Chan x Chan, Ai!! Chiki Chiki Ban Ban…

Oh hey there, I was just listening to “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” for the 1000th time and I forgot I was writing a review!

It’s a hidden gem, unearthed! That’s what a banger opening can do for a show with a plot as ridiculous as Paripi Koumei, and that’s what got me into this show, even though I started the show in its third week of airing, because the opening was too good for me to pass up on this anime, and boy do I not regret it.

Having grown up in a Chinese family and neighbourhood, naturally, I learned a bit about the Three Kingdoms lore, and even watched some tv shows that focused on that era. When I saw the synopsis of this series, I thought to myself, Kongming got isekai’ed into Shibuya City? No way this is gonna be good! Well… I was wrong, it was actually great, and very unique.

My grading criteria: Story: /25 Art: /10 Music: /10 Characters: /20 Enjoyment /15 Thematic Execution /20

STORY: 19/25

The story itself is quite unique. In a nutshell, it’s about the almighty Zhuge Liang, also called Kongming, the well-known military strategist from the Three Kingdoms period of Ancient China, who led the state of Shu Han through countless battles. He gets reincarnated into Shibuya City, Tokyo on Halloween night, which is obviously a huge change of scenery. You have the classic “getting used to modern technology” trope, but when our other protagonist, Eiko, broke out into song, that’s when I knew we were in for a treat. The main gist of the show is that Kongming uses his military strategies from the Three Kingdoms era and executes them to help Eiko become the next superstar, because he was so inspired by her singing. Along the way, Eiko and Kongming meet a rapper, some people in the music industry, and an aspiring idol band with a brilliant singer, and it’s really a lot of fun watching Eiko climb the ranks to be the next star.

I’m not gonna lie though, the plot is very predictable overall, but hearing the music is still very enjoyable, even if it is a bit repetitive. The other enjoyable part of the story is the references to the Three Kingdoms era, most notably the “borrowing arrows with straw boats strategy”. If you didn’t get some of the references, I really do encourage you to look up some of Kongming’s endeavours and stories, which boosts the entertainment value for sure.

ART: 8.8/10

It’s animated quite nicely, great to look at, though it’s not anything ground-breaking in terms of animation.

MUSIC: 9.3/10

Excellent music overall, and while the insert songs are used very repetitively, they’re still good to listen to. Obviously, the opening steals the show, and is one of the main reasons I got into this show in the first place, and I’m sure that a lot of you found this show through the opening as well!

CHARACTERS: 17.6/20

The characters were mostly a joy to watch, with Kongming acting as wise as he was in the Three Kingdoms era, while adapting to modern society, and Eiko being an aspiring singer, having great developments throughout the story, while finding her own voice.

The other characters were also great, Kabetaijin, the rapper, had a pretty solid backstory, and while his story wasn’t really the deepest, it seemed realistic. His rap sequences were pretty solid as well.

The three girls from Azalea, Nanami, Ichika, and Futaba really further developed the sense of realism in the music industry. Nanami’s backstory and her wish to be the next superstar alongside her band, Azalea, is a lofty goal, and sometimes, you got to make a deal with the devil to achieve that goal. In this case, the devil presents himself in the form of Karasuma, Key Time’s producer. He turned a once cheerful high school band into a company-manufactured idol group devoid of all of the original personalities of the members. We also saw some fan-service, but it felt much different from regular fan-service because we feel for the band and how they were being treated. Goes to show you how difficult trying to make it big truly is.

ENJOYMENT: 14.2/15

Really enjoyed it throughout. Felt like a breath of fresh air.

THEMATIC EXECUTION: 17.8/20

There are some happy go lucky themes sometimes with the comedy, but the realistic side of the music industry was definitely great to see, with all the confidence issues, finding your own voice, and selling your soul sometimes to meet your goals. The themes went great together, and made for a very enjoyable show.

OVERALL: 86.7/100

Something different was shown, and it felt unique and enjoyable. Music was fun to listen to, the comedy was good, and being somewhat familiar with the Three Kingdoms lore made this even more enjoyable for me. Really hope we get another season of this for sure!

Now… back to listening to “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” I go…