Pairpi Koumei is proving to be a lot of fun.  it has a cheekiness to it that I rather appreciate – it doesn’t take itself too seriously, but doesn’t dumb it down for the audience either.  There’s something to be said for taking a relatively simple premise and executing it well, and that’s pretty much what Ya Boy Kongming is doing.  The decision for me I suppose is whether it’s the sort of show I cover or just watch, and it may take another week or two before I’m certain of the answer.

I’m still not really into the music (Eiko’s numbers are performed by Japanese singer 96Neko) – it’s just not my jam, quite literally.  But I don’t think that’s essential for enjoyment of the series, which is much more about the fish out of water story and the comedic nuggets mined from it.  Eiko is cute and likeable (the cap that says “CAP” is especially charming – Deku needs one of those), though not seemingly an especially interesting or complex character.  But again, it’s really Koumei who’s the anchor here (and his interactions with Kobayashi get more traction than with Eiko a lot of the time anyway).

This time around Koumei’s stratagem is booking Eiko at an arts festival in Yoyogi Park.  He bribes a fan (with an Eiko candid shot) to edit a fancy audition video, and immediately starts opposition research on the main stage competition.  It’s a repeat of last week’s scenario, where Eiko is booked onto the auxiliary stage and not expected to pose a threat to the headliner.  The headliner in this instance is up-and-coming rock band Jet Jacket, who started out on that very stage and have zoomed to the top since using DAW (digital audio workshop) software to polish their sound.

There’s a certain measure of suspension of disbelief required here.  Koumei finds every detail out about Jet Jacket, who have a convenient weakness easy to exploit, and then events on the day follow the exact course he predicts.  I suppose we’re to chalk it up to the fact this is, after all, one of history’s great military geniuses.  And if we’re to believe he can jump through time to 21st Century Tokyo after death, I suppose it’s not much of a leap to think he’s right about Eiko’s success being steered by the Gods as Koumei suggests.

Everything goes to plan (I kind of hope that doesn’t happen every time, to be honest, or it’ll get boring) – indeed, the only seemingly random event is the rabbit (what was the deal there?).  Koumei even shows mercy on the defeated opposition, offering Jet Jacket words of praise and a decoction to soothe the throat of their fragile lead vocalist.  It’s all very pleasant and amusing, and occasionally quite funny.  There’s nothing too deep or at all surprising about Paripi Koumei so far, but there doesn’t necessarily have to be as long as it continues to do the simple very well (and continuing to look as good as it does would be a big help, too).