Hi everyone, Jacki Jing here, and unless you've been living under a rock for the past three months, you're probably watching the amazing anime now streaming safe! This series is animated by a small company called , maybe you have heard of it?
Wit hosted the first three seasons of but then took over for the final season. So what's the big plan now? . Don't let the character design style fool you, this isn't your little brother's anime. The plot is closer to Game of Thrones than Babar the Elephant.
It stars Bojji, a boy who should be the king of his father's kingdom, but he is underestimated by everyone around him because he is physically weak and deaf. He communicates through sign language and lip reading. He finds an ally in Kage, the last known survivor of a phantom clan of assassins and together the two set out on a journey to train Bojji so he can become the rightful heir to his kingdom.
Of course, not everything is so simple. There are a lot of characters with different motivations and goals. It's just as much of a mystery as it is an action-adventure series and now that the second season is underway, we're left with a lot of questions! In this video, we're going to break down the new opening sequence to see if we can crack some of the secrets lurking in the series. Let's start!
Time stamp of trailer below. Either watch the trailer here or use the video above for the visuals.
00:00-00:15 – This part establishes the relationship and feelings of Kage and Bojji as two boys with no friends or anyone to rely on. We even see the orphan Kage tearing himself apart after being passed by a mother and daughter. Dang guys, are we going to cry already?
00:17-00:21 – This montage shows four different moments, a blooming pink flower, a series of rock formations, a diamond and spears. The flower and rocks are still mysterious in terms of their meaning, but the diamond is a reference to King Bosse's proposal to Queen Hiling and the spears are from when the entire clan of Kage was wiped out.
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00:25 - Here we see Daida still trapped in his own mind ever since Bosse took over his body. He is holding a puppet of Miranjo, whom he recently encountered in his consciousness in episode 11. Miranjo uses puppets as part of his magic; she has one of her own body and her two bodyguards are also puppets.
00:36 - Now Bojji discovers a broken mirror, the one Miranjo currently inhabits. Then it comes together and we see, for the first time, what Miranjo looked like as a happy little girl. She is very different from the Miranjo we know now, and this may have been before she was tortured by the villagers in the story she told Daida.
00:41 - Here we see what an army of kings look like with evil red eyes (like the beasts that Miranjo controls). It could be Miranjo's way of interpreting the kings of the world or it suggests the king ranking system has some sinister undertones.
00:45 – It’s young Miranjo again, running through the woods with a playmate who just happens to look like a young demon. We know that Miranjo introduced Bosse to the demon who granted him the power he wanted - although the price was Bojji's own strength. We don't know how Miranjo and the demon met, but maybe they go back a long way?
00:46 - What looks like blood running down Daida's shoes is the same reddish-brown color as the potion Miranjo made Daida drink that led to its possession by Bosse.
00:50 - Young Miranjo is once again playing with her demon playmate, but we see her age...and so does the demon. The friendly game of "guess who" changes to imply that she might actually be in the clutches of the demon. Is he the one pulling all the strings?
00:52 - Many scenes in this opener focused on the story of Miranjo, but things change here to look at King Desha. King of the Underworld, Desha is known to have an emotional complex about his appearance that affects both the way he sees himself and his more conventionally attractive brother Despa. During this scene, he's staring at flashes of power in his hand, but every time the flash happens, there's a blinking tear and you'll miss it on his face. Desha hides a great pain that could be linked to the man we see immediately after this, maybe her father?
00:57 – This brief moment gives us a perspective on Daida and Miranjo that we have never seen before. Bosse is the one who gave the mirror to Daida and set in motion her possession of her own son. Since then, most interactions between Miranjo and Daida have shown the mirror manipulating the young prince. However, in this brief scene, we get a sense of why Daida trusted him. He is shown talking to her like a friend and she might even read to him before he falls asleep.
00:58-01:03 – This montage shows the love that the different characters carry within them. Young Bevin (note that he has no beard) with his snake companion, Mitsumata. It's just comforting. These two are always looking for each other. We then see Bojji's mother-in-law, Queen Hiling, kissing the young boy and having fond memories of Kage and his mother.
01:06-01:16 - We see these landscape scenes from a first-person perspective, but it's not immediately clear who it is. I tend to think it's Bosse because of the really big hands at the start. These may all be places he visited on his travels, from ancient ruins to the ocean to the vast desert.
01:16 - The setting is immediately followed by the mask we saw Miranjo wearing when she met Daida. It breaks before we see Bojji hug Queen Hiling again before going on a journey with his best friend Kage taking his hand.
So what kind of secrets did this opening reveal? I think that gives us some really big clues about Miranjo, who could be considered the central villain of the series right now. Like all of the characters in , she's more complicated than just "the wicked lady in the mirror" and has as yet unknown connections to the demon. Perhaps the demon is even influencing her to act on her painful memories and emotions?
One thing I can say for sure is is one of the most intelligently written shows currently on the air and it has great respect for its characters. As more secrets are revealed, the motivations of Miranjo, Bosse, Daida, Desha, and other characters will become clearer.
What did you think of this video? Were there any clues we missed? Be sure to give us a like and subscribe to this channel for more deep dives, opinions, and animated clips. If you're a fan, you'll want to tune in to the ANN After Show on Mondays at 6pm PT/9pm ET, where we discuss episodes in detail each week!
