Funny and silly, this is the story of a general from ancient China who dies and is suddenly reawakened as a 20-comething in Tokyo, where he meets and becomes enthralled with a young singer/waitress and makes it his mission to use his military mind to make her famous.

Because of the title and the cover, I kept pushing this read to the next time but today, I finally opened it and read it. I am glad I did. I quite enjoyed it. The trope of an ancient person being reincarnated in the modern world and knowing nothing of this world is a good one I think. It often works and it’s perfect to make the reader smile and laugh.
After a little research, I found out that Kongming did exist so I am happy about that. I like it when stories include characters that really existed. He is depicted here as quite an outstanding person who will do anything to help the person he committed to. I really liked Eiko and also the boss (such a funny character). I can’t wait to read the next volume to know how Eiko is going to perform. There is a little Ecchi in this manga but really not much so it was alright for my tastes.
I recommend this manga to people looking for a fun read with a clueless but clever main character.
3.5/5

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book is well written and the characters are described well. The illustrations is absolutely beautiful. The pacing is perfect. It was a entertaining book. I would recommend reading this graphic novel. It is in stores for $10.99 (USD).

Ya Boy Kongming is about a military strategist during the Three Kingdoms period in ancient China. The manga starts of with him passing away and getting transported as his younger self to modern Japan. There he meets a young woman whose dream is to become a famous singer. He helps her through using his knowledge about war strategies.
The entire premise is pretty interesting and unique. The core concept of him being from the past and trying to live in the present is hilarious. Then using war strategies to help in the entertainment industry is even more interesting.
There is still room to grow, though, and I hope that we could dive deeper into the characters in future volumes.
In conclusion, I would rate this first volume: 3,5/5

It is an enjoyable mix of pop music and Chinese military history. The two elements work together well. The art leans to fanservice a bit. The art is the best at showing action and listening to music.

People outside of their time are a great topic for a graphic novel The misunderstandings caused by the differences in cultural norms are a standards source of humor. THe characters in this book are expressive and interesting.

Isn’t This Supposed to be a Comedy? – Ya Boy Kongming! Vol. 1 [Manga]

Mangaka: Yuto Yotsuba, Ryo Ogawa
Publisher: Kodansha
Genres: Comedy
Published: June 1, 2021

With the rise of the isekai genre, it gets confused with timeslips. Rather, timeslip series are often misclassified as isekai. With isekai series often set in medieval-esque fantasy worlds, it can really be quite confusing. However, the two are fundamentally different. In isekai series, the protagonists are dragged or are transported to an entirely new world, be it fantasy, sci-fi, or even within a novel. Meanwhile in timeslip series, the story is still set in the same world but on a different time frame. Be it in the past or the future. Timeslip series also has a different allure to isekai series. After all, it’s quite interesting to witness how a modern mind tackles ancient or futuristic problems. But what if an ancient mind slipped into modern times?

Contains Spoilers

Discussion Time

As the title suggests, the series follows the adventures of Kongming, the renowned Three Kingdoms general, as he timeslips into the modern era with his ancient knowledge. Baffled with how far humans have come after almost two millennia, he explores the world anew. The good thing is that he’s an open minded individual who can easily absorb and adapt to everything thrown at him. After several misunderstandings, we get to see him apply his knowledge into the modern age.

Why You Should Read Ya Boy Kongming! Vol. 1

1. It’s Not Just Comedy!

The series starts off hilariously strong. After Kongming kicks the bucket, he unknowingly gets transported into the modern world. Interestingly, it’s during the most convenient time of the year, Halloween. Imagine a literal ancient human being seeing the streets of Tokyo during Halloween just right after he supposedly died. Just thinking about it sounds crazy, right? Truly, the series starts off on a comedic tone, however, the comedy immediately plummeted. As Kongming quickly learned about the world and adapted to his current situation, he pledges to make Eiko a world-renowned singer, which brings us to the second point.

2. Modern Problems, Ancient Solutions

Kongming has already established himself during the era of the Three Kingdoms. But since the modern age no longer fights such great wars, his knowledge has become obsolete. Well, that's what we initially assumed. Kongming uses war tactics and recreating ingenious strategies using what is available to him, proving just how great of a tactician he really is. Of course, learning about how his strategies work is just some sort of added bonus.

Why You Should Skip Ya Boy Kongming! Vol. 1

1. Take It With a Grain of Salt

As cool as Kongming’s recreation of his age-old tactics, we’re not entirely convinced that they would work flawlessly once recreated in real life. For the record, we haven’t tested his trickery but his explanation of it is just… dodgy. This doesn’t mean that all his plans are questionable, but there are certainly one or two that will raise an eyebrow or two. If you’re the type who nitpicks on details, you may want to keep this in mind.

Final Thoughts

At a glance, it’s hard to have any expectations for Ya Boy Kongming! This is not because the premise sounds stupidly bad, but we’re just not too sure what to expect from it. Obviously, it factors in some history as Kongming is included, but that’s pretty much it. Despite the initial loss, we were pleasantly surprised as the story started to unfold.

By: Christian Markle

An excellent premise that ends up falling a bit short. The humor and plot are hit or miss and lead to an inconsistent reading experience throughout the manga. The highs are high and the lows are pretty dull. That being said, I would read through a few more volumes before deciding if I would abandon it or not.

4.5 ⭐

Thank you NetGally and Kodansha Comics for allowing me to review this book.

What a fun manga story! AND THAT CLIFFHANGEGR.

I am so delighted to stumble this manga on NetGally to be honest. The manga doesn't just offered China/ Three Kingdoms history informations but also conflics on the young, rising idols and the dreamers.

I honestly enjoyed Kongming's personality and his relationship with the boss and Eiko. These people are so hilarious and must be protected.

Overall, I enjoyed it Will definitely continue this manga series

Oh hey, reverse Isekai, my favorite! As a fan of the Dynasty Warriors series, I have a passing knowledge of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. I also like wacky anachronistic hijinks, which means the first volume of Ya Boy Kongming! was basically made for me.

We begin our story with Zhuge Liang, also known as Kongming, on his deathbed, the Shu empire facing defeat. As he draws his final breath, he’s whisked away to Japan, where he’s younger but still out of place because his dynasty outfit sticks out like a sore thumb. Thankfully, he’s plopped in the middle of a Halloween party in a club, and people love his “cosplay”. It’s here where he meets Eiko, a struggling part-timer who sings when she can. After a chance interview with Kobyashi (the owner who serendipitously adores The Romance of the Three Kingdoms as well), Kongming gets a job as a bartender and swears allegiance to helping Eiko with her singing career.

Honestly, the premise is what got me hooked from the first page. Kind of like Stitch and the Samurai, the fact that you have a serious master strategist going up against EDM beats and Instagram followers in a legitimately entertaining story is awesome. While the art can be a bit simplistic at times, the character designs (specifically of Kongming himself) are fun and dazzling. The main draw here is in its writing, and adapting concepts like using the Stone Sentinel Maze to make clubgoers stay inside the venue is pretty ingenious. I like the client relationship Zhuge Liang has with his mentee Eiko, and the absurdity of it all has enough staying power for at least a few volumes before it needs to change. Quite simply, Ya Boy Kongming! is like a song that I would put on repeat for months and not get bored.

Kongming, a famous Chinese strategist from the Three Kingdoms period wakes up in modern day Tokyo as a younger man, and is captivated by an aspiring singer named Eiko. I'm afraid I don't know enough about Chinese culture and history to appreciate the nuances of the story, but I do like the fish out of water situation he finds himself in. Kongmingis soon employing his Art of War as Eiko's manager, trying and succeeding to book her bigger shows. raise her followers, and attract more listeners. What I didn't like so much about the story is how Eiko is portrayed to titillate heterosexual male readers. Still it was fun and fast paced with a very clever premise and an interesting look at the music industry. I would be happy to pick up the next volume.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher Kodansha Comics for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review. #YaBoyKongming1 #NetGalley

I think Ya Boy Kongming! Volume 1 (by Yuto Yotsuba and Ryo Ogawa) is a very competent, interesting, entertaining, and educational manga! I learned more about a great Chinese Tactician! I learned things I didn't know I needed to know! Kongming is a great main character and his transmigration into modern Shibuya gives all the fish out of water fun that you can imagine. Eiko is a great supporting charcter, and has given Kongming purpose to his new existence as he decides to support Eiko's dream of becoming a famous successful singer. The Boss at the club in Shibuya, that Kongming ends up at, is my favourite charcter as is his love of Kongming!

There is a bit of unnecessary fan service but it is not as gratuitous as other works, and my have been a choice included for an assumed audience of young men (which I am not!).

A great little title, with great translation and fun modernism with the phrases used! Check it out - a fun title!

I enjoyed this manga so much and it was such an entertaining read! It was so neat seeing Kongming adapt to modern Japanese society and how he ended up getting a job and everything. I enjoyed reading about all the Chinese history because I happened to be watching a movie about the historical events that Kongming mention in the manga. There's a little bit of fan service with scenes of Eiko but other than that, this was a great manga. I really need to read the next volume, especially after that cliffhanger of an ending!

Kongming is so funny and I loved how witty he is. I loved this! I loved how he appointed himself as Eiko's manager or "tactician." This is so fun to read with nice illustrations and a great storyline! I can't wait to read the next volume. This will definitely go to my all-time favorites.

Read this manga! It's really fun and entertaining. This is probably best for older teens and adults, due to just one page of fanservice. It does make a lot of jokes based on Chinese history, but I don't think that hinders one's reading of it.

#DNF

Given that I've DNFd this manga, I don't think I can rate it more than 1 star because I haven't finished it and I don't have a thorough image of it. I made it to chapter 2.

Anyway, the art was great but the story ehhh it didn't keep me as entertained as I had hoped to and I found myself not caring about anything in the plot. Also, I found a bit weird that everyone is drawn in perfect detail but the only woman main character's(I think we can call her that I don't remember her name)face was as if it came out of my sketchbook (mind you,I'm not very good at drawing) BUT the scene where she's having a shower, her back and lower body is drawn perfectly??? Why???

So much fun! It made me smile throughout. The story of the great tactician, Kongming, putting his skills to work to help a young starlet achieve her dream of becoming a great singer is terrific fun. You don't have to be a Three Kingdoms fan to enjoy this work, but if you are, there are a lot of Easter eggs.

'Ya Boy Kongming!, vol. 1' by Yuto Yotsuba with art by Ryo Ogawa is a fish out of water manga about a long deceased legend who finds himself in modern Tokyo.

Kongming begins the story as a general one of the armies in the Three Romances. The next thing he knows, he is in modern Tokyo and seemingly out of his depth. But Kongming makes friends easily and learns things like smartphones pretty quickly. One of his new friends is an aspiring pop star and Kongming uses his formidable military mind to assist her in her career in very unconventional ways.

This was a funny premise and I liked it, but I wanted to like it more. The art is pretty good. I would definitely read more in this series.

I received a review copy of this manga from Kodansha and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this manga.

This is such a creative manga and great for fans of Dynasty Warriors (as well as other Romance of the Three Kingdoms stories such as Red Cliff) and also man-out-of-time stories like Sleepy Hollow or The Knight Before Christmas. Don't over think it, just go with it. It was really great to experience a story like this but with an iconic Asian hero.

This manga is about Kongming, who was transported into the modern world. The story is more about Kongming helping a newbie singer make it big in the music industry than it is about Kongming adjusting to the modern world. He uses a lot of tactics he has applied to battles he has won to succeed as well as his life knowledge to make decisions. This is something you would understand it more if you are into Chinese history regarding the three kingdoms. The story is enjoyable, however there is a couple moments of fanservice that I did not like.

Many thanks to Netgalley for my review copy.