was hilarious.  Hokuro (I had to look up his name) and Daida got their moments to flesh out their motivations.  I suspect Shadow is the guardian angel (although Domas blames BeBin…who I don’t think is dead, by the way) – whoever the guardian angel is, they were certainly emphasized well (a character absentia is one of my favorite literary devices, so props there).

Now….this episode was dense.  There was probably 2-3 episodes worth of material here all crammed in.  The first three episodes had a nice leisurely pace, but, oh boy, did we run through material on this one.  I think the execution was done as well as could be expected, but some of the more emotional scenes lacked adequate punch due to the compressed timetable.  For example, Domas’ betrayal – it was pretty clear who it was going to be (“Would you follow orders?”), but let’s have a bit more inner conflict over it instead of a maniacal laugh and a flashback to a scene we saw 5 minutes ago. 

Finally, there was just a lot of WTF this episode.  I think maybe one WTF moment every episode or so is adequate – I had about four in this one alone.  No idea what the divine treasure that makes you go insane is – why is that here now?  Is that important?  Second, the crazy hunter (king?) was….just a complete trip out of left field.  There was no warning, no follow-up, no justification.  I mean, Bojji got yelled at for losing his bag, but some crazy dude takes him on the top of a mountain to dance and no one bats an eye?  Uh, sure.  And finally, Daida’s dream and Pandora’s box?!  Where did that come from, and what does that have to do with anything?  It just feels so out of place in an episode about a journey and a betrayal – it takes all the force out of Domas’ dastardly deed.  Start the next episode with that sequence – that would have been great.  There was plenty of space to flesh this episode out (even still shots of walking would have been fine).  I don’t see what the rush is, and I think it hurt the story here.

I’d love to say this episode righted the ship and cemented this show’s place in the season for me.  Sadly, I’m still left with big question marks.  I think I’m getting over the character designs (although the profile shot of Daida’s nose bothered me), but narration issues are starting to crop up.  There are still wonderful moments – Bojji’s pantomime of how he fell into the trap was glorious.  Still, no cohesive story has emerged, and that’s concerning at this stage when all the introductions should be wrapping up.  As we come into the middle section of the season, I don’t have a sense of where this is all going, so while I’m still onboard…I’m not feeling great.  How to fix it?  Give us a great underworld sequence and some powering up of Bojji and I’ll be back on the hype train!