It's undeniable that Ranking of Kings has captured the hearts of anime fans around the world differentiating itself from other shows with incredibly unique elements. However, the show is not free from having issues either, as the adaptation of the web manga has reignited debate over an issue that previously plagued its original release.
Viewers are claiming that the show contains historical revisionist dog-whistling using the countries of Houma and Gyakuza as an allegory for the historical relationship between Japan and Korea. In the show, the country of Houma is depicted as filled with entirely good people trying to help the people of Gyakuza. In comparison, the country of Gyakuza is shown to be self-centered, primitive, and living in shacks and squalor.
Anime To Real-Life Comparisons
Now that this storyline has reached the anime proper, fans are once again pointing out similarities between old pictures of pre-colonized Korea and those taken post-colonization with scenes that were depicted in the anime. This has also reignited the debate on if this representation is appropriate to appear on screens, especially in a popular anime.
"Only the Gyakuza country, which seems to be a metaphor for South Korea, is depicted as a complete evil," a user commented. "There is no country in the world where all the people are villains. This work, which depicts a specific country as evil, is dangerous because it justifies hate speech to a specific country or ethnic group even in reality."
Issues From The Manga
Similar comments were made after a particular section of the original web manga was released back in 2019. In the manga, when the people of Gyakuza try to tell the Gods that the people of Houma committed atrocities against them, one says: "But if the Houma were so awful to you, and took everything from you like you claim, then why did they build hospitals and schools here? You guys look prosperous to me.”
Many pointed out that this was similar to arguments made by Japanese nationalists in regard to various events that occurred when Japan annexed Korea in 1910 including how "comfort women" were brought from the latter country to the former. "The nerve to collectively describe an ethnic group as evil in the work," one user wrote on Twitter at the time. "The creator has no dignity."
While various video games have been censored in Korean releases due to similar controversies, including Ryuji's shoes with a Rising Sun motif as a particular example in Persona 5, there is no telling if the outrage of anime fans across the world will potentially cause issues for Ranking of Kings' production going forward. While the show is extremely popular, it is not impossible that the outrage could build surrounding the series and affect Wit Studio's adaptation of the story going forward.
Rankings of Kings is currently available to stream on Funimation in both Japanese and with an English dub.
Source: Anime News Network