Since its debut in April Oshi no Ko has become a global anime phenomenon. The series has generated rave reviews, has broken streaming records since its launch on HIDIVE, and has set the anime community on fire with its unique, intriguing blend of humor, mystery, and topical drama. The show’s first trans-genre episode, which ran for over 80 minutes, caused an uproar and attention. The debut episode established the central mystery and conflict and set the stage for the lives of the show’s two protagonists, the Hoshino twins: Ruby (Iurie Igoma) and Aqua (Takeo Otsuka). The series presents a fascinating, realistic look at the entertainment industry and its predatory, obnoxious, exploitative and unforgiving nature that chews and spits out the idealistic dreams of young people. This is combined with a weird supernatural aspect that has some exciting twists and turns. If you, like many, weren’t impressed by HBO Idol and looking for something similar but better, it’s time to figure out why Oshi no Ko has become a must-have event of the season to watch anime.
“The first episode of Oshi no Ko breaks stereotypes”
Oshi no Ko originated as a manga series created by a writer Aka Akasakacreator Kaguya-sama: Love is warand artist Mengo Yokoyari. It was first published in Shueisha’s magazine. Weekly Junior Jump magazine in April 2020. The anime studio behind Oshi no Ko, Doga Kobo, had a team of producers and animators who were already avid fans of the material when they got the chance to work on the anime adaptation. The passion of the staff led to the industry-defying first episode, which is over eighty minutes long. In recent years, it is not uncommon for an anime series to have its season or series premiere lengthened, especially if it has been adapted from a popular light novel or manga. However, a series with a feature-length premiere episode of over 80 minutes is pretty ambitious. This is the length of four episodes or a mini-series.
The passion the animation team has for Akasaki and Yokoyari’s manga is evident in every frame of the premiere episode. They were unwilling to make any compromises in adapting the source material. Not a single scene was cut or rearranged. The anime staff really bring the intriguing world of the manga to life and set the scene by talking about Ruby and Aqua’s life. However, the supernatural feature of these twins is that they are reincarnated from their past lives. In Aqua Hoshino’s past life, he was Goro Amamiya (Kento Ito), Japanese doctor and obstetrician, aged 30, brutally murdered. In a past life, Ruby Hoshino was Sarina Tendoji (Tomoyo Takayanagi), a young girl suffering from an incurable disease who was in the hospital where Goro worked. It was through Sarina that Goro met up-and-coming underground idol Ai Hoshino (Rie Takahashi). After Sarina’s death, Goro unwittingly becomes the doctor of Ai Hoshino, who is pregnant with twins. Ai’s manager tries to get Goro to discreetly help her with the birth, fearing that the scandal will ruin her life and jeopardize her career if her teenage pregnancy becomes known. Later, someone breaks the news of Ai’s pregnancy to an insane stalker who kills Gorou. Ai gives birth and the twins have the reincarnated identities of Goro and Sarina, who have retained all of their memories from their past lives since their birth. And that’s just in the first twenty minutes.
In addition to faithfully adapting the incredible early chapters of the manga, the full-length premiere episode does a great job of setting the show’s unique premise. He spends a decent amount of screen time establishing Goro and Sarina’s past lives. They share a strange bond due to their love of Ai Hoshino’s music. Before her tragic death, Sarina dreams of being reborn as the child of a popular idol like Ai. As one of Ai’s #1 fans, Goro was very concerned about her welfare. Now they have been reborn and given a second chance at life as the children of an up-and-coming idol. Examining Goro and Sarina as characters, especially Sarina’s tragic backstory, makes the supernatural premise more relevant. Viewers get to know them better as characters before their reincarnations.
Some anime adaptations fall short in their early episodes because they fail to properly adapt the opening chapters of the story and keep viewers hooked. Arifureta: from ordinary to the strongest in the world is a perfect example of an anime adaptation where the source material was destroyed in the first episode, so it lost much of the impact that ran through the rest of the series because it lacked the proper setting and foundation. Oshi no Ko took my time with the early chapters for the anime adaptation and it properly developed and established the characters. The extra time for the premiere made Ai Hoshino more like a minor protagonist rather than a supporting player, enhancing the remainder of the season where a reincarnated Goro, embodying Ai’s son Aqua, tries to solve the mystery of his mother’s murder.
Like ‘Idol’, ‘Oshi no Ko’ shows the ugly side of the entertainment industry
Similar to premise Idol, Oshi no Ko highlights the dark side of the entertainment industry and the lifestyle of working pop idols, showing its less than glamorous aspects, especially the predatory nature of its overseers, how it exploits young people, and how it can be devastating. impact on their mental health. The series doesn’t shy away from the insipid nature of fan culture and how fans and social media users treat actors and pop artists as nothing more than things to give up at your leisure.
After Ai Hoshino is tragically killed, the reaction on social media is callous and startlingly realistic, with people posting nasty fake rumors, hashtags and memes for fun. After Ruby lost her mother Ai, her viewing of social media trolling was another devastating emotional blow. The way the show portrays the public reaction to tragedies in the entertainment industry is very similar to real life, but adds to the authenticity of the series despite the supernatural aspects and premise.
As the series progresses, Ruby embarks on a journey to fulfill her dream of becoming an idol and following in her mother’s footsteps. Meanwhile, Aqua is focused on uncovering the conspiracy behind his mother’s murder and deduces that his biological father is the likely culprit. He devoted more than ten years to solving the mystery. Since Ai was a rising star in the idol world, Aqua seeks to pursue an acting career in order to get closer to people who knew his mother before her death, hoping to discover his father’s identity. He strikes up a relationship with director Taisha Gotanda (Yasuyuki Kase) using connectivity to stay close to the industry and get more valuable insights. When Aqua and Ruby enter high school, Ruby strives to make a career as an idol despite Aqua’s attempts to keep her out of the business. Aqua gets a role in the film adaptation of the popular manga thanks to the relationship with Kana Arima (Megumi Khan), a child actor who stars in the series and struggles to regain legitimacy in the final days of his career.
The series also shows the commercial side of creating art. Although Kana tries her best to bring some quality to the show, the acting and performances on the show are not up to par as the production team cast inexperienced male models for the lead roles. Aqua joins the production as she suspects the show’s producer Masaya Kaburagi (Masaki Terasoma), may be his biological father. Kaburagi cares less about successfully adapting popular manga and creating art than using the show as a vehicle to promote desired talent from various acting and modeling agencies. Kaburagi views actors as little more than disposable tools he can use (sound familiar, Tedros?). Again, the series doesn’t shy away from showcasing the toxic nature and heinous brutality of the entertainment industry. Having already grown from his past life into adulthood, Aqua has a keen sense and understanding of the harsh realities of the entertainment industry. He uses this knowledge to protect Ruby and get information about his mother’s killer, as well as gain a foothold in the acting world due to his amazing maturity at a young age.
In another scene, Aqua scams a teenage girl who is run by an agency that was looking for Ruby to enter a talent contest. Aqua brings her to the agency that was previously run by his mother, Ai, and is currently run by the twins’ adoptive mother, Miyako. The teen is cutting back on all the various expenses and things she has to do as a working ‘idol’, showing that it’s not all that glamorous. Idols who have just broken into the business have to constantly hustle to make any money. Not to mention they are competing with other idols who they fear are getting favoritism. Despite the meeting being held under false pretenses, Miyako refuses to sign a contract with an aspiring idol for vilifying his other colleagues. The scariest thing about this scene is the questionable measures Aqua is willing to go to to protect her sister, given that he did it all behind Ruby’s back without her knowledge.
Unlike Idol, Oshi no Ko has real, authentic characters.
Oshi no Ko does a fantastic job of portraying its central characters that are fully developed and realized. Series director Daisuke Hiramaki and writer Jin Tanaka spent a lot of time developing Ai Hoshino as a fully realized character and an authentic person with hopes and dreams until her tragic death. The show establishes that while Ai has a mysterious side that has yet to be fully revealed, her love for her children was genuine.
Another prominent character in the series is Kana Arima. Cana is a child actor known as a child prodigy due to her ability to cry on cue, and the series depicts many events from Cana’s point of view. Cana represents a young man who rose to fame at a very early age. Kana continues to act in her teenage years, but her career and fame are on the wane. Kana demonstrates the negative impact of childhood fame on a person who is forced to grow up working in a toxic industry.
Aqua advances the narrative, leading the way in solving the mystery of her mother’s murder. His scenes are always interesting due to his strangely mature and “precocious” nature, as he literally has the mind of an adult in the body of a child. He was even jokingly nicknamed “Precocious” by director Gotanda because of his ability to have incredibly smart conversations at the age of three. Aqua embodies a strong, confident and intelligent anime protagonist who is focused on his goal. At times, Aqua can appear to be a manipulative, cold person who does questionable, superficial acts, even if he does so in hopes of protecting his sister and uncovering his mother’s killer. Gotanda serves as both a comic character in the series and a sort of mentor to Aqua. While the show explores dark thematic material, Gotanda offers up some good humor to lighten the mood throughout the series. Gotanda still lives with his mother, who humorously adores him and interrupts whenever Aqua visits him.
Since the premiere, each issue Oshi no Ko a pleasure to watch and adds another level of intrigue and drama to the unfolding mystery. The anime staff clearly show their passion for the Akasaki creator’s work to bring the manga to life. Oshi no Ko airs weekly, both subtitled and dubbed, on HIDIVE, with the season finale set to air on June 28.
Source: Collider
I have worked as a journalist for over 7 years and have written for many different publications. I currently work as an author at Daily News Hack, where I mostly cover entertainment news. I have a great deal of experience in the industry and am always looking to learn more. I am a highly motivated individual who is always looking to improve my skills. I am also a very friendly and personable person, which makes me easy to work with.
