"Oshi no Ko" 2nd Season

With the help of producer Masaya Kaburagi, Aquamarine "Aqua" Hoshino and Kana Arima have landed the roles of Touki and Tsurugi in Lala Lai Theatrical Company's stage adaptation of the popular manga series Tokyo Blade. Co-starring with them is Aqua's girlfriend, Akane Kurokawa, who plays Touki's fiancée, Princess Saya. Due to the fanbase preferring Tsurugi as Touki's love interest, Saya has made fewer and fewer appearances in the manga, making it difficult for Akane to fully immerse herself in the role. Her struggles are compounded by differences between the play's script and the original work—differences that also frustrate Tokyo Blade's author, Abiko Samejima.

Aqua, however, is more concerned with his personal goals than he is with the play. He has only one objective in mind: to grow closer to director Toshirou Kindaichi and find out what he knows about Aqua's mother, Ai.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Arima, Kana Main

Han, Megumi Japanese

Kurokawa, Akane Main

Iwami, Manaka Japanese

Hoshino, Aquamarine Main

Ootsuka, Takeo Japanese

Hoshino, Ai Supporting

Takahashi, Rie Japanese

Hoshino, Ruby Supporting

Igoma, Yurie Japanese

Mem-Cho Supporting

Ookubo, Rumi Japanese

Saitou, Miyako Supporting

Lynn Japanese

Gotanda, Taishi Supporting

Kase, Yasuyuki Japanese

Amamiya, Gorou Supporting

Itou, Kent Japanese

Tendouji, Sarina Supporting

Takayanagi, Tomoyo Japanese

Yamashita, Shinpei Producer

Kobayashi, Ryou Producer

Kamata, Hajime Producer

Aomura, Yousuke Producer

Reviews

Dec 3, 2024

NeroDM

Recommended

I went into this anime with zero expectations, but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The story is engaging, and the characters are well-developed. Even without reading the manga, I can already sense a promising evolution in the two protagonists, both mentally and emotionally. I confess that, at times, the protagonists can be irritating, but this might be intentional, as it adds depth and realism to their personalities.

The premise of show business and the chaos in the lives of celebrities offers an interesting and thoughtful perspective. As the saying goes, “never meet your heroes,” and this anime captures that sentiment beautifully.

The story is, ... of course, unique.
The art is good, though not particularly groundbreaking.
If you're looking for an anime with a strong narrative and compelling character arcs, this one won’t disappoint.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Dec 11, 2024

verbinflection

Mixed Feelings

It is impossible to appreciate a work of art without knowing what the artist was trying to accomplish, which in the case of a work of fiction is broadly described by its genre. Romantic comedy does not serve the purposes of science fiction, for instance, and to watch 'My Dress-Up Darling' expecting it to explore the consequences of scientific advancement would be like buying a toothbrush and expecting it to peel oranges.

Notice how easy it is, in that example, to identify the genre: it's clear in the first ten minutes of the show — which is normal. It's not science fiction, so it doesn't put ... Marin on the moon; it's not a mystery, so it doesn't put her at the scene of a crime.

I bring this up because 'Oshi no Ko' has made it singularly difficult to understand what the artist was trying to accomplish. It is a toothbrush shaped exactly like an orange peeler, sold in the produce aisle, and marketed as having citrus-piercing bristles. No one ever actually told you to peel oranges with it, but you could be forgiven for trying.

'Oshi no Ko' spent the first eighty minutes setting up a murder mystery, although it isn't one; or if it is still trying to be one now, it isn't trying very hard. 'Chinatown' is a murder mystery; 'Oshi no Ko' is a soap opera, and may be filed under melodrama. Its purpose is to contrive scenarios in which sexy teenagers can slap, kiss, and yell at one another. The closest recent match is probably 'True Beauty', which is slightly more grounded and delivers about as much social commentary. You can also watch 'Melrose Place'.

With that understanding, 'Oshi no Ko' is fairly enjoyable. It does a decent job of contriving scenarios in which beautiful young celebrities living in the world's safest country can slap, kiss, and yell at one another. I can't imagine taking any of it seriously, but it's difficult to beat for sentimentality and sensationalism. Coming up next on 'Melrose Place', a beautiful young actress throws herself off a bridge during a typhoon after she was harassed by online bullies for assaulting her co-star, but her life is saved by a handsome doctor with a troubled past who was reincarnated after being murdered before he could deliver the secret twin babies of a teenage pop idol he obsessed over while treating a young girl for cancer — and you'll never guess what happens next.

The teen suicide arc in season one is when 'Oshi no Ko' really takes off, precisely because it has become impossible to take seriously. Right up until the moment when discount Light Yagami defeats online bullying through the power of friendship, and yandere Nancy Drew rewards him with a sexy cosplay of his mother, it was barely possible to believe that 'Oshi no Ko' is a story about a man investigating a murder, and not about long-lost twins in love triangles with coma patients, but no longer.

For comparison, if 'Oshi no Ko' were a murder mystery about uncovering the dark side of the entertainment industry, then Aqua's plan to help Akane, by making a director feel guilty about her jumping off a bridge, would not have worked until Aqua brought out the photos he took of the director with an underage girl, or boy, or Ruby, for that matter. It's not difficult to spot the difference: 'Melrose Place' is not 'Chinatown'.

To be clear, I enjoyed the arc. It's not particularly outrageous stuff — Aqua could have slept with Akane, for example, on set, still in her cosplay, while Kana was doing coke in the bathroom with Mem-Cho — 'Degrassi High' would have done it — anyway, it did enough. Yandere Nancy Drew is delightfully nutty. Most of all, I appreciate the clarity, because continued misidentification of the genre invites continued disappointment.

Unfortunately, shortly after the series takes off, it crashes into a mountain called Tokyo Blade. Okay, that was unfair: I'll say it lost an engine. 'Oshi no Ko' is not a great soap opera, and a murder mystery that mostly goes nowhere and three hours of Tokyo Blade are instances of a general problem: it tries to do too many things; it's cluttered.

For comparison, there is another franchise where the main character gets involved in the entertainment industry to solve a supernatural murder mystery and avenge the death of his parent: it's called 'Hamlet', and you can watch the whole thing in about four hours. Brevity is the soul of wit. 'Oshi no Ko' is like 'Hamlet' if Hamlet put on five plays to catch six killers, he was dating three Ophelias, and one of them was his sister.

Tokyo Blade already featured Aqua, Akane, and Kana, and I assume they were getting up to all sorts of slapping, kissing, and yelling, but I can't be certain, because so much screen time was dedicated to fight scenes from the show within the show — some godawful shonen nonsense — not to mention the lengthy and rather dry lectures on the business of putting on plays, how a comic book may be adapted into a play, the difficulties that may arise when adapting comic books into plays, recent advances in theater technology, etc. The first episode of season one ends on the main character plotting his revenge; the first episode of season two ends on a comic book writer being unhappy with a script — and you'll never guess what happens next: she edits it.

Okay, that was unfair: I mildly enjoyed the arc. The comic book writer is fine. Almost everything in 'Oshi no Ko' is fine. Two writers struggling to adapt a story; two former child stars competing on and off the stage; a pop group aspiring to one day perform at a top venue; a supernatural murder mystery — oh, wait: one of those doesn't fit.

It's not just that any given thing would stand out more in less cluttered surroundings. Another problem is that some of those things, such as murder, suicide, revenge, and reincarnation, are inherently more ostentatious than others, such as a songwriter we just met feeling inspired to write a new song because he got an encouraging email; but in the adaptation, each of those things is given comparably lavish treatment. 'Oshi no Ko' is wildly overproduced. Ai's star quality just doesn't seem as impressive after it's been attributed to every single performance in Tokyo Blade. Aqua, being so cunning and manipulative, has a cunning plan to manipulate everyone to save Akane, but he also has a cunning plan to manipulate everyone to save the finale of a television show.

Speaking of manipulation, if 'Oshi no Ko' has a theme, then its theme must be deception or dishonesty. It's a fine theme, but the consequences of lying would have been clearer in a more focused, less cluttered story. When Hamlet deceived Ophelia, when Iago deceived Othello, the consequences were clear and relevant to the plot. When Aqua pretended to be in love with Akane, she found out immediately and played along for two seasons. When Kana pretended not to be in love with Aqua, everyone found out immediately, literally everyone, including undiscovered tribes in the highlands of New Guinea, and they all played along for two seasons. When baby Aqua pretended to be a god for two minutes — no, I didn't forget about that one, which goes exactly nowhere.

Let's get back to Aqua and his cunning plans to manipulate everyone. Okay, "discount Light Yagami" was probably unfair — unfairly generous to Light Yagami — but the character is clearly meant to be cunning and manipulative — isn't he? At least twice an episode, the man is manipulating someone into doing something, whether he's manipulating a lousy actor into giving a decent performance, or manipulating Ruby into wearing panties around the house for once in her life, for God's sake, Ruby.

But why is Aqua cunning and manipulative? Why should he insist on playing three-dimensional checkers? Before he died, he was kind, earnest, and slightly awkward. Did reincarnation make him cunning and manipulative? Either commit to writing him as a cunning, manipulative teenage celebrity, or leave him the way he was and make it clear that he's in over his head when it comes to revenge and murder. As it stands, after two seasons, I still do not really understand who Aqua is, or even how many people he is.

To be clear, there are plenty of things to like about 'Oshi no Ko'. I wish it spent more time on them. Yandere Nancy Drew, for instance, that delightful nut: put her in every scene. She pairs well with Aqua, of course, who pairs surprisingly well with comedy, although that might be the one element of the show that is actually underproduced.

For example, Aqua, who excels academically (because he was reincarnated), enrolls in a school known only for its performance curriculum (to keep an eye on Ruby), but not as a performance major, although he does end up being one of its most accomplished performers. He floors the admissions committee by claiming to have been won over by school spirit — which is pretty funny. It's a comical series of contradictions. Why is it never brought up again? 'Love Is War' would have shown us the admissions committee once more after Tokyo Blade, patting themselves on the back for having snagged the hot new talent as a general education major. "I raised that boy," says Chika Fujiwara.

It's easy to miss a few small details when you're putting on five separate plays to catch six different killers. It's hard to focus on what matters when you're lavishly animating every encouraging email. The show is not at all bad: it's cluttered, unfocused, and overproduced, but I understood what it was trying to do eventually, and 'That Time I Got Reincarnated as My Cancer Patient's Favorite Singer's Baby' does a decent job of contriving scenarios in which sexy teenagers can slap, kiss, and breastfeed one another. It was all very watchable, except when it made me watch Tokyo Blade.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Oct 6, 2024

FReeinko

Not Recommended

I do not think this holds a candle do Season 1. There, I said it.

If you liked season 1 you will probably enjoy this, but not as much. I got the feeling that the whole narrative did a 180. I don't mean to say it's bad, but for me specifically it's not ideal that it made such a great turn.

The base concept of swapping roles of the avenger between brother and sister is nice, but what is up ahead is only a season of ruby hunting someone and guess in season 4 they will band together.

I found the plot not that interesting, the impact of ... aqua and ruby in season 1 was great, now I feel that they were a bit side-lined in light of other characters, I would much more preffer seeing a sinister duo like Aqua and Akane. The best impact of this season was, when she told him *you kow what* I won't spoil. After that the drama and the impact went down until the last 2 episodes, which created a prelude for season 3 which I do not even find interesting as an idea...

Well we'll see what they do with it...

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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	Poll: "Oshi no Ko" 2nd Season Episode 13 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Ricky16 - Oct 6	314 replies	by yveltalkyogre »» Yesterday, 3:50 PM
	Poll: "Oshi no Ko" 2nd Season Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Ricky16 - Sep 11	175 replies	by lasodamos »» Yesterday, 1:41 PM
	This is better than the manga yvonness - Oct 16	13 replies	by APolygons2 »» Dec 9, 12:13 PM
	Tokyo Blade JSeanaY - Dec 6	7 replies	by myrmidon_mamori »» Dec 9, 6:02 AM
	Poll: "Oshi no Ko" 2nd Season Episode 6 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Ricky16 - Aug 7	354 replies	by lasodamos »» Dec 6, 2:36 PM