WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Ranking of Kings Episode 2, "The Prince and Kage," now streaming on Funimation.
If the first episode of Ranking of Kings was focused almost entirely on making viewers love Bojji, the anime's second episode does the same for the show's secondary protagonist Kage. The manipulative shadow creature wasn't as instantly lovable as the capable Deaf prince in the premiere. But seeing Kage's tragic backstory in the first half of Episode 2 and the start of his genuine friendship with Bojji in the second half makes him immensely sympathetic.
Like many a classic fairy tale or Disney movie, Ranking of Kings knows one of the quickest ways to make audiences feel for a character is to kill their parent. We already knew that the humans had tried to wipe out the shadow assassins from dialogue in Episode 1, but Episode 2 starts off by directly showing the kingdom's soldiers slaughtering Kage's family. Wit Studio's animation rings a startling amount of emotion out of character designs that are basically just black blobs with eyes; when Kage witnesses his mom's dead body hanging from a sword, you'll want to protect him.
Young Kage's orphaned existence is a rough one. He hides from the soldier who killed his mom inside of a young countess's stuffed animal. Struggling to survive amongst humans, he's fed and taken in by a thief who wants to use him for his own ends. The thief also ends up getting stabbed and killed in a bar fight, so even Kage's scummiest caretaker meets the same fate as his real family. From this backstory, you understand how Kage ended up with the personality displayed in Episode 1.
Cutting back to the present, Kage attentively watches Bojji's swordfight with Daida and finds himself rooting for the underdog. Everyone in the royal family wants Daida to win, but Bojji's strategy of dodging all attacks and exhausting his opponent almost wins the fight. Only when Domas orders Bojji to cease this unorthodox strategy does Daida defeat Bojji, leaving his step-brother heavily injured from the beatdown.
After the fight, Kage talks to Bojji, professing his desire to help him out and promising to never steal from him again. As young people who have suffered heavy tragedy and have had to rely on their wits and speed to make up for their lack of physical strength, Kage realizes the two have a lot in common. Bojji's determination remains a source of inspiration; even covered in bandages, he crawls from his bed and uses all his tiny body's strength to lift a sword. Who knows what these two great characters can accomplish together.
New episodes of Ranking of Kings premiere Thursdays on Funimation.
