Many Japanese films are set in the music business, but few devote more screen time to actual performances than “Ya Boy Kongming! The Movie.”
Based on a TV drama that was in turn inspired by a manga, this strenuously entertaining live-action film traces the improbable musical career of the title protagonist, a famous Chinese strategist of the chaotic Three Kingdoms period (A.D. 220-280) who finds himself reincarnated in modern-day Japan.
Scripted by Nonji Nemoto, who also worked on the TV drama, and directed by Shuhei Shibue, a prolific maker of music videos and TV commercials, the film assumes familiarity with the “Ya Boy Kongming!” world and Three Kingdoms history.
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