At long last, the time has come. Eiko and Azalea meet on a battlefield chosen
by Kongming himself for a showdown of epic musical proportions. It’s Eiko’s dream of performing at Summer
Sonia vs. Nanami and the power that suppresses the music she really wants to
share. Behind the scenes, Kongming’s
places his biggest stratagems into play.
But the key to it all is Eiko.
Will her music reach the hearts of her audience…and especially
Nanami? The Battle of Shibuya 109 has
begun.
When looking at shows that have 12-13 episodes, the final
3-4 have the highest pressure upon them.
Sure the opening has to hook people but the ending has got to deliver
and deliver hard.
And while the sum of
its part getting there leave a bit to be desired, there’s no denying that the
finale of Ya Boy Kongming delivers on all fronts with one of the most feel good
conclusions I’ve seen in a while.
Great
music, big payoffs, new directions laid in place, there wasn’t a moment I
wasn’t cheering…well during the Battle of Shibuya 109 anyway.
Let’s get into why the end of this chapter of
Ya Boy Kongming kicked so much ass and how it could improve going forward.
The big centerpeice of the finale was the aforementioned
Battle of Shibuya 109.
Kongming and
company hijacked a surprise location meant for Azalea and used it to call out
the pop trio to the biggest musical throwdown of the show.
Did it turn out better than the Rap battle
between Kongming and Kabe?
That’s a
tough one.
Kongming and Kabe’s battle of
words was a lot of fun and a prime example of why the premise for the show
itself is so memorable.
Eiko vs. Nanami
though, well it wasn’t really a battle, not in the way I’m probably making it
out to be anyway.
This was about Eiko
making good on her wish to have her music reach Nanami and inspire her to be
the artist she wants to be once again.
I
like how Nanami was horrified to see Eiko looking at her in costume and feeling
shame, this isnt the version of herself she wants her friend to see.
But see her Eiko did and Eiko did what we all
knew she was gonna do, it was kind of just a bonus that “Dreamer” turned out so
well.
The emotion and some tears were real.
Bolstered by beautiful animation, Eiko’s Song
was an instant hit and one that I went to find the track for right away.
For me though, more so than seeing Eiko
succeed in performing her song live was seeing Nanami and her band take back
their name and their music from Karasawa.
Seeing them jam a classic song on stage after Eiko’s performance was so
bad ass.
This is the true Azalea and the
only thing that would’ve made the scene better is if we got a collab between them
and Eiko, God what a track that would be.
Also, can’t believe I’m saying this, but good on Nanami and the girls
standing up to Karasawa (with a little behind the scenes help from Kongming, I
haven’t forgotten about him, we’ll get there), and telling him they’ll still
work for him but they’re gonna do things more their style and speed.
Karasawa’s been played as a pure bastard of a
boss but I’d be lying if I didn’t say seeing him accept the girls proposal and
promising to clean up his harshness a bit didn’t move me.
Seriously, this finale hits all the right
feel points.
As for Our Boy Kongming, the final episodes were the
culmination of everything he wanted from the moment he made his deathbed
wish.
I haven’t brought it up before but
each episode opens with a historical playout of Kongmings classic war
stratagems during his time period before comparing how they were used in the
present.
Each of Kongming’s carefully
laid plans have been used to highly destructive effect once before.
But being able to use them on a more peaceful
and less bloody battlefield and see them pay off?
That’s a huge win for the tatcitican out of
time.
Better yet, his faith in Eiko came
through as we see he had a “nuclear option” that could have hurt Azalea’s rep
beyond repair.
But he held off and let
Eiko do her thing to win them and the crowd over.
And lest we forget Kongming is the most stand
up guy you’ll ever meet, he even did Karasawa and Azalea a solid as repayment
for his trickery against him.
In short,
everyones wishes got granted from Eiko’s to Nanami’s to Kongmings.
So what’s keeping this from getting a perfect 10 from
me?
It’s pretty damn close for sure but
my hesitation comes from some elements that didn’t get enough expansion or were
used to their fullest extent.
Kabe comes
to mind right away.
I love his story and
one of the best moments was seeing him use his Freestyle lyrics to call out
Azalea.
But it feels like he could have
done more.
Shouldn’t we see him doing
more collabs with Eiko, I thought that’s part of the reason Kongming brought
him on.
The one other thing that bugs me
is, of all things, Kongming’s screentime, hear me out.
Part of the appeal of the premise of Ya Boy
Kongming is the Chinese Tactician interacting with the present day and we see a
lot of that for sure.
But I wanna see
more of Kongming doing it on screen rather than off screen.
This is very much Eiko’s show too and her arc
is compelling and amazing.
I just think
we could do with more Kongming learning how the new world works and getting
into some fun shenanigans that he has to think or kindly talk his way
through.
Anyway, final thoughts: Ya Boy Kongming was freaking
awesome and one of the best feel good Anime I’ve seen in a good while.
Kongming is a guy you’d love to get a drink
with and chat with for hours.
Eiko’s got
incredible talent (and she’s beautiful to boot, seriously how is she not as
popular as Marin Kitagawa from My Dress Up Darling).
The music is superb and the emotional journey
for Eiko and Nanami tugs at all the right heartstrings right up to the burst
into tears of joy finale of the Battle of Shibuya 109.
Characters like Kabe could have had more of a
key role after such a big deal was made about bringing them in.
And, like I said, I want to see more of
Kongming out in the new world and learning about it.
Gripes aside, God this was such a fun watch
and yeah, I want more.
Be it a movie or
a follow up season, I wanna see Eiko, Nanami and Kabe perform at Summer
Sonia.
When and if that happens, I’m
sure Kongming’s Plan for Peace Throughout the World, Vol. 2 will be ready to
roll.
Now cue up that theme song and
let’s try to learn that sick dance.
9/10
No comments:
Post a Comment