AWTY 168 - Lil Guy Union (Ranking of Kings)

I want to teach this boy. Hello and welcome to our weave There Yet exploration and education and anime. I'm your anime idiot, patrick dugan.

I'm an anime expert, dee hollander.

And I'm brenda mccullough. Your anime VV Ornitier who dad. He's a little guy from Final Fantasy Nine.

He's my favorite little guy.

I got a collection of little guys, but he's my favorite little guy.

Yeah, a menagerie of little guy.

It's easy because they're little, so they don't take up a lot of space. So it's easy to have a lot.

Of them and keep them in a play pen.

Yeah, they all play together. Sometimes they get a little bit I don't know where. Half of them don't have faces. But that's just my little guy collection.

We all get little guy collections. It's part of being the way we are.

It's a mentally ill. Yeah.

It's part of the internal parental instincts that you have without actually having to want actual children. I just adopt little guys. I have no responsibility yet. I had to see them grow. It's great.

I can't take care of myself, but I can definitely take care of this weakling child.

Kirby is my favorite little guy.

There you go.

He's so little.

Anyways, what do we have going on this week? Why the little guy talk?

Because we're going to watch an anime about a little guy.

Yes.

It's easily one of my favorite newer animes, if not just one of my favorite animes of all time. It's still ongoing, so they can still shit the bed at the final stretch. I've seen that happen. Not going to call out anybody, like promise neverland or anything like that. But yeah, so it's still ongoing. But boy, howdy have I just loved every single second of this show so far. So I wanted to save it for a special occasion. And I punished you last time with Occicat, so I figured I'd make it up because today we're watching a ranking of kings.

Yeah, it's so scary in general for you to be like, hey, okay, I know I tortured you. Here's a genuinely good series. But I don't know how it ends. It could still be traumatic and terrible.

Just the asterisks I understand. I understand the caution around me. I brought it on myself because I do enjoy zach Bell. I did enjoy Stars a lot. But I am also self aware enough to know this one's actually good. And not just my weird taste, I hope.

Yeah.

Is this something you're familiar with?

I've heard very little about it, but of what I have heard is that it's good. So yeah, and it's I mean, the little guy looks so cute. Who could resist the little guy?

Yeah. Looks like this started airing September 2021. I can't tell if that was the dub date or the original airing date, but yeah, still very fresh.

I believe that was the original airing date because the dub, I think is, like, four episodes in or so right now.

So five.

Five. Okay. Yeah. So, yeah, it's it's still ongoing. It's real fresh. This is the freshest I've been in a good long time.

Hot toast.

I'm in my babies on the anime.

It's so hot.

Fresh out the oven.

But I'm excited. I'm excited for you to watch it and to hear how much you actually hated and for me to just once again, question my taste in anything.

You never know.

Yeah, this today is my first day of Christmas break, so I'm looking forward to a vacation. I very much will see how this show sets the tone for my headspace. For the rest of us, I'm putting that on you.

Well, here we go, guys.

It'll be fine.

All right. Set your expectations very high as we watch the first three episodes.

Just a little joke. Protect this boy.

Protect him, everyone. Guards, protect this boy.

I will hold him close.

He is the first character I've seen along. I definitely have, like, the antiprotagonist syndrome where it's like I kind of have a chip on my shoulder against protagonist because it's like, I don't give a shit by this guy. And then get, like, hyper fixated on just a random background character you see in one frame. This boy very much is the if anything happens to him, I'll kill everyone in this room and then myself. Like I sweet, baby Boy. Sweet problem.

Kiss his little forehead. This is your baby face. I love this boy.

Got the chubby cheeks. He's just so round and so good and so pure.

He got that, like, turtle V mouth.

Yeah.

Impeccable everything. Just perfect character design.

He little guy.

Yes.

Goes up right up there on the shelf next to VV. Okay, starting off, we're going to gush a lot. He's a real little good guy. Start with episode one and starts off with a narrator talking about how you measure a king and how he's ranked both with his people, with his kingdom in the eye of the world and all these different things. And mentioning how there is a ranking of kings, as is the show title.

They said the thing.

They said the thing. And it cuts to we see a very small prince crying and he is picked up by a very large mom. And she is comforting him. He fits spaciously within the palm of her hand. He's got some room to walk around in the palm of her hand. The size difference is so big.

Very good, very good. Very good.

And we see that that's his mother and she is trying to comfort him for something that happens, saying, don't worry, someday you'll be the greatest king. You'll be the top of the ranking of kings. It's like, so sweet. Can only imagine nothing bad will happen to him ever. And we cut to the prince seeing him a little older, walking around in the street in his underwear. And everyone's laughing at him. We've been here before.

The confidence of a king.

Yeah, he's got no shame. You just try around with a little turtle smile on his face. It's real good. And then we get the opening, which is a solid bop.

Absolutely. All the credit music in the show is just fantastic.

Yeah, we get his name a little later, but I'll just say it. So I'm not just calling him the Boy or Prince, but his name is Boji bogie. We see him running around the castle, just scaring out, looking at stuff, jumping up over walls to get a view and stuff. And we see him along the outer wall of the castle and he straights up, straight up, jumps down the castle wall like a mountain goat from just like a little block to a little block, and it jumps into a tree. And I know when I was watching this version, I was like, oh, what? Like that caught me. Incredible. This boy's got jumps.

He's agile.

Yeah. And so he jumps into a tree and then gets down to the ground and starts running off to explore. And he sees as he's walking around, he sees a little shadow blob on the ground with like two eyes carrying a bag as they go. Interesting. It keeps going. But then The Shadow sees him and confronts him, saying like, hey, who are you? What's going on? You got all these fancy clothes. What's happening here? And bogie can't talk. He is deaf and mute. And so The Shadow pulls out a knife on him, asking, saying like, give me your money or your life. And bogie can't respond, and The Shadow realizes like, oh, Boji can't hear or speak, but he can read lips. And the Shadow thing doesn't have lips, but he has this claw hand that looks like a bug's pincers and that's his mouth.

I would argue that this feller is also prime little guy, but just in a different way.

Yeah, we get the little guy backstory later on. As of now, he is quite a scoundrel, but the potential is there.

He's a little stinker. He's a little guy, but he's got a little stank to him. You get into some trouble sometimes, little guy, don't you? So, yeah, the Shadow has his hand like this claw thing out that moves. That's his mouth. It's strange to look at, but so Boji can read his lips with that and understand him. And somehow The Shadow can understand Bogey when bogie's gestures and makes noises. So they are actually able to understand each other.

They just get each other they speak.

In the little guy language.

Yeah.

And bogie has no money, so The Shadow tells him like, well, you got a bunch of fancy clothes on. Hand those over. Leaving bogie in his underwear. He says, hey, you know what? Same time tomorrow, buddy. Come back here tomorrow and I'll rob you again. And bogie's all excited like, all right, and runs off. And that's where we got the opening of him walking back through town in his underwear. And as he's walking back, one villager says like, oh, he's deaf mute and an idiot and can barely swing a child's sword. So rude of shit.

Everyone is so mean to him and it is so uncalled for.

It sucks.

Yeah.

And we see the next day Boji runs up to the same meeting spot as the day before. This time he's got a lot of clothes, he's like waddling up like an egg because he's just layers and bogie is just real jazz to finally have someone to talk to who can understand him and he can understand them easily and it's just a good communication. And Bogey says he'll be back tomorrow with more clothes. And I believe at this point the Shadow introduces himself as kagay. And so yeah, sure enough, next day they do it again. bogey's back more and more clothes. kage is like, hey, cool, free money. It's supposed to close, but bogey's like, real chast like, hell yeah. Going to see my little Shadow dude, let's go.

And is very my new best friend.

Yeah. And kagi laughs when Boji says he'll be a great king someday. And he kind of says the same thing everyone else decides, like, you a king now, what are you talking about? You're just a little guy. And this time when Bogey leaves, he walks through town. kagi actually follows him because Boji mentions he was like, oh, I live in the big hassle. Like I'm the prince. kagi is like, I can steal some more from him, so let me follow him home. And when he does that, he hears all the villagers talking behind bogey's back. And some little kids run up and stop them. They're like, hey, what happened to your clothes? One of the villagers like, oh, Prince Bogey can't hear you. It's. Like what? You can't hear us? Why not? What's wrong with you? And really just being real shitty little kids, as little kids tend to be. And in the castle he walks in and he's in his underwear ganza. We see the guards saying similar things of like, what a full of a prince we have and all this stuff. And he ends up running into the Queen and some of her personal guards, definitely some higher echelon guards. And we see one of the big four, the swordsman domas translating for bogie in sign language everything that the queen is saying.

Yeah.

And Boji, boji tries to communicate back, saying like, he wasn't robbed. He wasn't robbed by like a highway man that stole his clothes. He gave up his clothes, he chose to come. And that's why it keeps happening. And the Queen says, like, bogie's not fit to be king. And we see domos translating it, she's like, don't translate that, you fucking idiot. That was wrong. And she says, Data. There it is.

Data from Star Trek.

Show data from Star Trek. Data, the little dancing monkey from Mega Man legends. dieda is more fit to be king.

Whatever. I don't even know this dita kid, but fuck him. And you know what?

He can't be as much of a little guy as this little guy.

After getting to know him, still don't.

Care for him, still not a fan.

And she's saying all this out loud and in front of bogie, not realizing Boji can read lips. So Boji is able to understand everything that's happening. And after they leave, the queen is like, yelling at the guard, like, tuck in your shirt. You got to be presentable. If you don't tuck in your shirt, I'll get off with your head and real mean shit. Great first impression of the queen. And after they leave, domos tells Boji that the king wants to see him. So go get dressing, then go see your dad. And we see Bogey run back to his room, starting to get dressed. kagi follows him along the whole time, and he is still staying in the shadows. Doesn't want to be seen. And when Bojee's by himself, he finally lets it out. He's been holding back this whole time when everyone was laughing at him, making fun of him and stuff. When he gets back to his room, he finally cries.

I cried three times watching this. This was number one.

He's so strong.

He's the poor boy. Everybody thinks he doesn't know what's going on, but he does. It's so sad.

Yeah, I've definitely gotten chirped up a few times watching, and it doesn't get easier anytime you rewatch it, it's just like, yeah, he's so little. He puts on so much. You deserve the world. So Boji gets dressed, wipes away the tears, and runs back out. kagge sees him. He's, like, hiding under his bed. He's like, oh God, Bojee's is putting up with all this.

Bojack?

Bojack? Yeah, boj's putting up all this, like, bullshit. This sucks. He's just a little guy and loses track of him. So kagay runs out to try and follow after him, but he gets lost in the castle. And while kager running around trying to find Boji, he is confronted by Beebin, the snake handler.

Mustache man.

Big old, like, Papador looking hair and a mustache. Got real just skeezy vibes to him. And he's the snake handler, so he's got just, like, hordes of snakes that follow his commands. And he confronts kagge, being like, you're part of the Shadow clan, a notorious group of assassins sent to kill targets. You're in a castle. You're probably here to kill somebody. And he starts chasing kagay. Meanwhile, bogie's in his dad's room, here to see King moss. Just a big old fucking man.

Very large, very good wood kiss on the face.

Yeah. His introduction is lying shirtless in bed. So we were all like, yeah, we know the score, buddy.

He's a warrior king. He's covered in scars. But, yeah, he's laying in bed. You see, he's ranked seven among the kings. Don't know how many kings there are, but that's got to be pretty high.

Does that mean there are bigger ones? Take me to them.

And when he's confronted, we get flashbacks of Boss fighting against just a horde of monsters of the village being attacked by just waves of waves of monsters. And Boss taking them on single handedly, kind of implying that's how he became the king. He saved the town. And Boss Espoji is like, hey, why you've been so underdressed lately? Why you walk around your underwear? You can't do that. Your royalty. And while he's talking to him, Boss boss coughs up some blood. We know he's sick.

We know what that means.

We know what that means. And Bogey climbs up, and it's just a big stepping stool on the side of his bed because he's so fucking giant and Bogey is so little. He climbs up on his, like, stepping stool to get up to his dad's bedside. And boss says Boji is soft. While his second son died up, his second son died from his new wife, his calluses on his hands from training with a sword. And he's more well trained than bogie, so he assigns domas to train Bogey specifically. He's like, bogey's got to be a good king someday. You got to train them all good. And then meanwhile, while it's all going on, we see Biebin chasing after kagay, asking who he's hired to kill. And he says, we had a little info dump here of the Shadow clan. Used to be loyal to one king. And whenever they swear their loyalty to someone, it's an unbreakable bond that they never go back on. They're known for that, except for when they did break their bond against their king and kill him. And he's like, ever since then, no one trusts the Shadow clans. And he's like, who are you here? You're just a low life assassin. And kagis. Just like I just lost. I am not here to kill anyone. And throws a knife, and beating catches it. Doesn't catch the knife, but just blocks it with his hand. And the knife just goes through his hand. But when he pulls his hand away, kaga is gone. So he sends all of his snakes after him, just this wave of snakes go running after kaga. And then in the courtyard, we see domos training with bojee with wooden swords, and bogus just going after, like, one target, practicing, hitting. And we see Thomas fight against, like, five targets and smashes them all with just a wooden sword. Domoss knows his shit. And then while they're practicing, prince dyda shows up. And he's a farmy little shit. He kind of looks like his mom. He got blond hair and kind of a long beaky nose.

A piece of shit.

Terrible child, just real smog. He comes up, he's like, practicing with swords. A how about a sparring match? And Thomas says, like, bogie's training, he can't spar with you. And Diego is like, fine, why don't you spar with me, domas? Well, I'm a swords master. You're a child. But we'll see how he goes. There's a rumor around that dyna beat some of the guards, so he's actually pretty skilled. And then the sparring match starts up. We find out dyda is very skilled. Turns out he's real good with a sword. And domas is still fending him off and blocking. He's still a swords master, but he's getting excited. He's impressed. He's like, oh wow, I actually have to put some effort into this. And we see Bojee watching off on the side, getting like, old jazz, like, yeah, like gaining sight once again.

Get in there, kick his ass.

And eventually we see yeah. domas gets a little too into it and unleashes hell upon Died. And I should beat them.

It's what he deserves.

Once again, he's the swordsmaster he mentions.

Dieda beat, like, the captain of the guard. So he's extra cocky and he's like, let me just put him back in his place real quick. Just real quick, real quick. Show him he's not a god. Cool.

That he is, in fact, a child younger than Bogey.

Yeah, he's bogey's younger brother. Yeah, it's one of those things where I'm not sure if like, hey, they have a really shitty captain of the guards if he lost to a seven year old, or if it's one of those, like, the guard took a fall because it's royalty and he took the dive.

If I beat this child in front of others, I will be thrown in prison. banishment from a shame of losing to a child or chains.

Yeah. So after the fight, denis picks up dita, and I'm the swords master. You coach. You wouldn't have won, but you did real well. You really proved he had a lot skill. And Boji steps in with his one sword and challenges dieda. He's like, oh, you, you are approaching me. You want to get in on this? Meanwhile, we see kagay trying to escape the castle. But while he's eavesdropping and when he's, like, hiding, he hears some guards like, hey, come quick. The two princes are about to duel each other, bogey and dyna, it's like, oh, shit. So everyone in the castle is talking about coming to watch, and kaggy is like, well, I almost died, but I could stick around for a few more minutes. So we see the whole castle come out, and we see two guards talking about who won. And yeah, one of the mentions that Died took on the top captain of the guards, but the other, the other guard he's talking to was like, I don't know, bogey's. bogey's pretty good, isn't he? Now flashback sequence. And we see Bogey standing in, like, a courtyard of the castle, and he's surrounded by a bunch of snakes. And we see all the snakes group up at once and jump in the air at Bogey. And then the flashback fades. What happens? So when the sparring match starts between dieta and Bogey, dieta, as you would expect from a cocky eight year old child, doesn't hold back. He goes full force and dia can't land a hit. bogey's just sidestepping him, just bobbing and weaving. bogey's got the moves defensive, fighting as he's bobbing around the guard who was talking earlier. It's like it wasn't a fluke. It's like it happened back then. And we go back to the flashback where we see Boji bobbing and weaving and dodging all of the snakes that were flying at them. Like 30 snakes. There was a lot of snakes.

Like too many snakes. Why are there so many snakes in this habitat? Castle?

I know there's a snake handler, but I feel like this is a bad move.

Maybe he should handle his snakes.

Maybe he's not so great at handling those snakes. So yeah, we see just Bogey like bob and weave all the snakes and just runs off like it's nothing to him. And then back in present day yeah, same thing. He's just bobbing and weaving and dodging all the swords that dyed us flanking at him and once died, actually whiffs and misses. Boji just swings in and bobs them on the nose and then bobs them on the side, just tapping them, not hitting hard. Boji don't have a lot of strength, but just kind of proving like, got you.

If this was a sword, you would be dead.

And we see kagay watching from underneath the bush in the shadows, and he's just like, oh, fuck you my boy.

Look at him. God kick his s ass.

Showing off because he knows how good he is. And that's episode one.

How will this fight go? Let's find out in a little bit because we got a flashback. Hey, let's learn the origins of our other little guy. So we got caught backstory. So as they mentioned, his like, Shadow clan was wiped out and he seems to be the last one. So naturally we get to see all that. Cool.

Great.

So, yeah, we see Cage as a child with his mom. This is like the final attack to wipe out the Shadow clan. So his mom is taking him away. He's carrying a toy because that's all he cares about. He's just a little guy.

Okay, he was a little guy. Now he's a littler guy.

He's baby. It's so weird to look at them and be like, this is just eyes on a black flob. But I love them.

I'm so emotionally invested in them.

Yeah, so they run outside the city. They're being chased by guards, and it seems like they're going to get caught. So mom says, don't worry, run into the toxic forest and hide there. I'll hold them off and meet you when I'm done. I'm a skilled assassin. They can't take me down. Run, child. So cagay runs off, and mom goes to fight the guards. And the guards, they're like, yes, you skilled warrior. Can I show you all the bodies of the other skilled warriors we already defeated? And just holds up several pikes of other shadow creatures dead on them. It's like oh, brutal. Okay, cool. But cage's mom is like, I'm a cornered mom protecting her child. You can't underestimate that power.

I'm tired of being nice. I will go apeshit.

And just starts to fight. So kagay, running through the field, runs into a child countess, and they like, scare each other. So the guards take down the mom. Of course, it was inevitable. We don't see cagay with a mom in the first episode, so that's the way it goes. So the guards catch up. They see this countess and her advisor, and they're like, hey, did you see a shadowy creature run by? And they're like, oh, yeah, it ran into the woods. Cool, great. But we see a small rip in the child's stuffed animal. And as the guards turn and go away, we see the pike has one additional body on it. It's kagay's mom. So kagay, seeing this, starts crying, but the child countess also starts crying. So the advisor plays it off of like, hey, can you not show a bunch of dead bodies to this child? Leave. You're scaring her.

Yeah, good for them.

So they run off and they're like, all right, sorry, kagay, that sucked. But there's a town that way. If you go quick, you'll lose the trail. So he just runs off on his own for the first time. So he gets into town, he's alone, he's hungry, just clutching to his little toy, little horse. And he tries to trade his toy for some food. He just wants an apple. He's just a little guy. He wants an apple. How are you going to say no to that face?

It's all he's got.

Yeah, very meanly is the answer. Because the woman's like, no, money only.

How are you going to say no to those two eyes floating into black void? It's as much of a face as he has.

So he tries to steal an apple. He leaves his toy because he's got a good heart. But no, they catch him and they beat him up and leave him in an alley.

No.

So rude.

So he is unluckily rescued. We see this thuggish man come with just like, a scrap of a fish and offers it and takes him in. But not the good. Not the good like, I will care for this child way, but in the bad how can I use this orphan to my advantage way.

The reluctant father figures finally betrayed me.

Oh, no.

You do know I love one of those. How unfortunate. Not this one.

On paper, this guy had potential, but he immediately squanders it.

Yeah.

He blah, blah, blah. Yeah. So this thug takes him in and just keeps leaving him scraps. Truly just giving him the garbage that he doesn't eat. And cagay is like, I love you, dad, so much. But it's very clear that the fog is like, yeah, now it's time for you to start paying me for the garbage I give you. So he has to earn his way through theft and burglary. So they start small. He's just like, hey, be a good boy and go unlock that door for me. He's like, yes, Father. I love you. And just use it as it to break in, steal big piles of money and give cagay a single coin to be like, you're cut.

Great.

Won 1000 of the prize. So we get a flashback again, back to familiar times. cagay is with his mom and he's like, yeah, so we're a part of big secret order, right? We're real cool. We fight bad guys. And she's like, yeah, kind of. Well, we'll kill whoever we're contracted to. So that could be children, that could be elderly, it could be literally any defenseless target. And Cage is like, hey, what the fuck?

What?

And mom's like, yeah, we're literal shadow beings. Killing in the shadows is kind of what we're built to do. So, yeah, it's kind of expected for our species to do that. So a reckoning is coming eventually. But just remember, the main guiding light for our species is to serve the people who need it the most. Who could that be? So we see one day, after several burglaries and trying to get closer to this thug who isn't reciprocating, he wakes up to a guard raid. The thug sold him out, and he just barely manages to escape. No, he's on the street alone again. But he tries to go back to the thug and be like, dad. Oh, weird how they found us. You didn't, right? And the thug is like, no, get out of here. You served your purpose. I wrung all the money out that I could. Still continuing to be a shadow, being that I could treat nice for continued partnership, but no short sighted thievery.

Okay.

But kagay still doesn't have the hint. He has nowhere else to go. So he follows the thug to a bar where he is stabbed and killed in a bar fight.

Cool rip.

Yeah. So kagay tries to go up to him and be like, dad, no. I'm here for you. But all the patrons in the bar are like, get that thing out of here routine.

Like, we read a twowee.

So it kills instead of cooks.

Yeah, more exciting that way.

I mean, you said the series isn't over. They could open a restaurant. Okay, this is sort of where we end the flashback. We see him start to grow up. Since he's on his own, he knows he can't trust anyone. He gets more and more jaded and just steals to make his way. Just becoming the roguish.

Man.

We meet in the intro where he robs bogie.

I do like that since he doesn't have many features of any kind, the way they show him, like aging and getting more jaded is just his eye being very wide and then progressively getting more, like clothes and clothes half lidded. And that's the only way they could show the progress on him.

It's effective.

It works. It's just very funny.

Yeah. Especially with a show with a nonverbal main character. They are very good at showing and not telling, which is extremely refreshing for anime of not just having a main character be like, oh, yes. Ranking of kings. So here's the tournament. Here's the thing. Here's all the stuff that we need.

The whole show is a tournament arc.

It's coming. But we are back to the boy fight. So the two princes are in the middle of their battle. We're seeing boji continues to just show up his brother. We start to get more context of yeah. Since everyone underestimates them and thinks he's just an idiot child and don't realize how observant and how much he notices all the stuff going on around him. That makes him great at dodging because he's finding openings, he's reading body language, he's anticipating attacks. But as this continues to go on, he's still just dodging and lightly tapping. So it's kind of like to the onlookers a very offensive and you're just making fun of your opponent at that point.

Dirty.

Yeah. Take them down if you're going to take them down.

Floats like a butterfly, stings like a butterfly. Yes.

Look, a butterfly. Why are we fighting? Let's go play. All the onlookers are like, oh, that's cowardly. That's no way to fight. So domo steps in and signs something to him and he gets distressed. What did he say? So he steps back into the fight, but he stops dodging weird and immediately starts getting the shit kicked out of him. boo. Bad stuff. Why would you hurt this boy? We've had enough boy suffering this episode.

Yeah. Stop it.

So he's just dieda, is getting his confidence back because now he's just beating the shit out of his brother with a stick. So kagay, watching on, starts to get those flashbacks of his mom fighting and losing. So just as he's about to step in and be like, no, get your.

Hands off my boy.

The fight is over. Bogey loses and falls.

I think I cried. So the next two times I cried were in this one. I think I cried when big thug Man died just because of how sad cagay's whole deal is. And then I cried right now because I was just like, oh my God. I don't know. kaga, he's only cared for, like, two people in his whole life. And now he's found this boy and he cares so much about him.

He's so immensely invested in this boy. He's known for like two days, which, to be fair, so are we.

Yeah, but we also don't have a history of mugging him as well. Built upon that.

Listen, it's a complicated relationship.

Yeah.

Me and Bogey go way back.

He funded my college tuition.

Yeah. Through all his lunch money, I was able to pay my way through college. Okay, so bogie loses. And we see that the teacher told him that his fighting style was not kingly, it was too cowardly. He has to be a strong and fearless king and take those blows, get beat up for the sake of being tough.

Good lessons.

Yeah. And he's like, if you're going to fight this way, you have to at least actually fully hit him. But boji, he's a sweet, sensitive soul. He doesn't want to do damage, so he he threw the fight.

Oh, bogey also physically can't do damage. He's very weak. Like, physically, yes.

But like, even the lack of attempt was so weak and cowardless. Or cowardless. No, cowardly. So we see dita, extra confident. He walks. He walks off. He goes into his room and he consults a mirror and he's like, ah, yes. My path to ascending to the throne instead of bogie is well on its way. And a shadowy figure in the mirror is like, yes, it's happening. There is a mall. Whatever.

Good. Good. Yes. Obviously evil.

Yeah. So we see heartbreaking. heartbreaking. Everyone brace yourselves. We see Bogey and the infirmary all bandaged up because again, he didn't just like, lose a scuffle. He got the shit beaten out of him. He is like head to toe bandage.

You see in the fight after you see his I think his right arm is actually, like, broken because it, like, bends weirdly because the attention to detail in the animation is astounding.

Yeah, this is a very beautiful show. It very weirdly. Has, like, 80s western fantasy animation.

It reminds me of Princess Two Two. A little bit, to be honest, but less like, girly.

I got a lot of loop in the third.

Yeah, that too.

Character designs are just really exaggerated. Every character is like their own shape and stuff and very recognizable and just really having fun with the medium of animation. I love it so much.

Yeah.

They're absolutely going for it on this.

The fights are, like, so good chefs kiss.

So bogie. All bandaged up. He's sad at the disappointment and everyone continuing to think he's weak and all this stuff when he's just misunderstood. So he sees a sword on the wall in the infirmary and he lifts up his little broken body. I can't and he tries to pick up the sword, but it's too heavy and he's too weak and he can't lift it. So he just collapses on the ground and starts crying.

I lied. I cried four times.

I missed one. Write that down. But Cage, he was hiding in the infirmary and he can't hold it in either. He's also like, oh, this boy. I need to protect him. So he reveals himself. He gets his attention, and he's like, boy, I'm so sorry. I will never mug you again. You have the heart of a champion. Listen to me. My mother gave me the advice that I need to serve whoever needs it the most. And clearly that's you. You have a pure heart and no skills. So I will protect you. I will be by your side forever. And that's where we end the episode.

Friends, best buddies. I'm dead.

Two little guys forming a union.

Little guys, a pro union. He really is a little broader from home. Champion.

So in episode three, we start out with bogi. He's in his room resting cagay's under the bed. And he starts to come out, but hears someone coming, so he hides again. And then we see just like, the feet of someone in a dress. They come in and put their hands over baby Boy, over bogie and heals him. neat. So there's some magic at play here as well.

Love to see him.

Yeah. And then cagay is out in the yard, and Mustache Man sees him, and he's got his snakes with him. Oh, no. And then we see big ol king in the bed. He's dead. Rip. Time to read his will. The successor to the throne is drumroll bogie. It's what he deserves. Little man, gentle king. Little man deserves a crown. And then, oh, boy, this is whack. Big scary cloud comes out of the king. It transforms into, like, a devil, a giant devil looking guy. It looks around the room, points to bogie, kind of laughs, and then disappears. Seems like a bad omen if I've ever seen one.

This is fine.

This is fine.

This is fine.

I may not be a religious man, but if the devil pops out of a deck, points at the next king, and laughs, seems not good.

So dia goes to his magic mirror and he's like, Explain. Magic mirror? I thought I was going to be king. And the magic mirror says, you'll still be king. You've just got to let my plan unfold.

I like how dieta goes to the mirror. I was like, Why won't I be king and stuff. Hey, the fuck was that about with the devil?

Do you know anything about that?

Yeah, everyone seems very chill about the devil aspect. They're like, but that's it.

So there's a ceremony to name the successor in front of the whole kingdom. Guy gets up in front of everybody and says, it's died. But that is not true.

Wrong.

That's not what the will said. So we see a flashback. Turns out the queen vetoed the king's will, which is not something I knew could happen. And everybody like, the council is shocked. And she's like, well, do you think bogie can be king? And no one really says anything? And she's like, especially with that weird devil thing that happened. Like, that seems bad. So she says, Everybody close your eyes and we'll vote for the new king. Which seems very juvenile, but I guess so. She says, if you think boji should be king, like, raise your finger up. And then she tells them to open their eyes. Only two people put their fingers up, and domas isn't one of them. Piece of shit bastard. But they still want me to like him. I'm conflicted.

I'm sure you have reasons, but you're on thin ice, man.

Yeah, what the fuck?

Real quick, one of the people that voted for Bogey was apis, who is the king spear who stopped the fight against Died Bogey.

Yeah, big guard, man. So Bogey is pretty confused and upset at the crowning, understandably. And he cries and runs off. And the queen looks surprised. She's like, Where are you going?

No.

And it's like what?

What's his deal?

You did this. And then we see Cage is hanging in a jail cell. He's like, on a hook. And then he snips himself off with some scissors and he runs out of there. But the snakes and the Mustache Man stop him again. And he says, Cage, who sent you here? Who are you here to kill? And he's like, I'm literally not here to kill anybody. I just want to help bogie. That's my only reason for existing now is to help that boy. Yeah. Also, yes. So boji is laying out in the field when Mustache Man comes up to him and he like, draws kagay in the dirt and asks, Hippoji, do you know this thing? And Bogey says, yeah, we're friends. He signs friends. And Mustache Man tells him that kagay is gone on a journey and will never be back. liar. Everyone is lying to this poor boy and ruining his life. And bogie is surprised and upset again. understandably. And he runs after the Mustache Man. And we see dieta on a balcony, and he's talking to Mustache Man. And he's like, I'm going to be on the top of their ranking of the kings, and I don't need anybody on my court who thinks otherwise. Who are the two people that voted against me? I want them gone. And Mustache Man in his head is like, this definitely wasn't Dyda's idea, but that magic mirror. So he knows about the mirror. Then bogi runs all over the castle looking for Cage. And then outside, he crawls into a cave and finds a big old two headed snake named Mitsumada. And they know each other. He tells bogie that mustache man has kage. And he says, Even though I owe you, boji, like, I'm indebted to you, I am also indebted to Mustache Man. So I can't tell you where kage is.

Too much gambling. Snake gambling.

Yeah, it'll get you. So Bogey cries. A bunch of snakes go up to him, but they're like, not evil. They're just there to comfort him. Snake eyed snake eyes.

Boo boo.

Keys.

Yeah, snake eye.

Snake eye. Yeah, I think it's actually a three headed snake, but one of the heads was and then three out of the four eyes are cut out of this. Snake has been through shit.

Yeah.

So is boji know each other?

So big Snake, he does say, like he's like, I can tell you that kagi is safe. He is actually on a journey, and he is safe. And he tells bogie, I might cry right now. He tells bogie that he is precious to so many. And I was just like, I will die. I could die.

I'll say it right now. Snake dad's better than King dad. I'll say it.

He's a good guy. So big Spear Guy is leaving the castle. Mustache man attacks him. The fight scene is cool. I have never cared about fight scenes, but this one is good. They're very, well animated. They're very, like, crisp.

The shot of beaven circling around a piece and just fucking so good.

Truly, no words are spoken. He just runs up on them. And you get that realization of, like, the way he's approaching me, we're fighting. They don't need to be like, you villain. I need to take you down for my dark lord. It's like, no, just fight.

Okay. So the fight ensues. Mustache man breaks the spear into a few pieces, but he gets him. Spear. Guy gets mustache, man, right in the chest. And he falls down. Looks like he's dying. Good. Who needs you? And as he's, like, walking away, big Spear Man in his head is like, I'm going to see boji become king. It's what's right. And the queen is surprised to learn that dieta got rid of the Spear guy. And he asks her what's to be done about bogi. He's like, he says we should have him retire to somewhere. But before he finishes, the queen is like, oh, I'll educate him. So she does care about him. Not that we've seen that thus far, but she doesn't want anything bad to happen to him.

Yeah, it's in a quick about face from dethroning him like, two minutes earlier.

Yeah. So, yeah, she doesn't want anything bad to happen to bogie. And dieda. Agrees. But, like, reluctantly, we see Bogey looking out onto the kingdom from his window, thinking of Cage and the demon thing and journeys. And he goes to see the queen, asking if he can leave. And she's like, no, I will not let you do that. You're too fragile. And you're the king's older brother, so you have an obligation to be here in the kingdom. So he runs out, and we see him packing a bag, and he leaves the crown behind, but the guards outside his room won't let him leave. Queen says, not allowed to leave. So time to escape out the window. So he, like, ties a bunch of cloths together. He's like, got that rope going. But the queen comes in and sees him trying to leave. And they try to pull him back in, but he shakes around and the cloths come untied and he falls to the ground. And the Queen is like, very legitimately worried about him.

He cracks his head on a lip of a castle on the way down.

So they rush down to him, and then we see that the queen is the one who has the healing powers. Wow.

The dwest.

Yeah. And she powers up and her blouse like, rips. She's like, yeah, got to heal my boy.

Yeah. This was a special moment for her shirt to just her shoulders rip through. It was like, yes, okay, I see.

There'S something for me in here as well.

So she heals him again. Now she's got magic. And Bogey sits up and she raises her hand like she's going to hit him. But then she just touches his face and passes out. And daida was watching from the window. Dun dun dun. betray. She rests, remembering daida saying that her educating Bogey would be a miserable experience. And then we get a flashback. bogie is watching. He's a little baby, even smaller.

Little squishy face, real punch cheap, like a stumbling for a head. Just this big old head.

Yeah. He's watching a caterpillar on a leaf. And she goes up to him and she says, I'm your new mom. And he runs off, and there's a translator there with her. And the translator says, oh, don't take it personally. He hasn't opened his heart to anyone since his mom passed away. So we see the new Queen working hard to get in his good graces, but it doesn't really work. And then one day while he's out in the garden, we see the snake from before. Big snake, smaller, very injured. So we see that this is when it lost its eyes and presumably lost its third head. And he cries. And she thinks that it like bit her or something, but he's like, no, help it. I'm upset that it's hurt.

And she does more in a worse spot than me.

Oh, no.

Yeah.

Little guy found his own little guy.

And so she does healing magic to fix it. And bogie is so happy and he hangs out with the snake. It even sleeps in his bed. And now he's warmed up to the queen. And then she gets pregnant and has dieda. And now she's mean because she's got a real son or whatever. The next morning, presumably, she's sitting up in bed and thinking, pondering. And then domas delivers some news to Bogey. He gets to go on his journey. yay. So the Queen tells him that he'll be accompanied by domos and another guard, the one who supported him in the first episode during the sword fight, because he remembered the snake fight thing. So she's like, you have to go to my family and pay your respects. Respond if you understand. And he goes up to her and kisses her cheek little sweetie. And off he goes. And as the queen is watching the three of them leave, a wind blows through the castle, and she, like, falls to her knees, and dia looks on ominously. And the queen says, I feel very strange. I feel as though I've lost both bogie and dia. And that's it. What could happen next?

Attention.

This rules.

Are weeb there yet?

Yeah, this is a good one.

Absolutely. Yes.

Nailed it.

You got one. You got one. You're still, like, negative 50, but you're at negative 49 right now.

If anything, this proves that I am capable of taking good animal and that I'm actively not doing it, which is worse.

Intentionality is very important.

I already said it reminds me of Princess Two Two, but it also reminds me of it not just in the art, but in the sense that it's like a fresh fairy tale that I've never heard of. So it just feels so cool to be experiencing this brand new fairy tale that's so well done and so good and cute. And honestly, I love good deaf representation, and I did not know he was deaf before starting to watch it. So when it was revealed that he was deaf, I was like, Fuck yeah. This show already rules in my book.

Good surprise.

Yeah. Looking into it because we were curious about what's up with the signing. Is it real? How legit is it? So in our break, we found that one of the animators who does a lot of the signing animation is hard of hearing, and the signing on the show is, let me get the actual organization up. The Tokyo Federation of the Deaf supervises the sign language portions of the show, so it is actual, legitimate good representation.

Incredible. You love to see it. I'm so glad.

Like, we do get the unfortunate. Everyone thinks he's an idiot, but it's just the introduction of, like, everyone underestimates this kid with a heart of gold, so I'll let that slide. Everyone's going to be mean until they find out, oh, you saved my bakery from burning down. I'm indebted to you. So, yeah, very good. Very good stuff. Like the cliffhanger ending of, like, yes. And also now he's about to go and explore the world. This is such a good leaving off point for this format of the show because these three episodes are so contained as, like, the show's tutorial. And then we can pick up on the actual adventure part in the next episode when we continue, because, yes, I do want to see how this goes.

Yeah, but she gets, like, a little green cloak, and I don't know if it's professional, but I definitely was getting, like, hobbit vibes, like frodo, and I was like, oh, he's just such a little guy.

How many episodes are there now?

Currently? There is I want to see, like, eleven, maybe.

Okay, 100% sure.

But I'll double check. But yeah, there's a decent amount cool.

I looked and it was around ten. So in that ballpark and five are dubbed.

But it's still going.

Still going. So I don't know if it's going to be like twelve and it's going to end soon for the first season or like 23 and it's going to keep going. I hope it's the latter one because I want more in my face now.

Yes, more guaranteed immediately.

Yeah.

And the dub itself is also pretty good. It's very fresh. It's not the same voices you hear and everything. Doing very anime performances. It feels very standalone and you don't need to you could show this to someone who is not familiar with dubs and anime and they would still enjoy it.

Yeah. Very good.

Doing my usual flipping between. So I watched all of the subbed as I was coming out. But then I watched episodes one and three dubbed and episode two subbed. It's both impressive on the quality of the actors and the direction because it really sounds similar. Like, they really got a very similar cast between both languages. And it was no problem at all. Just switching between. It was quite impressive.

Yeah, it's just like so refreshing to see people actually caring about the art they're putting out and not being like, yeah, let me just pump out this anime. Whatever. I'm already moving on to the next.

Thing being like no product placement check.

Yes, we care about this. We're going to do a good job and do good representation. Very good. I'll just keep gushing for another 20 minutes. Yeah.

Very nice. Excited to watch more. I want Paul to watch it real bad. I think he'll really like it too.

Absolutely. Just someone who's watched ahead. Boy. howdy it's? Still good. It still holds up, but it takes your places.

Oh no.

Already? We've seen this boy bandage to full body cast. So if that's like the introduction to the strife he's going to go through, I'm ready to add four more cries.

Like D. Yeah, I'll keep crying.

Keep counting.

Not even not even just bojee but just like like all of the casts. I I was able to remember all of the characters because they were all unique and stood on their own merits from the other episodes and stuff. So it's just a real good ensemble cast.

Nice.

So it's great. I can't recommend it enough. Like I said, it's easily one of my most probably my favorite more recent anime. It's probably within my top five like anime, if not just shows of all time. The animation is so fucking good. I love just watching it.

Yeah.

So pleasing. And then it's great.

Yay.

We got to go on. Finally.

Hey, Christmas.

So yeah. How are we going to start the new year? Well, this truly has been on the list for a little bit. And I heard someone on a different podcast I was listening to mention this anime and it reminded me, oh, yeah, that's on our list. That's enough cause for me to put this in the next order. So, a recommendation from Stephen Moore. We're going to watch. No guns. Life.

All right?

Truly, from this podcast, mention, I know there's a guy with a gun for a head and that's it.

Oh, it's this show.

So buckle up, everyone.

Yeah.

No one expects to have a good 2022, so let's be pleasantly surprised, shall we?

Fingers crossed.

If there's a show you would like us to watch in the new year, you can send those recommendations to our email. Are we there yet@gmail.com? Also, we only mention this sporadically because I know it gets exhausting to hear it. If you enjoy the show, you can rate us on itunes in other places and say you're having a good time. Because also people use that to tell us when they're having a bad time and when. We personally don't like a show that they like in particular, not based on the content of this podcast. So it would really help us if you let us know you appreciate the show. It's very good to hear from people and get little notes with recommendations. So we really love to see that you can interact with us on Twitter and Instagram at Are We There Yet? On both.

You can find me on Instagram at honey, period D, and on Twitter at honey d eight and Honey dart. And honey is spelled H-U-N-N-I-E. You can.

Find me on Twitter, but I don't really recommend it. Not a lot going on there. So instead, I'm going to send you on over to Asldefined Deafin.com, where you can actually learn sign language if you're specifically American Sign Language. For some people may not know, but sign language is a language indifferent in all countries. So if you're in a different country, look up to see if there's a similar website for your own.

Yeah? Yeah. Thank you to camille Ruley for artwork. And thank you to Louis zong for theme song stories. You can find all of louie's music at Louisong bandcamp.com. Thank you and we hope you'll join us next week as we learn to live with anime.

Bye bye.

He's just a little guy.

So little, so small.