Part of why I run this blog is to address and highlight different shows. Shows that may have been forgotten. I don’t like jumping on the bandwagon of the latest and greatest thing. Even my seasonal write-ups, which might hit popular recent entries, I do more as reactions than as proper reviews, because I think for a fair review you usually need at least a reasonably complete bit of material and a chance to really process it.
Even when I go after big names and landmark classics, I try to make sure I have something at least a little original to say about them. I may not always succeed, but if there’s something that everyone has seen and everyone has written about, what’s the point of me throwing one more identical review on the pile? Well, completeness and the ability to refer to it at later dates can factor in, but that’s not the case this time.
When I decided to do a review of Oshi no Ko (I will dispense with the quotes), I didn’t have that point lined up… because I hadn’t yet watched Oshi no Ko. To be sure, I was aware of it as it was coming out, since that was only last year. With a sterling reputation and a second season that will start airing between me writing this and this going live, it would be weirder – positively unnatural – if I hadn’t heard of Oshi no Ko. But I hadn’t watched it, and I hadn’t really followed it or indulged spoilers either. I knew in a vague sense that it was a drama – not so much a comedy – based on a manga by the same author as Kaguya-sama: Love is War and that it “got” a lot of folks with some sort of twist deployed early, but not what that might have been. I was prepared to look at it sight unseen to attempt to answer the question: Was it really as good as the hype?
Typically when I’ve asked that question before, it’s been with shows that have been overhyped beyond madness, but oddly enough I didn’t feel that way about Oshi no Ko. It was an award winner, that much was certain, which carries with it a certain weight, but while it was broadly beloved it didn’t seem to have the cultish following certain other shows acquired. I don’t know if I just didn’t travel in the right circles for that, but the bar of public opinion, which I am set to either support or stand against, is still a mortal level of quality.
The task set, let us begin.
The show gets started with a movie-length first episode. In it we’re introduced to a doctor who is a big fan of idol Ai Hoshino. He seems to hold on to that fandom in part because a patient of his, who died, really looked up to Ai. He receive the devastating news that she’s taking a break for health concerns, and almost immediately after, Ai shows up at his hospital, with it clear that the health concern in question is pregnancy. He gets to meet his idol off-stage, and even be more impressed by her real manner.
However, before he can make good on his promise to assure a safe and healthy delivery of her children, the doctor is killed by a stalker looking for Ai. Thus, he ends up reincarnating (complete with past life memories) as one of her twin children, Aquamarine. His twin sister, Ruby, also appears to be a reincarnation, in her case of the patient whose love for Ai initially inspired the doctor, not that either realizes the other’s identity straight away.
Thus, we get a rendition of their infancy and childhood, following Ai as she struggles with making it in the entertainment industry, where even a first-class Idol is a third-rate talent with grim prospects for the future. However, Aquamarine gets scouted in acting, Ruby seems to find a love for dance (which she couldn’t do in her first life) and even Ai gets a big break.
This is when, with the twins about four years old, the stalker returns to the scene and stabs Ai dead.
I have a feeling that this is the moment that really shocked people, more than the Doctor’s death and reincarnation. It’s a brutal scene where we have to watch life viscerally slip away from Ai after she’s stabbed, and while it doesn’t come out of nowhere and there were hints that something bad might happen, it’s still very sudden.
Compared to the doctor’s death, which was rather understated, Ai’s demise was quite graphic, with very heavy tragic notes. Naturally, she doesn’t seem like she’s coming back (where as the first time we follow Aquamarine-to-be’s stream of consciousness), and we got a good chance to know her. She was a bit of a goofball, a bit of a ditz, and despite her penchant for lying (which some might call showmanship) she had a very kind heart and tried to be a good person and a good mother as much as she could
The ad copy probably helped as well. Everywhere spoiler-free, Ai is listed as a main character, and it’s her face on all the merch and promotional material. Most of it doesn’t even bring up the reincarnation angle, and is suggestive about a more lighthearted story looking under the mask of the idol industry. Thus, even if you have some degree of meta-knowledge, you’re not going to expect her to up and croak in the first episode. For my part, I didn’t find it shocking per say, but I didn’t know it was coming and wouldn’t have called it until just before blood was shed. Which is actually a really good place for a twist to be.
I’m reminded somewhat of the production history of the film Psycho. The now-infamous shower scene, and its place in the movie, were kept fastidiously secret in promotion, to the point where Hitchcock insisted that no one be admitted to the film late, which was not normal at the time. This, and the star power of the actress playing the victim as well as the kind of billing the talent was given, led many who knew as much as they could without true spoilers to be quite surprised when the seeming leading lady went under the knife, so to speak.
In the wake of the murder (which gives Ai a really great sendoff scene), Aquamarine makes a realization the audience could have inferred (and I did) but that wasn’t guaranteed: their bio father must have fed the stalker (who committed suicide after) information about where Ai lived and what she was up to. Thus, rather than giving up on life, Aquamarine finds a new purpose to identify and kill the man who sired his new body and was responsible, however indirectly, for his first death as well as the death of his idol and mother.
The producer and his wife (the latter of which often baby-sat) adopt the kids, and Aquamarine teams up with the director who scouted him figuring that dad’s somewhere in the industry and so he needs to be an insider to catch the guy. With a time skip to when the twins are in high school, showing us glimpses of figures sure to be important characters, and Aquamarine’s continued search for vengeance, the feature-length episode 1 comes to a close.
From there, the show actually backs up a little, to before the twins actually entered high school. Here, we see that Ruby wants to chase the dream of being an idol like mom but Aqua, out to protect her and hunt down dad, is both determined to rain on her parade and use his impressive acting chops not to actually act, but to do the parade raining. However, Ruby won’t be deterred, and ultimately the production company their adoptive mom now runs (her husband having vanished in the time skip) signs her.
Aqua, meanwhile, runs into a familiar face: Kana Arima, who we briefly met as a bratty child actor in episode one. She’s a little older than the two, and seems really happy to see Aqua. I guess she ended up looking up to his acting ability, which is why she takes the idea that he’s going to be behind the scenes rather hard, and tries to convince him to take a role in a TV drama with her. He does, but only on hearing that the producer is someone on his shortlist of suspects.
During the drama filming, Kana proves… actually really charming and nice nowadays, in contrast to how mean she was as a spoiled little kid. We even get the story, of how her bad attitude ruined her career, but she soldiered on because she really loved acting. But her state now is to the point where it now seems that she’s being taken advantage of. That callous treatment is something that doesn’t seem to sit well with Aqua as little as he may want to get involved, and he does some improvisation to give her the environment she needs to shine, seemingly ignorant to the fact that his calculated approach to acting is, in fact, good acting.
By the wrap party, Aqua has done a DNA test to confirm that the producer isn’t his dad, but that man might still have access to information about how Ai lived and who her lover may have been, putting Aqua a step closer to his goal.
After that we catch up and shift to Ruby for a bit. Worried that she won’t fit in as an idol-to-be she presses to have her group launch… and since Kana is a freelancer with talent and name recognition, Aqua suggests she might be a good pickup to really start a group. They manage to get her, by appealing to her empathy and unintentionally to what seems to be a budding crush on Aqua. The two even end up taking the name of the idol group that Ai fronted before her untimely death.
From there, we also see Aqua’s next gig: as part of a deal with the producer for dirt on Ai, he’s set to be involved in a reality dating show.
During that show, one of the girls, Akane, hits a rough patch. She fails to stand out, and the cameras catch an outburst from her that, while the target forgives immediately, the internet doesn’t. The harassment nearly drives her to suicide, from which Aqua manages to save her at the last second
Of course, being out of immediate mortal danger isn’t being out of the woods, so to speak. Aqua leaks the suicide attempt to the press, then leads the charge, getting all the teen cast (who like Akane) and even twisting the arms of the staff in just a right way to put together a video of their good times on set, the combo of which is able to largely rehabilitate Akane’s reputation. All that remains is her return to filming.
For that, the other girls suggest Akane get into character a little, to shield her true self from any further criticism. But what character? They ask Aqua what kind of girl he likes, and his vague answers spark memories of poor dead Ai. While Aqua thinks no one could possibly imitate her, Akane does her homework, pouring over the idol’s life, divining from her behavior secrets she kept about her origins and behaviors, and studying every minute detail. Thus, the next time Akane is on set, she’s able to transform herself into a shockingly perfect replica of Ai.
If you thought “Seems like Kana has a rival now”, well it seems to be something of the case in a lot of minds. Aqua is convinced, at least at first, that his feelings regarding her are purely due to her perfect act (working that out by playing hooky with Kana. I guess she can be proud if she’s the baseline for that), but Akane’s psychographic profiling is so on the nose that she even deduced Ai had a secret love child and when, which leads Aqua to believe he can use her skills. Thus, he’s inclined to play up the last-minute romance between them both for the cameras and to keep her around.
We then focus a little more on the rebirth of B Komachi. Mem, one of the other girls from the dating show, is recruited as a third member, and manages to get them lined up for a big debut. The most serious issue, though, is who will be the group’s new center. Both Mem and Ruby want it, but admit they’re inadequate. Kana, feeling low over Aqua and being rather self-deprecating in general, has the clear skill advantage but no desire to be in the face role. Ultimately, she takes it, but under heavy protest. One of the agency’s personalities, who used to do choreography as his main gig (and who always wears a tweety bird mask, as that’s part of his online persona) comes in to help them get ready, and he and Kana bond over their mutual hatred of bell peppers (me too), and general uplifting things that help bring Kana around. However, it’s ultimately revealed that the masked celebrity is (this time, he appeared before) actually Aqua in disguise.
Unfortunately, Kana discovers the lie just before the big day. No matter the reason, that wasn’t going to be easy to take. To her credit, she keeps her composure pretty well despite some loss of sleep and that shaking revelation. Sure, she loses her temper and speaks her mind at one point, but Ruby helps her out there and B Komachi goes on stage.
At first it goes well, but Kana’s feelings of isolation and abandonment begin to overwhelm her as she feels inferior to the popularity of Mem or raw charisma of Ruby. Not to worry, though, as Aqua appears in the audience to cheer for her (and everyone) and grant a second wind. In the wake of the concert, Kana and Aqua start talking again, some leading questions clear up how he feels about Akane, and Mem sees the same love triangle forming that the audience does, much to her hilarious horror.
Let it not be said that comedy is entirely missing from this piece. While this is essentially the end of season 1, the triangle seems all set to be in full force going forward as Aqua, Kana, and Akane are cast together for a stage production in which their characters are in a very similar triangle. But that, it must be said, is for the future.
So, let’s break down the first season of Oshi no Ko. To cut to the chase, it’s good, even great. It uses gorgeous animation to help deliver some stunning performances and a story that’s simultaneously sweeping and grounded.
I think that last bit is how this is most similar to the creator’s previous work, Love is War. Okay, there are some surface bits and bobs – if you want to find similarities, Aqua, Ruby, and Kana have a thing or two in common in their mannerisms and tone with Miyuki Shirogane, Chika Fujiwara, and Kaguya Shinomiya… in that order for decreasing relevance. But really, they are their own characters, that don’t owe too much to anything from that other work.
What is familiar is… sort of mirrored. Love is War was mostly a comedy about brilliant characters overthinking everything… but as it went on, it proved it also had the chops for some serious romantic drama and deep exploration of very real people. Oshi no Ko is that drama and exploration first, but there’s also enough enjoyable energy that I would go so far as to call it, despite all the death and heartbreak, an outright fun show. Just like Kaguya-sama knew when and how to make you cry in a comedy, Oshi no Ko knows how and when to make you laugh in a drama.
And yeah, the characters in this are pretty great. Even Ai, who only gets the running time of three normal episodes before she bites the dust, leaves a very strong impression. Aquamarine and his love interests apparent have, impressively for how long the ones other than Aqua are on screen, very developed and rounded characters. We see what motivates them, where they bend, where they break, and how they lie both to themselves and the world.
That last topic seems to be the biggest theme of Oshi no Ko. Lies and showmanship. Where does an act end and a person begin? If you’re good at lying or playing a character, do you still understand how you are, or how to tell the truth? Ai, her children, and all their friends grapple with lies. And it’s not in the simplistic way you teach children that lying is bad. Oshi no Ko understands that deception can be necessary, even desirable. Ai lived a lie so hard that only when she was dying did she dare tell her kids she loved them, fearing those words would be a lie if they actually crossed her lips. Akane laid her true self bare, and was nearly driven to destruction for it. Aqua lies as naturally as he breathes, tricking everyone around him as a matter of habit, but can’t recognize when he’s lying to himself. Ruby looks to not weave falsehoods, but to create and live a more brilliant truth.
It’s the beginning of what appears to be as nuanced a look at this subject as Kaguya-sama was on teen romance. Which is quite deep indeed.
So, it’s safe to say that Oshi no Ko passed the bar I set for it at the beginning. This was a great show. It had an absolutely dynamite opener, and the main loop we’re getting into with Aqua’s teen years has just the right amounts of glitz and glamour, cruelty and corruption.
Is there anything I can really say to detract from this? Not really. It’s expertly put together. From the visuals, to the voices (it’s actually hard to portray a bad actor), to the plot, to the characters, everything is where it needs to be.
With several high marks, no faults that haven’t been hidden even from my view, a strong hook, and a solid followthrough, Oshi no Ko earns an A+. Even if the ad copy is a pack of lies, the acclaim is well-earned by the truth underneath.