+ Naturally, because of the high production quality, the art and animation is absolutely stellar. There's an obvious focus on sparkling gemstone eyes, but the facial expressions, bodily movements and detailed environments are all wonderfully realized too.
+ The quality also extends to the music! Not just the OP and ED, but the idol songs inserted briefly into the anime are also quite catchy.
+ The voice acting is superb, and arguably the best part about this anime. The VAs inject life into the characters in a way that the manga is never really able to capture -- particularly true of Ruby, Kana and Mem-Cho!
+ The anime really elevates the source material, improving on the manga's staging, framing and storyboarding in a multitude of ways. It truly is a fantastic adaptation. As a manga reader, the improvement is quite noticeable.
~ Oshi no Ko can be incredibly wordy, which means a lot of onscreen text and, for English viewers, a lot of subtitles.
~ It's a bit of a genre and tonal mishmash -- a revenge thriller with elements of comedy, romance and fantasy, alternating between goofy, dark, serious and exciting.
= With its glittering animation and expressive style, Oshi no Ko is easily the best anime of 2023 so far. Detractors of the show argue that the show isn't very realistic, but I disagree with that sentiment. Oshi no Ko isn't trying to be a real life exposé on the entertainment industry; it just wants to be an idol anime with darker themes to complement the bright visuals, like an edgier version of Love Live. With its massive popularity, we can probably anticipate a lot more to come for Oshi no Ko: merch, more music, maybe a live-action TV drama. And while I have my doubts for Season 2 (knowing where the story goes in the manga), I will wholly admit that Season 1 has thoroughly exceeded my expectations.
