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Ranking of Kings Anime's Special Episode Announces April Premiere in Teaser
posted on by Egan Loo
The official Twitter account for the anime of Sōsuke Tōka's Ranking of Kings (Ōsama Ranking) manga debuted a teaser promotional video and key visual for the Ōsama Ranking: Yūki no Takarabako (Ranking of Kings: Treasure Chest of Courage) special episode on Sunday. The teaser announces the episode's April 2023 premiere. (The wording of the Japanese announcement does not specify the number of episodes.)
The episode will tell a story that has not been seen in the original anime, and it will feature a returning cast and staff.
The anime will air on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block.
The Ranking of Kings anime premiered in October 2021 and ran for two continuous cours (quarters of the year). Funimation and Crunchyroll streamed the anime as it aired in Japan and also streamed an English dub.
Yousuke Hatta (One-Punch Man episode director, Boogiepop and Others assistant director) directed the anime at Wit Studio, with Arifumi Imai as assistant director. Taku Kishimoto (91 Days, Fruits Basket 2019, Moriarty the Patriot) was in charge of the series scripts. Atsuko Nozaki (Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky) designed the characters, while Masaki Kawake was the sub-character designer. Both are credited as chief animation directors. Makoto Fuchigami was the chief line director. Masaru Oshiro, Shin Ogasawara, and Nozomu Fujii were the main animators. MAYUKO composed the music. The band King Gnu (first Banana Fish ending) performed the opening theme song "BOY." Yama performed the ending theme song "Oz."
The web manga centers around Bojji, a deaf, powerless prince who cannot even wield a children's sword. As the firstborn son, he strives hard and dreams of becoming the world's greatest king. However, people mutter about him behind his back as "a good-for-nothing prince" and "no way he can be king."
Bojji is able to make his first ever friend, "Kage" (shadow) — a literal shadow on the ground who somehow understands Bojji well. (Kage is a survivor of the Kage assassin clan that was all but wiped out. No longer a killer, Kage now makes ends meet by stealing.) The story follows Bojji's coming-of-age as he meets various people in his life, starting with his fateful encounter with Kage.
Tōka has been serializing the manga on the user-submitted manga website Manga Hack and other venues since May 2017. Kadokawa published the 13th compiled book volume on April 12.
Update: Added a note about the number of episodes.
Sources: Ranking of Kings anime's Twitter account, Comic Natalie
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.
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