"Oshi no Ko"

*[Oshi no Ko]* is a series caught within a bizarre Catch-22 as an actual piece of entertainment. It wants to follow the comedic and dramatic conventions for storytelling that Akasaka has in mind, and also wants to unravel the disquieting undercurrent of the entertainment industry within its gaze. But to do so would involve having its cast be outsmarted or exploited by the teeth of the very beast that they seek to enterprise in, and by the nature of the show’s framing, it cannot have that. As a result, the show does not actually delve into the darkest contortions and disquieting undercurrents of the entertainment ... industry that Akasaka supposedly wants to discuss. It hints at the phantoms on the wall rather than confronts them. The whole reads more as someone who only just discovered what the entertainment industry is like, is repulsed by what they saw, and has a lot they want to say, but must make a contractual deal with the devil in order to get the story told, a provision of which is to not wholly besmirch his name in the process.

Entertainment is, just as a general note, a strange entity. Stranger still though is the relationship we have with it. Even in the supposed “reality” of reality television, we all know and acknowledge on some level that everything in entertainment is manufactured or a conglomeration of lies to get a desired affect or impression. It’s engineered by hundreds of people we never know beyond the abstract to make something we think is worth the time and financial or emotional investment. We also know that the industry is not run by angels. Yet no matter how many times we get shocked by the reality that we see when the curtain gets pulled back, there’s always the next cultural object or talking point to swallow our attention even as the people within its own industry cry out to let their pleas for mercy be heard. The para-social relationship we have with the media we consume is sometimes not as simple as “I like this thing” with posters or casual merchandise; it can move beyond human ugliness or frailty and into the abyss of pure horror

I emphasize this para-social quality between entertainment and consumer because it is the very lifeblood that *[Oshi no Ko]* uses to get its start, and stubbornly refuses to emphasize or embrace further as it goes along. As two idol-obsessed people watching Hoshino Ai, doctor Amamiya Gorou and hospital patient Tendouji Sarina have formed an obsessive bond with her and her almost-divine performance presence, capitulated further when she discreetly arrives at Gorou’s hospital pregnant with twins. The day of delivery is struck down by Gorou being murdered, and both he and Tendouji are reincarnated as Ai’s children with all their mental faculties in place, now named Aquamarine and Ruby respectively. Two people in the thick of idol fandom, one of whom is killed by someone in the thick of idol fandom, now finding themselves the objects of their idolized idol’s attention. The perverse relationship between entertainment and consumer comes back around again as Ai is killed in her own home by a crazed fan, angry at her for having children, and Aqua suspects they were sent by their real father. It is, after all, against the law for idols to do anything sexual, unless the agency or someone within is facilitating it. With the light of their life extinguished, they’re left to pick up the pieces of what remains.

Ruby channels them into becoming like her mother and an idol herself, a depressing irony in that she naively has no clue what she’s getting into. Aqua channels them into joining the industry behind the scenes and finding their father-murderer that way, a journey of personal doom. The para-social sense of naïve optimism and slip into despair via the industry and their products never leaves the characterization (they’re always being fueled by Ai, even in death), but it does get reprioritized—if not shoved to the side outright—as the show’s scenarios begin manifesting. It chooses to focus its attention instead on how the industry functions and the people within it, functioning as a quasi-exposé.

The result is *[Oshi no Ko]* effectively abandoning its original framing device for something vastly less interesting. The series wants to have its cake and eat it too, to be profoundly crushing on the emotional level while delivering its timeless message that the entertainment industry is a monolithic hydra of lies and politics that the cast nevertheless tries to succeed in. The irony is that, in Akasaka and series composer Tanaka Jin’s bid to do this, they cannot resist flexing their knowledge by having characters just spell out “the truth” of how the industry works, robbing the show of its opportunities to impose such things on the characters, barring some flashbacks. It is so on-the-nose that there is little to be discovered organically through the narrative.

And Aqua’s positioning within *[Oshi no Ko]’s* structure drives this point home, especially. He became after Ai’s death a cold, calculating genius when it comes to the industry as a whole, in-part helped by having worked in it. Whether in front of the camera or from the production side, there is seemingly nothing he cannot adapt to. Such a characterization undercuts the looming danger of the industry itself because if anything bad happens, Aqua will always be able to salvage the situation or come up with some solution that makes sure everything and / or everyone is okay. It is difficult to be apprehensive of the shadows on the wall when a character keeps flicking on the lights, never truly getting caught off-guard.

It is a given that not everyone who works in the entertainment industry is a terrible person, that many involved indeed are trying to create the best product possible, and they know that being nice to their actors is one of the ways to do so. But *[Oshi no Ko]* has its depiction of the industry be more abstractly monolithic in its malice as opposed to actually having people in it who are malicious. Because Aqua and Ruby are born into the business through being Ai’s children, they are constantly sheltered from its grimmer possibilities by being in a “good company” and “knowing the right people” who will oblige Aqua’s thirst for vengeance in exchange for a favor, either wittingly or unwittingly. The monologuing by the characters keeps talking about how the industry is rough, unfair, and “that’s how it is,” but any sense of unfairness is barely allowed, if at all, to directly interrupt finding Ai’s killer or pose a sincere obstacle to Ruby’s progress. Thus, there is a shorter draw distance with which *[Oshi no Ko]* can cast its muckraking net, leaving many of the emotional moments to fall strangely limply rather than fuel a brutal collision.

But even so, there are rare times where the para-social relationship I hinted at before does return, and it occurs in the moments where the series shines at its brightest (or is it darkest? You decide). Aqua is hardly out of focus, but when he’s gone, the darker specters are finally allowed the chance to come out of the corner and consume the room. Left to their own devices, characters are forced to fight their way through new torments and problems—which does unfortunately paint just how reliant on Aqua they all are. Especially aided by the show’s aesthetic care and attention, apparent effort is poured into key animations and storyboarding that, when aligned with the material, elevate the punches into a sharp viscerality. Director Hiramaki Daisuke and the sizable number of animation directors understood that, particularly for a story pertaining to the entertainment industry, presentation matters. It’s a sign of just what the series is perfectly capable of doing, but ultimately decides to opt for something markedly less knotted.

*[Oshi no Ko]* insists on the dangers of the entertainment industry and pulling back the curtain, but holds itself back too often by not letting it gets its claws into everyone enough. The actual horrors of the industry it proports to share are kept at a safe and comfortable distance, aiding the narrative that being an idol, and their industry, is glorious, glamorous, and worth it. It is all at once a reincarnation story, a revenge quest story, a story about idols, a story about the relationship between the industry and its fans, and an exposé on how the industry functions. I genuinely admire its ambitiousness, but it’s a case of trying to do too much, and not having the finesse to handle it all effectively.

Maybe Aqua can salvage it.

Lies. Who among us hasn't told a lie or two? Whether it's telling a white lie or presenting a false version of ourselves. Celebrities, actors, musicians, and artists must constantly maintain a public image, which may require telling a lie or two. As a famous idol, Ai Hoshino's life revolves around lying. "The lie becomes the truth" are words she lives by. She lies to her friends and fans, but no one can see through the facade beneath her starry eyes.

Oshi no Ko's most provocative scene tragically occurs in its feature-length premiere. The tearjerker ending propelled the series into popularity, leading to disappointment when the ... rest proved to be an entirely different beast. Some viewers may build false expectations, but those who approach it open-mindedly will enjoy where it takes them. The premiere was a well-written story best left in the past. It initially evokes the untouchable masterpiece Perfect Blue, but aside from the final scene, the juvenile execution pales in comparison.

The episodes after the premiere are more refreshing. Oshi no Ko's content is comparable to my all-time favorite anime, Kaleido Star, for its realistic approach to performing arts while maintaining an uplifting message. It never shies away from showing singers, dancers, and actors' struggles to preserve their image and criticize demanding audiences. Writer Aka Akasaka does not condemn consumers but provides a mirror to reflect on their behavior. Oshi no Ko honestly portrays the Japanese acting and idol industry. Seeing how child actors phase out, stunt casting, agency competitions, and differences between writers and studios add to the realism. There are many things they should have taken into account, such as numerous reshoots, scheduling, and post-production. They seemingly picked and chose the most exciting parts of show business to portray and ignored the less appealing but equally crucial aspects.

Through Ai Hoshino's twin son and daughter, the series explores the ups and downs of acting and idol careers, respectively. Both children secretly lived past lives, in which they adored Ai. Her son, Aquamarine, was Ai's gynecologist, murdered by her stalker. Her daughter Ruby was only a young girl when she died of cancer. They take their reincarnations surprisingly well, but who wouldn't when you get around-the-clock attention from your favorite celebrity? Well, probably some people. The kids pursue futures that live up to their mother's legacy and do right by her. For Ruby, this means carrying on Ai's legacy as an idol and rebuilding her group B-Komachi from the ground up. For Aqua, it's rather intense; he dedicates his life to searching for their absent father, putting aside any personal goals. Aqua and Ruby attend Yoto High School, which offers a performing arts program only for students attached to a talent agency. Luckily for the kids, Ai's previous manager Miyako Saito adopted them and made them part of her company.

A common critique of Oshi no Ko is that the reincarnation plot device is unnecessary. I disagree with that judgment because it's necessary to advance the plot. Aquamarine uses his skills of talking to seniors as a doctor in his past life to smooth talk a director, which gets his mother a film role. He uses his people skills to dig up clues to track down his lost father. Unlike many other high school geniuses in anime, Aqua behaves like an adult due to his reincarnation; it is better that the plot provides a reason other than the simple notion that he's a prodigy. Some viewers may find Aqua's infatuation with Ai overwhelming, and it is nearly an oedipal nightmare. Still, it rides the line carefully—quickly reminding us that his love for Ai is admiration, not romance. Ruby's past life provides an obstacle to overcome rather than skill. She struggles with dancing, a crucial skill as an idol, partly because having cancer made it difficult for her to dance, causing her to have difficulty with her mindset. Aqua and Ruby are deeply flawed, socially awkward, and very traumatized, like the other characters.

The side characters stand out with vibrant personalities that leave a lasting impression without gimmicks. Each character possesses their own set of goals, struggles, flaws, and endearing qualities. Among them is Kana Arima, a former child prodigy in acting who now finds herself a mediocre teenage actor. With a theater kid persona, Kana exudes excessive confidence that can seem condescending. However, her knack for maneuvering within the industry helps her secure roles. Like others, her character development involves confronting inner demons caused by past trauma and present triggers. As a freelancer, she often gets trapped in undesirable parts. However, when she joins Ruby to form their idol group B-Komachi, Kana discovers self-respect. Together, they build their team from scratch, with relentless effort and determination.

Another key supporting character is Akane, an up-and-coming actress who works alongside Aqua on a reality TV dating show. Through Akane's arc, the writer explores a theme touched on during the premiere. Social media: How it helps and harms performance artists. There's a focus on positive and negative responses to Aquamarine's TV shows, but it peaks with online hate and canceling Akane faces. Harassment's disastrous effects on her mental health are realistic and portrayed with uncommon sensitivity. Regardless of how the arc plays out, it is cathartic to see the people responsible for her turmoil condemned by the author. This includes the grossly misogynistic haters online and the scumbag producer of their reality TV show.

Aside from the tearjerker premiere, Oshi no Ko manages a few other genuinely moving moments—a mental health crisis and a near breakdown before a major performance—but surrounding those is a bit of contrived drama. Aqua's slow quest to find his father loses steam quickly. However, future seasons can revive that subplot. Ruby must navigate rising as an idol, a path well-worn by music anime. Though they mostly avoid pedestrian school drama, there's romance stalled by misunderstandings. It's as if the anime keeps seeking narrative conflict when there is plenty to dig into with the characters' turmoils—especially Ruby and Aqua's rich history. Tell us more about how their past lives inform their present! And it would've been fascinating to learn more about their adoptive mother; surely, a chapter or two can be spared for her. Despite the story's slight drawbacks, it's consistently elevated by one of Doga Kobo's most impressive presentations alongside Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun.

Although it is less well-directed than Akasaka's prior adaptation, Love is War, Daisuke Hiramaki handles the drama in Oshi no Ko excellently. The combination of orchestral background music and close-up shots creates a sense of immersion during the dramatic scenes. With soaring melodies and dynamic arrangements, orchestral compositions heighten the emotional intensity. As the music swells, it accentuates everything felt by the characters; anguish, joy, and depression, evoking an impactful response from the audience. Furthermore, the well-timed close-up shots sweeten the effect of these moments by capturing the characters' raw expressions.

Oshi no Ko delves into the intricate world of lies and facades that permeate celebrities' and performers' lives. It explores the challenges and consequences of maintaining a public image while delving into its characters' personal trauma. While the tearjerker premiere may have set high expectations that the subsequent episodes couldn't fully meet, the series delivers refreshing and immersive portrayals of the performing arts. The reincarnation plot device, although debated, advances the storyline. The side characters shine with their distinctive personalities and genuine character development, with Kana and Akane standing out as memorable figures. Despite some contrived drama and missed opportunities for deeper exploration, Oshi no Ko is consistently elevated by Doga Kobo's strong presentation. Ultimately, the anime provides a cathartic experience, while taking the coming-of-age genre from a fresh angle.

This review contains minor spoilers.

To this day I fail to understand how Oshi no Ko not only managed to be crowned as the highest rated anime of all time but also with a peak score of 9.32 and, currently at the time of writing this review, a score of 8.73, ranking 48th of all time; I fail to understand it, as Oshi no Ko fails tremendously in dealing with its central themes. It is impressive how an anime from this very year is already outdated in comparison to an anime that deals with similar themes, such as Perfect Blue, which came out 25 YEARS AGO; ... this last work is written in a much more intelligent, mature and interesting way, it is a visionary, thought-provoking anime and a masterpiece in comparison to the concert of mediocrity that Oshi no Ko offers in every sense, an anime that is dedicated to absolute mediocrity and to criticize the consumerism that this same anime uses in its favor. It is ironic how the show that pretends to show the consumerism in the entertainment industry and the superficial falsehood of entertainers is at the same time a huge waifu collection with a flat as an ironing board personality and with a 2cute4you design destined to sell dakimakuras and produce merchandise; it is also a show that goes from pretending to deal with serious issues to being a melodramatic drama of teenagers soaked in embarrassing & poorly-timed humour with shock value added for morbid curiosity. This show assumes that the audience is stupid and it overexplains absolutely everything with idiotic platitudes; fragile, vapid and completely harmless.

Oshi no Ko criticizes what Oshi no Ko itself does, this anime commits the same sins that it condemns in its plot and I believe that this hypocrisy cannot go unnoticed. Oshi no Ko tries to be self-aware, it aspires to be an anime that tells you about how fake the entertainment industry is and how their only objective is to make money when this anime does this very thing in a blatant way. It tries to be serious, cynical, mocking and provocative but falls short in any way. Oshi no Ko is food for people who want to feel superficially satisfied and feel "aware" of much-more complicated and real issues, this anime feeds people a digested, ridiculous version of enormous, real-life problems. Not only does Oshi no Ko bastardize such a complex issue as abuse on the Idol and entertainment industry, it also fucks up bullying and harassment in a specific arc.

I'll start with the famed episode one, which boasts the length of basically a movie and was the main reason this anime managed to claim the number one spot on this page. It begins with an off-key dialogue of a narrator exclaiming "This story is a fictional work; in fact, almost everything in this world is fiction. They fabricate, exaggerate and cover up every minute detail that does not fulfill their narrative. Therefore, fans love to be cleverly lied to. In this world, lies are weapons." at this moment, from the very first second, the anime is covered with a pretentious and insulting attitude; exclaiming things that are already common knowledge to all those who consume any kind of entertainment and that are absolutely clear in this time; it is not even said in a way that incites an interesting point of view or even becomes provocative, it is already obvious and not worth mentioning.

Saying obvious facts and being tremendously bland and pretentious is a common theme of Oshi no Ko; it is an anime that tells you "fire burns" and it stands there, with a sly little smile, as if it has unveiled a hidden truth in the industry, when the depravity and darkness of the entertainment industry is something well-known, something that has been continuously fought against and a degenerate sewer which goes much deeper than this anime presents; the attitude of this show and its attempts to be provocative are not only insulting, but it also fails miserably at being thought-provoking or rebellious.

After this show of pretentiousness where they tell you that water is wet, they proceed to introduce for the first time our protagonist; Gorou Anemiya, a degenerate otaku doctor obsessed with underage girls (this is his comedy gag for the next 30 minutes and his only personality traits) and Hoshino Ai, who is the most notorious talent of the idol group called "B Komachi" and is clearly the light of the stage; Hoshino Ai also a character who offers no interesting insights into her occupation as such an acclaimed idol and sets out to make exposition dumps and regurgitate information that a viewer already knows or can deduce for themselves. Episode one furthermore consists of a miserable comedic tone, like when the nurse mocks Gotou by calling him a pedophile..., after the death of a girl from cancer, I don't think it's a good time to insert comedy.

Anyways, the two of them revive as Hoshino Ai's twins and this is something I find funny; it's a supernatural element of resurrection suddenly inserted in an anime that pretends to represent the harsh reality, something supernatural that never comes back and just happens without reasonable explanation within what this anime is; also, are you going to tell me that in 16 years that the two of them lived together nothing ever came out about this in this regard? Not only this, Oshi no Ko as a whole suffers from tone problems; its dark atmosphere pretends to uncover raw facts about the industry but it comes off as pretentious, clumsy, obvious, and the light humorous moments are embarrassing and mainly repeat the same comedy gags over and over again.

The cast of characters in Oshi no Ko is tremendously bland and one-dimensional; none of them are relatable, they don't feel realistic and are absolute clichés. Each of them spits out the same platitudes about the entertainment industry constantly, without any interesting or thought-provoking additions to prompt the viewer to think or have a new point of view. From the edgelord gigachad 50000 IQ galaxy brain of Aquamarine Hoshino, who is surely the worst character in this anime (which is saying a lot) and who undertakes a ridiculous Walmart Death Note style cat and mouse story; while this is going on, every now and then Aqua turns to the camera, in edgelord 50000 IQ mode and tells the viewer for the fifth hundredth time "the entertainment industry is fake................ all of these people have a facade and they hide all the details that would ruin their narrative........" and the camera focuses on him as if he were the Albert Einstein of anime or the revolutionary of the industry, when the things he says are not only observable and deductible to the viewer by themselves, but, again, are OBVIOUS things that have already been repeated a million times over. Perhaps I am too cynical and pessimistic, but it is a fact that most famous people in entertainment hide dirt under their carpets and there are probably still many degenerates to be uncovered, it is something already assumed, much deeper and known.

They introduce Ruby Hoshino who is a classy cliché idol and essentially resurrected Ai Hoshino, Kana Arima who is the talented actress and who, like Aquamarine, spews out expositions of information all the time about painfully obvious things and Akane Kurokawa, a girl who is SO tormented; everyone hates her and talks bad about her because she is SO talented and SO hardworking, everyone talks bad about her and of course the one who should help her is Aquamarine, there is no one else in her life who cares about her more than the protagonist. Anime as a medium often sins of treating bullying as a topic so extremely superficial that it hurts, and Oshi no Ko is no different from them; the bullying towards Akane is treated in an incredibly shallow and flat way, and it's all so bland it's disgusting, her mental health is also treated in an incredibly shallow way and I feel like this character is just made as a plot device to make Aquamarine into a hero and of course after he helped her she proceeds to fall in love, everyone knows the best way to romance the galaxy 50000 IQ brain gigachad is to pretend you're his mother, that's totally something a person would do. I didn't mention Mem-Cho because she is so flat that I can't consider her a character.

Oshi no Ko is nothing more than a brick wall with pretty paint, it's pure style over substance and offers nothing new. It is the same stuff puked again on the table, it is a melodramatic and ridiculous teen drama with an immature revenge story pasted as a stamp on top and I'm convinced it's one of the most overrated anime to come out lately; it's immature in its execution and treatment of its core themes. What did I like about Oshi no Ko? The animation looks decent.., there really isn't much else, it's all style over substance, there's nothing here for the taking that's anything fresh. Oshi no Ko does what Oshi no Ko criticizes, it's a rebellious pretense that goes nowhere and is a vomit of common knowledge about the ceptic pit that is the celebrity world, Oshi no Ko's criticism of the idol and entertainment industry comes off as lukewarm and fragile; there is nothing of real value, this show is steeped in superficiality, pretentiousness and immaturity. For a show that deals with Oshi no Ko's core themes in a better way there is Perfect Blue, which is a million times better in every way; more mature, better directed, better written, better atmosphere, improved in every way, and that came out in 1998, Oshi no Ko could only DREAM of still staying relevant 25 years later.

It feels like a show with no soul or essence behind it, it's something without substance and completely bland in nature. It's a show that deals with its themes in an immature way and which fails in all its attempts to provoke the viewer, which turns into a melodramatic anime of teenagers in a high school with extremely one-dimensional characters with super ridiculous revenge story stamps, which at the same time pretends that the viewer is left amazed; but in reality it is nothing more than a compilation of mediocrity, edgyness and obvious platitudes. Not only this, it is also a crude way to make money at the expense of a real problem using marketable character designs and dumb, easily digestible episodes and plot, do not let Aka Akasaka cook.

(Spoiler Free)

Oshi No Ko is a Masterpiece of pure emotion. If you watch the first episode you would be able to see how much the author cares about the story he is crafting. The story isn’t afraid to be dark when it needs to be, however it never feels like it’s to much as there are plenty of other themes to be explored. We see from the main characters Aqua and Ruby’s perspective on how the entertainment industry works and the harsh reality of well reality. Which leads me to the strongest thing Oshi No Ko has going for it in my opinion, the characters ... are written in a way that reflects people in real life and it’s not a stretch to say that they are some of the best written characters in recent anime. Oshi No Ko feels like a project that everyone working on it has poured their soul into. The animation is gorgeous, the art style is identical to the manga and the OST is is heart wrenching. Overall I highly recommend this anime.

It's not often that we get a show that tries to be more of a critique of society and less so a piece that you watch for raw entertainment.

Oshi no ko, as it's known in both Japanese and English, at first struck me off as rather creepy when it was announced - I mean, I wasn't familiar with the manga and at first glance, it's a show about a guy who's a big fan of a girl barely above the Japanese age of consent that then becomes her newborn son, of course it'd be weird. I was sceptical at first that it'd be like Inukai-san's ... Dog but far weirder and I'm really glad I was proven wrong.

The show isn't an average idol anime that's about friendship and love or whatever. Instead, it tries to be more informative and sheds light on various aspects of the entertainment industry that are either barely known or well-known but never discussed because ultimately people forget that celebrities are real humans as well alongside the fanaticism that comes with many fans that can manifest in many forms - Ruby being one example and Ryousuke another, far more polar one. In fact, a lot of dialogue in the first episode is about world building and it's delivered rather naturally. Nevertheless, the story is likely to make people consider twice about the entertainment industry and everything not so public that lies below it. The episode 1 itself was very emotional as well and it did great work to lure people in. The plot isn't afraid to be deplorable to itself for the sake of quality which is rare for most anime.

There're smaller issues with various plot holes, though. Namely I'd say that the author has a pretty bad grasp of what people at certain ages can do. Note that Ai became an idol 4 years before the start - at the age of 12. Aqua also holds rather complicated conversation with the Director at the age of 2 or 3 or so and he finds it quite normal.

Characters are fleshed out and recognisable. As per standard Aka Akasaka fashion, main characters generally need a random unique and unnatural feature to make them distinguishable - in this case, the eyes and blonde hair. Although I do admit it looks rather odd at first, I grew used to it rather quickly and by now I'm fine with it. Ai's entire internal struggle is the machine that fuels episode 1 and both its exposition and end are great. Both Ruby and Aqua's former identities are also utilised well as both a tool for character and plot development. And let the praise of the main cast not deter you from noticing the incredibly good array of side characters as well, from the Director, his wife, the Movie Director guy, Kana, etc. etc. (more come but will avoid mention due to spoilers and it's barely even the 3rd episode!). So, tl:dr - it's incredible

Just wish they had more normal names...I mean, imagine being named Aquamarine, that's quite a mouthful, innit? Or Ruby as well, that's just an odd one. But I digress.
Production is impeccable. The voice design is great and VAs include both a big name like Takahashi Rie and then big surprises such as Ruby's VA, who is an amateur (MAL lists this as her first work, even) but nevertheless not lacking in any ways. The opening song Idol by YOASOBI (by the way, if you haven't yet, I warmly advise that you check out the music video, it's great) is also a great fit for the show, albeit not something I'd listen to myself. The opening animation is fluid and pure eye candy. The art style is pretty unique (especially character design) but it's not bad in any way. Naturally, it falls short of masterpieces, but it's still beautiful - you'll likely never ever think to yourself "damn the art is not good"

Never expected that I'd unironically enjoy an idol show as much as I am right now. The genre in general has been experiencing a drought of more serious shows and this one is more than a good way to fill up that hole. Should anything change, I'll edit the review accordingly, although at this point, it can't go higher. Cheers, stay safe and have a nice day!

This anime presents some challenges that need to be addressed, and I find the extensive promotion it has received to be rather overwhelming, amplifying its annoyances.

Initially, the first episode captivates viewers with its strong storytelling. However, as the series progresses, it gradually loses its appeal. One of the major issues lies in the fact that each episode seems to draw inspiration from real events, which adds to its problematic nature. The portrayal of the main character, Aqua, is particularly disappointing. While attempting to create a character reminiscent of Light Yagami from Death Note, Aqua's reasoning and understanding of situations often feel flawed and unreasonable. His ... unpleasant demeanor makes it difficult to fully engage with the show.

Having worked in the media and entertainment industry in Tokyo for the past six years, I have witnessed both the underground and corporate sides of this industry. Regrettably, the portrayal of certain aspects in this anime lacks realism, appearing more like a superficial interpretation of the idol, media, acting, and influencer world derived from 4chan or 2chan.

It is worth noting the timeline correlation between the development of this anime and the controversial Terrace House incident. This further fuels skepticism regarding the show's originality, as Aqua exploits the unfortunate trauma experienced by the girls for self-promotion on social media platforms. The reaction of the characters to this exploitation, with their cheerful and accepting attitudes, left a distasteful impression on me, leading me to abandon watching the series after the seventh episode.

Furthermore, the writer's conduct on Twitter in response to the controversy surrounding this episode has been highly problematic. For individuals who are familiar with or have friends in the media industry who have tragically taken their own lives, this episode feels, at the very least, disrespectful. I sincerely hope that the show will be canceled and not continue.

Edit:
It's sad that some kids think sending death threats to me over my review is going to do much.
I will change my rating from 2 - 1 just to say fuck you so the horrible fans. there you totally changed my mind. lol

Graphics: 8.
First episode: 10
Ep 2-8 : constantly dropping from 10 down to 3 today.

After watching the first episode, you would be expecting a mystery anime that's similar to Erased and expecting the next 10 episodes to be Aqua trying to find out who the killer is.
At least that was happening in the first few episodes after the first one. But all of a sudden it just spends the next 5 episodes on SoL and real-life condition of being an idol/actors. Now we have 3 eps left and I doubt we will have any development in the mystery portion of the ... show. Not a good way to structure the first season of an anime, unless if they had just gone out and made it a full 24 episode first season. The reminder episode of Ep 7.5 was absolutely unnecessary for an anime this short.

Aqua is just your typical overly smart character that acts emo. Cliche af...
Ruby is just a useless character that only serves the purpose of "Ai's daughter". The show would still be same without Ruby and having the MC as Ai's only child.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Many people depicted that Anime are the shows fondly about unique drawing and many amounts of fan-service that has hypes all around to their favorite series. And I do get to see many amounts of boorish shows that it suppresses you of not liking the anime because of how common to the other titles are; in that many people says, “This has better than that anime, or that is better than this anime”. We do have ourselves struck esteem on opinions of the shows.
But one of which in this seasonal airing show have brought shining stars and glimmer of ... hope to the new age of anime.

To begin with, we have to start the good part of [Oshi no Ko].
Where the entertainment industry centers around Show-biz & Idols that lies around the people who you love watching on your big screen.
Ai Hoshino, the stardom’s biggest Idol that beloved by many fans that caught their attention with her cheerful act, vibrant personality, and a maiden voice. And one last of them all that many fans do not know that she’s an endearing mother.
With all the actors/actress that we’ve known and love, its good that us fan have to keep supporting their back since that’s what pushes them to be better at their job and many more fans will accompany them for their success. Ai pushes to be one of the greats in her generation since she has the vigor in her charm and with an outstanding innovation as she ranks up to the leaderboard of followers.

With so many possibilities to become the very best in the film/idol industry, but there is also the bad part to not to be into.
In speaking of followers, it is suspected to see that there's these so called "Social Media" and it has many fatal flaws. Which it comes the people in the internet. Internet is an amazing tool to use of however you like it, and knowing that there are also people who loves to abolish things that would end up shaming everyone. [Oshi no Ko] also centered around the Internet's fanbase of how they love Ai so much and they would continuously supporting her. And another hand is to discriminate, calling her that she has a bad personality and a selfish girl who wants to stand out for herself. You can never withdrawn the fact that there are people like that loves destroying the images of the people just to seek enough attention for themselves and not even showing who they are.

That's the only bad part. And the worse part is the Ugly truth.
There are numerous news about young Celebrities have left their lives in the face of the Earth. On April 19, 2023. In Korea, a Korean pop Idol, Moon Bin have died.
Cause of Death? Suicide.
What made him Suicide? "His decision are still not known at the moment".
Here hoping that is not another cyberbullying.
But you can see the pattern here that we live in a modern day that countless of Celebrities have died due to Media. And the most common site that many people does not take it slightly is Twitter. And to keep it extra, there are more people have died because of Internet in the past. Setting outside than Japan. Here are 3 great examples:

Hana Kimura was a pro wrestler. On her debut on a "Staged" show called Terrace House, there was a part of her that the producers wanted Hana to act violently towards her co-star(Kobayashi), and told her to slap him. She refused and settled on knocking off the hat instead. Producers wanted her to be obnoxious and play uphill character to help the ratings and later confirmed by Kobayashi that the moment was staged. And when the episode aired, people were ranting and started calling things to her that she should kill herself.
5 days later, after receiving many comments. Hana Kimura has passed.

Haruma Miura was a singer/actor. He was a great singer and actor, knowing his live-action works like as Eren Yeager in Shigeki no Kyojin(AoT) and Shouta Kazehaya in Kimi ni Todoke. Knowing that he has passed away because of censurer people. His agency even has the audacity to spread misinformation that he was targeted by CIA.
So not only there are piece of sh*t people that caused himself to death, but his agency had the balls to tell a false rumors to his loving fans.

Last but not least. (Warning: i dont want to say this much, but you may find this disturbing to read. you've been warned)
Back in May 2016, a 20 y/o singer and actress Mayu Tomita was stabbed in the neck and chest multiple times by an online stalker after rejecting his gifts to her for months. Before anything that happened, Mayu already feared for her safety then she contacted the authorities that an online stalker could potentially approach her, but the police dismissed the case since his motives are not big of a deal. Sooner than later, 12 days after contacting the police. The stalker found Mayu and stabbed her 61 times with a pocket knife.
Luckily, there were no signs of hitting the vital organs, but received 34 stab wounds, partially blind on her left eye and having PTSD. She is still in fact alive today, but she will never forget that day.

Being in the Entertainment Industry is a 50/50 in my opinion. But the half of it is just straight down to the rabbit hole.

As an enthusiast of myself watching films from time to time. There are many movies and tv shows that centered around the show business and they are quite intriguing to watch. But it never surpasses the beyond beliefs knowing [Oshi no Ko]’s story.

Oshi no Ko is a story that undermines itself.

[This review contains spoilers for episode 1 and minor spoilers for the rest of the story.]


Let’s start the story, with the only thing that truly mattered, the poster girl, Ai.

For those who are already caught up with the first episode, stick around because this section lays out some important foundations regarding Ai's character, and its also a really short segment.

Ai was 16 year old idol, who like many 16 year old girls, made a dumb mistake and who got knocked up with twins.
...
Ai, chooses to keep the children, and do something she considers “selfish”, choose to have both a professional life and a parental one.

As she continues and tries her best, she realizes that she needs to sacrifice parts of her professional and personal life because she feels like she has a duty to provide the best for her children.

Ai is a very direct individual who always seems to be optimistic.

Eventually she hits big and over the span of multiple years, she becomes a famous.

So, what’s so impressive about Ai?

The fact that she’s self-aware about the issues behind her professional position and the way she treats them. She realizes that being an idol is essentially being a professional liar. You lie to people and get them to form para social relationships with you. She spend hundreds of hours in front of a mirror simply perfecting even the corners of her smiles to make them as perfect as can be She has become a master at putting up a front of a good little cute idol.

You might be wondering, “wait. Isn’t that horrible?” Well, you tell me, based on what she considers “love”.

Ai comes from a broken home with no parents. She loved no one and felt no love in return. A sleazy manager convinced her that showing lies is showing love. That lies eventually might turn true, which, in her mind, counter act their immoral aspect. For Ai, putting effort into your lies, is a way of expressing love. She’s never felt love herself and thus, this is one of the ways she interpreted, that she can use to express love.

She often got frustrated when fans pointed out how fake she was acting, because to her, it was obvious. “They’re the ones asking for something that by its nature is a lie”.


Eventually, even after Ai hits it big and is booked too dance at the dome (which is a big milestone for her professional career), she puts the needs and happiness of others, again, in front of her own, and decides to keep pretending that she’s happy. She’s always bottled up her emotions up until this point, and has never once expressed her inner turmoil publicly to others.

One day, she overheard her kids talking about their father and having weird opinions on the matter, so she phoned up the father and asked him to meet up with the kids.

Later that day, she hears a knock on the door and answers it. Soon, before Ai realizes whats happening, the man who knocked on the door, a jealous fan, stabs her. Who the fan is in this story, doesn’t matter. Its irrelevant. The author makes quite the attempt to highlight this. It’s a random infatuated and obsessed fan who got jealous that she dared lie to the world about loving them, and then turn around and “secretly” have kids.

Ai, as shes bleeding to death, does something surprising. She smiles and forgives him. She admits that her philosophy on what love is and what her career built was based on lies. That she honestly thought that if she just tried hard enough, she could love all of her fans. She could turn the lie into a reality. She forgives the individual and states that even now, she appreciates her fans and shows compassion towards their feelings of resentment.

--

The story of Ai, isn’t an uncommon one, but it’s still a heart breaking one. It’s the story of a kid, who messed up and got pregnant, did their absolute best to raise their children, sacrificed so much for them, hid their pain, and even then, life stomps them out.

This isn’t just the story of a mother. This is a story of human perseverance. Way too often does perseverance, compassion, forgiveness and altruism get expressed in the pompous and bombastic stories of fighters like Thorfin. Rarely do we get to see something so attached and grounded towards real life situations.

Before dying, Ai continued to wish and dream of a future she could enjoy with her children. She admitted that even though she throws around the words “I love you”, she hasn’t ever used them on an individual level, especially towards her children, because she is scared. Scared that it will also be a lie and that she will hate herself for it. An all too real fear. Finally, she says it, and cries because she actually meant it.

It’s not Ai’s fault for what happened. Largely, its also not the killer’s. It was bound to happen. The fault, falls on the the lucrative infrastructure and well established status quo behind the idol industry. The first episode makes a good attempt at highlighting that these businesses manipulate and use people. Individuals form parasocial relationships with these idols which are intrinsically unhealthy.


The first episode shows that everything in the idol industry at the end of the day, is just business. As beautiful and as hard working as Ai was, the show points out that she got lucky. Being a successful idol has more to do with how you sell yourself rather than being the best. It shows us all the roadblocks of business that Ai faced throughout her life to get where she was.

Does it matter who the father was? Does it matter how, why and who were involved in the mistake Ai made regarding having children at such a young age? No, it shouldn’t and the story points this out in the beginning.

This is a very common scenario. People (and especially individuals who are heavily involved in the situation) get fixated on trying to find out who the father is or how this happened. It doesn’t matter. It was a mistake made by two dumb 16 year olds. You don’t need to artificially add plot twists and pompous information to it, finding who the father is - who most times is a confused 16 year old kid that fucked up and for one reason or another chose to ignore his duties - isn’t going to give you a cathartic revelation. Thankfully, at least the first episode of the anime realizes this and goes out of its way, to NOT go out of its way and answer these questions.

So, why am I unsatisfied and where is the rest of the story?

Well, these two things are sort of mutually inclusive.

For the most part, the young two twins, Aqua and ruby, ( who are the 30-40 year old doctor in the body of the male twin; aqua, and a 12 year old patient of the doctor and a fan of Ai who died earlier in the series, in the body of the female twin;ruby) are there in the first episode as plot devices in order for us to get to see Ai’s story progress. Most of what they do is fluff. Sure it’s entertaining, but nothing more than that.

Even the weird fake out at the beginning of the story, the weird and obsessively attached rural doctor who’s patient turns out to be his beloved idol part, is only there to serve its purpose as a pivot to the main story.

So, where does the story continue afterwards and why am I so disappointed?

Because it turns into a shallow revenge fetish anime.

Aqua concludes that the person who ) killed their mother, got all the information fed to him by another person, that person being Aqua and ruby’s father.

The previous part of the story and the continuation part of the story clash with each other. Aqua, who is supposed to be a 30-40 year old man, never introspects. He never takes a step back to think about what he should do. Things like "Would seeking for revenge, ultimately reduce my sister's well-being and risks her life?" or "How is my sister handling the situation? What should I do?" or "Would Ai really want me to waste my new given life in order to get revenge?" or finally "How is my previous mother doing?" are never shown to even cross Aqua's mind. Aqua, the 40 year old, jumps straight to revenge and murder. There is no organic introspection. Theres no considering the options or trying to process what the best course of action. Aqua, acts like an unhinged 14 year old and decides to dedicate the rest of his life to revenge, without ever considering if thats the best option.

His sister for the most part, was just stuck there, left to pick up the pieces of a broken family. His sister is 14. He is 40. Why is the 40 year old physician the one acting like a child and the 14 year old child left there to be the adult?

Why does he not try to communicate with his sister? Why doesn't he try to comfort her? Why doesn't he at least consider these options? Why doesn't he at least consider any other option?

Its so inorganic and vapid. Right after the events of Ai's death, we cut to aqua realizing his father is probably the culprit, then him having an edgy "I will kill him if its the last thing I do" moment, and then... a time skip? Thats it. We don't get to see how they processed it. What thoughts went through their heads.

Ai's life lessons, actions and what she stood for get completely swept under the rug. She is now just used as a symbol to justify revenge. Its insane how the anime that talked about how fans ignore that idols are real people and just take them as a symbol or as a lie, completely forgets this, and literally glorifies the main character forgetting the person Ai was and just using her as motive for revenge.


Now, this could be somewhat salvaged, right? Maybe the story is about pointing at and showing what Aqua is doing is wrong. Maybe it’s a journey of self growth?

Sadly not. Not only does Aqua not only get punished or shown to be the villain at all, he is rewarded by having 1-3 UNDER-AGED love interests, to which he uses to get ahead on his plans (which again, no one talks about how disgusting it is that a 40 year old man is in a romantic manipulative relationship with a 14 year old girl). Anytime he disgustingly uses and manipulates one of these 'waifus' , it’s swept under the rag cause he does something else that shows that he “loves them”.

After taking a few minutes to think about this, one may wonder “alright, but where could the story have continued towards?”. Well, multiple directions. It could attempt to show the story of recovering from such a traumatic experience, while also keeping it interesting since its rooted from the perspective of two individuals in a weird power balance and who are in a generally unorthodox situation post grief. It could attempt to continue to show the poignant and harsh consequences of a post parasocial era being strangled and milked by corporations under the guise of entertainment. It’s a tall order, but it could even explore why there’s so much increased demand for parasocial relationships to begin with.

But instead, we get the insipid revenge story of an emotionally immature individual who straddles along his poor sister for his premature and childish journey for revenge.

It undoes everything the first episode set. Ai, knowing the predatory and dangerous nature of what it means to be an idol, says as some of her last words, that she wants ruby to be an idol? Did we not just spend an entire hour observing some of the inherent problems that plague most idols in the industry? The story started to involve gods and divine intervention later on because of course it did. It has become ungrounded, took off and flew into the same vapid and generic shounen-esque drama crap that always sells so great.

The author writes compelling situations (which is worth noting that there are a lot of linear coincidences that lead to these situations in the first place, so if you start paying attention to them, you realize that the situations these characters are in aren't as fluid and organic as they might seem), sure, but unfortunately sacrifices character development and any of the previous things that made the anime actually stand out in my eyes, to reach these situations.

Anyways,

Most people walked away from the first episode with a feeling of sadness. I walked away with it with a feeling of sadness and disappointment. Not disappointment towards the author or even the franchise itself, but disappointment towards myself for believing that this franchise would evolve into anything but your run of the mil anime cash cow.

For you and me, and everyone, Oshi no Ko has transcended beyond logic this season. You know, before I even added this show to the watchlist, this anime hit a lot of genres and ideas that stunned me in their promotional material. The preview video and theme songs in particular caused an Internet sensation. Plus, this franchise wasn't created by some nobody. It's made by the same author as Kaguya Love is War, the same series that had psychological elements tied with love and war. Watching Oshi no Ko is one of the most stunning experiences I had in recent years.

I kid you not. The ... first episode extended to 70+ minutes may be one of the most mind-boggling, peculiar, or perhaps disturbing introduction for an anime you've seen in years. Do not let the colorful key visual deceive you. This is so much more than about cute idols doing cute things. The entertainment world is a complex realm of possibilities that tipify the very fabric of our emotions. Let me just say that Oshi no Ko has one of the most complex mixture of themes this season. Adapted into a 11 episodes season, it follows the manga story by the one and only Aka Akasaka.

It's clear Oshi no Ko wanted to catch our attention with not just its strange premise, but also the full creativity of its first episode. Being a double length, this is essentially a mini-movie aimed at introducing the main story and some of the most important characters. We meet Goro Amamiya as he is murdered on the night of delivering idol singer Ai Hoshino's children. The twist comes as Goro is reincarnated as one of Ai's children and now goes by the name 'Aqua'. The rabbit hole goes deeper with the introduction of Ruby, his fraternal twin and this sets the foundation of the story. It sounds mind-boggling and you truly need to watch the first episode to experence it. Words alone cannot describe the amount of mind shattering direction of this show. But again, maybe you are used to seeing anime with reincarnation elements. It has been a dominating force in today's anime industry after all. Oshi no Ko does not contain the fantasy isekai elements but instead take place in an entertainment world. And as I mentioned before, the entertainment world is a complex realm of possibilities.

Perhaps one of the most pivotal moments in the show is the death of Ai Hoshino. The anime is bold enough to kill off an important character because it's needed to develop the overall plot. For you see, love and revenge becomes a part of this anime's themes. Ai's experience with love hits its peak when she truly tells her children that she loves them. Similar to Akasaka's Kaguya Love is War, this anime has themes related to lies. But in those final moments, Ai was able to express herself truthfully in the most natural way possible. Meanwhile, the anime wants Aqua to avenge Ai's death. For him to discover the truth, the most important way is to enter the entertainment industry.

Oshi no Ko touches on several themes and although love, lies, and revenge are among these, it doesn't stop there. For there's love, there's also hate and Aqua is one of the best representation of such feelings. Aqua is the easily the coldest character in the show with a single dedicated mind focused on finding out the truth. Willing to take any risks and go as far as a man can go, Aqua will stop at nothing in his goal and this season showcases some of his talents. You may question if Aqua is entitled to this because truth be told, everything he sets out to do is for revenge and we all know that revenge isn't going to bring back Ai. However, I want to say Aqua represents the very instincts of human nature. It's natural human instinct for us to feel angry when we lose a loved one. For Aqua, he makes it a personal journey to avenge his mother and find out the truth. Although this season doesn't have enough time to solve the eerie mystery, it does uncover Aqua's talents and enough for us to know his personality.

Beyond the boundary of hate and revenge, we should also take a closer look at Ruby Hoshino and her presence this season. To put it simply, she represents a foil of Aqua, being outgoing with a bubbly personality and being easily able to make friends with others. Instead of seeking revenge, Aqua hopes to make a name for herself in the entertainment industry. Growing up in her previous life as a happy person, it would appear her personality didn't change much at all since Ai's death. While this seems to put odds against her brother Aqua, the show does make it clear that he cares about her greatly. Their relationship is described as peculiar because they contrast each other so much. But at its core, the two are a close family since the tragedy of their mother.

The entertainment industry introduces us a rather colorful cast and among them is Akane Kurokawa. One particular episode showed not just her sensitive side but just how tough the entertainment industry can be and its high expectations. However, this anime wanted Akane to be a mirror image of Ai Hoshino. She may not be as talented but with a resourceful mind and rejuvenated determination, Akane draws us in as an inspirational role model. Watching Oshi no Ko showcases an element of surprise where we should always expect the unexpected. Akane's character turnaround is just one such example and if you don't believe me, just see for yourself.

Ultimately, your decision to watch Oshi no Ko could be for its themes, character cast, story, or the overall tone of the series. It's not the usual showbiz type anime where characters compete for a spotlight and make a career. This is about controlling a path and following it through any obstacle. This isn't just a romance either so don't go into this show expecting a love story between the cast. As with Akasaka's style of writing, you should expect one with emotional drama combined with psychological attributes. It has some sensitive themes including death, suicide, and among other topics that can be deemd as controversial. Yet, Oshi no Ko is outlandishly entertaining for not being afraid to take risks. And to me, it's also why this anime is a must-watch.

Adapted by studio Doga Kobo, the most noticable element for the character designs are the starry eyes that may go beyond just asethetics. Sure, the author wanted to give our characters unique looks with their radiant emotions. However, there's yet no definitive answer why we see those sparkling eyes. Perhaps they represent emotions and how humans behave. Or perhaps they really are designed to give the anime a colorful look. Nonetheless, Doga Kobo captured the esseence of the character designs at its finest straight from the manga. The theme songs also combine a balanced style of J-pop and dark tone when watched carefully. And thankfully, the animation quality throughout this anime remains concrete throughout.

Whether you agree or disagree about Oshi no Ko's rating is a topic on its own. But I speak for everyone when I say that this anime and manga will be talked about for years. We now live in a social media age where anime like this can instantly spark debates. Controversy makes cash and there's no doubt Oshi no Ko is sitting on a gold mine.

Oshi no Ko


Aka Akasaka is the author who fascinated me with "Love is War". It is rare to find such a diverse and creative comedy show, I was captivated by the talent of the author. After experiencing the hype of "Oshi no Ko" for quite some time and discovering that it was the same author as Love is War, my curiosity was immense. After the first 3 episodes, I can't say much about it, but I get the feeling that Akasaka isn't exactly made for dramas.

Since I only know the anime, I can only write about it exclusively. This show undoubtedly possesses a concept ... that I find incredibly interesting, not only does it deal with reincarnation, but also many other dark and realistic topics. Unfortunately, the execution seems to be lacking. The first episode alone didn't have any balance between comedy and serious scenes, so everything just got mixed up. Although I find the series relatively interesting and will continue to watch it, I have doubts about future episodes.

The first episode created a lot of hype that was constantly circulating on the internet. Similar to "To Your Eternity." Except that in that said anime, the first episode was a Tour de Force that was better than any that followed. Here is the complete opposite. The "Prologue" episode of Oshi no Ko is pretty average in every way. The fact that the episode lasted an hour was the right decision. Otherwise, it would have left a much weaker impression. There's also the fact that the anime pretty much thrives on melodrama. I loved how the first episode picked up on the show's business theme. It's a very underrated topic in real life, especially when it comes to idols. Unfortunately, the prologue spent more than half the time constantly making some kind of joke and shooting itself in the leg over and over again. In my opinion, I found episodes 2 and 3 a bit better than the first one. So I hope for an improvement and with Akasaka, this should be possible. Unfortunately, too often people confuse well-written scenes, with unexpected scenes. Just because a character dies where you didn't expect it, doesn't automatically mean that everything is suddenly fascinating and brilliant.

Unfortunately, the show follows an immensely forced plot line. If at the end of the manga, it turns out that there was a god who forced these events, then I would even accept it. All the main events in the prologue are so forced that you could either say that fate has been their enemy or that the author is a sadist. Of course, it helps that both AI and Gorou both have massively low IQs and choose virtually all the "false turns" in this story. And where I also arrive at the death of the protagonist. Until the end of episode 1, I was almost 100% sure that Oshi no Koi was going to be a parody comedy, at least that's what the death of the protagonist gave me. If it weren't for the end of the episode, which shocked me, I would still think so. Even though I find the anime relatively enjoyable, I have to say that the start could have been done better by far. The whole thing would have gone much better if the protagonist only had a manager... and not this guy who has zero idea of what he's being paid for.
Why doesn't anyone notice that the 3-year-old protagonist has the mind of an adult? Calling him a " mature baby" is a good idea in a comedy. But what does the anime want to be now? A drama? A comedy?
The protagonists' fake mother was practically a mentally unstable lunatic who wanted to ruin their mother. They briefly manipulated her through her "Divine Appearance" and that was it? Now she's suddenly on their side just to find an attractive guy?
This anime bends everything just to keep it going somehow. Following the scheme - Random Bullshit Go -

[Story 4]

I can already see where this story is going. The protagonist will probably do his Aqua Jäger Revenge Tour until he finds the mastermind. While his sister will mimic her mother, this will be the likely course of the series. Not exactly what I was hoping for at the beginning. I thought it was going to be a family drama/comedy anime that picked up on the above themes. Instead, we end up with another Revenge anime, which is not conditionally bad. But just looking at the last sentence from the protagonist when he was in the car and had made up his mind...I just get goosebumps. There's hardly a worse way to stage it without making the protagonist seem like a little Edgylord, where are we, on Kill la Kill?

With the flow of the first 3 episodes, practically everything is right, only it constantly fails in the implementation which I just can not understand. The manga/anime makes such simple mistakes and tries not to confront important moments or essential explanations and skips them instead. Just like the relationship between Aqua and the studio guy. No reaction from the mother, not the manager nothing. How did they get in touch after the phone call? This and so much else are just skipped over. What I find disappointing.

[Characters 5]

Can hardly say anything so far.

The 3 biggest focus characters are Ai, Aqua, and Ruby.

We know practically nothing about Ruby except for her simplistic personality. Ai was the most interesting of the three, especially with her perspective on the world but... yeah with that being said? I love beautifully animated eyes, but with Ai, they went way too overboard with it. It's not beautiful anymore, it's just the eye version of "put all kinds of filters on it".
And Aqua the protagonist is hard to classify. On the one hand, I thought he was a relatively intelligent adult, but somehow the reincarnation got to him, making him seem relatively regressed.

None of the three is likable so far. With 3 episodes, it's also hard to sympathize with characters whose screen time consisted of 95% gags.

However, I read some comments about Aqua in the manga, which arouse my interest, but unfortunately, you have to wait until it is animated.


[Music 6 / Animations 8]

From a musical point of view, the anime is only above average. What shines in is the good scene changes and animations. Especially the backgrounds are immensely good. Even just during the horror shoot in episode 1 (with Kana), the forest looked like a painting.
The pacing is also relatively good, the studio put a massive amount of effort into that.

[Conclusion 5]

I'll update the scores as the episodes progress. Since this anime is a massively controversial topic at the moment, I also just wanted to write a review.

In the end, the first episodes were okay, but that's all there had been. They were neither outstanding nor impressive. The sad thing is that both the shocking scene in episode 1 and the concept itself could be really good. Unfortunately, it didn't feel like anything. If you're going to wrap up a character arc so quickly, you need to pay a lot more attention to the character beforehand. Sending it half-heartedly across the plank like that is not a proper solution.

Anyway, am looking forward to the next episodes and hope that the manga will be fully animated. If anyone wants to spoil me, feel free to do so, at least I'll know what I'm waiting for.

[Enjoyment 5]

I am clearly not one of the targeted audience, take anything I say as a subjective opinion.

It presents each ambiguous contemporary values without showing much more critical spirit than a high-schooler (fame, superficiality, success, etc..), justify cowardice with any sort of tearful backstories, disguise narcissistic and venal behaviors into philanthropic desirs, and try to re-build trust between the industry and consumers on multiple occasion to soften, just in case, the sudden awareness in the viewers mind...

Story:
common teen/emo/idol slice of life with a couple of unnecessary plot twists

Music:
bland pop, doesn't even try to be original. This is ridiculous, or maybe just an attempt to make you ... realise how bad jpop is...

Visuals:
Mostly close-up still frame, cute backgrounds, big starry eyes and lighting layers in overlay.
bare minimum animation. Do not expect any sakuga in this one...
I'd be interested to get the opinion of an inbetweener about the intricated haircuts design choice and the use of puppet warp...

one of the funniest moment in the show :
21min into ep01 : "all the terrrriiible people around the tv stage suddenly watch in awe as the redeeming idol angel start to sing and dance, mesmerized by so much talent." So ridiculous and dishonest, on multiple levels, for an anime that was supposed to show us the underside of the industry, I think I burst out laughing and screaming at the same time

Conclusion:
I had to re-watch some episodes just to be sure that my review wasn't too nasty, maybe I was just grumpy the first time... but nope, still the same, I think this is terrible.

There is no doubt that Oshi no Ko was one of the most popular anime this season, and it’s easy to see why. There is some realistic commentary of the idol and entertainment industries, especially the dark side, which made for an interesting watch. Through all the mystery and dark subject matter, there was also a bit of comedy mixed in, which I will admit was hit or miss at times, but it all boded well for me in the end, perhaps due to the high production standards of this anime.

Now, I know the reincarnation subplot has some people up in arms, and I do ... understand that can be the weak link of the show, but anime in the end is a medium that has a lot of goofy ideas in it, and this was one of them. I would also agree to some extent it wasn’t a particularly strong way to start the show, but that didn’t really hamper my enjoyment too much.

Like I mentioned earlier, the real hook of the series is the commentary on the entertainment industry. Streamers, vtubers, actors, models, idols, and many other people in the online sphere face a lot of the issues that this anime talks about. The idea that the entertainer has to be “pure”, especially if they are a female, can bring about a lot of online hate once said entertainer is found to have a relationship. Viewers feel betrayed and hurt, so they try to cancel them, threaten them, and that can cause major ramifications to the entertainer’s mental state. If there’s one thing to take away from this anime, even if you don’t like it, is to be wary on the Internet, and to simply be a kind person, to not be so desperate for the one moment of Internet clout. Unfortunately, cyberbullying due to these events is very common, and to be honest, unlikely to ever go away, but does that mean we should stop trying to stop the behaviour? Definitely not, but in this day and age, one also has to have thick skin to handle such toxic words. People, just remove likes/retweets on replies to tweets or Youtube videos, not the dislike button entirely.

I did appreciate the comments on the industry a lot, and it’s clearly issues that the author, Aka Akasaka is trying to point out to people, but I do think there wasn’t really enough of that throughout the series, as the series shifted its priorities quite often, with other themes like the mystery and idol performances taking over. Not to say that wasn’t a good thing, as the other parts of the anime have their own respective charms, but I did enjoy the industry talk the most.

The characters offer a variety of personalities, and I think it’s fair to say that many viewers may find themselves relating or resonating with a certain character, and for everyone, that might be a different one. The cast is solid overall, and it was clear to me how much the production staff love Kana Arima, the famous child actress that struggled as she grew up. I found myself resonating with her character the most, and having fun watching her interactions with the rest of the cast. She has a foul mouth with snappy comments, but in the end, she cares about the people around her a lot, and wants them to succeed, to not face failures like she did after her child actress days were behind her. A lot of the time, I felt she was the voice of the main message of what the author, Aka Akasaka wanted to convey, with the information around the industry and how people have to act. For many, I’m sure that Akane Kurokawa, the actress who had her fair share of struggles in this series to say the least, will be their favourite character. While her character moments led to much discourse among viewers, I feel her arc was resolved a bit quickly, though it was still very impactful. Mem-cho, the Vtuber/Youtuber had some humorous moments as well, and had some relatable things to say. The supposed two main characters in Ruby and Aqua felt like the weakest in the show, especially Ruby, who didn’t have much to do after the first episode, though her positivity and naiveness about being an idol had me a little scared, and Aqua just didn’t feel like a very strong protagonist, as his traits are being manipulative, and having the mind of an adult, not much else. I get that you’re not really supposed to think he’s a good guy or anything, but he didn’t really give me anything to cling on to or relate to. I hope that improves with future seasons.

The production behind this show is definitely something to be admired, with splendid directing, compositing, and beautiful scenes throughout. Props to all the staff behind this, as I could tell this was quite the passion project, with some bias toward Kana, which I have absolutely zero complaints about since she’s my favourite character in the show. The darker moments were handled well to really emphasize how eerie and uncomfortable it felt, especially in Episode 6, while the lighter moments had their charm to it as well. The soundtrack was fine, though mostly highlighted by the popularity of the OP and ED, and especially YOASOBI’s music video on the opening, Idol, which topped the Billboard charts outside the United States. There were various records that this anime broke, and it is just so overwhelmingly popular, and when I went to Japan for a vacation a couple months ago, I saw and heard a lot of things related to Oshi No Ko everywhere, including merch, and the music.

Overall, this show provides a solid, and perhaps relatable look at the entertainment industry, while mixing in themes of mystery, and more light hearted moments as well. If you’re curious and want to watch this show, you’ll know if you like it after the 90 minute premiere, which sets the stage very well. Not everything was perfect, as I did want a deeper look at the industry, but what we got was still an excellent product that will resonate with a lot of anime fans, and also myself, for some time to come.

Remember to be kind to others, especially online. It’s not that difficult to do.

As striking as Ai's starry eyes.

Just the gall to make an 82-min pilot episode for a proper complete prologue speaks for itself. We are gifted a near full-length anime film with great storyboarding, production, visual effects, voice acting, music, etc. right from the beginning.

Most of the people eagerly waiting for this show are here from Aka Akasaka's "Kaguya-sama Love is War", arguably the best light-hearted manga turned anime in recent memory. Unlike Kaguya-sama, this anime takes a much darker and more serious tone-- and yet, still captures the glow and life of the aforementioned series.

Mengo Yokoyari's illustration of their eyes just breathes so much ... more life into this Anime; as if it's peeking and piercing right through your soul. How beautiful the overall art/animation cannot be put into words. How it changes art styles at times to perfectly fit the nature of the scene is awe-inspiring.

What we have here is a must-watch for all anime fans. Being in the Seinen genre, it might feel a bit too real and too heavy at times, especially for younger audiences; but the soul put into this work by everyone who made it possible makes it worth all the ups-and-downs we go through with the ensemble.

Characters - 10/10

Story - 10/10

Art/Animation/Visual - 10/10

Sound - 10/10

Personal enjoyment of the work - 10/10

Overall Rating: 10/10

The story potential of this anime was undeniably high, capturing the imagination with its intriguing concept and world. However, as the series unfolds, it becomes clear that the execution falls short, blocking the narrative from reaching its full potential. The main issue lies in the mismanagement of subplots, side characters, and minor motifs, which are given undue screen time, overshadowing the core essence of the story. These narrative elements trample upon the very foundation of what the anime was supposed to be about, leaving the viewer feeling disconnected and frustrated.

Tone deafness is another significant problem plaguing the anime. The story often skillfully builds up a ... particular mood, immersing the viewer in its atmosphere. Only for these moments to be frequently undermined by sudden and jarring shifts in tone, or a switch of focus to side characters, introducing cacophonic downers that feel out of place within the narrative context. This inconsistency disrupts the viewers' emotional engagement and diminishes the impact of key story beats.

Pacing compounds the issues caused by the subplot and side character problem. Scenes that should carry weight and importance are rushed through at dizzying speeds, robbing them of the necessary depth and effect. On the other hand, seemingly inconsequential scenes drag on with awkward slowness, creating a sense of tedium that frustrates the overall momentum. This is made worse by frequent use of flashbacks that interrupt the action to feed us stale and expired information.

Another issue, the anime's lack of clarity regarding its central focus and overarching theme contributes to the confusion and dissatisfaction experienced by the viewer. Nine episodes into the series, the question of what (and who) the anime is actually about persists, indicating a severe identity crisis. Whether it aims to be a mystery in pursuit of justice and revenge, a high school romcom, or just a plain dumb idol show, the narrative fails to provide a clear direction, with contradicting indications that rob its last piece of credibility.

The once-promising revenge plotline involving Aqua feels cheap and forgotten, in any case, leaving the viewer longing for a more substantial and coherent narrative thread.

In summary, the series suffers from catastrophic structural and compositional flaws that prevent it from realizing its potential. While the visual designs and moment-by-moment writing may show traces of quality, they are ultimately overshadowed and undermined by the incoherent and confused execution.

Schizophrenic and impotent anime: 4/10

PS. Because some geniuses out there confuse its incoherence and confusion for thematic depth, comparing this piece of trash with Perfect Blue. To these specimen I recommend taking a seat and staying silent, lest they pollute the air with their ignorance for all of us.

The anime is just as honest about what it's really about as the truthfulness of the lies surrounding the media. Which is to say, not at all. The anime completely deceives us since it's not a drama but a cringe slice of life in media setting.

The so-called "drama" is supposed to be built in two parts. For starters what the anime tries to sell us is to show what it's like to see things from the perspective of performers in the entertainment industry and the problems they have to deal with, which affect their lives, physical and mental health—a consequence of the media industry. However, ... an average person as a consumer cannot fully grasp it. The problem is that the story lacks any dramaturgy. In essence, the presentation of "drama" is nothing more than someone reading Wikipedia articles in a PowerPoint presentation, and once that's done, it just devolves into cringe ship wars or equally cringe "haha it's supposed to be funny" moments. The writer clearly hasn't heard the basic rule of "show, don't tell" in storytelling, which is ironic because it's the most fundamental rule of storytelling. The negative effects of the media have no lasting impact on the characters until the script decides to throw in some forced conflict into the story, which has no influence on the subsequent events or the characters' circumstances. In concrete terms, the story illustrates only momentary problems, rather than intense, lasting and permanent problems, which are no more apparent than if we were talking about any other profession. The story likes to go on about how the media is built on lies and how it basically puts a lot of pressure on the performers to keep up the charade, but these only come up when the story is trying to be very philosophical, while the characters have up to this point not only shown no sign of having any difficulty with this in the first place, but have even played on it from a personal rather than professional point of view, making the message completely inconsistent.
If you stub your toe, it has a greater impact on your life than any harmful effect of the media shown here. The highlight of the series was the 6th episode because it finally showed what was expected, only to have the problem resolved instantly and forgotten by everyone.

The second half of the drama is based on an edgelord revenge story that so slow it goes nowhere, and its foundation is literally based on a "maybe" theory. The male lead has concretely created a theory, which he treats as if it were fact and as if it were proof of anything. A ridiculous motive for the character's actions. The story also expects the viewer to treat it as fact when there is 0 evidence for it and from this point of view you know that the story will actually play out to this outcome, as it does not even give room for the slightest sliver of questioning. Instead of treating a theory as fact, shouldn't it be proven by something first? What a joke.

The story is terribly boring, dragging, and uninteresting. If you expect any depth from it, don't bother. Those who just want to simp for cute girls can settle for it. This is also the only positive aspect, aside from the awesome opening and ending songs.
It's not the worst thing in the world, but the popularity of the series is due specifically to the weakness of the spring season and the shock value of the prologue, which was so terribly, or rather ridiculously, embarrassing that only the pigeon-hearted could take it to heart. People forgot that less is more?

I started watching it like any new Isekai anime with strange premise, gynecologist reincarnated as baby of popstar? Haha thats funny...

This anime hit me so hard that i bought all manga at once and read it in two days... For me it's one of the best animes i watched lately and for sure can compete with old classics. Aqua is like Aizen-sama just darker... and Ruby? Trust me if she is half as good as in manga we will have new superstar. The story begins like any other isekai. Somebody dies somebody get reincarnated. Haha funny things baby dancing, carrying mother etc. oh boy ... are we here for crazy ride.

Tbh if i knew what im into i may even skip this anime, but im so glad i didnt do it.

Main character or mains <bcs in manga and i hope in anime Ruby and Aqua are equals> are so good characters, you can feel theire feelings happines and pain. It's just great and i cant wait how it will go futher.

Plot is gripping like quicksands and from episode to episode its getting better and better.

If anything, this anime's existence is good in one regard. It proves that the same author can sometimes write stuff of great quality, and other times, not so much. Aka Akasaka was undeniably inspired when writing Kaguya-Sama: Love is War. He never stuck to a formula and instead went with the flow. When he came up with funny scenes, he wrote them, but when he didn't have any, he wrote something else. When he didn't have much to say about romance, he changed the focus of the story. And he stopped the manga when the inspiration faded, as evidenced by the declining quality of the ... last chapters.

Now let's look at 'Oshi no Ko' through this scope. He obviously was inspired to write what is contained in the first episode. But after that? That's a different story. No, seriously, what is that? Rookie mistakes!

First, if you're not already familiar with the concept: "show, don't tell" I'm going to summarize it for you. A TV show should always attempt to show things rather than tell them to its audience. How does episode 3 fare in this regard? Here's what the male MC has to say because it is not shown to us: "I notice that techniques to make the show watchable have been used here and there" "The show's crew is excellent" "In addition, the female lead is an immensely talented actor" WOW THANKS FOR THE EXPOSITION, BUDDY. OH BOY, AM I GLAD YOU ARE LAYING IT OUT FOR ME INSTEAD OF LETTING ME FIGURE IT OUT BY WATCHING IT BEING ACTUALLY SHOWN. Do the creators of 'Oshi no Ko' even know the word "shown"? It has the word "show" in it, you know, the very thing they're supposed to make! Absolutely pathetic.

Secondly, what is this show trying to be? Is it trying to be an essay on show business or is it trying to be a thriller? Trying to do both at the same time was a horrible idea, and whoever greenlit it should be fired! Those two things DO NOT MIX. The result is a heterogeneous mixture, you have to suffer through one half of the show to try to enjoy the other. One is a burden for the other.

Alright, that was the substance of my review. If you're not discouraged from watching it, I'll rate the other aspects of it.
Sound: 5/10 average.
Art: 7/10 good, not great.
Story: 2/10 either you're in it for the slice of life, musical elements and the story is a straight up 0/10 but that doesn't matter much for this type of show, or you're here for the thriller and you have to endure the other half of 'Oshi no Ko'.

Overall: 2/10 this show hasn't figured out what it wants to be and it violates the most basic rules of tv writing.

"Lying is a different form of love" - Hoshino Ai
Currently ranked first with the highest score in MAL. Is "Oshi No Ko" worth its hype?
The studio behind this is Doga Kobo and I can say they brought out everything that they can for this show. They nailed the art and animation which is a solid 10/10
The OP and ED are totally unskippable. The lyrics of both songs are well-written to relate on the main characters. Well, as expected from Yoasobi and Queen Bee.
I won't give out much spoilers so that those who are planning to watch it will feel the rollercoaster of emotions ... that most of us felt.
Everyone has their own opinions and we all have different likes so it's understandable that some might not watch it because it slowly becomes overrated and some people might disagree that it is a great show.
The rating might change in the future, but still, this clearly shows that there are a lot of people who enjoys it. And as someone who's currently reading the manga, it did not disappoint.
So, is it worth watching? It definitely is and you shouldn't miss it. This spring season, it is one of the must-watch!
Also, it gave out different emotions to viewers, and that's the beauty of anime, isn't it? Enjoy the show.

The whole show is basically carried by animation only. Aqua is a weird simp for Ai (Like he is 50 mentally and she is his mom), and Ai Hoshino is the by far most OVERRATED character. He is like a weird rip-off of Ayanokoji. Plus it has no fanservice. The manga has horrible art. .This show is barely watchable. The characters are heavily trope-induced. the main character Aqua has a large harem including his mom and sis and several other girls at least 30 years younger than him. The characters has no depth!! The main attention is Ai. It dosen't have enough potential to be ... ranked as #1.