It’s time to jump back into the world of the rankings. The first season was fun with a lot going on and some pretty dynamic fights. The cast may not be the strongest but the show still holds its own. That said, this one is more like a mini season so that does put it in a bit of a tricky place right out of the gate. Could the season win without a big story? Well, I found it fun enough so I would say it was still good. The first season definitely wins without a doubt but at least since we know the characters by now, they were able to hold their own stories without too much trouble. The 10 episodes definitely go by real quickly so in a lot of ways this really does feel like a mini season even aside from the story.

I’ll jump into each segment and talk about them so you get a feel for the stories. That’s always the most enjoyable way to review an anthology after all and it gets you right into the thick of things! The only exception to this is the final episode where it actually continues the story and works like a preview of what the next full season will be like. I thought that was a real interesting touch so I was glad to see that. It ends the season off on a really strong note which is definitely what you’re looking for here.

The first short in the series shows us once again why Kage is such a great character. He’s looking for an herb that he needs for Boji’s mentor and yet he can’t help but stop to assist an old lady who needs him. He performs each and every chore even while he is super busy and you have to acknowledge his good strength of heart here. Ultimately the good deed pays for itself and things work out but he was willing to help out with no reward which is always good. He’s definitely one of the most heroic characters.

In the next story we had Boji and Kage get tasked to raise a ton of money. They come up with a genius plan to have people try to throw rocks at Boji and he needed to dodge. They racked up a lot of money this way but ultimately needed to give most of it away to a poor kid who needed their help. Another instance of Boji and Kage being good heroes here so I can appreciate that. The town’s not in the best shape so I imagine that a lot of people there are in a rough spot. Hopefully they can keep helping everyone out, one spot at a time.

After that we get to see how their heroism can sometimes put them in dicey situations. They didn’t realize that a bunch of bandits were villains and just thought they were people down on their luck. Kage and Boji got suckered rather easily but at least they are strong enough where they can win the fights without any trouble. So ultimately that helps to reduce the damage from all of this. I can’t blame them too hard for being super kind hearted when they have the power to get out of a jam on their own after all. It’s a nice enough story and we got some action in this time.

We also had a short involving a desert but the tough part about having 3 shorts in one episode instead of 2 is that one will really get the shaft. That was the case here as there wasn’t much time for anything. We had a nice feels moment with the monster but that’s about it. I would probably consider this to be the weakest short in the season. There just isn’t much to absorb or talk about here.

After that was a fun one though as Hiling is getting ready to mount a counterattack to take back the kingdom. So she heads off and finds out of her friends. So the friend agrees to help if Hilling saves the day first. It’s a nice team up and this is also a good place to mention to you that the setting of the episode changes each time. So some take place at the end of the series, some before the series, etc. So definitely something to really keep in mind here. Obviously this plot would not make sense if Boji was already the king. It was good to see Hilling as the main character, she tends to be fun.

We also have a short special with Daida learning some basic healing magic and helping Boji out when the lead gets hurt. You can tell it’s not going to be Daida’s forte so I wouldn’t expect to see him doing anything crazy with healing in the future but every bit certainly helps. This one felt fairly short, not a whole lot is going on here. So it’s not bad, but won’t hook your interest particularly well next to some of the other episodes.

Then we get one about Ouken and the Desha/Despa brothers. We already saw a lot of this in the main series so this is really a way to expand upon it a bit. They each got super abilities from their father but they aren’t perfectly balanced. One of them is immortal, one has super strength/magic, and I forget what the final one has. Maybe intelligence? He’s not really a fighter but is a good teacher. Either way I always like seeing the Underworld, it’s established pretty well in the series and always makes for a good episode.

The next one actually continues the plot in a lot of ways. Ouken’s friend Fren decides to search for a cure to the immortality and goes on a whole quest. He takes on a lot of dangers and threats as he searches for a lead. Ultimately he is able to get some intel which will set up the cure/next steps for a future arc. Fren was definitely loyal and you always want someone like that in order to have your back during a pinch. So this was another fun one.

We have another weak one coming up sadly. In this one, the horse that Despa owns has gotten really fat. So the mission is to have him lose weight and this starts to work when the horse sees a girl horse that he likes. Unfortunately for him it turns out that she already has someone. The guy is absolutely crushed and gains all of the weight back. It’s why if you are going to change something or set a personal goal, it needs to be for you. Otherwise you will inevitably get disheartened at some point and will lose all progress. You can’t let it get to that point so the ending is actually a rather sad one. It also just feels like straight up filler since the episode ends as it started so they could have done more here or had a better message.

After that is an origin episode for Hokuro. Hokuro really wanted to be a knight. Someone who would be able to watch over Boji and keep the kingdom safe. Unfortunately he isn’t very strong but the guy does know sign language which ends up helping him out. Without that you know that Hokuro would have been tossed out, so his instincts of wanting to be able to communicate with Boji were good ones. Ultimately he did as well as he could, but personally I would not have recommended him to be a soldier. He has a good story of course but there is not much point in a soldier who cannot protect his king.

Then we have two shorts that don’t have a ton of plot but are excuses to really see what is going on in the kingdom. We have one where Boji helps out a lot of different people while he still misses Kage. Life just isn’t the same on his own. Boji is a king though and I want to say that the point is that he still continues to help people and fulfills his duties rather than running out of the kingdom on a wild goose chase to find his friend. Meanwhile Daida’s short is rather similar. He is working to rebuild the kingdom but a lot of people still don’t trust him. He was just too evil and possessed for too long. So he takes it slow and in the meantime continues training with the Big 4. So he’s doing his best but it’s just a long road.

We get a story about how Bebin trained hard so that he wouldn’t be so much weaker than the other members of the big 4. He had good technique but completely lacked power and so as he got desperate he would make more and more mistakes that would really come back to bite him. It definitely put him in quite the tough bind but ultimately he got better at using his techniques after some formal training. I still don’ really see him beating any of the other members of the Big 4 but at least now it’s definitely a lot closer. He certainly made a lot of progress.

My favorite short in the series was definitely when the Big 4 are challenged to a game of arm wrestling. It should be an easy thing for them and yet they are getting absolutely dominated for most of the episode. It’s pretty crazy especially because there weren’t any big gimmicks here. Yes, the guy they were fighting was a master of the craft and knew how to use his leverage but at the end of the day it was still his strength that was proving to be superior. It was extremely impressive the whole time. I was glad that the heroes finally started working together but the Big 4 definitely did lose a good amount of hype here. This short easily had the most amount of hype behind it.

We get a story Kage’s mom and how she raised Kage right. He used to get picked on by the local kids and everything but instead of worrying about that, he still just had a good time. When villains would attack, Kage ended up saving them. He’s definitely someone you can count on in a pinch and he has certainly saved Boji many times at this point. It’s a nice little short even if it does make the town look rather mean and corrupt as always.

King Bosse gets a segment to go more in depth on his having Boji. We already saw part of this in the show but this way it’s a little extended. He has to fight off all kinds of enemies but in the back of his head he still knows his own guilt. At the end of the day, he made a deal that was not worth it and has been paying ever since. He would only get worse as the series went on unfortunately. I still don’t like King Bosse and probably never will with how drastic he got. At best you could say that he is a very imposing villain with his high levels of raw power and all but in the end this isn’t going to be enough to start rehabilitating his overall character. The guy doesn’t really get any sympathy from me.

Miranjo had a segment with her as a kid running around with the kid demon. The little thing was real afraid of her back then but since she was a kid i’s not like she could totally tell and so she chased him for a while. It’s a nice look at things before she got ultra depressed with everything going really badly for her. A lot of characters here had pretty tough backgrounds which definitely do not excuse their later actions but at least it’s nice to see some happy times occurred.

The final segment is about Boji giving some gifts to all of his friends. It’s a pretty solid way to end the season since it ties into the treasure chest and everything. You get to say your final goodbyes to all of the characters as well which is nice. Of course this wouldn’t literally be the last episode but in a way it’s the last episode of the arc so either way it works out pretty well. It’s a low key episode of course but it’s nice seeing all of the characters again. It could be a while before we see any of them again.

Now like I said this brings us to the final episode where things get real intense. The next #1 king has been chosen at last but of course we know that things never go well for the top king. He always seems to vanish. So why even go through with the process? Well, Desha is still trying to cure the curse of immortality on his brother and so this is a risk he has to take. We get to wrap up that plotline here and in general the episode feels rather fast paced. It keeps up some mysteries to be sure but you know this will be a pretty interesting plot that’s going to keep on going. The gods may feel a bit nerfed right now but I suppose we can assume that this was the weakest one or something like that. You always feel like King Bosse should be the only one able to take these guys out.

The heroes may regret not asking for help from Boji and Daida but I get why they wouldn’t want to be asking the kingdom for help every time something happens. They need to be able to hold their own in a pinch after all and that’s completely valid. Desha is also no slouch in the power department, he looked really good in season 1 after all so it’s not like you would assume that he could be defeated. Power itself doesn’t seem to be much of a counter for the price of the king’s reward but in the back of your head you would probably feel pretty secure about the whole thing.

The animation for the show is okay. It’s certainly below average compared to most titles but we do get one solid looking fight in the very final episode. More of a quick cut than the full fight but close enough. The show has always gone for an intentionally simplified look and I’m not the biggest fan of it but it could still work for those fights. We just need more movement and everything here along with some nice/colorful special abilities.

As for the soundtrack the tunes are basically the same as in season 1. They’re not super dynamic but they’re okay. They feel nostalgic while watching the show at least. Nothing that I would be likely to Youtube afterwards or anything like that though. The theme song could definitely stand to be a lot more exciting though. It’s all just so mellow and everything. I want the theme song to embrace more of how crazy the show can be with demons and gods running around. It may not be the tone the show is totally going for but I think it would work well.

Right now the technical elements aren’t doing a whole lot to back up the show itself and that’s what has got to change here. Lets pump the show up with a bit more hype. The world building is already there after all, we just need to make it all a lot more hype. This is more of a wishlist for season 2 at this point I suppose. Nothing wrong with just being a good show of course, but I know this could be a great show.

Overall, The treasures season was fun enough. There may not be much stakes or plot progression for most of the season but the stories themselves were solid enough to hold your attention. So I didn’t have any real complaints here. I think it went about as far as it could with this format and not being able to jump far ahead just yet. Fans of the first season should check this out to see all of the old characters again while people who have not jumped into the franchise just yet will not really have any reason to do so. This is really an experience for the fans compared to season 1 which is easier for everyone to just jump into. Hopefully the actual season 2 comes sooner than later.

Overall 6/10