Review of [Oshi No Ko]

This was definitely one of my favorite animes from 2023. It's difficult to explain in a synopsis; Oshi no Ko is not just an anime about idols as it seems at first sight, but a psychological drama about the entertainment industry. It's an emotional rollercoaster. It features deep and complex characters with inner struggles, great animation and OST, excellent storytelling, awesome character arcs, and thrilling plot twists. Oshi no Ko criticizes the dark side of social networks and the entertainment industry in general. For this, some people have compared it to Satoshi Kon's Perfect Blue, but I think they approach this in different ways.It also makes allusions to real-life incidents in Japan related to entertainment industry like the case of the child actress Mana Ashida, also it portrays issues that content creators and anyone related to social media can relate to. The first season is just 11 episodes. The first episode is perhaps one of the best anime episodes ever, possibly on par with the first episode of Attack on Titan, and I'm not exaggerating.

The story is from Aka Akasaka, the same author of Kaguya-sama: Love is War which is also an excellent show. It's even confirmed that both stories share the same universe and are slightly related. The obsession of the author, Aka Akasaka, is about how damaging the masks we use to lie to each other in society are, but also how damaging the lies we tell ourselves can be. Kaguya-Sama and Oshi no Ko are like two sides of the same coin. Like light and shadows.