Although it’s a good deal less violent and more light-hearted than Game of Thrones, Ranking of Kings at times seems to draw inspiration from that series, such as the similarities between the stories of Domas from the latter and Jaime from the earlier. Other moments or characters also come to mind, including Despa, featured in the artwork below. His flamboyant character and training of Bojji earlier in the first cour reminds me of Syrio teaching Arya. The weapons their students wield even look the same!
Other similarities are almost certainly unintentional, but for a fan of GoT and the novel series on which adapted, A Song of Ice and Fire, such as I, the two work quite in sync. For instance, ジッツ‘s illustration reminds me of the potential and actual duels that occur in both, setting two “unbeatable” opponents against one another who normally would not meet in a typical shonen series or other fare (with all indications, not just from this illustration but also from the latest episode, being that Despa vs. Oken is next).
I guess that’s just another layer for me to enjoy about Ranking of Kings, a series whose first cour we already felt was among the best of 2021.
The similarities between Prince Daida and Prince Joffrey were so tight as to be heavy-handed but then the show unexpectedly veered sharply away from that character arc. That is really what Ranking of Kings excels at, getting you to believe you know a character just to pull the rug out from under you!
YES! Daida is pretty obviously designed on Joffrey, and the reveal, if you can call that, that he’s most definitely NOT Joffrey is all the more fulfilling because of his character design and introduction to us.