Review of [Oshi No Ko]

I was reluctant to watch it and started believing it wouldn't be worth anything, but I ended the season knowing it was one of the best works ever created by mankind. I guarantee strong emotions and lessons on how to make a good anime. This is one of the hardest reviews I've ever written. Since it is easy and good to talk about the mistakes, the difficult thing is to communicate the successes and to criticize an almost perfect anime is a challenge. Therefore, I will focus on what I consider the strongest points of this anime, which make it so loved and recognized, which isprecisely being able to convey a lot of emotion and content.

Most critics try not to talk about emotions, because it is something subjective and stigmatized by society, but the truth is that this is the soul of this industry. What makes someone offer the most valuable thing that human beings have, which is time? Above all, this is what entertainment is based on. It doesn't matter a high complexity, something outlandish, something innovative, something extremely realistic. Absolutely having all these things means nothing if they can't convey emotion, because that's what the directors want and what the public wants. Like critical, artistic and cultural values, they are secondary, often temporal and, despite not being labeled as such, have greater degrees of subjectivity than things that transmit emotions.

One of the trademarks of this work is that in all episodes, or almost all, they close with a climax, leaving a suspense that captivates the interest for the continuation. Some will say that this hook technique is old and that's true, but it works and few works managed to perform as well in as many episodes as this one. It is also something that, because it is no longer so usual, and not done correctly in anime, seems innovative. It was obviously a great job by the director of series composition who knew how to divide the material of the episodes well. Merit not only from this director of composition, but from the whole team, because I read the manga and these scenes would not have the same weight without the right choice of music, framing, rhythm, colors, shadows and incrementing more frames .

Animated art enables greater sensory sensations, therefore it has more possibilities to provoke emotions. However, I got to know the plot before watching most of the episodes and the story is addictive in itself. As much as the anime team has many merits and great achievements, I must recognize that the author of the source material and the manga artist had the greatest contribution.

The characters in this story make us empathize with them, to the point that we have their desires, their anxieties, their anger and their sadness. One of the biggest marks for us to know if the characters are good is when the work manages to put us in them and feel with them. These characters also have full arcs, but they're good essentially because they move us.

The most impactful scenes in order are:

All the scenes in the final part of the 1st episode are spectacular and that's what sells the work the most. I just need to comment that there was something missing from the manga during the death of a character and that if it had been shown in the anime it would have avoided some silly criticism.

The scene at the end of the 7th episode, without any exaggeration, I watched it again at least a hundred times because it was so good and so emotional. Interesting that it's not that different in the manga, but the little they've changed improves it tremendously. They made a simple scene look grandiose with just a camera movement, shadows and a very accurate soundtrack. It may not be the most impactful, but it's my favorite. After that scene, I couldn't help but recognize that this anime was a masterpiece.

The scenes at the end of the 10th episode, improved absurdly compared to the manga. Well, it was extended, the dialogues were deeper, the scenery was changed, they made new framings, put shading that didn't exist, gave spectacular colors and put a fantastic soundtrack. If the scene in episode seven made me recognize that this anime is a masterpiece, the one in episode ten made me place this anime in the top ten of all time. This scene was so deep and moved me so much that I cried from beginning to end, it gave me satisfaction and a constant smile. Furthermore, if I could retouch the Mona Lisa I would just put more layers with more detail in this beautiful photograph.

The scene at the end of the 8th episode was also improved in the anime due to framing and the use of camera movement. Naturally, the plot would make this scene empathetic, with a somewhat sad tone followed by one of satisfaction, but the work made it more dramatic with the character's great facial expressions.

At the end of the 9th episode there was an addition of a clip with an entire song, which in the manga this was only represented by a comic. It certainly enriches the work, but as much as I see value in it, what really impacts me is Kana's part. So maybe it turned out better in the manga, because without that clip in the middle of the scene they contrasted better.

The scene at the end of the 6th episode has something very heavy, it couldn't not be impactful, but I preferred it much more in the manga because they left the character hysterical and also the soundtrack was not the best choice. A curiosity is that I saw a youtuber who hates the work comment that this episode was unreal, artificial. Only for him to break down soon after, when the manifestations of a mother criticizing the work for accomplishing something very similar to the real case of her daughter came to light.

The scenes at the end of the 5th episode, I think it goes without saying that Pieyon's music video went viral, many people sharing, many people doing a live-action version, even Ruby's Japanese interpreter participated in one of these versions. Overall I enjoyed this scene, but the anime didn't use the same framing as the manga and the clip was a little weird. Thoughts in the form of speech also messed up the scene in the anime.

The one with the manga writer getting emotional in the 4th episode, it's the kind of scene with content, with a critical value, but what's more important is how it's conveyed. The character conveys the emotion of watching an adaptation of her manga and we cry watching her cry. It was great!

The scene at the end of the 3rd episode was great, because it gave the protagonist stage presence, made him imposing and generated suspense for the continuation of it that would come at the beginning of the next episode. For me this was the part that turned the key on that it would not be just a prologue and that I needed to raise the grade of the work. I also saw a youtuber complaining that the ending scene of episode three should have been a little further on. The problem is that it wouldn't generate a cliffhanger for a continuation and this scene later on is the one at the beginning of episode four that wasn't as good as it could have been. The fact is that they wanted to increase things that took away from the great grandeur that the scene of the fourth episode has in the manga. In this scene in the manga, the protagonist conveys much more the idea that he is doing a very talented performance, being in fact a star. Nor is it just a matter of passing on the idea, it is about doing it with the assurance that you will do something brilliant. This is extraordinary!

The concert scene of the 11th episode, again the anime expanded, put on a song, gave choreographies, conveyed emotion, in short, it had an excellent complement. That whole arc from the beginning to the lead-up to the show had me moved the entire time with tears and laughter. However, I have to be annoying, because the visual part of this scene of the show fell short of what I expected, what could be and what should have been, especially in a few moments that focused on the public and in terms of detailing the scenarios . Making it clear that with this I am not saying that it was bad, this scene is sensational and worthy of closing a season, it just deserved more affection. If I were the director, I would close the season on that part, or on the car scene, because it would give a greater sense of closure. The car scene is an excellent part that if more explored would be much better.

Other scenes worth mentioning are in the 1st episode and are: the death of a character at the beginning; the baby dance that went viral on the networks; that of Amaterasu; Ruby scolding Aqua for not being woken up.

The anime deals with some themes of the entertainment industry, such as: talent is not the most important thing; bureaucratic obstacles; financial difficulties; celebrity behavior; trouble maintaining an ideal image; relationship between stars and fans and between fans and stars. On top of these themes, the anime brings knowledge of this artistic world and makes scathing criticism. This is something very satisfying, as it does not leave the feeling that other works bring that we are wasting our time without receiving something aggregating in return. In addition, they are approaches with new perspectives that do not need to be complex and profound to reach a wider audience.

The theme of the entertainment industry is recurrent because the plot is set in that industry, but this is not the main theme of the anime nor the only one of the secondary themes. The work even deals with other secondary themes in much more depth than this one. Topics such as: love, family, resilience, hypocrisy, maturity and responsibility. They are very intertwined with the main theme of the work, which is about revenge and lies, in such a way that they are confused and sometimes they are the same thing. I understand that common things are more easily perceived, but only shallow analyzes that do not understand the philosophy of this work only see the surface of the iceberg.

Another point that few people pay attention to is the richness of the symbolism that this work uses and the primary source of philosophical, mythological, mystical and legendary inspiration. The creator god of Shintoism Izanagi had a daughter named Amaterasu, the sun goddess who was born from his left eye and from which the Japanese imperial family descends. From Izanagi's right eye, his son Tsukiyomi, the moon god, was born. It is not only in the colors and stars in the eyes that this symbolism is clear, but also in the personalities of the characters.