Review of [Oshi No Ko]

This is a disaster. It's a series where the subtext was hardly a secret; it told us it was going to be the big criticism of the idol and general entertainment industry, yet it failed to do that every step of the way. As the series’ drama is derived from the characters and their experiences, let’s examine them to figure out what’s going on. Aqua is our main character, Dr. Gorou reincarnated, and he is instantly where the problems start. From the get-go the author gets it wrong with the Doctor's field, he's a gynecologist yet he seems to look after patients who are notwomen or are at the hospital for non-reproductive organ-related matters and he shouldn't even be the doctor presiding over Ai Hoshino's pregnancy; those types of doctors aren't hired for that. Then after he is murdered he wakes up as Ai's son and instantly loses all interest in being a doctor? Seriously, becoming a doctor is a very time-consuming endeavor, you have to go through years of education just to reach residency where you practice what you learned and that takes two years. So all that work and dedication to help women and he gives that up. Wow, what a (not) great start, already misconstruing a real-life profession.

As Aquamarine Hoshino the problems continue further. He's not a great vessel through which to view world of Oshi no Ko's supposed dark industries because he is such a detached, unemotional character; clearly they're trying to make the next Kiyotaka Ayanokoji (of "Classroom of the Elite") but this was never going to work. Characters like Ayanokoji work because the narrative never dives deep into their real thoughts and motivations and backstory are left largely as a mystery. Or perhaps they’re an unreliable narrator, so when the mask does come off the reader/viewer is shocked yet intrigued upon learning the MC’s true nature, recontextualizing prior scenes. Aqua lacks all of this because he constantly monologues his intentions and is never wrong. His lack of charisma as a person also makes his scenes hard to get invested in, it makes the viewer wonder how he's even an actor in the first place if his communicating is so unnatural.

Even the way he's drawn and animated is uninspiring, the series looks great but they do the most generic edgy-jacket-with-the-hood-on aesthetic way too often, it looks cringey and laughable. He's mentally a grown man, yet he's portrayed as a sulky, closed-minded teen, which would've worked if he was one. Aqua also never has any movement or any emoting in scenes where he's having a conversation; he literally just stands there stoically as if he's a propped up cadaver (ironic). This is especially troublesome in scenes that are related to his revenge plot as the lack of any attention to basic human movement frames those scenes almost as if the series never wants you to take his revenge seriously, or is just so disinterested in it; the end results feel very manufactured. His intelligence too seems to fluctuate for individual scenes rather than being a consistent aspect. In a scene related to his revenge plot, he's talking with someone after he's done a favor for them that will get him the input he desires. The scene is already let down by it feeling very lifeless in writing and animation but then after being told the info, Aqua has the gall to ask, "Why are you telling me this?" My brother, you asked for this information! The better question is whether or not he did anything off camera to really get these peoples' time of day; all he does is ask blunt questions.

Then there's Ai the sucker punch main character. She is terrible, both as a person in-universe and as a fictional one. A liar through and through, how is anyone supporting someone who at 16 got pregnant and deliberately chose to hide the identity of the Father for no reason and she never shows any grief at having seemingly lost his love for her or vice versa. She's so happy to lie and deceive, literally applying it even to her personal life where it never feels like she trusts her adopted parents or cares for her kids. Honestly? The first episode feels engineered in a way that makes Ai's death at the hands of a fanatic fan as totally deserved. Now a young woman who had an adolescent pregnancy whilst being an idol is morally questionable both on the individual and her caretakers, but it's not worthy of murder. Here the series could've really shown some fangs, showed Ai as a loving Mother who'd yell for her kids to stay back, to beg the killer to not hurt them, yell for medics, anything normal; yet no. Instead, Ai chose her potential last breaths to be about actually loving her fan enough to remember his name despite having been stabbed by him. So bolstering the parasocial relationships of violent incel fans and their heroes/heroines was really the point here. I...don't think I need to explain further why this is bad. How this catches anyone off guard I'll never know. With a first episode the length of four, it should be obvious that the story is going to do some kind of twist.

Credit where credit's due, the shock of her death did stick with me for a whole week at the time of airing but alas, it was short lived. Even after death the series treats it so oddly, it never has anyone acknowledge her brutal end. Nothing mentioned about increasing security for idols, nothing. Hell, people in-universe say she died when she was killed/murdered, two totally separate things! Utterly tone deaf.

Ruby. I- pfft... Is there anything to really say, she was hardly in the season! What is there is very bland and tone deaf. So lemme get this straight: a young girl with a terminal condition is given a reason smile because of a idol her age turning her into an otaku, got reincarnated as that idol's daughter, watched that Mother die and somehow she's just okay with that and even wants to become a idol despite the obvious dangers. It doesn't matter if Ruby eventually shows that she's been conscious of Ai's murder the whole time, the fact that it's not an aspect right out of the gate is questionable enough. Frankly why she, the fan who died prematurely only to get a second chance as her daughter, isn't the one swinging for revenge first is odd. What else is shown about her is naivety, insensitivity (looking up an amateur model's cup size in front of her just when you meet is such a "class act"...), a bad temper, a brother complex, and while she is said to have the charisma to be an idol, choosing to suddenly light up her eyes is all bark and no bite. Since all three Hoshinos have now been covered I can say that the whole stars in the eyes thing is stupid. It's a corny visual gimmick. So many other anime can communicate emotions through regular eyes just by doing some fancy lighting animation or dulling the colors. The star thing is excessively gimmicky, it feels like it was just there to make the main characters seem quirky but was a real pointless addition.

All the other characters fare no better. Take Akane for instance. We're meant to see her as this amateur actor, yet like Aqua the series plays her intelligence for a scene without any consistency whatsoever. She primarily specializes as a character actor but in a reality show she, despite asking the director for tips on how to stand out multiple times, is completely unable to. Now this is real enough, not all character actors have the kind of natural personality that stands on its own, Peter Davison of Doctor Who in the 1980s is an example. All of that, however, has a caveat, because none of it applies here! Immediately after, we’re then meant to believe that Akane has an incredible knack for acting and filling in gaps; she imitates the late Ai Hoshino perfectly somehow just by listening to a few interviews and watching her movements. So how Akane’s been more like early Peter Davison and not skillful, to interesting even without a script Patrick Troughton is a total mystery. How she can come up with ideas for someone else but not for herself is beyond words.

And then there’s the big thing with Akane – episode 6 and its subtext. This episode was brilliant, it’s subtext about how far society has not come from the days of going to a colosseum for blood and sand is to be applauded. It’s a message that made it seem like the series had finally found its footing. However, that’s just episode 6 out of context because episode 7’s handling of the aftermath fails the landing. The root of the problem is brushed aside, no actual condemnation of the online harassment, no addressing how Akane was being slandered at her own school even while she’s sitting on the toilet, nothing. Not a care in the world, just labeled as “online flaming.” This is very problematic especially in light of both the subtext and the supposed inspiration for the events of ep6. See there was this Japanese reality show called Terrace House in 2020 where a boxer named Hana Kimura participated. She had a conflict with one of her roommates and when this dispute was aired on TV, she had a disgusting amount of abuse hurled at her; the weight this put on her mental health was too much and she tragically took her own life. The season was canceled as well as the whole series afterwards. Hana’s only known parent Kyoko Kimura then saw episode 6 and thought it insensitive; honestly it’s not hard to see, similarities such as a reality show and the online harassment are not exactly subtle. However, the online storm that followed, as well as just how poor in taste the usage of a recent tragedy is when episode 7 failed to live up to the message it had all the reason to swing with, just makes this series look insensitive and apathetic.

Kana’s just inconsistent. Thought the character would be a great addition following her reintroduction in episodes 3-4 where she seemed to have gotten past her young egotistical phase in episode 1 but after episode 4, she’s been reduced to a mopey tsundere stereotype. It’s not the VA’s fault for following directions but good grief between episodes 5-9 she has this ear-piercing shriek and all her lines are generic love interest quips, all of which are neither funny or endearing and are overacted. Then in episode 10, for whatever reason, a whole new layer of her life is given an exposition dump which all feels so out of nowhere. Then in the finale we’re back to her being an actor and suddenly she has a history with Akane. Feels like too many things that actively conflict with each other, none of it meshes very well as it's too much all at once.

Overall, a very poor showing. The series had great potential, but it squanders its message at every turn. It was all bark and no bite; it chose to shy away from hammering home the point. Overly ignorant in some aspects, caricatured a whole industry with little nuance, and its episodes suffered very schizophrenic tone shifts again and again.