The work at a glance
| Item | Fact |
|---|---|
| Original title | Paripi Koumei (official English: Ya Boy Kongming!) |
| Creators | Story: Yuto Yotsuba · Art: Ryo Ogawa |
| Serialization | Kodansha's Comic DAYS from 2019-12-31; moved to Weekly Young Magazine in 2021 (issue 52) |
| Volumes | 25 volumes as of May 2026; vol. 26 scheduled 2026-08-06 |
| Circulation | 1M (Jun 2022) → ~1.6M (2023) → ~2.4M (2025 film) → 2.75M+ (Jun 2026) |
| Taiwan edition | Tong Li Publishing, vol. 23 as of May 2026 |
Premise: Zhuge Kongming dies at Wuzhangyuan in 234 AD wishing to be reborn in a peaceful age, and wakes up young again in Halloween-night Shibuya. Moved by amateur singer Eiko Tsukimi's voice at club BB Lounge, he vows to serve as her strategist. His long-term goal is 'world peace through club music'; Eiko's dream stage is VOICELL LAND, a fictional world-biggest festival set in Belgium.
Four versions — read this first
| Version | When | Key facts |
|---|---|---|
| Manga | 2019– (ongoing) | The primary text; stratagem chapters mapped in the Stratagem Codex |
| TV anime | 2022-04-05 – 06-21, 12 eps | P.A.WORKS' first manga-based production; adapts up to manga vol. 4 ch. 28 (the 100k-likes finale); streamed early on Abema from 03-31 |
| Live-action drama | 2023-09-27 – 11-29, 10 eps | Fuji TV Wednesday 10pm; Osamu Mukai as Kongming, Moka Kamishiraishi as Eiko |
| Film | 2025-04-25 | Paripi Koumei THE MOVIE (Shochiku), sequel to the drama |
| Official spin-off book | 2022-04-06 | 'Ask Kongming!' — a Kodansha business book inspired by the series: even the publisher treats it as management material |
Main cast (names verified)
| Character | Who they are | Business analogy |
|---|---|---|
| Zhuge Kongming | Eiko's strategist (manager); bartender at BB Lounge | Chief strategist / CMO / growth lead |
| Eiko Tsukimi | The singer — her name nods to Huang Yueying, Zhuge Liang's wife (per Japanese Wikipedia); once saved from suicide at Shibuya station by Kobayashi | The core product; founder-type creator |
| Kobayashi | OWNER of BB Lounge (not the bartender — that is Kongming); a hardcore Three Kingdoms fan | Angel investor / early platform partner |
| KABE Taijin | Real name Kabe Taijin (河辺太人 — the stage name puns on his surname); 3-time MC-battle champion who retired with stress ulcers | Burned-out star talent |
| Nanami Kuon | Leader of the group AZALEA; bass and vocals | Rival's core / mirror character |
| Toshihiko Karasawa | KEY TIME producer who forces AZALEA into a lip-synced idol act; once a betrayed visual-kei band member himself | The pure prediction-and-control manager (the theory's control group) |
| Mia Iriomote | Established singer with 100k+ Instagram followers; Eiko's first opponent | Incumbent market leader |
| Steve Kido | Famed arranger (official name is katakana only — no kanji); eats menma on pudding; arranges DREAMER | Top-tier supplier / key creative partner |
| Tsuyoshi Kondo | Big-shot music producer (NOT 近藤強) who offers the choice: a safe local festival vs the 100k-likes challenge | Channel gatekeeper |
| Keiji Maezono | The arc villain (name is katakana, not 前園圭治); heir of 'Denpousha', a fictional ad giant with ¥5T revenue (an in-story exaggeration) | Capital-and-channel hegemony incumbent |
| Hajime Shoji | Co-founder of Fourth Kingdom with Kongming; ex-SSS Music producer who quit over his 'borderless labels' creed; calls Kongming 'Old Master' | The insider co-founder — domain access the outsider strategist lacks |
| East South | Rock duo bound as Maezono's ghostwriters by a ¥100M contract; later defect — Fourth Kingdom covers the penalty and signs them | A misallocated key resource |
Story arcs with verified anchors
| Arc | Where | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Debut / Stone Sentinel Maze | Manga chs. 3–4 (vol. 1) · Anime ep. 2 | Breaking Mia's same-slot foil trap with a venue-wide 'maze'; ch. 3 explains the formation, ch. 4 builds it |
| Yoyogi Art Fes / Something from Nothing | Manga ch. 7 (vol. 2) · Anime ep. 3 | Worst booth against JET JACKET's good one diagonally opposite; the equipment fault was staged, not real. A ~10,000-person event — the ticket to the Summer Sonia booking desk |
| Recruiting KABE | ≈ Manga ch. 11–13 · Anime eps. 5–6 | Kongming loses the rap battle on purpose — a scheme within a scheme; KABE rejoins music |
| 100k likes / Borrowed Arrows | Manga chs. 24–26 (vol. 4) · Anime eps. 11–12 | The prize is the Summer Sonia performance slot. Borrowing AZALEA's paid crowd; once the trick is blown at ~70k, Kongming pivots to Sowing Discord; DREAMER wins for real; the likes are later 'returned' |
| Kyoto / the mother's wager | From ≈ manga ch. 38 | The Five-Merchant Festival; 'Flower Crown' finally moves Eiko's mother |
| Founding Fourth Kingdom | Manga chs. 64–65 (vol. 9); arc ≈ chs. 61–69 | A fourth label set up against the big three, co-founded with ex-SSS Music producer Hajime Shoji under a 'borderless labels' creed (Eiko is a signed artist, NOT the owner); its first job is the three-major crossover unit |
| Summer Sonia showdown | ≈ Manga ch. 77– (mid-series) | A 300,000-scale festival, 1–2 Aug 2020. Eiko is put on the Green Pool Stage, far from the main stage, in Maezono's slot; his defection of KABE is Kongming's own plant (Red Cliffs). KABE exposes the ghostwriting on stage by rap; attendance 311 → 43,000 — quoted verbatim on Japanese Wikipedia |
| Horse-racing arc | Vol. 16 | Kongming HIMSELF bets his whole ¥1M savings (not Kobayashi) and loses the first bet; later trains a never-won horse to a G1 win to secure a concert venue |
| First solo concert | Vols. 15–17 | The stepping stone toward VOICELL LAND |
| Kindergarten arc | Manga ch. 143–144 | Saving Saijo Hanamaru Kindergarten from land sharks |
| Rescuing AZALEA | Later arc | Karasawa hospitalized, Kongming coaches the former rivals to a 498/500 championship at Rock Battle Japan |
| TV repositioning arc | ≈ Vols. 24–25 | Escaping the 'anime-song singer' label; a ratings duel with TV executive Kakuta |
| Malaysia arc | Vol. 25 (2026-05) | Turning around a failing local bus-tour company — it is Malaysia, not Hong Kong; Eiko becomes a bus guide |