Review of Ya Boy Kongming!

Came in hoping for a breath of fresh air and the dark horse of the season; left disappointed that the novelty of the premise couldn't save it from being a trite, paint-by-numbers story of musical success. The core failing of Paripi Koumei lies in Kongming and Eiko's relationship. What should have been an interesting dynamic as the two work closely together to achieve a common dream instead feels unengaging and incohesive as, from the very beginning of the show, Kongming tells Eiko to leave all of the strategizing to him. As a result, Eiko's personal involvement in Kongming's plans drops to near zero as virtuallyher entire role is just to sing and follow Kongming's instructions to the letter– this abject imbalance in their relationship made it impossible for me to develop any sort of attachment to their shared struggle. The blind faith that Eiko (and other characters) have in Kongming is not only extremely boring, it obstructs any meaningful development in their relationship over the course of the series as they continue to accept Kongming's decisions without question.

Kongming's unilateral decision-making even goes as far as Eiko's singing, as he makes changes to the composition of her music that Eiko, rather than expressing reservations about (like you would normally expect), simply accepts with little complaint or input. That Kongming would be able to shamelessly meddle in something that constitutes the core of Eiko's identity should make it abundantly clear that her subservience to Kongming is ultimately set in stone.

Eiko having minimal influence in her own success reduces her character to the upbeat and determined singer whose entire role is to sing at the very end and mysteriously win over the hearts of the crowd. And while I was never a particular fan of her music, hearing her perform the same three songs (and have the audience react in the exact same way) over and over again only exacerbated how clichè and dull the entire experience was.

The clichès don't stop at just EIko, however, as the show (particularly the second half) is plagued with a plethora of tropes executed in the most insipid way possible: The genius musician who tells Eiko that her singing lacks her own character; the cynical and seemingly evil producer; the singer whose passion for music is no match for the greed of the industry. These all culminate in the finale of the series, which– without spoiling– is a nonstop series of developments so generic that I was genuinely left aghast at what the show had become.

I'll admit that I initially found some enjoyment in seeing Kongming try to make it in modern Tokyo– but once that wore off, I was left with nothing more than a hackneyed narrative, whose themes of "passion in the face of corporatism" is directly contradicted by how entirely safe and bland the entire thing felt.