As a general in China’s Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang Kongming had endured countless battles that shaped him into an excellent strategist. However, on his deathbed, his only wish is to be reborn in a more peaceful world. This results in him being reborn as his younger self in modern day Shibuya, Tokyo. After being dragged around by partiers, Kongming becomes taken with the songs of a struggling singer who ends up sheltering him. He decides to use his tactical genius to make her into a top star!
Kongming truly is best boy. If you are looking for more anime recommendations like Ya Boy Kongming, then head on down below.
Anime Like Ya Boy Kongming!
For Fans of The Trials and Tribulations of Music
Zombieland Saga
For Sakura Minamoto, she started her day off normally, right up until she skipped outside and got hit by a speeding truck. She died, of course, but 10 years later, she wakes up as… a zombie. However, her story is just beginning as a man wants her and several other undead girls from throughout Japan’s history to become a regional idol group to save Saga from becoming an obscure prefecture.
Both series have an element of taking people from the past and putting them in the present to help make music. The songs are good in both, the characters really carry both shows, and they both excel at random comedy.
Tonkatsu DJ Agetarou
Agetarou Katsumata works with his family in a small tonkatsu shop in Shibuya. However, after getting invited to a club after making a delivery, he ends up absorbed by the club scene and the DJs that play there. After the enchanting experience, he decides to work towards the dream of becoming a top-notch DJ while still maintaining his day job.
Agetarou is a less sad journey akin to Eiko’s. They discover a love of music after being brought to a club, then decide to try and make music that can inspire others like it did for them. Despite Agetarou’s unique animation, it also has its share of drama too.
D4DJ First Mix
After moving back from abroad, Rinku transfers to a school where DJing is at peak popularity. After a concert, she finds herself deeply moved by the music, and with the help of others, seeks to form her own unit to aim for the big stage.
Both series maintain a strong focus on EDM music, but D4DJ is more cute girls doing cute DJ things. Still, the music is good, but it lacks the soul that is Kongming.
Carole and Tuesday
This is the story about two very different girls with the same goal. Tuesday, a girl raised in wealth, and Carole, a girl just scraping by, both want to make music. A chance meeting brings them together, and together they may just make their dream come true.
While Kongming is often somewhat silly, Carole and Tuesday is often more dramatic. However, both cover struggling musicians that start working their way up the ladder. To be frank, they also have some banger songs too.
For Fans of Fish Out of Water Characters
Nobunaga Concerto
Saburou is a carefree student who is jarringly thrown back in time to the Sengoku era. He lands directly in front of Oda Nobunaga who is unexpectedly frail and fleeing his retainers. As the two look similar, Nobunaga proposes that they switch places in order for him to go relax.
Nobunaga Concerto is almost a complete Uno reverse of Kongming. A modern boy is sent to the past instead, and slips into the culture as best he can. They place a bigger emphasis on comedy in both shows rather than focusing on what could be a dramatic situation.
Thermae Romae
Lucius Modestus is a ancient Roman architect that is having trouble forming new ideas. Feeling he needs to just relax, his friends take him to a bathhouse. Yet, once he dips his head under the water, he finds himself transported to a Japanese bathhouse in modern day Japan!
Whereas Kongming dives into music, Lucius uses his time in the modern world to nerd out about architecture. They both end up as pretty silly comedies, but Thermae Romae has the ability to let the main character go back to his time.
The Devil is a Part-Timer
Just as he was on the cusp of conquering his world, Satan is thrown through a portal to Tokyo. Although he cannot use magic in this world, he is still motivated to conquer it, but first, he must get a job and pay his rent on time.
This has a more fantasy spin to it, but both The Devil is a Part-Timer and Ya Boy Kongming feature powerful individuals that are sent to our modern world. A big element in both is just them adapting to modern things that they did not have in their world or time.
Dr. Stone
After years of unspoken feelings, Taiju Ooki is about to confess to his crush. However, at that moment, a bright green light engulfs humanity, and suddenly everyone is turned to stone. Thousands of years later, exactly the right series of events lines up in nature and leads to teenage genius and best friend of Taiju, Senku Ishigami, to be cured. After using the cure on Taiju, the pair set out to jump-start civilization and save humanity by speeding through all the most useful inventions of human history.
Both stories are shounen tales of different breeds. However, they share a wildly intelligent main character that is sent to a time different from their own. That is no problem though, since they use that intellect to thrive.
For Fans of Low-Action Strategy Series
Moriarty the Patriot
William Moriarty is the second son of the noble Moriarty family. During the day, he is a mathematics professor, but at night he uses his keen mind in order to work as a consultant for individuals with a particular need for his intellect. He has dedicated himself to revenge against nobility in order to crumble the crushing social hierarchy that oppresses much of England.
While Moriarty is somewhat more sinister, he, like Kongming, is a master at skillfully manipulating people and strategizing certain events. Things always go down how they predict, and even when they don’t, they both have a plan for that.
Great Pretender
After life turned him down the path of crime, Makoto Edamura cockily thinks himself the best swindler in Japan. However, after trying to swindle a tourist only for the tourist to swap it back, he finds the police on his trail. Making his escape, he runs into this tourist again, a move that would take him all the way across the sea to Los Angeles. There, he learns that this tourist was in fact a man called Laurent Thierry, a successful confidence man, who wants to recruit him onto his team.
While Kongming stays in the small realm of music and entertainment, Great Pretender dips its characters into many elements. What ties everything together is that both series are all about strategy and manipulation in order to get what they want.
Kaguya-sama – Love is War
Considered a genius, Miyuki Shirogane leads the student council in his prestigious school. Alongside his beautiful and wealthy vice president, Kaguya Shinomiya, the two are regarded as the perfect couple despite no romantic relationship. The truth is, however, they both have feelings for each other, but neither can confess. This is the battle of two people trying to get the other to confess first!
While more of an obvious romance than Kongming, Kaguya-sama Love is War is very much a similar strategy anime. Both series focus on intelligent characters making plans to get what they want. It is just that things often go very wrong in Kaguya-sama, leading to solid comedy.
Do you have more anime recommendations like Ya Boy Kongming? Let fans know in the comments section below.
