[DeepL Translation - needs review] Introduction to Volume 1: After dying in the Battle of Gokyohara, the famous military strategist Zhuge Ryo Kongmei reverts to his young body and is reborn in modern Japan! He is invited by a group of Parisians in Shibuya and arrives at a flirtatious club where dance music is blaring. There he meets Eiko Tsukimi, an aspiring singer, and his second life begins! In the era of the Three Kingdoms, he lived for peace under heaven, but for what purpose does he liv...
Charming, entertaining, but a little difficult
The premise of this manga:
Kongming (also known as Zhuge Liang or Koumei), a famous military strategist and Chinese statesman from the Three Kingdoms period, is reincarnated into modern Japan, where he meets Eiko, a young Japanese woman who is an aspiring musician. Seeing great potential in her, he decides to become her "strategist".
It is absolutely absurd, but it's done well, and I couldn't help but find it charming and incredibly fun! Eiko and Koumei's interactions were wonderful highlights. I did find myself missing the music from the anime (especially the amazing opening), but even without the music, the story holds up well. If you haven't seen the anime, there is a definite cliffhanger leading into the second volume, so if you want a self-contained story, this isn't the book for that. Best to pick up the next volume, for sure!
Despite enjoying it quite a bit, however, I can't say that it is great for language learning. The characters all have very strong speech quirks. Owner-san has a rough, almost Yakuza-esque style of speech. Eiko is very casual, kinda gal-ish in her speech. And Koumei. Oh boy, Koumei. He speaks cryptically, metaphorically, using somewhat archaic vocabulary, and sometimes referencing events in the Three Kingdoms period in China. I was looking up a lot when he spoke. It was still lots of fun, but I can't imagine much of his word choices are going to be particularly worth committing to memory for use outside of the series.
Still, if you are coming into it looking for a good time, you'll find it here! For the entertainment value alone, I definitely recommend it!