English Dub Season Review: Ya Boy Kongming! Season One

Based on the Japanese manga series written by Yuto Yotsuba and illustrated by Ryō Ogawa. The story follows a fictionalized version of Zhuge Kongming. One of the greatest tacticians of the Three Kingdoms period of third-century China. Having led his army through countless grueling victories, Kongming falls gravely ill during the Battle of Wuzhang Plains. The weariness and regret stemming from the seemingly never-ending war catch up to him, and as he draws his final breath, Kongming wishes that if he were to reincarnate, he would be reborn in a more peaceful era.

His wish comes true, and Kongming wakes up in modern-day Tokyo with a younger body and his memories intact. Thrust into an unfamiliar world, he finds his way into a nightclub during a Halloween party and meets Eiko Tsukimi, an aspiring singer whose performance immediately captivates him. Pitying his confusion, Eiko takes Kongming under her wing and teaches him about the current world, which leads to Kongming’s interest in contemporary music. Seeing Eiko’s immense musical potential, Kongming vows to make the world recognize her and soon takes on the role of her manager. Unsurprisingly, the music industry is unforgiving to those who make even the slightest mistakes. Still, Kongming is determined to accomplish his goals—even if he must utilize the war stratagems he famously used in his previous life!

The series was an adaptation by P.A. Works and directed by Shū Honma, with Yōko Yonaiyama overseeing the series’ scripts, Kanami Sekiguchi designing the characters, and Genki Hikota composing the music. The opening theme song is “Chikichiki Banban”/”Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”) by the music unit QUEENDOM, while the ending theme song is “Kibun Jōjō ↑↑”/”Feeling Good ↑↑”) by Eiko Starring 96Neko. With Juliet Simmons, Joe Daniels, and Ian Sinclair of “Space Dandy” fame as the show’s narrator.

Our world is a complex place, full of diverse cultures, and colorful species. The most complex species as a whole is humanity. As we enjoy the gifts that years of progress, hardships, and human advancement have achieved for centuries. Through evolution, intelligence, and technology, we have also evolved and transformed our world into what we see today. And that brings us to the modern day where the setting of a particular show takes place. “Ya Boy Kongming!” is “reverse-isekai” anime taking place in modern Tokyo that is full of pop culture and entertainment. You could make the argument that this show borrows from a popular anime trend in recent years (the concept of reincarnation) that’s often used in countless Isekai anime. However, this show only takes the surface of that idea as it lacks the typical fantasy elements and everything else becomes its own story. After the titular Kongming has a chance encounter with Eiko, he strikes up a partnership with her after witnessing the talent of a superstar in the making. He becomes her manager and together, they hope to become a sensation in this modern world. From this point on, the story is pretty much dedicated to how they would evolve themselves and make others recognize them.

Eiko as a character is one that I find charming and likable for being outgoing and ability to attract others with her friendly personality. She’s also passionate about music and not just making a career to get celebrity status. Kongming himself is what makes the show. And you definitely won’t enjoy the show if you aren’t fond of his crazy antics, because that’s pretty much the driving force of the story. As Kongming devises grand strategies for Eiko to help her accomplish her dream, the plot simultaneously expands in scope and moves forward in a surprisingly steady pace and manner, with almost no stumbles along the way.

Although Eiko and Kongming are mostly the center of attention in this show, one other character that attracts a lot of attention in later episodes is the rapper Kabe Taijin. That’s right, the art of rap hasn’t gone out of style in Tokyo and we witness firsthand his skills. Similar to Eiko, Kabe has a strong desire to prove himself to others. Watching his performance shows his passion to entertain an audience and be himself. At its core, this is what entertainment is about in this world’s modern Tokyo. When performing in front of a crowd, we see how passionate characters express themselves through body language and emotions. What’s easily one of the show’s animation qualities during the music segments that bring out the best performances and should be appreciated. However, the biggest problem for casual audiences, is that the singing/musical portions of the show rely on you having to read subtitles as none of the English Dub Cast sing these songs with their own voices so there’s no way to tell what the lyrics are in any of the songs unless you turn them on.

The later episodes during the 2nd half after everyone is introduced also carry this underlying theme of “passion in the face of corporatism” which often delves into the corporate aspect of music, and highlights harsh realities within show business that nobody thinks about. In particular, stories of people who make sacrifices or compromises that force aspiring artists to change their image or style in the hopes they’ll become a success which might not be mentally healthy in the long run. This is juxtaposed with Eiko’s ability to get along with nearly everyone. And despite her and Kongming coming from completely different backgrounds, watching the two work together is inspirational. A prominent example is Eiko’s relationship with a later introduced character named Nanami, a street singer she meets and quickly forms a friendship with. Watching their relationship shows how Eiko strives to prove herself while also forming a relationship with someone with similar interests as her. However, I will say that a twist of fate later in the story brings together a more complex turn of events for the two. I won’t spoil it, but this twist hardens Eiko’s resolve to further improve her singing abilities…

Overall, I never thought, that taking a famous historical figure from Chinese history, and reverse isekaing him, would wind up being one of, if not the best Isekai’s this year. It may stumble in places (mostly in the lyrical aspects as it defeats the purpose of an English dub), but at its core, this show is funny, wholesome, and at times, uplifting. While it remains to be seen if they’ll make another Season or not, I still enjoyed what I’ve seen of this show and how it made a lighthearted story work that almost makes you forget this is sort of an Isekai, but this is possibly the best Sleeper Hit of 2022.