Zhuge Liang leads an idol into battle.

This combined two genres that generally suck— three kingdoms spinoffs and idols— and turned them into something amazing. I think what made it work is usually these shows just look and feel cheap, but this one did not. Very well made. The OP is possibly the greatest OP ever made, or at least it is up there.

The other part that makes it good is Zhuge Liang himself. The way he always has some plan up the back of his sleeve, and then the way the three kingdoms fanboy bar owner goes wild over it and shouts about how it is such and such clever scheme from two thousand years ago gets me every time. Captures a bit of the fun of what made me like a show like Code Geass so much.

Eiko is fairly boring but very cute (and makes Zhuge Liang shine) and her rivalry with Nanami at the end was excellent.

I love when anime just goes all out on ridiculousness like this.

• Storytelling – A – They really made this story work.
• Voice – A – What a concept and style.
• Characters – B – Kongming is great, liked Nanami too, others are fine.
• Attention Grab – B – Kept me interested.
• Production – A – Great work. Especially that OP…
• Overall – A-

Recommendations – Read Three Kingdoms, I read it recently and it’s actually really fun.