Why Is ‘Ya Boy Kongming!’ The Biggest Flop Of Anime Season?

ya boy kongming main characters
Nick Davis

Many mangas sadly don’t wind up translating well to the anime format. It’s a unique combination of luck and talent that make an adaptation as good as the source material.  If not, at times, even better. Ya Boy Kongming is a highly successful manga that, tragically, seems to be a failure of an anime. A story with a lot of potential that has not seen that potential to any meaningful fruition.

The manga has won awards and seen high rankings as a top-seller. The anime has seen some popularity, but simultaneously has made controversy as well. Let’s look at why Ya Boy Kongming may potentially be the biggest flop of spring 2022.

2022’s Biggest Flop?

ya boy kongming logo
The logo for ‘Ya Boy Kongming’

Ya Boy Kongming is a comedy anime. The premise revolves around the actual historical figure and Chinese military strategist Zhuge Liang. After his death, he’s reborn in Japan, where he befriends the aspiring singer Eiko. Using his strategic mind, he attempts to help Eiko rise through the ranks to stardom. All the while he’s attempting to adjust to the struggles of modern life in Japan.

The show had controversy early on for references that many consider anti-Chinese. Japan and China are two countries that have gone back and forth for centuries. To this day there’s a lot of long-held xenophobia between the Japanese and Chinese people. Overall, Ya Boy Kongming does nothing overtly disrespectful towards Chinese culture. But it seems as though they’re walking on eggshells around much of their Chinese audience.

What’s more, the show has come under fire for seeming to lose the plot midway through the season. While the show centers around both Zhuge and Eiko, Zhuge is clearly the primary character. But Eiko takes center stage for many episodes with Zhuge becoming more of a supporting role. Many viewers took issue with this as they just don’t find Eiko nearly as interesting as Zhuge. The result is a rocky season that many are calling the flop of the spring season.

Ya Boy Kongming Season 2?

Despite Ya Boy Kongming not necessarily living up to its potential, we may still see a Season 2. As of this moment, there is no concrete evidence suggesting a cancellation. By the end of Season 1’s 12 episodes, it had one of the highest ratings of any show from MyAnimeList‘s spring slate. For many fans, that makes it seem extremely likely that the show will wind up getting a renewal for Season 2. There’s certainly enough source material from the manga.

Even though the show has seen controversy, it still has its fans. So it is possible we’ll be seeing more Ya Boy Kongming in the future. If it continues to build toward the manga’s level of quality, it may become a top-tier show yet.

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