Infinite Ranking King DVD Review

Infinite Ranking King is a variety show that aired from May to August 2012, featuring the members of Infinite as they perform various physical and mental tasks to determine the ranking of certain titles, such as Fashion King and Courage King.  There are eight different categories and an awards show finale spanning 15 episodes.  Ranking King is definitely my most favorite variety show of Infinite because it shows the dynamics of the boys and expresses their personalities through surprising activities.  A physical copy of Infinite Ranking King is only available as a First Press Limited Edition Japanese Version so it's not a common product, but the set comes with more than just DVDs.  Here's my unboxing and review of one of my most favorite Infinite products.

On the outside iis a flap with three sides.  The front side shows caricatures of Infinite, the bottom gives information on the DVDs in Japanese and the back flap shows a screencap of the first episode and each member's photo from the Fashion King episode.

This set contains, from right to left, a sticker sheet, a photobooklet, a DVD box and a T-shirt box, which all snugly fit inside a cardboard box.

Here are the stickers.  They are of Infinite's charicatures used to pre-rank and post-rank the members for each category.  These were designed well because I can easily tell who is who by the distinct features, but honestly speaking, they do look a bit creepy.

The Special Booklet is only 22 pages long, but full of beautiful photos.  The first two pages cover Infinite's history in both Korea and Japan, dating from debut to the end of 2012.

The next two pages show which ranking each of the 15 episodes covers.  This is extremely helpful because each ranking has an odd length of air time, meaning they aren't equally divided, so it helps to know if there are multiple rankings in one episode or if one ranking spans over more than one episode.  While it's all in Japanese, the rankings are color coded and there are screencaps to easily figure it out.

The following pages give two pages for each member profile, with the main photo being from the Fashion King photoshoot.  This section is the bulk of the photobooklet, and though small, I love the photos because they always bring the happy and fun memories from watching Ranking King.

The last pages give a collage of scenes from every episode and a very colorful 'special thanks' section.

I'm a bit disappointed with the DVD box itself, because it's just a transparent box with a piece of paper slipped into the front as the cover.  It seems cheaply designed.

Inside is a piece of paper with Infinite's most current Japanese discography and box sets.  This even includes Infinite's first full Japanese album, which was released on June 5, 2013, while this Ranking King DVD came out in May, 2013.  The backside advertises for the Japanese DVD sets of Myungsoo's drama Shut Up Flower Boy Band and Hoya's drama  Reply 1997.

There are 5 discs, adorned with the members in their Fashion King photoshoot clothing.  Pictured are four discs, with another disc between Sunggyu and Myungsoo.  Each disc contains three episodes.  The first disc also contains a trailer for the Sesame Player DVD (which I now want because of watching this trailer...) and for this Ranking King DVD.  On the main menu of each disc, you can choose Japanese subtitles or none, and there is also a 'chapter selection' per episode, four scenes per episode.

I suggest to first watch Ranking King online (YouTube) with subtitles to fully understand the dialogue, because there are only Japanese subtitles for the DVD, and to watch what was originally aired.  I noticed some non-Infinite background music has been removed (ex. in the Strength King episode, "Gee" and "You Raised Me Up" were both removed).  For the most part, the DVD version appears to be the same as the broadcasted version.  Watching the DVD version is still just as enjoyable to me, if not better because the different episodes aren't as confusing and flow better.  Also watching without subtitles is manageable because so many tasks are physical rather than mental or verbal, and without subtitles allows you to focus on Infinite more rather than keeping up with reading subtitles.

Lastly, included is an original T-shirt box that includes a random tee, folded inside a bag with a resealable flap.  While I love Ranking King, it was the added T-shirt that fully convinced me to buy this set.  I wanted an official Infinite shirt to wear to their One Great Step concert!

There are seven different designs, one of each member from the main photo of their Fashion King photoshoot.  All shirts come in an adult size medium, which fits very loosely on me.

This is the T-shirt I received!  I'm so happy to have gotten Sungyeol's, because his personality really shined during the Fashion King episode and [spoiler] I honestly thought he deserved a much higher ranking that episode.

Overall, the Ranking King DVD is one of my most favorite Infinite items ever!  I can always watch the episodes over and over again, gawk over the photobook and admire my precious Sungyeol shirt.  While it does cost more than most other Infinite products (this is roughly $100 USD), it is a very special piece in anyone's collection.