Now is the best time to watch one of the weirdest anime comedies in recent memory
In the 2022 spring anime season, the musical comedy anime Ya Boy Kongming! went viral for its absolute bop of an opening theme song. We loved the series when it originally aired, putting it on our list of the best anime of 2022. But because it was previously exclusive to the anime streaming service HIDIVE, the show’s audience reach was limited.
That changed this month, however, when Ya Boy Kongming! joined Hulu’s library of anime titles. Aside from its theme song, Ya Boy Kongming! is worth watching on the strength of its unique premise alone: What if a legendary Chinese war strategist was reborn in modern-day Japan and became the manager for a pop idol?
Based on the 2019 manga by writer Yuto Yotsuba and artist Ryō Ogawa, Ya Boy Kongming! centers on Zhuge Kongming, a statesman who rose to prominence during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. On his deathbed, he wishes to be reborn in a more peaceful era. He gets his wish, though not in the way he probably expected. Waking up in a dark alleyway in Shibuya, Kongming is seemingly reborn in a younger body on Halloween night. After crossing paths with Eiko, a part-time bartender who confides to him that she dreams of becoming a pop singer, Kongming takes an oath to act as her advisor (that is, manager) and help her achieve her goal.
Every episode takes advantage of the inherent silliness of a third-century Chinese war strategist being transplanted into contemporary Japan. Kongming takes to his new surroundings like a duck takes to water, marshaling all his military prowess and the wisdom accumulated over a lifetime of battles and negotiations to go head to head against shady rivals and shifty venue owners. Whether it’s strategizing how to get Eiko 100,000 likes on her social media page in order to qualify for a festival performance, or winning a rap battle in order to recruit his opponent to Eiko’s background band, Kongming always finds a way to come through in the end.
Kongming is such a charismatic character:
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