"Oshi no Ko" Chapter 166 Discussion

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Nov 8, 5:47 AM

#51

Confused_100

Offline

Feb 2023

940

Okay wow this became worse than I thought lol. So Aka character assassinated Ruby and Kana. Nice…. Ruby literally is living a life of lies, something Aqua didn’t want.

Like what kind of message is this? Like I get Aqua dying at the end of it eventhough it is against his whole development in the series. But I thought maybe just maybe he had a plan for his sister and friends to live a better life than him and Ai.

Okay yeah this is worse than MHA. Worse than JJK? Nahhh because JJK was more disappointing for me (a bit of a bias). Plus JJK also character assassinated alot like Gojo, Megumi (not Sukuna btw eventhough he still sucks lol)

Well I think only Vinland Saga will end soon but wow Oshi no Ko’s ending is 4/10. I defended the last chapters but the final one really was bad

Nov 8, 5:51 AM

#52

Confused_100

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Feb 2023

940

supersmash1580 said:
Spoilers for Vinland Saga in this post.

I just thought of this but Aqua's character reminds me of a poorly written Thorfinn from Vinland Saga. Both characters start out as children who're living happily with their families, until one of their family members dies and they swear revenge on their killers. In Thorfinn's case, the revenge he spent his whole life striving for was taken from him by another, while Aqua managed to get his revenge himself, but ultimately killed himself in the process. The big difference is, while Thorfinn got some great character development in the next arc, while Aqua got very minimal character development at all. At the start of the story, Aqua wants revenge, at the end of the story, Aqua still wants revenge. The only difference is his motivations change. Instead of wanting revenge for Ai, now he wants to protect Ruby and her image as an idol. The funniest part about it is Aqua still decides to off himself along with Hikaru and believes Ruby will be fine on her own, which I don't believe in the slightest but this final chapter will most definitely have Ruby immediately getting over Aquas death for the sake of ending the story as quickly as possible. Anyway, I hate how Aqua was developed as a character and I hate how he went out like he couldn't think of a better way to kill Hikaru. The best thing a fucking DOCTOR could come up with is to kill himself, good shit Aqua.

I'm gonna go off on a tangent here but Hikaru was also a terribly written villain. The story built him up as this mastermind psychopath who was killing idols for seemingly no reason. Then we find out that Hikaru is actually misunderstood and just wanted Ai to love him, but she decided to leave him without as much of a word, and that's why Hikaru "accidentally" sent a known killer to her house. But THEN Hikaru is actually just a psychopath so that whole video about Ai wanting Aqua and Ruby to help him was a complete waste. Like Holy Mother of Jesus the plot twisted 360 degrees and ended up right where it started with this guy. I felt nothing when Hikaru died, not because he was a piece of shit, but because he was written so terribly.

I want to say this: just because the ending fits the narrative, doesn't mean it's a good ending. This ending is like the equivalent of Thorfinn killing Askeladd and then offing himself, all that potential character development down the drain. And while Thorfinn killing himself would stick with one of the narratives of the story (that being revenge) and the quote that everyone keeps bringing up, "he who seeks revenge digs two graves," it would completely undermine everything Thorfinn could've been. But instead of Thorfinn killing himself, we got some of the best character development in all of anime and manga instead of Thorfinn's demise which would've just ended the story.

I honestly think Akasaka should have just taken the Thorfinn route for this ending, because I honestly hate how he decided to end it. Some people think this is a good ending, and while I completely disagree with those people entirely, I'm at least glad someone got an ending they liked. But I'm gonna be honest, JJK and MHA's ending is better, and that's saying something.

Nah JJK is worse imo, because it still ruined a-lot of plot lines and character assassinated a-lot of characters as well. I think MHA had the best ending this year. This is very close to JJK.

But you gave good points there. Vinland saga is ending soon if you didn’t know

Nov 8, 5:58 AM

#53

hyperknees91

Offline

Aug 2008

2153

Eh I cracked and checked the leak, but I think it played out as expected.

Mainly I don't know what the author is really implying with this Ruby development (guess it will be clear with the chapter release). Is she being an idol despite her pain out of love and to support those who need it because she found the strength to push on. Or is it more she is doing this because it's the only way to hide her pain? Considering she has Miyako and friends, I'm going to guess its more the former though. Wouldn't be so bad if her entire development wasn't offscreen so it does feel very forced for her to go back to being an idol in just one chapter. Or at the very least it doesn't really sell her pain very well. I guess the saving grace is she doesn't completely "get over it" as it seems to imply she will be in pain for awhile.

I'd say the manga is pretty lackluster overall. Not a great plot, poor character arcs in general and the ending is very rushed, borderline reading like an axed manga even though it wasn't axed. The character interactions are half decent and I think that carries the manga a good bit, but I think its better to just read a fluff manga if that's all your looking for.

hyperknees91Nov 8, 6:02 AM

Nov 8, 6:03 AM

#54

Commit_Crime

Offline

Jul 2021

1178

this shit is so ass.... not only is Asgykk a better artist, Asgykk is a better writer and better person. I found this series because of Asgykk too.

Nov 8, 10:21 AM

#55

GoateeMusic

Offline

Sep 2018

People are defending this by saying "tragic end doesn't mean bad end guys", and I honestly feel the opposite. A tragic ending doesn't mean it's a good ending. Just because it's shocking and dark doesn't mean it's justified by the previous chara ter development in the slightest. I'm honestly so disappointed by it that I'm not even sure if it was Aka's fault. This seemed like they were given a limited time to finish and he had to scramble together an ending. There are so many things left half finished. Ruby being the biggest one. Where was her development in the last push home? I think a lot of the bitterness comes from Aqua making his decision based on the character with the least development, and then we are expected to believe that she magically developed off screen in order to make the end work. In addition, the most liked characters in the story or forced to have a bad ending with no actual change. Kana would've done more with a good ending. Akane would've done more with a good ending. And they were trying to say Ruby is profiting off the tragedy, but she would've went further too let's be honest. From a story writing perspective Aqua made an incredibly poor decision that didn't lead to the betterment of anyone. Tragic? Yes. Pointless? Yes. I geniunely don't want to watch the show anymore, and it's not even because I'm bitter although it's definitely a reason. It's because why do I want to watch these characters develop again when I know how they're going to be treated in the end?

Nov 8, 12:04 PM

#56

Reply to Astro_Creep

@Tokoya
It’s mostly because the recent writing and pacing just went all over the place.

@Astro_Creep I agree that it was rushed but that doesn't make it anywhere near as bad as some of these people are making it out to be

Nov 8, 1:57 PM

#57

supersmash1580

Offline

Jun 2024

Reply to Confused_100

@Confused_100 That's fair, I'd say both endings definitely wasted so much potential with finishing their characters' arcs but imo Oshi No Ko did it worse, but that's just me. I also agree with you that MHA had a better ending than JJK and Oshi No Ko, although I still didn't like it very much. And yeah I did know Vinland Saga was ending, hopefully the author gives it a good ending compared to the three that I mentioned.

Nov 8, 4:24 PM

#58

Aika

Offline

May 2010

800

Everyone talks about how the ending ruined everything, but honestly, this manga has been terrible for years. When I think of all the arcs after TB,
- The Mainstay arc was a filler arc where literally nothing happened, with irrelevant characters who never mattered again.
- The scandal arc was another terrible arc that ruined Kana's reputation and she never recovered from it.
- The movie arc was an arc that was hyped from the start and it was very long but nothing happened either, they didn't even let us see the movie, they just told us it was very emotional.
- Then the short flashback that ruined Ai's reputation by making her a retard who thought dumping her depressed boyfriend would make him happy.
- Then the whole epic subversion about Kamiki not being the real villain but Nino, only for Kamiki to be revealed as the final villain all along and lose and die 2 seconds later without achieving anything.

As for the final arc, I like the idea behind it, but it was executed horribly. If Kamiki was actually competent, it would make Aqua's death seem more meaningful and tragic. And then give each character closure instead of the rushed mess we got.

Genuinely one of the worst mangas I've ever read, the only thing I'll remember fondly about it is Akane.

Nov 8, 5:30 PM

#59

Cinaps

Offline

Aug 2018

Reply to GoateeMusic

@GoateeMusic Maaan, I can't even explain how much I agree on everything you've said. Although, my guess is that people just don't have an exemplary "good ending" or rather "properly executed" ending, that's why they're so defensive about something like this. Like, you don't even need to look for examples of similar braindead behavior, just remember AoT ending and how people are still defending it, despite even the author himself saying that it was shit.

I've seen someone here comparing these series with Vinland Saga, buy I'd rather compare this to Code Geass, being a somewhat proper execution such an ending.
First of all, even the motivation, goals and character development are rather similar (with mc being an edgy manipulative siscon).
However, Geass really builds everything the way (with all the symbolism, foreshadowing, etc.) that the ending really does feel climactic, it does feel justified, and it does feel proper for the series, because of all the events happened throughout the series. And that's something you don't get in Oshi no Ko. Like, Aqua has no sins, he has no need for "redemption by self-sacrifice", he has a strong will to live, he has the loved ones, and has a purpose in life, it's pretty transparent in the plot. But I guess it serves no meaning, so lets just kill him, that'll solve all the problems, right...?

Despite all the symbolism technically being in there, in the end it serves no purpose for the plot whatsoever. Most of the foreshadowing is just there, the only thing that it evokes in the reader is something like "Oh yeah, right, that's cool", and that's it, there's no further development. It serves nothing for the plot. Always being great idea, bad execution.

Also, some mentioned that Ruby got no development, but for me it's both Ruby and Aqua, and it's kinda funny how the most developed characters in the story are everyone besides our deuteragonists, and as the story concludes, they get flushed in the toilet alongside their character development and all the build up. Aqua feels underdeveloped even tho he gets so much of "the holy plot-moving force of the flashbacks". He really is shown as a cold and manipulative guy that rarely shows his true emotions and acts based on empirical things (I mean, he kinda has a 40 yo inside of him, that we should not forget about), yet he ends up acting based on pure stupidity, I really don't know what to call it at this point. It serves no better for ANY of the characters in the plot, like, his death is so random, that it ruins the whole plot in itself, making all of the previous 160-ish chapter build up for nothing.

Not to mention CLEARLY THE MOST DEVELOPED and PURPOSEFUL character in this whole manga - the crow girl. In her case, there's only one question to be asked: Just, why...? She is like an intentional plot hole. Like, what's the purpose of putting such a character in your story, when the only thing she does is tearing the flimsy remains of the story apart (I'm really considering her being just a trolling vehicle of Akasaka ngl)

So, to conclude my whole thought process, for all the people reading this, what we got IS NOT a good ending, and some people are just coping for the sake of coping, the same way this ending is tragic for the sake of being tragic. I remember picking up this manga thinking that Akasaka was a good writer (probably because Kaguya didn't have an ending just yet), and I can really see a lot of greats ideas here and there, the problem is that you cannot justify poor writing, and if some of the people here really liked this kind of ending... Well, good for you, but it doesn't really make it any better. Akasaka clearly had no idea how to finish any of his works, and that's the main reason why we get this kind of mess... It's poorly executed, it's full of the plot holes, it's rushed, it has an mc practically dying in vain and just making everything worse, not to mention the whole message of the story not even being present at the end of the day.
And also, I hate to say it, but it really kinda boils down to be a story celebrating incest lmao. I mean, bro LITERALLY sacrifices everything for his sister. What a siscon...

P.S. My only cope is that they'll make an anime original ending, because Kanna Hirayama is a big fan of these series, singlehandedly enhancing the whole experience of watching it as an anime, and this is kind of ending that a big fan would not really like, but I can be wrong, yet again we have great examples of it not working out really well...

Nov 8, 7:16 PM

#60

SiriusStarlight

Offline

Sep 2018

Y'know, can you really say a series fell off if you felt like it was never that good in the first place?

This ending stretch is the worst part of the story hands down but a lot of its fundamental problems were aspects that were there right from the beginning. For all of its big talk about how dark and cutthroat the entertainment industry is, we ultimately got a story that has nothing of actual substance to say about it and one that ends in a way where it feels like the characters learned absolutely nothing from their experiences. I have a lot more to say about how this whole series turned out but that's a rant I can save the energy for another day. This might seem like a bit of a leap but if you want a series that does a lot of what this series claims to do in a much shorter runtime, watch Odd Taxi.

2/10

Nov 8, 8:32 PM

#61

TheLastKing360

Offline

Jun 2010

734

Damn it i'm so tight, ending was so ass. my only hope is dress up darling having a good ending. i already know Vinland ending is gonna be cheeks too... what a year of disappointment.

<--- Who Your Waifus Look Up To --->

Nov 9, 12:55 AM

#62

Atsunome

Offline

Oct 2021

413

Ah, looks like everyone was wrong in the shipping wars:

Aqua x Kana: ❌
Aqua x Akane: ❌
Aqua x Ruby: ❌
Aqua x therapy: ❌
Aqua x death: ✅

Candy 2023:

Candy 2024:

Nov 9, 2:28 AM

#63

Yuuko_Momo

Offline

Feb 2019

I'm giving this manga a 1 in MAL, this is not how to write a tragic story, nothing in this manga is complete, we literally don't know shit about any characters in OnK. Is this author having an edgy phase so late in life?

Nov 9, 2:41 PM

#64

AngelofFrost

Offline

May 2016

162

I was planning to catch up and binge the last 20 or so chapters of the manga after it ended but it seems like that won't be necessary. I think I'll just put this manga forever on hold so that I won't have to give it a shit rating. As always, the Japanese authors are great at making awesome stories with garbage conclusions. I didn't expect this from the author of Kaguya-sama though.

Here's hoping the other series we follow don't get treated this way by their respective authors ヽ( `д´*)ノ

Nov 9, 6:28 PM

#65

Kagura-chan

Offline

Jul 2015

122

Reply to Aika

i agree which is why i find the reactions to be funny. at least the final arc has good ideas even if it wasn't well-written. mainstay arc was complete filler, scandal arc was a waste of time and only exists so aqua could expose ai's secret, the movie arc had potential but in the end, it was just buildup for an incest kiss that never got addressed again, the end of play arc was about kana "confessing" to aqua except their romance was always poorly written and in the end, they didn't even get together. if this was always the ending then aka should've just made akane the only love interest since her romance with aqua is the most developed and she's the only one who knows the truth by the end.

Nov 9, 7:20 PM

#66

Badonkers

Offline

Oct 2021

1296

Aka still can't write a good ending after Kaguya-sama, and this one is significantly worse. I won't read any future Aka works from now on.

Nov 10, 8:45 AM

#67

AnimeFan500

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Oct 2011

9049

the manga ends

the live action drama coming plus a movie to finish it off in December

Nov 10, 11:13 PM

#68

Animillion

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Jan 2020

2482

Frick man, this really did become Oshit no Ko. Highly doubt the anime can fix this train wreck… 😔

Yesterday, 1:05 AM

#69

ss4chris

Offline

Oct 2012

1109

Reply to TheLastKing360

Damn it i'm so tight, ending was so ass. my only hope is dress up darling having a good ending. i already know Vinland ending is gonna be cheeks too... what a year of disappointment.

@TheLastKing360 it will diff genre and ofc they kissed

Yesterday, 2:21 AM

#70

anduong16

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Jul 2022

134

peak manga. Aka sensei 10/10.

Yesterday, 2:44 AM

#71

Adra230

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Jul 2020

Mangaka can't write or wth? Bullsh!t ending.

Yesterday, 7:10 AM

#72

Jorker

Offline

May 2024

too late to dropping :/

Yesterday, 8:48 AM

#73

NezuSwallowtail_

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May 2023

239

lazy ahh ending. the pacing is too rushed, I thought Ruby would be different from Ai but it seems she's a Fraud, and that's what an idol is.

NezuSwallowtail_Yesterday, 8:53 AM

Yesterday, 9:37 AM

#74

thebrentinator24

Offline

Jun 2014

7400

I’m just glad Aqua remained dead and there was no miracle save. Seems like everything wrapped up more or less in the most expected way.

Yet again people love to get hyperbolic about how bad an ending is. This wasn’t a great ending but for fucks sake some of yall are saying this is the worst ending ever known to mankind? Sheesh get a grip lol.

People on MAL refuse to actually enjoy watching anime.

Your taste in anime isn't a personality trait.

MAL is literally just anime Twitter as its own website lol.

Today, 4:04 AM

#75

Skaldi2

Offline

Apr 2020

Shit's been declining since ch 100 when it was building up Kamiki to only fall through, the ending wasn't gonna be able to recover it.

10 hours ago

#76

Akane truly the only good thing that came from this garbage

6 hours ago

#77

megumatt2

Offline

Sep 2020

The ending could have been worse, but it was so anti-climatic and boring for what the peak moments of Oshi no Ko brought.
I guess it was better than having it drag out like other mangas, but still leaves a bitter taste, thinking of what it could have been.
Ending didn't bring a conclusion to some of the plot holes (Tsukuyomi, Reincarnation), and not a single character (or the reader) gets a happy ending.
Ending brings it down from a 9/10 to a 8/10 for me.

Also, what's with people spoiling endings of other manga in this thread?

See All Discussions

» What was even the point of this manga? colorsseum - Yesterday	34	by _otaku_man00 »» 2 hours ago
Poll: » "Oshi no Ko" Chapter 87 Discussion MegamiRem - Jul 14, 2022	26	by Farabeuf »» 10 hours ago
Poll: » "Oshi no Ko" Chapter 165 Discussion ( 1 2 ) ARK-13 - Oct 30	99	by krischevskov »» Today, 6:43 AM
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» New manga by Oshi no Ko story writer Akasaka Aka & Record of ragnarok artist starting next year MegamiRem - Yesterday	43	by RobertBobert »» Today, 3:53 AM

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