Another perfectly pleasant episode of Ya Boy Kongming this week. That said, the whole “much ado about not so much” thing is an ongoing problem for the series, and one it’s pretty clear it isn’t going to solve. Anime about nothing too consequential can be absolute bangers for sure. But that tends to happen when they act like they know themselves. When those shows start to behave as though consequential stuff is going on, that’s what the magic seems to flee.
At least we did get Zhouge Liang back this week, though for most of the episode he was still pretty peripheral. We had Eiko getting ready to record her single “Roppongi Udon Shop” with Steve Kido, even as Kabetaijin prepares for his rematch with Sekitoba Kung Fu. That left Koumei mostly in the role of proud parent, and his absolute confidence in how things would turn out didn’t leave much room for suspense on that score.
Again, both of these climactic events feel sort of anti-climactic. Of course Kabe wins, but – and I admit I’m no authority on rap battles – even by anime rap standards his (Chiba Shouya’s) performance is nothing awe-inspiring. Chiba-san apparently does have some professional hip-hop experience, which sort of surprised me when I found out – he sounds like a voice actor trying to rap. I would have voted for Kung Fu if I’d been in the crowd, but Sekitoba doesn’t let it get to that point – he capitulates in the face of his opponent’s brilliance (if you say so).
That sort of gets its usual half-hearted treatment, with the main focus – and pomp – going to Eiko’s trip to the recording studio. Her take on her generic pop tune is apparently so transformative that it sends Koumei back to his original time – long enough for him to meet Liu Bei (who’s played buy Namikawa Daisuke). And to convince me that would probably have been the more interesting series as it turned out. But at least we have Kingdom…
With the song – now re-titled “Dreamer” – in the ether, the battle with Azaalea is well and truly joined. Since we know Koumei (at least in this timeline) is pretty much incapable of backing a losing horse, Eiko will obviously win the likes battle and get her festival gig. For all its running in place in the second half, Paripi Koumei does still strike me as the sort of series that could pull off a grand finale. I’m rooting for it to do just that – it’s still very likable and it’d be nice to see it remembered as something more than a great OP with some stuff after it.
Porn
June 4, 2022 at 1:22 amStudio PA and its past bad habit of inability to maintain momentum. Even since true tears, Hanasaku Iroha and Angel beats…. Having great character, good writer like Jun Maeda, good story idea and plots, nice graphic quality…. only to be ruined by overly boring and dumb filler melodrama that felt like taking most of the airing time instead of showing interesting stuff that made watching it felt like a chore instead of fun.
Seems like they want to discover new major talents of the next generation like LiSa (Angel Beats) or Mizuki Nana (Nanoha) using this anime…. yeah well to be honest both 96neko and lezel are good singer, but well… that’s it. It just that.
Joshua
June 4, 2022 at 6:38 amThe really lame part of this final stretch is how much despite Kongming having more of a presence here, the focus is still stuck on the melodrama with Nanami that threatens to bring this show down. Have no clue what the manga did here in this situation, but it didn’t feel this debilitating in its first half, despite the attempts to try to liven things up like a (less effective) rap battle.
Guardian Enzo
June 4, 2022 at 8:09 amFrom what I’ve been told, the manga is really stretching the events of the last few episodes in order to reach a specific ending point for the season. It shows.
PAW doesn’t have experience adapting manga, and maybe that matters. But their track record even with originals is shows that start strong and then peter out.
Joshua
June 5, 2022 at 12:32 amThe sad part is that one of their most (financially) successful shows is little more than an adaptation for that blasted gacha game franchise, Uma Musume. CyGames proceeded to poach away much of the PAW staff who worked on it to work on season 2 with cheaper studios (Studio Kai and DR Movie, which coincidentally is working on Paripi), and in a bunch of major coincidences (launching at the same time as the gacha game’s release, the continued pandemic, brand synergy promotion and gacha codes in the BDs) led to the new best selling anime of all time much to a lot of folks’ bafflement, including mine.
Looks like some of the PAW staff who worked on UmaMusu, and were poached to work at Studio Kai is working on this one, though I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re poached away by CyGames permanently after this to work on more UmaMusu. Additionally, you have to feel sorry for UmaMusu’s director, Kei Oikawa, the director once known for his work on Oregairu and Himamatsuri, now in a similar situation to the Russo Brothers after having directed Avengers Endgame (i.e. small time directors contracted by a corporation to direct what became the highest grossing film of all time outside of Avatar, and now struggling to escape its shadow).