Upon his deathbed, legendary tactician Zhuge Liang
Kongming wished to be reborn into a world of peace, far from his war torn
period. Unexpectedly, his wish is
granted as Kongming is reincarnated into his younger body and plopped right in
the middle of Tokyo. Seeking a newfound
reason to exist in this strange land, Kongming meets Eiko Tsukimi, a beautiful
bartender and singer at a popular nightclub.
Kongming becomes inspired by Eiko’s singing talents and declares that,
with his help, Eiko will achieve her dream of making it as a popular
singer. Past and Present collide as the
second coming of Kongming begins.
I only recently heard about this title but with a premise
so out there, I couldn’t help but be intrigued.
A military strategist from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms period of
China reborn in Modern Day Japan who becomes obsessed with music and partners
up with a cute songstress to realize her dreams: Only in Anime right?
Well having checked out the first episode of
Ya Boy Kongming, I’m happy to say that the outlandish premise is everything I
hoped it would be and I think it offers a pretty good first impression.
With the year already stacked full of heavy
hitters like Spy X Family, My Dress Up Darling and the continued success of
Jujutsu Kaisen 0, Ya Boy Kongming might have a shot at being a big sleeper hit
for 2022.
Have you ever been asked the question: If you could meet
any historical figure from the past, who would it be?
Well seeing as how Im not to knowledgeable of
Chinese history outside of the random smack arounds I get into playing Dynasty
Warriors, Kongming wouldn’t be on that list.
But after the first episode of this show, he could be.
Plopping such a well spoken and charismatic individual
from the past into the brightly lit and energetic music scene of Tokyo is kind
of brilliant.
I love how he instantly
thought he’d been sent to Hell because of the lights, noise and how everyone
was dressed like a Monster (not knowing it was Halloween).
And while Kongming is obviously behind on the
times (from his point of view he literally died then woke up in Tokyo), he
clearly wants to learn, is a fast learner and still retains an open minded personality.
He’s instantly likeable even if much of the
shows fish out of water humor is played for laughs at his expense (at least he
has a Three Kingdoms Otaku like Eiko’s boss to chat history with).
By the end of the first episode, I was instantly rooting
for Eiko to achieve her dream.
Her
talent for lyrics and guitar play kind of reminded me of Carole and Tuesday, in
fact even her ultimate dream is similar to that particular duo.
If Ya Boy Kongming does end up retreading
some of that familiar ground, I can only hope that it does things a bit
better.
Carole and Tuesday excelled at
the music and lead duo but wasn’t tight on its overall narrative.
Ya Boy Kongming starts off as a comedy and maintains
that consistency in its first episode though it does have a strong emotional
center regarding how Eiko got into music in the first place and how Kongming
has many regrets about his past life that he’ll carry in his heart
forever.
Both of these characters are
starting at point zero and have to work their way to a better life for each other.
And after seeing how well they bounce off one another and tend bar like pros, I
think Kongming and Eiko will be a great pair.
Honestly, I was really hoping this First Impression would
be a good one and thankfully, I was right.
Ya Boy Kongming has one of the most unique premises in Anime in recent
years.
It’s also got a pair of good
leads and a penchant for good music that I think, like Carole and Tuesday
before it, will work to incorporate all kinds of different genres into its
run.
I wanna hear more music from Eiko
and I wanna see how Kongming continues to adapt to modern day Japan.
I want more of this show.
Bring on Ya Boy Kongming.
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