If only it had been as good as the localized title.
Honestly, my biggest and only major gripe with Paripi Koumei is that it never felt like it was going all-out. I wanted the premise amped up to 110%, albeit played completely straight, and for the most part, this premiere felt like it was more at around half that. So, what should have been the historical Chinese version of Hataraku Maou-sama with something like SK8 (or, for a way older reference, Cromartie) levels of energy felt weirdly underwhelming, as though Paripi failed to truly commit to its own joke.
It probably doesn’t help matters that the main character isn’t really Kongming, it’s Eiko. And while I don’t hate Eiko’s character by any means, that isn’t really what I’m here for? The parody aspect is what hooked me into watching to begin with, and compared to Kongming or even Eiko’s boss (who’s basically a cross between a borderline yakuza-esque bar owner and an unexpected but delightfully fun Chinese history otaku), Eiko herself is B-list material – serviceable, but clearly not the selling point.
I’ll probably watch at least another episode or so because there’s nothing wrong with Paripi per se, but I can see that I’m going to need to lower my expectations from “rolling around on the floor holding my stomach” to “a couple of smiles each episode.”
Score: 6/10
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I quite liked this episode. I had no particular expectations for this, so there’s nothing to be disappointed about. I tend to like music anime, if I feel they take music seriously, and so far this delivers. Eiko seems to be singer-songwriter, which is a rare focus in anime; we usually either get performers (mostly idols), or bands, sometimes classical musicians. And they’ve thrown her into the clubbing scene, which isn’t a natural fit, but she seems to be into a good variety of music, too. From the get-go, this is more promising than, say, Carole and Tuesday (which felt mostly like: look what technology has done to music!!!). The acid test, here, is what they’ll be doing with the business side – as that’s going to be Kongming’s role. This can easily fall apart, but if it doesn’t I’m likely going to enjoy it lots.
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That’s very true that Eiko makes a refreshing change from an idol-type singer, which I can definitely get behind a lot more.
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