Sentai Filmworks Licenses Ya Boy Kongming! Anime
Sentai Filmworks announced on Thursday that it has licensed the television anime of Yuto Yotsuba and Ryō Ogawa's Ya Boy Kongming! (Paripi Kōmei) manga. The company has exclusive worldwide rights except in Asia, and it will release the anime on home video. HIDIVE will begin streaming the anime on April 5 at 11:00 a.m. EDT
Sentai Filmworks describes the story:
Fate and reincarnation deliver brilliant military strategist, Kongming, from warring, ancient China to Japan's modern party hot spot in Shibuya City, Tokyo. After a lifetime of battles and military skirmishes, Kongming wished with his last breath to be reborn in a world of peace and prosperity. It's nearly two millennia later and he's finding his way in a very different world than that of his past life. When he meets Eiko, an amateur musician with big dreams, the unlikely duo strikes up an even unlikelier friendship. Eiko has street smarts to help Kongming navigate this strange new world, and Kongming will use his strategic mind to help Eiko achieve stardom! The story is a clever take (and smart twist) on fish-out-of-water and person-out-of-time themes with out-of-this-world results for Ya Boy Kongming!
The anime will premiere on April 5 on the Tokyo MX, MBS, and BS NTV channels.
Kaede Hondo stars in the show as the speaking voice of the musical artist Eiko Tsukumi, but 96Neko provides the character's singing voice. Ryotaro Okiayu costars as Zhuge Kongming. The other cast members include: Shōya Chiba as Kabe-Taito, Hibiku Yamamura as Nanami Kuon (singing voice not yet announced), and Jun Fukushima as Owner Kobayashi.
Osamu Honma (episode director for The aquatope on white sand, Fairy gone, IRODUKU: The World in Colors) is directing the anime at P.A. Works. Yoko Yonaiyama (scriptwriter for Uma Musume Pretty Derby both seasons) is overseeing the series scripts, and Kanami Sekiguchi (Hanasaku Iroha - Blossoms for Tomorrow, Shirobako) is designing the characters. Genki Hikota (theme songs for Lapis Re:LiGHTs, Yuri!!! on Ice) from Hifumi,inc. is composing the music at Avex Pictures.
QUEENDOM, a new music unit made up of hibiki and moka from lol, Akina and Taki from FAKY, and Maria Kaneya from GENIC, are performing the opening theme song "Chikichiki Banban." Eiko Starring 96Neko is performing the ending theme song "Kibun Jōjō ↑↑" ("I'm Super Pumped↑↑"), which is a cover of mihimaru GT's 2006 hit song.
The manga launched on Kodansha's Comic Days website in December 2019, and also began running in Kodansha's Weekly Young Magazine in November 2021. Kodansha published the manga's eighth compiled book volume on January 6. Kodansha Comics is publishing the manga digitally in English.
Sources: Sentai Filmworks, HIDIVE