Hulu Finally Gets Fantasy Comedy Anime Kept Exclusive
When there are dozens of streaming services out there now, exclusives are quite a pain to deal with. They usually mean those who want to watch certain series have to pay for an additional platform, which is frustrating and puts quite a hit on the wallet. Such was the case with a popular anime Ya Boy Kongming! before it finally came to Hulu this year.
A Different Type Of Isekai
The series Ya Boy Kongming! is a sort of fantasy Isekai. A famous military strategist, known as Zhuhe Kongming (Ryoutarou Okiayu), dies in battle in 234 AD. Since he never managed to make the world a peaceful place like he’d always dreamed, he ends up wishing on his deathbed that his next life would be a peaceful one free of bloodshed.
He ends up being sent to modern Japan on Halloween. While he isn’t technically reborn, he is aged back so he is much younger than when he died. Since it’s Halloween, no one questions his strange attire and he gets swept up into a club.
The Art Of War For Pop Stars
At the party, he reflects on the music. At first, when EDM is playing to pump up the partiers, he doesn’t much enjoy it. But then, a young singer named Eiko Tsukimi (Kaede Hondo) goes on stage and begins to sing. He ends up reflecting on his past life and is heavily moved.
He decides to learn about modern Japan and the music scene so that he can help the girl get noticed. As her tactician, he reflects on his old plots and lessons, adapting them to the modern world to help give Eiko a chance to shine where her brilliant singing would otherwise be drowned out.
Based On The Manga
The series comes from P.A. Works (Skip and Loafer), with Shu Honma (Buddy Daddies) as the director and Nonji Nemoto (The Apothecary Diaries) in charge of the storyboard. Originally the series was a manga, written by Yuto Yotsuba and illustrated by Ryo Ogawa. There was also a live-action drama series based on the plot released in 2023.
Kept Off The Beaten Path
The Ya Boy Kongming! anime aired in Japan on April 5, 2022. Unfortunately, for many viewers, it was only available to stream on Hidive and not more popular platforms like Netflix, Hulu, or Crunchyroll.
Hidive is a bit of a controversial platform. They do have a few good shows, such as Oshi no Ko, Call of the Night, Bloom into You, and Ya Boy Kongming! However, the platform, which used to be international, shut down many of its services in countries outside the US, which means that these exclusives are highly limited when it comes to who can watch them.
According to anime fans, their platform isn’t the best. The website is relatively fine to use, but trying to watch on the app is sometimes all but impossible. These problems make it so many people aren’t willing to pay the additional cost for the platform, even for exclusive series.
Now Available On Hulu
Thankfully, it seems most of their series are only exclusive for a limited time. Over two years later, Hulu has finally acquired the rights to some of the series. On July 15, 2024, Ya Boy Kongming! came to the streaming platform, or at least the first season did, and the same is true for Oshi no Ko, which also arrived on Hulu in July 2024.
If you want to watch the series, Ya Boy Kongming! is available on Amazon with a Hidive subscription, as well as Hulu. The series has an 8.13 average score on My Anime List, which makes it worth watching, especially now that it’s on a more accessible platform.
