(Ending Spoilers) Opinion on the Ending Poll

They didn’t forget, they processed their grief and moved on. One of the last panels is Ruby saying goodbye to Aqua and Ai like aqua and her used to do when going to school. You need to reread it man

I can see why people would have issues for that. "hikaru wasn’t developed enough to feel like a serious threat" is certainly a much better argument than a lot of other stuff I’ve read. From "it’s bad because Kana couldn’t confess to Aqua" (Huh??) to "it’s bad because Ruby is lying now" (???).

But it also explains why I have no issue with that. I never felt like hikaru was that important of a character. He’s a bad guy, as in he’s done terrible stuff, but barely an antagonist, as in putting obstacles on the MC’s path, so he doesn’t need the development of an antagonist. He’s aware of the existence of Ruby since the Tokyo Blade arc and he does.... nothing about it. He’s not an antagonist, he doesn’t have any kind of interaction with the main characters. He’s seen killing other people who have nothing to do with Aqua and Ruby, that very specifically describe his character while very specifically not having any influence on the plot. He’s like a living MacGuffin his purpose is to be found and killed not to mess with Aqua. His existence and the fact he is seen so close to Ruby so many time gives a sense of danger, but that’s it.

It could have been a great mind game Code Geass style with Hikaru moving his pieces and Aqua moving his. Then Hikaru would be a full fledged antagonist that needs development. But it wasn’t that kind of story. In Oshi no Ko he’s just the goal and an ominous danger. And for that purpose we NEED to know as little as possible, in the sense that we don’t know what he wants nor what he’s capable of. If we know too much, we would know that Ruby is safe.

But if the ominous danger didn’t convince you and you wanted something more tangible that’s understandable. I can see that.

For me, I’m so much invest in Aqua’s inner struggle, his sense of sacrifice and all, that I gave very little thought of if it was necessary or not or how real was the danger. If Aqua FEELS like the threat is serious and he has no other choice, it’s enough for me.

They didn’t forget, they processed their grief and moved on. One of the last panels is Ruby saying goodbye to Aqua and Ai like aqua and her used to do when going to school. You need to reread it man

Loli god existed only for narration it seems. What was the point of this character? Mystery surrounding her was the only defense for "this didn't need to be a reincarnation" argument. Waste of ink.

Father wasn't a good antagonist and he's another bs magical murderer who has fate itself working for him like in Erased. Cops would never even begin to suspect him, but as soon as he dies, there's a mountain of proof about his evil deeds. Not sure how to feel about him turning out from a twisted child to PURE EVIL. Why even have the child molestation bit then?

It seems Aqua had to die because of the silly "killing someone super evil is still evil" trope. He decides not to kill, then to kill again in the stupidest fashion. At leas make it a murder of passion or something. I can't not call him a dumbass after wasting his own life like that. Hard to call it a tragedy if the manga just pulls this bs.

Confused about Ruby lying. Is it just about her hiding her sadness from the fans? I mean, thats normal. Could be reworded differently, coz I'm sure some people read it like she hates being an idol now.

Also, Ruby having a murderous brother will hurt her carreer but her having a father with dozens on his body count won't??? Rly??? In a society when a freaking date could ruin your life???????

f this kana deserved her happy ending

The ending is terribly rushed just like Kaguya-sama.

The issue isn't Aqua dying, it's the fact that Akasaka didn't properly set that conclusion up.

None of the plot points from the latter half go anywhere. The movie arc that sets up this 'climax' goes absolutely nowhere. Movie is only the 6th most viewed, never even has a chance to 'kill Hikaru socially', mentioned once after the arc was over. Crow girl god is built up as a crow saved by Sarina and Doctor. Does she save Aqua from the sea? No. Her character does nothing for the series except as some random fantasy character made to poke at Ruby and Aqua, randomly perform for the movie, and play the narrator for Aqua's death. Whatever happened to the TV assis director's little sister vtuber, does she join B Komachi? No, gone and forgotten. Hikaru is a terrible villain with barely has any appearances to begin with and Akasaka flips his motive from evil psycho to "misunderstanding" back to plain evil psycho in the 3 chapters or so he's shown.

Aqua is built up through the entirety of the series as smart, dedicated, and calculating yet pulls off one of the dumbest moves possible.

Why is Hikaru just watching the show on the side of a cliff? How is Hikaru not able to dodge Aqua who just stabbed himself? How is Aqua able to overpower Hikaru under water with a stab wound? No guarantee that Hikaru would have been named his killer, knife only has Aqua's prints. Would be pretty close to a perfect crime if Aqua just stabbed Hikaru right there, middle of the night, side of a cliff, with no witnesses. Akane was willing to help him commit the perfect crime. Nino literally answers to the police investigation the first thing in the next chapter, instigating dozens of murders probably would have gotten Hikaru arrested. Releasing the movie literally confirms to the world that Ruby is the daughter of a murderer. List goes on and on.


Movie arc sets up the perfect reason for Hikaru's disappearance. Tsukuyomi/crow god sets up the perfect reason to save Aqua.

No, none of that matters.

Akasaka just wants to move onto his next project.

anyone who says this was a good ending failed to explain in any logical way possible, let alone make proper counter argument against why its bad.
perhaps this is the state of what happens when the fans are illiterate.

This man did NOT read the manga. Ruby wanted to become an idol to surpass Ai, and after aqua died she processed her grief and did exactly that. Aqua did not forget any of his experiences. In the play arc his true feelings are revealed, he can’t accept his new life as aqua and constantly has this identity struggle of moving on and living as a normal teenager and his anger and desire for revenge. This is expanded upon during the next arcs and this finale is end of that build up. It’s very in character.

This man did NOT read the manga. Ruby wanted to become an idol to surpass Ai, and after aqua died she processed her grief and did exactly that. Aqua did not forget any of his experiences. In the play arc his true feelings are revealed, he can’t accept his new life as aqua and constantly has this identity struggle of moving on and living as a normal teenager and his anger and desire for revenge. This is expanded upon during the next arcs and this finale is end of that build up. It’s very in character.

@nigelthekettle

Few panels of Ruby crying, Akane narrating "humans aren't that fragile", no-name girl joins b-komachi, not even the assistant directors vtuber little sister, and suddenly Ruby has surpassed Ai and is performing at the dome?

Riding the wave from the movie and her brother's death is truly "surpassing" the idol that Ai was?

The readers don't see Ruby surpassing Ai, we see Akasaka telling us Ruby did so he can end the story in 1 chapter.

Aqua's struggle was not a sucidal identity crisis, nor did the movie arc build up to that.

@Inorichi Also don't forget the explicit message that suicide can be good depending on the conditions and that you shouldn't be afraid to do it because your friends will get over it gradually. Even putting aside all the plot problems of the ending, the extremely strange and toxic the idea of ​​romanticizing suicide in the finale still torments me.

I’m not sure how i feel about the ending tbh… i get that revenge has been a major theme throughout the whole story, but i thought the point of the 15 year lie movie arc was about shifting the plot away from a basic revenge story into a more nuanced take on revenge and trauma…

i thought the main theme of this story was something along the lines of healing traumas via the meaningful relationships we form in day-to-day life—and i thought aqua’s arc would echo this, being the main driver in nailing this point home. that’s what i thought the whole point of the 15 year old lie arc was, that aqua was finally facing and accepting his past and finally taking his revenge in the process—via an alternative means that doesn’t involve making himself a murderer like his father, creating a way of protecting his loved ones without perpetuating the cycle of trauma and suffering.

but then this arc gets abruptly subverted in the final act when he decides to kill his father anyways and commit suicide in the process, effectively forcing everybody he knows and loves into the cycle of grief and trauma that’s haunted him his whole life—the same exact trauma he’s fought so painstakingly his whole life to protect them from having to experience. and also ruby gets super ultra famous off of it, because lol.

like ???

i get that he did it in order to protect ruby and her future and everything, but the whole crux of her character has been her relationship with aqua both before and after their reincarnation. aqua is the crux of everything she does, and she has cemented him as her most important weight-bearing pillar in her support system. i can buy into the idea of him doing everything in his power to cement her as the top super idol of all time, but it feels like a regression in his character arc and in direct opposition to the rest of the series for him to willingly and deliberately sacrifice himself to manifest that end… it’s like he’s sacrificing the soul of his beloved sister and her mental well being/ability to be truly ever be happy again in order to have her name cemented as legend.. like he’s just up and offering her to the gods of entertainment as just another tragedy stuck in emotional isolation and suffering like her mother because… revenge, lmao.

…

maybe that tragedy is the point, but i still feel like that’s a less effective takeaway than the more cathartic healing message the entire rest of the series seems to have been building up to… i’m wondering if my understanding is just off, or if there really is just some thematic incongruity in that ending… i just read it a couple hours ago and still am having trouble processing how it fits into everything… there’s still a lot i don’t understand, and i feel like i need to go back and reread the full series with all this in mind, but i can’t shake the feeling there’s something… off about this ending.

am i crazy? do you guys feel the same?

@DrChewy But he wouldn't be able to live. After a whole life that was based on revenge he wouldn't be able to find himself without it.