Ya Boy Kongming! Manga announces live-action adaptation

Fans of the anime and manga Ya Boy Kongming! will be thrilled to know that the manga will soon receive a live-action adaptation, adapted by Fuji TV. The announcement was made on Monday, May 1, 2023. Following that, a key visual featuring the protagonist Shokatsu Komei (Zhuge Kongming, better known in history as Zhuge Liang) was revealed.

The plot of Ya Boy Kongming! is based on the life of renowned military strategist Zhuge Liang Kongming, who died in the Battle of Wuzhang Plains in 234 AD. As per the story, on his deathbed, he wishes that his next life would be peaceful and devoid of violence. He is soon reborn in contemporary Japan, showing up in the middle of a Halloween costume party in Tokyo's club district.

Now, his second life starts when he is drawn to a nightclub by Shibuya's partygoers, where he meets aspiring singer Eiko Tsukimi.

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Ya Boy Kongming! live-action adaptation to be released this autumn

Ya Boy Kongming! Manga announces live-action adaptation (image via Fuji TV)

The live-action adaptation of Ya Boy Kongming!, will be produced by Fuji TV and directed by Shuhei Shibue, with Nonji Nemoto serving as a scriptwriter. Shuhei is best known for directing Edogawa Ranpo Short Stories III: Mitsushima Hikari x Edogawa Ranpo, Ase to Sekken, and numerous other films, whereas Nemoto is best known for his work in Killer Queen Bee, Eren the Southpaw, Fruits Delivery Service, and others.

Aside from the backstage cast, key images show Osamu Mukai as the titular Shokatsu Komei. Osamu is best known for his roles as Taira in Beck and Tooru Kikuchi in Nodame Cantabile, among others. In the key visual, Mukai is dressed in a costume and stands close to six feet, eleven inches tall. He is also seen grinning.

The show is scheduled to make its debut this autumn and will air on Fuji TV's, Shinsui 10 Drama, every Wednesday at 10 pm JST (9 am EDT/ 5 pm GST). Apart from this, no other significant information was disclosed, but given that the release date is this autumn, new details will presumably be made available soon.

Here's how Kodansha USA Publishing, which publishes the manga in English, describes Ya Boy Kongming!:

"General of the Three Kingdoms, Kongming had struggled his whole life, facing countless battles that made him into the accomplished strategist he was."

It continues:

"So on his deathbed, he wished only to be reborn into a peaceful world... and was sent straight to modern-day party-central, Tokyo! Can even a brilliant strategist like Kongming adapt to the wild beats and even wilder party people?!"

Yuto Yotsuba, the author of Ya Boy Kongming!, is a well-known mangaka who has received widespread acclaim for his work. Ya Boy Kongming!'s popularity skyrocketed after it was serialized on Kodansha's Comic Days online platform beginning December 31, 2019, and continuing until November 16, 2021.

Soon after, on November 22, 2021, the series was transferred to Weekly Young Magazine. Shueisha serialized the chapters into individual tankobon volumes, which have been collected into 13 volumes as of April 2023. In April 2022, the manga inspired a television anime under the same name, which HIDIVE exclusively and simultaneously streamed, alongside an English dub of the same.

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Stay tuned for more anime and manga updates as 2023 progresses.