In anime, compilation films are kind of strange, aren’t they? Because there are a million of them, we come to terms with their existence. If American TV shows began chopping entire seasons into two hours and adding five minutes of fresh material to pass them off as “movies,” we would never hear the end of how this signifies the demise of cinematic uniqueness. What would happen if Twin Peaks: Death and Rebirth had been published by David Lynch five months ahead of Fire Walk With Me?
Do compilation movies aim to attract new viewers who haven’t watched the TV series, or are they only there to allow fans of the original material to relive it in a slightly different format? Now I’m going over Ya Boy Kongming! From the latter viewpoint, Road to Summer Sonia; this is my first introduction to the Three Kingdoms general’s career in 21st-century music management. While admitting that it doesn’t quite work as a movie, I still found what I saw to be enjoyable.
Although watching this film could feel like seeing a whole anime season at twice the speed, the fast pacing makes for a lot of the humor in this good anime. The film features three primary plot lines: the hesitant battle rapper Kabetaijin’s enlistment, the competition between him and the idol group Azalea, and the reborn Kongming’s alliance with singer Eiko. The final arc lasts an entire hour, whereas the first two last roughly thirty minutes apiece.
Although the movie’s editing “seams” are evident in the way it switches between each of these engaging storylines, each one stands alone. The opening performance of “Be Crazy for Me” by Eiko in the first act instantly captures the attention of the audience. Alongside Eiko, who captivates us with his talent and sincere aspirations, Kongming also wins us over with his kindness and dedication to seeing her goals come true. This anime finds plenty of humor in Kongming’s situations where his artists are cast as fish out of water and in his use of military tactics to promote his artists, all while taking its ridiculous premise seriously enough to allow for compelling character work (I imagine fans of the Three Kingdoms and history buffs will find even more of it than I did).
The second act’s perspective shift to Kabetaijin’s stressful day is the least emotionally invested of the three arcs, and it’s a little startling in ways that I doubt an episodic format would make it. It’s still a nice enough distraction from Eiko’s plot, though. A humorous and melodic high point is Kabetaijin and Kongming’s rap duel.
Transition problems are especially annoying with the Azalea plot, which is introduced with a “previously on” narration for sequences that are skipped. A moving tale of art vs commerce emerges with Eiko’s amiable competitor Nanami, and the audience is made to feel sorry for both teams as they compete to get 100,000 likes. By the end of the film, Kongming’s competitive techniques and his relentless run of hit songs from both the sensitive acoustic and thunderous EDM genres offer a lot of amusement. And yet, I can’t help but feel that if this arc had a full set-up beyond that hurried expositional narration, all these payoffs would feel even more satisfying. The movie I watched is entertaining, but I could have been moved if it had been a little bit more solidly constructed.
Journey to Summer Sonja has a production value comparable to a feature film. I’m not sure how much of the animation is original work versus reused. Observing snippets of the show, I can verify that at least a few of the most visually stunning musical moments have been much enhanced from their original counterparts, making this movie worth seeing even if you are familiar with the original. However, it’s plausible to assume that some sequences from the show are reused because they rely too heavily on still frames. But throughout the majority of the film, it’s difficult to distinguish between “TV animation” and “movie animation.” The art is consistently excellent, while the animation maintains a solid average even with quality variances.
Given that the Ya Boy Kongming! manga is still in progress, this compilation movie might serve as a teaser or test run for a potential second season. Even if the film’s pace problems are resolved, I wouldn’t rush to watch the entire season after watching this shortened version of Season 1, but I would definitely watch Season 2 from the start.
