As we continue Anime April here at Geek Devotions, Dallas takes a look at Sosuke Toka’s Manga turned Anime, Ranking of Kings (Ōsama Rankingu). In this modern anime A young prince named Bojji is destined to be king, but his half brother, Daida, stands in his way. But today we aren’t looking at Bojji, rather the tragedy of prince Daida.

Written Devotional

Ranking of Kings is an anime about a little boy named Boji, a deaf prince who is next in line to be king. In the first episode, you see his father pass away, and the Royal advisors decide that the younger brother Diada is to be king. The show’s central character is Boji, but today on Geek Devotions, we are talking about Diada and how being discerning is vital in our walk with God. 

As we said in the intro, we are focusing on Diada today. See Diada is a young prince who becomes king through the decisions of others. We see through several episodes that while he’s an annoying little booger, he legitimately wants to be a good king. But he’s listening to someone in a mirror that does not have his best interest. She has a very different motive that you discover later on in the series. Diada realized too late that he was listening to a voice he should not have listened to. 

Unfortunately, this is an issue that many of us fall into. We may have great intentions and want to do the right thing, but we have found ourselves in a place where those speaking into us are not speaking life but rather terrible things and manipulating us. In the show, you discover that Diada doesn’t just have the evil mirror speaking to him, but that there are genuinely kind people who are speaking great things to him. The problem is that because he is listening to this mirror, even the good things are twisted and perverted. So again, this is a sad situation that many of us have found ourselves in at one point or another. 1 John has some direction on how to handle this kind of situation.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 

1 John 4:1 English Standard Version (ESV)

We are instructed to realize that not everyone will be looking out for our best interests. Or they may just be wrong about what’s best for us even if they’re not being malicious like the mirror lady in Rankin of Kings.  But how do we develop this ability? How do we learn to discern what is Godly and what is not?

Practical steps

  1. Know what the Bible says. The Bible is the foundation for all Christian beliefs, and we as Christians have to take the personal responsibility to read it and discover what God has to say.
  2. Be in prayer. Prayer is one of the primary ways we commune with God. If we live a lifestyle of prayer and are in the word regularly, then when things are thrown at us, we will be equipped to discern what is Godly and not.
  3. Get rooted in a Biblically balanced community. There are no “Lone-Rangers” in the body of Christ. We are all always growing and always learning. You need a community that can support you, encourage you, and instruct you. You need people you can go to when you’re struggling with deciding what’s Godly and what’s not, that can point you to the scriptures and walks these things out with you.