Some guys just can’t catch a break.
In an announcement that hit the news wires on Wednesday, November 17th, Kodansha revealed that studio P.A. Works will adapt the manga series Ya Boy Kongming! (Japanese title: Paripi Kōmei) into a television anime that will premiere in April 2022. This marks the first time that the studio has ever adapted a manga into an anime.
In this reincarnation story, the main character is a General of the Three Kingdoms, Kongming (played by Ryotaro Okiayu) who, on his deathbed, wishes only to be reincarnated into a peaceful world. Well, in this case, he’s just going to have to take what he can get because instead he is reincarnated into modern day Tokyo where he hooks up with amateur musician Eiko Tsukumi (played by Kaede Hondo) and they form a strategic alliance to bring peace to the world through club music.
Beyond the animation studio, we can also reveal the primary staff members who will bring this series to life. Osamu Honma will sit in the director’s chair working off a script penned by Yoko Yonaiyama and character designs provided by Kanami Sekiguchi. Genki Hikota will serve as the background music composer.
I’ll admit it, I was sketchy about the concept of Ya Boy Kongming until I watched the promotional video embedded above. If there’s one thing that P.A. Works knows how to do, however, it’s coming of age stories and this looks like it’s going to be another series about a youth who has lived a hard life but has untapped potential within them that just needs a mentor to bring it out to the surface. It’s quite a familiar formula that many of us have seen dozens of times already, but, as previously mentioned, if any studio can breathe new life into that formula, it’s this one.
Sources: Funimation, Anime News Network
