At the end of his life, legendary Chinese tactician Zhuge
Kongming wished to be reborn into a world at peace. To his shock, his wish is granted…kind
of. Kongming awakens in Shibuya, Tokyo
in the now present day. His exploration
of this new world leads him to cross paths with Eiko Tsukimi, a gifted
songstress who wants to hit it big.
Moved by her music, Kongming decides to become Eiko’s new tactician,
using his knowledge of war from the Three Kingdoms era to push her towards
fulfilling her dreams.
As far as ideas for an Anime go, Ya Boy Kongming might be
one of the more unique in the last decade or so.
Using military strategy to progress the skill
and reach of an aspiring musical artist, AND the person using said tactics is
from another time period themselves?
Gotta give it to em, that’s pretty clever.
And you know what?
It’s working.
This is a title that’s been on my radar for a bit and comes highly
recommended.
And now that I can check it
out, here we are and the Gundam Anime Corner is all set for Eiko’s debut tour
backed by her historical manager, Ya Boy Kongming.
The premise of Ya Boy Kongming might not work if you want
every facet of Kongmings reincarnation hashed out in the first episode.
Honestly, the whole thing just works if you
roll with it.
What you need to know is
this is the real Kongming from the Three Kingdoms Period of China, he knows how
to speak and understand Japanese, simple as that.
I like that Kongming is a fast learner too,
quickly acclimating to concepts like the internet and bartending like a Boss
within minutes of learning about them.
Granted, this is a guy still out of time and in a brand new world
(definitely don’t think this counts as Isekai though).
So there’s plenty of hilarity to be mined
from Kongming needing an all day session with Eiko to learn how to use a Cell
Phone.
It’s the same fish out of water
premise that’s made solid comedies like Coming to America and Star Trek IV: The
Voyage Home (more scifi than comedy but it’s the most humorous Star Trek movie
so there) work so well.
Kongming himself is a ton of fun.
It’s amazing how quickly he’s adapting his
brilliant mind to his new “battleground”.
What’s more, you can tell some of his strategies yielded bloody results
in his past life.
But as per his wish,
he’s now able to apply them to less deadly situations and still make them work
wonders.
When you see how his stratagems
work out, it’s pretty damn awesome.
Of
course, all of this hard work is in service to a girl I’m surprised hasn’t
gotten the same kind of love as say Marin Kitagawa from My Dress Up
Darling.
Eiko’s super cute and very
talented.
From her bouncing beats on
stage to her softer tunes with a guitar, I’m equally as invested as Kongming in
seeing Eiko succeed in becoming a star.
The series also shows its more dramatic side with Eiko’s backstory and
honestly, it only makes me wanna see this girl win more and more.
Speaking of Kongming’s new battlefield, the musical
competition Eiko faces is no joke.
Idols
who seem so awesome on stage might be absolute monsters behind the scenes and
others will do anything to further their own careers or agendas.
Case in point, pop star Mia’s got mad
seduction, sex appeal and muscle on her side while Jet Jacket’s got their own
style of commanding a crowd.
It’ll be
interesting to see if Eiko’s aspirations lead her to becoming too cocky and a
bit stand offish if the big time comes to her too quickly.
In the meantime, it’s so cool to see Kongming
one up these artists with more experience but no heart with his
stratagems.
And when Eiko belts it out
on stage, Kongming’s right, it’s all her hard work getting the job done more
than anything he can do.
I’ll be honest, this is a premiere where it’s hard to
thing of anything negative.
The music is
pretty damn good, especially that OP, seriously I’m not skipping it at any
point during these reviews.
The more
Kongming discovers and learns about his new surroundings is a lot of fun.
Oh and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the
Owner/Manager.
Don’t know his actual
name yet (or maybe I’ve missed it but they just keep calling him one of those
two names).
This glasses sporting bad
ass is thankfully not a greedy exec or hustler looking to cash in on Eiko’s
promise.
We learn he’s been looking
after Eiko for a while and is probably the closest thing she has to
family.
Oh and he’s a big Three Kingdoms
History Otaku and can therefore mine Kongming for all of his knowledge about
the era…and yet he and Eiko don’t realize this is THE Kongming they’re talking
too.
Might they get a clue?
We’ll see, personally something should have
clicked by now but that’s just me.
So far so good, this show is living up to the hype I’ve
been hearing about.
Solid music, great
characters and writing and an always welcome feel good atmosphere, this is a
fantastical musical epic in the making with a title character who exudes
confidence and reassurance with every word he utters and a world of music that
feels on par with the likes of Carol and Tuesday. Suffice to say, I think I’m
really gonna like my time with Ya Boy Kongming and I cant wait to pick back up
with it Next Monday right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
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