When I first heard the premise of Ya Boy Kongming, I thought it sounded pretty strange, even for an anime. I'd heard rumblings of this show before it released, but it was only when I heard the music in one of Gigguk's YouTube videos that I finally decided to pick it up. I thought I was strapping myself in for a wacky ride of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure proportions, but it turned out to be one of the most down-to-earth shows I've watched in a while.
The titular Kongming was a military strategist in ancient China (yes, real-life ancient China), and upon his dying breath, he wished to be transported to a world without war. He got his wish, and this show is all about how he uses his experiences in battle tactics to help Eiko, a young aspiring pop artist, to rise in the ranks to stardom. From the very first episode, Ya Boy Kongming puts an emphasis on character. This show isn't a sequence of cool events that lead up to a simple end goal, it's about the choices these characters make, and it's about how those decisions will make an impact and, thereby, create a story.
Oh, and did I mention the songs were all absolute bangers?
From the pop music Eiko sings, to the manufactured hip-hop sung by Azalea, and the sick raps Kabetaijin spits, all the music is made specifically for this anime, and all of it rocks. Ironically, the only piece of music that isn't original is the OP "Ciki Ciki Bam Bam", which is a cover of a song by Jolly-Bulikiraly. But even then, this is a fantastic way of pointing to the characters of this show, as Eiko (whose singing voice is provided by Queendom, the artist of the OP) starts her singing career by singing covers of her favourite pop songs. The OP is such an earworm, bound to get you bobbing your head in no time, and the score itself is also pretty great, especially the recap song that plays at the beginning of each episode.
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TOP 3 BEST EPISODES:
- Eiko's Song
Every lesson, every analysis, every stratagem leads up to this finale, and boy, do they nail it! Without giving anything away, it's a satisfying conclusion to this arc, and I'm 100 percent on board for the future of Eiko x Kongming.
- Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats
Being as this is basically Part 1 of the finale, it gets the same rating for the same reasons.
- For the Populace
I love the transparency of how they showed the origin of Azalea, and how toxic it can be to succeed at the cost of your passion.
TOP 3 WORST EPISODES:
- Um... To be honest, there are no bad episodes of Ya Boy Kongming.
The lowest rating I gave to an episode was a 7/10, which is still a good rating. Sure, not every episode may have a "Holy crap" moment, but when they aren't busy blowing your mind with the quality of the music, they're busy blowing your mind with the quality of the writing. Not a second is wasted in this show; it's constantly building up the characters, giving them choices to make that, like I'd mentioned, have a tangible effect on the story. It's a great example of good character-driven storytelling.
Do yourself a favour and give this one a shot. For its zany premise, it's extremely genuine. It appeals to the human desire to be the best version of yourself, even if it takes a Chinese tactician getting isekai-ed into your world to make it happen.