Anime 52034 Oshi No Ko Reviews Filter Check 3

ENG/ESP Review on Oshi no Ko
This review contains minor spoilers.

ENGLISH:

To this day I fail to understand how Oshi no Ko not only managed to be crowned as the highest rated anime of all time but also with a peak score of 9.32 and, currently at the time of writing this review, a score of 8.73, ranking 48th of all time; I fail to understand it, as Oshi no Ko fails tremendously in dealing with its central themes. It is impressive how an anime from this very year is already outdated in comparison to an anime that deals with similar themes, such as Perfect Blue, which ... came out 25 YEARS ago; this last work is written in a much more intelligent, mature and interesting way, it is a visionary anime and a masterpiece in comparison to the concert of mediocrity that Oshi no Ko offers in every sense, an anime that is dedicated to absolute mediocrity and to criticize the consumerism that this same anime uses in its favor. It is ironic how an anime that pretends to show the consumerism in the entertainment industry and the superficial falsehood of entertainers is at the same time a huge collection of waifus with a flat as an ironing board personality and with a 2cuteforyou design destined to sell dakimakuras to lonely people and produce merchandise with their faces; it is also a show that goes from pretending to deal with serious issues to being a melodramatic drama of teenagers soaked in embarrassing humour with shock value added for morbid curiosity.

Oshi no Ko criticizes what Oshi no Ko itself does, this anime commits the same sins that it condemns in its plot and I believe that this hypocrisy cannot go unnoticed. Oshi no Ko tries to be self-aware, it aspires to be an anime that tells you about how fake the entertainment industry is and how their only objective is to make money when this anime does this very thing in a blatant way. It tries to be serious, cynical, mocking and provocative but falls short in any way. Oshi no Ko is food for people who want to feel superficially satisfied and feel "aware" of much-more complicated and real issues, this anime feeds people a digested, ridiculous version of enormous, real-life problems. Not only does Oshi no Ko bastardize such a complex issue as abuse on the Idol and entertainment industry, it also fucks up bullying and harassment in a specific arc.

I'll start with the famed episode one, which boasts the length of basically a movie and was the main reason this anime managed to claim the number one spot on this page. It begins with an off-key dialogue of a narrator exclaiming "This story is a fictional work; in fact, almost everything in this world is fiction. They fabricate, exaggerate and cover up every minute detail that does not fulfill their narrative. Therefore, fans love to be cleverly lied to. In this world, lies are weapons." at this moment, from the very first second, the anime is covered with a pretentious and insulting attitude; exclaiming things that are already common knowledge to all those who consume any kind of entertainment and that are absolutely clear in this time; it is not even said in a way that incites an interesting point of view or even becomes provocative, it is already obvious and not worth mentioning.

Saying obvious facts and being tremendously bland and pretentious is a common theme of Oshi no Ko; it is an anime that tells you "fire burns" and it stands there, with a sly little smile, as if it has unveiled a hidden truth in the industry, when the depravity and darkness of the entertainment industry is something well-known, something that has been continuously fought against; the attitude of this show and its attempt to be provocative is not only insulting, but it fails miserably at being thought-provoking or rebellious.

After this show of pretentiousness where they tell you that water is wet, they proceed to introduce for the first time our protagonist; Gorou Anemiya, a degenerate otaku doctor obsessed with underage girls (this is his comedy gag for the next 30 minutes and his only personality traits) and Hoshino Ai, who is the most notorious talent of the idol group called "B Komachi" and is clearly the light of the stage; Hoshino Ai also a character who offers no interesting insights into her occupation as such an acclaimed idol and sets out to make exposition dumps and regurgitate information that a viewer already knows or can deduce for themselves. Episode one furthermore consists of a miserable comedic tone, like when the nurse mocks Gotou by calling him a pedophile..., after the death of a girl from cancer, I don't think it's a good time to insert comedy.

Anyway, the two of them revive as Hoshino Ai's twins and this is something I find funny; it's a supernatural element of resurrection suddenly inserted in an anime that pretends to represent the harsh reality, something supernatural that never comes back and just happens without reasonable explanation within what this anime is; also, are you going to tell me that in 16 years that the two of them lived together nothing ever came out about this in this regard? Not only this, Oshi no Ko as a whole suffers from tone problems; its dark atmosphere pretends to uncover raw facts about the industry but it comes off as pretentious, clumsy, obvious, and the light humorous moments are embarrassing and mainly repeat the same comedy gags over and over again.

The cast of characters in Oshi no Ko is tremendously bland and one-dimensional; none of them are relatable, they don't feel realistic and are absolute clichés. Each of them spits out the same platitudes about the entertainment industry constantly, without any interesting or thought-provoking additions to prompt the viewer to think or have a new point of view. From the edgelord gigachad 50000 IQ galaxy brain of Aquamarine Hoshino, who is surely the worst character in this anime (which is saying a lot) and who undertakes a ridiculous Walmart Death Note style cat and mouse story; while this is going on, every now and then Aqua turns to the camera, in edgelord 50000 IQ mode and tells the viewer for the fifth hundredth time "the entertainment industry is fake................ all these people have a facade over it and hide all the details that ruin their narrative........" and the camera focuses on him as if he were the Albert Einstein of anime or the revolutionary of the industry, when the things he says are not only observable and deductible to the viewer by themselves, but, again, are OBVIOUS things that have already been repeated a million times over. Perhaps I am too cynical and pessimistic, but it is a fact that most famous people in entertainment hide dirt under their carpets and there are probably still many degenerates to be uncovered, it is something already assumed, known and has been tried to be stopped.

They introduce Ruby Hoshino who is a classy cliché idol, Kana Arima who is the talented actress and who, like Aquamarine, spews out expositions of information all the time about painfully obvious things and Akane Kurokawa, a girl who is SO tormented; everyone hates her and talks bad about her because she is SO talented and SO hardworking, everyone talks bad about her and of course the one who should help her is Aquamarine, there is no one else in her life who cares about her more than the protagonist. Anime as a medium often sins of treating bullying as a topic so extremely superficial that it hurts, and Oshi no Ko is no different from them; the bullying towards Akane is treated in an incredibly shallow and flat way, and it's all so bland it's disgusting, her mental health is also treated in an incredibly shallow way and I feel like this character is just made to make Aquamarine into a hero and of course after he helped her she proceeds to fall in love, everyone knows the best way to romance the galaxy 50000 IQ brain gigachad is to pretend you're his mother, that's totally something a person would do. I didn't mention Mem-Cho because she is so flat that I can't consider her a character.

Oshi no Ko is nothing more than a brick wall with pretty paint, it's pure style over substance and offers nothing new. It is the same stuff puked again on the table, it is a melodramatic and ridiculous teen drama with an immature revenge story pasted as a stamp on top and I'm convinced it's one of the most overrated anime to come out lately; it's immature in its execution and treatment of its core themes. What did I like about Oshi no Ko? The animation looks decent.., there really isn't much else, it's all style over substance, there's nothing here for the taking that's anything fresh. Oshi no Ko does what Oshi no Ko criticizes, it's a rebellious pretense that goes nowhere and is a vomit of common knowledge about the ceptic pit that is the celebrity world, Oshi no Ko's criticism of the idol and entertainment industry comes off as lukewarm and fragile; there is nothing of real value, this show is steeped in superficiality, pretentiousness and immaturity. For a show that deals with Oshi no Ko's core themes in a better way there is Perfect Blue, which is a million times better in every way; more mature, better directed, better written, better atmosphere, etc, and that came out in 1998, Oshi no Ko could only DREAM of still staying relevant 25 years later.

It feels like a show with no soul or essence behind it, it's something without substance and completely bland in nature. It's a show that deals with its themes in an immature way and which fails in all its attempts to provoke the viewer, which turns into a melodramatic anime of teenagers in a high school with extremely one-dimensional characters with super ridiculous revenge story stamps, which at the same time pretends that the viewer is left as "Wow, its amazing how daring Oshi no Ko is, 10/10 anime!!!!!!!!!" when it is nothing more than, as I said at the beginning, a compilation of mediocrity, edgy stuff and obviousness. Not only this, it is also a crude way to make money at the expense of a real problem using marketable character designs and dumb, easily digestible episodes and plot, do not let Aka Akasaka cook.

ESPAÑOL:

Hasta el día de hoy no logro entender como Oshi no Ko no solo logró coronarse como el anime con más puntuación de todos los tiempos sino también con un score peak de 9.32 y, actualmente a la hora de escribir esta reseña, un puntuaje de 8.73, quedándose con el puesto número 48 de todos los tiempos; no logro entenderlo, ya que Oshi no Ko falla tremendamente en tratar sus temas centrales. Es impresionante como un anime de este mismo año ya quedó desfasado en comparación a un anime que trata temas similares, como lo es Perfect Blue, el cual salió hace 25 AÑOS; esta última obra está escrita de forma mucho más inteligente, madura e interesante, es un anime visionario y una obra maestra en comparación al concierto de mediocridad que Oshi no Ko ofrece en todo sentido, un anime que se dedica a la mediocridad absoluta y a criticar el consumismo que este mismo usa a su favor. Es irónico como un anime que pretende mostrar el consumismo en la industria del entretenimiento y la falsedad superficial de aquellos que entretienen es al mismo tiempo una colección enorme de waifus con una personalidad plana como tabla de planchar y con un diseño absolutamente impecable destinado a vender dakimakuras a gente solitaria y producir mercancía con sus caras, es además un show que pasa de pretender tratar temas serios a ser un drama melodramático de adolescentes empapado en humor que da vergüenza ajena; Oshi no Ko critica lo que Oshi no Ko mismamente hace, este anime comete los mismos pecados que condena en su trama y creo que esa hipocresía no puede pasar desapercibida. Oshi no Ko intenta ser consciente de si mismo, aspira a ser un anime que te dice sobre lo falsa que es la industria del entretenimiento y como todo lo que buscan es conseguir dinero cuando este anime hace esto mismo de una forma descarada. Intenta ser serio, cínico, burlón y provocador pero no llega a serlo de ninguna forma. Oshi no Ko es alimento para personas que quieren sentirse superficialmente satisfechas y sentirse "conscientes" de problemas mucho más complicados y reales, este anime alimenta a las personas con una versión ridícula y digerida de enormes problemas de la vida real.

Empezaré con el afamado episodio uno, el cual presume de poseer la longitud de básicamente una película y fue la principal razón por la cual este anime logró reclamar el puesto número uno en esta página. Este comienza con un diálogo en off de un narrador exclamando "Este relato es un trabajo ficticio; de hecho, casi todo en este mundo es ficción. Ellos fabrican, exageran y cubren todo minucioso detalle que no cumpla su narrativa. Por lo tanto, a los fans les encanta que les mientan hábilmente. En este mundo, las mentiras son armas." en este momento, desde el primer segundo, el anime es cubierto de un aire pretencioso y absurdo; exclamando cosas que ya son conocimiento común de todos aquellos que consumen cualquier tipo de entretenimiento y que no hace falta decir en 2023; ni siquiera se dice de una forma que incite un punto de vista interesante o que inclusive llegue a ser provocador, es algo ya obvio y que no vale la pena mencionar. El hecho de mencionar hechos obvios y de ser tremendamente burdo y pretencioso es un tema común de Oshi no Ko; es un anime que te dice "el fuego quema" y se queda con una sonrisita pícara, como si hubiera desvelado una verdad oculta en la industria, cuando la depravación y oscuridad de la industria del entretenimiento es algo muy conocido y algo contra lo que se ha peleado continuamente, la actitud de este show y su pretención de ser provocador no solo es insultante, sino que falla estrepitosamente en estos dos intentos.

Después de esta muestra de pretención en donde te dicen que el agua moja, proceden a presentar por primera vez a nuestro protagonista; Gorou Anemiya, un doctor otaku degenerado obsesionado con las menores de edad (este es su gag comédico a partir de los próximos 30 minutos y sus únicos razgos de personalidad) y a Hoshino Ai, la cual es el talento más notorio del grupo de idols denominado "B Komachi" y claramente es la luz del escenario; es también un personaje que no ofrece ningún punto de vista interesante desde su ocupación como una idol tan aclamada y se propone en hacer exposition dumps y regurgitar la información que un espectador ya conoce o que puede deducir por él mismo. El episodio uno además consta de un tono comédico miserable, como cuando la enfermera se burla de Gotou llamándolo pedófilo.., después de la muerte de una niña a causa del cáncer, no creo que sea un buen momento para insertar comedia. En fin, ellos dos reviven como los gemelos de Hoshino Ai y esto es algo que me resulta chistoso; es un elemento supernatural de resurrección insertado de repente en un anime que pretende representar la cruda realidad, algo supernatural que nunca vuelve y simplemente pasa sin explicación razonable dentro de lo que es este anime; también, ¿me vas a decir que en 16 años que ellos dos vivieron juntos nunca salió nada sobre esto al respecto? No solo esto, Oshi no Ko como un todo sufre de problemas de tono; su atmósfera oscura que pretende destapar hechos crudos sobre la industria es pretenciosa, burda, dice obviedades y los momentos ligeros de humor dan vergüenza ajena y principalmente repiten los mismos gags comédicos una y otra vez.

El cast de personajes en Oshi no Ko es tremendamente blando y unidimensional; ninguno de ellos hace que me pueda poner en sus zapatos, no se sienten realistas y son absolutos clichés. Cada uno de ellos se dedica a escupir las mismas obviedades sobre la industria del entretenimiento constantemente, sin ninguna adición interesante o provocadora que incite al espectador a pensar o tener un nuevo punto de vista. Desde el edgelord gigachad 50000 IQ cerebro galaxia de Aquamarine Hoshino, el cual es seguramente el peor personaje de este anime (algo que es mucho decir) y emprende una ridícula historia de gato y ratón al estilo Death Note de Walmart; mientras esto sucede, de vez en cuando Aqua se gira a la cámara, en modo edgelord 50000 IQ y le dice al espectador por quintogésima vez "la industria del entretenimiento es falsa................ todas estas personas tienen una fachada por encima y esconden todos los detalles que arruinen su narrativa........" y lo enfocan como si fuera el Albert Einstein del anime o el revolucionario de la industria, cuando las cosas que él dice no solo las puede observar y deducir el espectador por ellos mismos sino que, de nuevo, son cosas OBVIAS y que ya han sido repetidas un millón de veces. Quizás yo soy demasiado cínico y pesimista, pero es un hecho que la mayoría de gente famosa en el entretenimiento esconde mugre bajo sus alfombras y es probable que todavía queden muchos degenerados por destapar, es algo ya asumido, que se sabe y se ha intentado detener.

Presentan a Ruby Hoshino que es una idol cliché clasiquísima, Kana Arima que es la actriz talentosa y que al igual que Aquamarine vomita exposiciones de información todo el rato sobre cosas dolorosamente obvias y Akane Kurokawa, una chica la cual es TAN atormentada; todos la odian y hablan mal de ella porque es TAN talentosa y TAN trabajadora, todos hablan mal de ella y por supuesto que el que debe ayudarla es Aquamarine, no hay nadie más en su vida que se preocupe por ella más que el protagonista. El anime como medio muchas veces peca de tratar al bullying como un tema tan extremadamente superficial que duele, y Oshi no Ko no es diferente de ellos; el bullying hacia Akane es tratado de una forma increíblemente superficial y plana, y es todo tan blando que da asco, su salud mental es tratada también de una forma increíblemente superficial y siento que este personaje está solo hecho para convertir a Aquamarine como un héroe y, por supuesto, que luego de que él la ayudase ella procede a enamorarse, porque no hay nada más romántico que amor por trauma, y por supuesto que la mejor forma de enamorar a el gigachad cerebro galaxia 50000 IQ es pretendiendo que eres su madre, eso es totalmente algo que haría un personaje realista. No mencioné a Mem-Cho porque es tan plana que no la puedo considerar un personaje.

Oshi no Ko no es más que un muro de ladrillos con pintura bonita, es puro estilo sobre sustancia y no ofrece nada nuevo. Es lo ya sabido vomitado una vez más, es un drama de adolescentes melodramático y ridículo con una historia de venganza inmadura pegada como estampa por encima y estoy convencido que es de los animes más sobrevalorados que han salido últimamente; es inmaduro en su ejecución y en el tratamiento de sus temas núcleo. ¿Qué me ha gustado de Oshi no Ko? Su animación y soundtrack son muy bonitos.., realmente no hay mucho más, es todo estilo sobre sustancia, no hay nada aquí para tomar que sea algo fresco. Oshi no Ko hace lo que Oshi no Ko critíca, es una pretención de rebeldía que no llega a ningún lado y es un vómito de conocimiento común sobre el pozo céptico que es el mundillo de la gente famosa; no hay nada de valor real, este show está empapado de superficialidad, pretensión e inmadurez. Para un show que trata los temas nucleares de Oshi no Ko en una mejor forma está Perfect Blue, que es millones de veces mejor en todo sentido; más madura, mejor dirigida, mejor escrita, mejor atmósfera, etc, y eso que salió en 1998, Oshi no Ko apenas y podría SOÑAR de todavía mantenerse relevante 25 años después. Se siente como un show sin alma ni esencia por detrás, es algo sin sustancia y completamente blando en naturaleza. Es un show que trata sus temas de forma inmadura y que falla en todos sus intentos de provocar al espectador, que se convierte en un anime melodramático de adolescentes en una secundaria con personajes extremadamente unidimensionales con estampas de una historia de venganza súper ridícula, la cual al mismo tiempo pretende que el espectador se quede como "Wow, es increíble lo que Oshi no Ko se atreve a decir, anime 10/10!!!!!!!!!!!" cuando no es más que, como dije al inicio, una recopilación de mediocridad, cosas edgy y obviedades. No solo esto, también es una forma burda de conseguir dinero a costillas de un problema real usando diseños de personajes comercializables y capítulos y plot tontos, fáciles de digerir, no dejen que Aka Akasaka cocine.

Graphics: 8.
First episode: 10
Ep 2-8 : constantly dropping from 10 down to 3 today.

After watching the first episode, you would be expecting a mystery anime that's similar to Erased and expecting the next 10 episodes to be Aqua trying to find out who the killer is.
At least that was happening in the first few episodes after the first one. But all of a sudden it just spends the next 5 episodes on SoL and real-life condition of being an idol/actors. Now we have 3 eps left and I doubt we will have any development in the mystery portion of the ... show. Not a good way to structure the first season of an anime, unless if they had just gone out and made it a full 24 episode first season. The reminder episode of Ep 7.5 was absolutely unnecessary for an anime this short.

Aqua is just your typical overly smart character that acts emo. Cliche af...
Ruby is just a useless character that only serves the purpose of "Ai's daughter". The show would still be same without Ruby and having the MC as Ai's only child.

This anime presents some challenges that need to be addressed, and I find the extensive promotion it has received to be rather overwhelming, amplifying its annoyances.

Initially, the first episode captivates viewers with its strong storytelling. However, as the series progresses, it gradually loses its appeal. One of the major issues lies in the fact that each episode seems to draw inspiration from real events, which adds to its problematic nature. The portrayal of the main character, Aqua, is particularly disappointing. While attempting to create a character reminiscent of Light Yagami from Death Note, Aqua's reasoning and understanding of situations often feel flawed and unreasonable. His ... unpleasant demeanor makes it difficult to fully engage with the show.

Having worked in the media and entertainment industry in Tokyo for the past six years, I have witnessed both the underground and corporate sides of this industry. Regrettably, the portrayal of certain aspects in this anime lacks realism, appearing more like a superficial interpretation of the idol, media, acting, and influencer world derived from 4chan or 2chan.

It is worth noting the timeline correlation between the development of this anime and the controversial Terrace House incident. This further fuels skepticism regarding the show's originality, as Aqua exploits the unfortunate trauma experienced by the girls for self-promotion on social media platforms. The reaction of the characters to this exploitation, with their cheerful and accepting attitudes, left a distasteful impression on me, leading me to abandon watching the series after the seventh episode.

Furthermore, the writer's conduct on Twitter in response to the controversy surrounding this episode has been highly problematic. For individuals who are familiar with or have friends in the media industry who have tragically taken their own lives, this episode feels, at the very least, disrespectful. I sincerely hope that the show will be canceled and not continue.

Edit:
It's sad that some kids think sending death threats to me over my review is going to do much.
I will change my rating from 2 - 1 just to say fuck you so the horrible fans. there you totally changed my mind. lol

I am clearly not one of the targeted audience, take anything I say as a subjective opinion.

It presents each ambiguous contemporary values without showing much more critical spirit than a high-schooler (fame, superficiality, success, etc..), justify cowardice with any sort of tearful backstories, disguise narcissistic and venal behaviors into philanthropic desirs, and try to re-build trust between the industry and consumers on multiple occasion to soften, just in case, the sudden awareness in the viewers mind...

Story:
common teen/emo/idol slice of life with a couple of unnecessary plot twists

Music:
bland pop, doesn't even try to be original. This is ridiculous, or maybe just an attempt to make you ... realise how bad jpop is...

Visuals:
Mostly close-up still frame, cute backgrounds, big starry eyes and lighting layers in overlay.
bare minimum animation. Do not expect any sakuga in this one...
I'd be interested to get the opinion of an inbetweener about the intricated haircuts design choice and the use of puppet warp...

one of the funniest moment in the show :
21min into ep01 : "all the terrrriiible people around the tv stage suddenly watch in awe as the redeeming idol angel start to sing and dance, mesmerized by so much talent." So ridiculous and dishonest, on multiple levels, for an anime that was supposed to show us the underside of the industry, I think I burst out laughing and screaming at the same time

Conclusion:
I had to re-watch some episodes just to be sure that my review wasn't too nasty, maybe I was just grumpy the first time... but nope, still the same, I think this is terrible.

The anime is just as honest about what it's really about as the truthfulness of the lies surrounding the media. Which is to say, not at all. The anime completely deceives us since it's not a drama but a cringe slice of life in media setting.

The so-called "drama" is supposed to be built in two parts. For starters what the anime tries to sell us is to show what it's like to see things from the perspective of performers in the entertainment industry and the problems they have to deal with, which affect their lives, physical and mental health—a consequence of the media industry. However, ... an average person as a consumer cannot fully grasp it. The problem is that the story lacks any dramaturgy. In essence, the presentation of "drama" is nothing more than someone reading Wikipedia articles in a PowerPoint presentation, and once that's done, it just devolves into cringe ship wars or equally cringe "haha it's supposed to be funny" moments. The writer clearly hasn't heard the basic rule of "show, don't tell" in storytelling, which is ironic because it's the most fundamental rule of storytelling. The negative effects of the media have no lasting impact on the characters until the script decides to throw in some forced conflict into the story, which has no influence on the subsequent events or the characters' circumstances. In concrete terms, the story illustrates only momentary problems, rather than intense, lasting and permanent problems, which are no more apparent than if we were talking about any other profession. The story likes to go on about how the media is built on lies and how it basically puts a lot of pressure on the performers to keep up the charade, but these only come up when the story is trying to be very philosophical, while the characters have up to this point not only shown no sign of having any difficulty with this in the first place, but have even played on it from a personal rather than professional point of view, making the message completely inconsistent.
If you stub your toe, it has a greater impact on your life than any harmful effect of the media shown here. The highlight of the series was the 6th episode because it finally showed what was expected, only to have the problem resolved instantly and forgotten by everyone.

The second half of the drama is based on an edgelord revenge story that so slow it goes nowhere, and its foundation is literally based on a "maybe" theory. The male lead has concretely created a theory, which he treats as if it were fact and as if it were proof of anything. A ridiculous motive for the character's actions. The story also expects the viewer to treat it as fact when there is 0 evidence for it and from this point of view you know that the story will actually play out to this outcome, as it does not even give room for the slightest sliver of questioning. Instead of treating a theory as fact, shouldn't it be proven by something first? What a joke.

The story is terribly boring, dragging, and uninteresting. If you expect any depth from it, don't bother. Those who just want to simp for cute girls can settle for it. This is also the only positive aspect, aside from the awesome opening and ending songs.
It's not the worst thing in the world, but the popularity of the series is due specifically to the weakness of the spring season and the shock value of the prologue, which was so terribly, or rather ridiculously, embarrassing that only the pigeon-hearted could take it to heart. People forgot that less is more?

The story potential of this anime was undeniably high, capturing the imagination with its intriguing concept and world. However, as the series unfolds, it becomes clear that the execution falls short, blocking the narrative from reaching its full potential. The main issue lies in the mismanagement of subplots, side characters, and minor motifs, which are given undue screen time, overshadowing the core essence of the story. These narrative elements trample upon the very foundation of what the anime was supposed to be about, leaving the viewer feeling disconnected and frustrated.

Tone deafness is another significant problem plaguing the anime. The story often skillfully builds up a ... particular mood, immersing the viewer in its atmosphere. Only for these moments to be frequently undermined by sudden and jarring shifts in tone, or a switch of focus to side characters, introducing cacophonic downers that feel out of place within the narrative context. This inconsistency disrupts the viewers' emotional engagement and diminishes the impact of key story beats.

Pacing compounds the issues caused by the subplot and side character problem. Scenes that should carry weight and importance are rushed through at dizzying speeds, robbing them of the necessary depth and effect. On the other hand, seemingly inconsequential scenes drag on with awkward slowness, creating a sense of tedium that frustrates the overall momentum. This is made worse by frequent use of flashbacks that interrupt the action to feed us stale and expired information.

Another issue, the anime's lack of clarity regarding its central focus and overarching theme contributes to the confusion and dissatisfaction experienced by the viewer. Nine episodes into the series, the question of what (and who) the anime is actually about persists, indicating a severe identity crisis. Whether it aims to be a mystery in pursuit of justice and revenge, a high school romcom, or just a plain dumb idol show, the narrative fails to provide a clear direction, with contradicting indications that rob its last piece of credibility.

The once-promising revenge plotline involving Aqua feels cheap and forgotten, in any case, leaving the viewer longing for a more substantial and coherent narrative thread.

In summary, the series suffers from catastrophic structural and compositional flaws that prevent it from realizing its potential. While the visual designs and moment-by-moment writing may show traces of quality, they are ultimately overshadowed and undermined by the incoherent and confused execution.

Schizophrenic and impotent anime: 4/10

PS. Because some geniuses out there confuse its incoherence and confusion for thematic depth, comparing this piece of trash with Perfect Blue. To these specimen I recommend taking a seat and staying silent, lest they pollute the air with their ignorance for all of us.

6 eps in Oshi no Ko, an anime that promised a unique blend of idol culture and psychological thriller, falls painfully short of its potential. While the premise held promise and initially sparked intrigue, the execution of the storyline and the development of its characters left is simply bad. this anime fails to deliver a compelling narrative, resulting in a lackluster and underwhelming experience. I'm very disappointed as I've went in with the highest expectation with the superbly high rating and its from an Author that writes Kaguya-sama.

Oshi no Ko have an inconsistent pacing and disjointed storytelling. The series begins with a fascinating concept, exploring ... the dark underbelly of the idol industry and the psychological manipulation behind it. However, as the plot progresses, it becomes SLOW AND BORING (AND UNFUNNY), The transitions between story arcs lack cohesion, leaving viewers disoriented and detached from the narrative.

Its also funny how this anime went from this "deep" anime about the dark side of being a celebrity yet it turns into this waifu war highschool on who is the best girl and WHO IS AQUA GONNA BE WITH between Kana and Akane?? I though I'm watching a drama and supernatural anime not unfunny comedy and mediocre romance. We're also gonna ignore the fact that Aqua is a grown ass man who is "picking" between two high school girl, yea very cool, classic, I see how this anime is so popular now, fantasy anime about being reborn as an number 1 idol son and growing up with every underage highschool just love me because I'm just so handsome and cool now.

trust me I'm trying my best to look at the good side and try to enjoy the anime every week as most of my friends LOVE this anime and it got some interesting concept, but everything that this anime does and have is just plain bad and cringy. Every time aqua does his dark eye star thing it just cringes me but I have to admit this is a very bias opinion as I hate this type of Main character the most, the 'edgy' 'cool' 'handsome' 'harem' that make every girl just love him by just existing.

MUSICALLY. this anime have no MEMORABLE OST WHATS SO EVER but it does have a very good opening from YOASOBI.

comedy wise its not really funny, some of the jokes they were going for is funny but there's something odd about it that ruin the whole scene but I can't quite get what is it exactly, the punchline cut, the voice acting timing, just everything in general is very.. bad. And I know I'm not the only person who feel this way as I've read multiple comments about this.

Art and visual wise, its very bright and colorful as expected from Doga Kobo and reminds me a lot of Kuzu no Honkai artstyle, overall its pretty good.

in conclusion, its very disappointing and simply BORING, I will try my best to enjoy this unfunny highschool drama romance-ish fantasy self-insert anime. (not gonna happen)

If anything, this anime's existence is good in one regard. It proves that the same author can sometimes write stuff of great quality, and other times, not so much. Aka Akasaka was undeniably inspired when writing Kaguya-Sama: Love is War. He never stuck to a formula and instead went with the flow. When he came up with funny scenes, he wrote them, but when he didn't have any, he wrote something else. When he didn't have much to say about romance, he changed the focus of the story. And he stopped the manga when the inspiration faded, as evidenced by the declining quality of the ... last chapters.

Now let's look at 'Oshi no Ko' through this scope. He obviously was inspired to write what is contained in the first episode. But after that? That's a different story. No, seriously, what is that? Rookie mistakes!

First, if you're not already familiar with the concept: "show, don't tell" I'm going to summarize it for you. A TV show should always attempt to show things rather than tell them to its audience. How does episode 3 fare in this regard? Here's what the male MC has to say because it is not shown to us: "I notice that techniques to make the show watchable have been used here and there" "The show's crew is excellent" "In addition, the female lead is an immensely talented actor" WOW THANKS FOR THE EXPOSITION, BUDDY. OH BOY, AM I GLAD YOU ARE LAYING IT OUT FOR ME INSTEAD OF LETTING ME FIGURE IT OUT BY WATCHING IT BEING ACTUALLY SHOWN. Do the creators of 'Oshi no Ko' even know the word "shown"? It has the word "show" in it, you know, the very thing they're supposed to make! Absolutely pathetic.

Secondly, what is this show trying to be? Is it trying to be an essay on show business or is it trying to be a thriller? Trying to do both at the same time was a horrible idea, and whoever greenlit it should be fired! Those two things DO NOT MIX. The result is a heterogeneous mixture, you have to suffer through one half of the show to try to enjoy the other. One is a burden for the other.

Alright, that was the substance of my review. If you're not discouraged from watching it, I'll rate the other aspects of it.
Sound: 5/10 average.
Art: 7/10 good, not great.
Story: 2/10 either you're in it for the slice of life, musical elements and the story is a straight up 0/10 but that doesn't matter much for this type of show, or you're here for the thriller and you have to endure the other half of 'Oshi no Ko'.

Overall: 2/10 this show hasn't figured out what it wants to be and it violates the most basic rules of tv writing.

The whole show is basically carried by animation only. Aqua is a weird simp for Ai (Like he is 50 mentally and she is his mom), and Ai Hoshino is the by far most OVERRATED character. He is like a weird rip-off of Ayanokoji. Plus it has no fanservice. The manga has horrible art. .This show is barely watchable. The characters are heavily trope-induced. the main character Aqua has a large harem including his mom and sis and several other girls at least 30 years younger than him. The characters has no depth!! The main attention is Ai. It dosen't have enough potential to be ... ranked as #1.

even though the first 1 hour long episode was fantastic (with it having a great turning point and shift in mood) the other two episodes have terrible pacing. I was excited to see a deathnote-like cat and mouse intellectual chase, but after the next two episodes that seems to not be the case. it's more about the industry than the actual revenge plot, which i wasn't too sure if i'd be happy viewing.

episode 1 makes me think it would be a breath of fresh air for the 2023 animes that are all the same, but no, it's pretty much generic. i don't feel like i'm ... on the edge of my seat when viewing it. in simplest terms, it's boring. the characters all feel like they were made to be capitalised on, i see a lack of depth to them. and also, it's weird. rlly weird. 30 year old something doctor promising to marry a little girl..?

so yea, if you're anything like me and want to watch something original and unique, don't watch Oshi No Ko.

Take some idols, a handful of unlikeable characters, mid animation, a lot of oedipus and sister complex, a light yagami wannabe, weird love triangles and romance, throw it all in a blender and the result will be Oshi No Ko: a confused anime going through an identity crisis.

I wouldn't say it's ALL bad, the concept was interesting and the intro is pretty catchy, but it's just not enough to make up for all of its faults.
It's a mystery/idol anime, but it feels more like a slice of life if anything, rushed and slow-paced at the same time, a frustrating experience to say the least. Needless ... to say if you're here to watch a decent thriller anime, you're in the wrong place.
I really tried to get into it, but the extreme unlikeability of the characters didn't help at all, not to talk about the awkward interactions.

Just horrible

Has great animation, great music but nothing more. It started out amazing and I believe it has one of the best first episodes of all time. However after the first episode it falls short on everything. It went from an interesting revenge type of plot to a horrible harem fanfic and no it does not portray the entertainment industry in a good way the writing is very poor and the characters are shallow, very annoying and boring.

Overall,
Animation and Art: 10/10
Music: 10/10
Characters: 2/10
Story: 4/ 10

I don't know if the manga gets better but the anime as of now feels boring and ... repetitive to watch which is sad considering that I really loved the first episode.

So I checked the this anime recently over top on my animelist so I sit down and watched this show to the end I mean watching it like a owl in the night but after I feel ashamed what I watched a grown ass otakus reincarnated into a 16 old girls sons the plot makes no.

So many plot holes in this anime how the director accepts the aqua to host a actor in the show without parents signature or guardians signature to let their child act but no,oh my god the waifus is so sexy man kana🎂mim cho🍨Ruby🍺oh wow what a pair of boobs and ... tits shit🤦 I think this is going to be an interesting murder mystery because the first episode was not good but ok but the rest of the are free fall to garbage girls falling for the main character as usualy for silly reasons.

Every girl is so sexy dude oh my god this idiots take their tissues ready before watching this.

I mean the main character is so edgy and unrelatable I tried to relate but I can't the side characters are trash all one dimensional garbage why these girls have no personality other than embarrassing and simp for main character why every girls in this show used for simp the main character man their goals are confusing.

It becames a waifu war highschool drama who gonna be with aqua themain character oh my god it's super fun. It's confusing this show is trying to show positive or negative traits of the entertainment industry because every character has always sad and it's so annoying bro. You are a actor and actress why are you depressed you know what you are doing in your life to get money and cheat people with your sexy boobs and body but why do I have to care about you.

You are doing this for money right every people in ordinary life has struggles than this actors you are payed off a huge amount of money even you acted a one movie but an ordinary person struggles everyday and we get less profit from that why should we care about this girls doing this for money and they can't stop doing it👎🤦

Drama is worst nothing worked even I don't cried when ai hoshino died because the anime lacks and dramatalogy they where talking talking enough.🥱😢 Not a single scene is emotional or relatable think about this for a example if a anime fails any dramatalogy how many hours can a anime hold you kana please don't simp for aqua do something protective.

Characters are boring these lack depth I mean the character kana the anime forced me to like her but it did not work for me every character has cliche sob backstory how are we going to care about them bro why don't you give a full episode to explore a character's feeling without a cliche that would be perfect I think but every backstorys cut and another cut stop it ok.

Music is average the ost the op end ending is pedophile.

The anime was popular for pedophile content for Ai hosino dropping her big tits into a baby's mouth and the baby happily sucks her breast and I checked the reaction to people reacting to this it's just disgusting man the people's reaction to this scene is what in the world are we in there is no protection for girls🌍

The characters motivations are one dimensional you tried to make kana sympathetic repeating her cliched backstorys again and again but it doesn't add up dog.

The final episode was a rivalry between akane and kana who pair up with aqua I thought I was watching a drama for emotional connect between characters but what we ordered but what we got a tons of cute and sexy waifus with big tits.

Why there's no other male character has depth why was only one main character in this show presented because he's the protagonist like mother fuckers this show is full of waifus how am I supposed to relate to a waifus why can't you add a additional male character like kaguya sama why bro please add a one best male character other than aqua please.

Overall I think this show is pretty dump I don't ever wait for the season 2 and watch this trash boring,one dimensional characters,I hate kana and aqua annoying as shit I can't stand their loving back an fourth anymore💩👎thank you for reading comment🌍😘

A dudebro anime, that's Oshi no ko. No depth, no premise, just a bunch of bug eyed teenage girls with no personality.

Though the first episode was interesting, the rest was a free fall to garbage land. We were promised a story of revenge, a chase to uncover the truth, but all we got instead was superficial teenage melodrama. No offense to anyone who enjoys that, however it is decidedly not my cup of tea.

The characters were super boring. Noting but generic and cliche sob stories narrated again and again with the hope that repetition would make them sympathetic.

Not worth watching, I'd like ... to get back the few hours spent on this dumpster fire of an anime. Alas, lost time is never found again.

If you're looking for a brainless eye candy anime then this is definitely for you, though that's all it amounts to.

This review contains spoilers.

Between the polarity of the reviews for Oshi no Ko and the unfathomably high rating on MAL during the writing of this piece, one inevitably ponders how this show really performs on the spectrum of today's anime cluster in terms of authenticity, imagination, and perhaps its primary marketing complement - a magnified, pragmatic articulation of the depraved Idol industry. My first interaction with it came in a discussion on Kaguya-sama, during which I noticed that the writer, Aka Akasaka, has a new manga inclined to be adapted. One thing that probably isn't immediately apparent for the beginner and intermediate anime audience is ... that Akasaka isn't someone recognized for their writing technicalities. The international commercial success of Kaguya stemmed from its constant restructuring on the gimmicky, petty, unorthodox premise that perpetually explores its connection with the interrelated, compatible ideas one would expect in a romance between two clumsy kids who happened to be immensely successful in other areas of life, and exempted from its repetitive and over-hyperbolic nature, the fundamentals are solid - I would describe the experience akin to scrolling through short videos on social media, that despite the general linearity of the presentation, its clever, addictive nature prevails. Well, at least until season 3. As the chemistry between the main casts grew to be more transparent, Akasaka could no longer play it off as accidents and hence retracted the series' chaotic, aforementioned fundamentals. Instead employing most of its emphasis on characterization, and contemporary relationship issues, yet retaining what perhaps hinders its stature most of all, the shameful, singular dimensional, unamusing jokes that usually go **Shock face: "She doesn't get it at all!!!" or **Chibi Chika: "He's so bad at this!!!" or **Kaguya turns around with a yandere face, proceeds: "Kawaii/That's so cute !?!?"... Although superb voice acting soothed the potential disaster every episode, anyone remotely acquainted with successful comedy would find that jaw-dropping, horrendous attempt at making you laugh to be pitifully untried. Ensues is a compact sequence of choreography devoid of its original intentions, commonly found in any third-rate romance anime where the main characters are imposed challenges to expose their true selves to their partner, pivoting on psychological drama over the light-hearted success that it's built around. Ensues again, is a behavioral phenomenon that whenever Akasaka strays off his intended setup, the composure falls to substandard instantly, as will be noticed in Oshi no Ko. Therefore, I found seasons 1 and 2 of Kaguya to undoubtedly be of superior quality to its sequels. "Why are you blabbering on about your clearly subjective perspective on Kaguya in a review about Oshi no Ko?" you might ask, and that is because Oshi no Ko uncaringly, unapologetically, unflinchingly absorbed all the downfalls of the Kaguya series, with more to add.

The TLDR of my first paragraph came down to Akasaka's writer's block whenever he ventures into serious, deliberate storytelling, most conspicuously outside his comfort zone. Unfortunately, any first-person, un-sanitized, raw reflection of the darkness lurking within a particular industry could not carry a credible exposition without the usage of said serious, deliberate storytelling. Amongst the few exceptions worthy of clarification is Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou AKA Girl's Last Tour, where the fluffy daily adventures are but an ingenious façade contrasting the nihilistic, existential anguish echoing wildly about. However, even that which Tkmiz masterfully constructs is more of a mood, atmospheric fabrication rather than specific dealings with a chain of events. So, when I first learned about Oshi no Ko, I knew there were simply two plausible outcomes: an awkward, visibly artificial intertwining of thoughtfulness, ideas, and character design, or a simple train wrack possibly imitating the undoing of Kaguya and every other uninspiring trope present on the market. To disclaim, I'm not put off by the fetish reincarnation in the hour-long prequel, for countless high-level literature investigates humanity subjected by unforeseen, extreme circumstances, but what perplexes me is the un-capitalization on what possibly could be a convoluted scenario turned sociopath inspecting a discrepancy between one's physical and mental maturity, something similar to Mushoku Tensei except instead of another hikikomori recovery episode, Oshi no Ko could depict the ominous within men parallel to the very industry it closely reports.

Consequently, I am even more perplexed in episode 1 once the protagonist is declared to be none other than Lelouch 2.0, or John Wick 2.0, or Kaneki Ken 2.0, or more accessible whatever self-indulgent, undistinguished, monotonously edgy lady killer you can find in the bulk, repetition upon repetition stories in adjacence that is called Isekai, or whatever sub-genre it stimulates. I mean surely Akasaka can do better than this, right?? Okay, Shirogane may bear a Shonen fan's wet dream, he's a Goku who got into Stanford and slayed the baddest bitch in the school, but his struggles and insistence on altruism are heartfelt. Aqua, on the other hand, refuses to cooperate or tone himself down about his unnatural existence. Occasionally he's the almost 50-year-old who is romantically upset in episode 9 when Kana treats him coldly, occasionally he's the snarky teenager who put a few other teenagers in their place, other times he's Ayanokoji from Classroom of the Elite. The various persona he manifests are not mutually exclusive, yet no sub-contexts are appended to suggest any transition in between. As soon as episode 4 ended where much of its basis hedges around Aqua wooing the beauty, I knew none of its promise was going to materialize. And I was already looking sluggish when Akane had her hair dropping down, eyes shaded in typical "I'm sad" otaku culture fashion, taking notes in front of the director in episode 7, because there is no alternative dispatch other than the imminent fate which awaits her to be salvaged by Aqua. It's a merely altered universe in which Raku from Nisekoi collects his harem. Frankly, Kana supplies the complexity of characterization in Oshi no Ko, which incorporates periodic humorless jests drawn from Kaguya and equivalently unambitious, indiscreet, Demon Slayer molded flashbacks of her suffocated by the surroundings. Forget connotation, equivocation, and subtleness, symbolic and dialogue-induced characterization, one would have to commit substantial rationale leaps to solely be in harmony with certain mortifying developments, specifically during a 3-minute span, the wife of the producer responsible for B Komachi, Miyako, underwent a questionable transformation from someone willing to ruin Ai's life because she's sick of taking care of Ai’s children to an affectionate, loving soul with no background provided, who also happens to inhabit feasibly one of the most text-book like elucidations on the subject at hand whenever she goes off on a tangent, text for text explaining the darkness of the Idol industry in a Siri-reading-Wikipedia manner.

Speaking of extensions upon Oshi no Ko's plain, self-asserted undertone: "I am a very very deep show contemplating a manipulative, exploitative, capitalistic industry spiced with bleak narration". In effect, it divorced that commitment through its absence of any insightful, unobnoxious, unobvious takes. Upon finishing the show, I found myself unable to capture any novel relevance about the Idol life which normally a sensible, educated individual would not be aware of. Arrangements of online harassment, ferocious competition, prehensile acquisitive directors, style over substance displays which ironically personify this show, being as wide as the ocean and as shallow as a pond as it is - there is no unlearned knowledge to learn. Most of the time, one would find themself staring at the hysterical exhibit of Aqua’s tense personality in a seemingly happy-go-lucky screenplay, until his inner monologue explicitly states “This is a very bad, hard, cold, bad, very bad industry. But alas! Such is the Idol life” in a remarkably in-your-face, spoon-feeding convention without the slightest consideration for sophistication. Perhaps the baddest arrangement of the bad idol life is when Ai got stabbed, subsequently followed by her pseudo-emotional speech on how much she loves her fans, throwing all common sense outside the window and refusing to cogitate about the safety of her son, who is literally right beside her.

These days, the irritation assembled from witnessing innovative tries rupture is belittled by the behemoth of irritation derived on account of unaudacious, unashamed, expressionless works by the same author who arguably undeservingly took the anime world by storm at the beginning of 2019, the same author who naively believed their once formulaic opening to success, cinematic composition ascribed by little spikes of interest, was still visionary enough to function, bottled by an utterly alien thesis, unlike anything they have written about. Confined by its slapstick comedy and soulless personalities, one could easily envision the state of Oshi no Ko if it wasn’t gilded by its Horimiya blueprinted art and highly esteemed production. It would have been pale.

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 not ... women 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.

"Oshi no Ko" starts off strong with pretty animation and music, but the story falters as the series progresses. The pacing becomes terrible after a couple of episodes, leaving the story feeling bloated and dragged out.

The characters are not particularly likeable or interesting, and the jokes throughout the show fall flat. The YouTube dance scene is horrible and annoying, and the OST aside from the opening and ending doesn't add much value.

The story is bloated with a documentary about the idol and entertainment industry, which doesn't add any value except repeating publicly available information.

Additionally, main characters barely use the knowledge from their past lives, ... which doesn't make sense considering their goals. This leaves the story feeling even more hollow and unfulfilling.

Overall, "Oshi no Ko" was a disappointment, failing to live up to the hype. While some aspects of the show, such as the animation and music, are impressive, they are not enough to carry the bloated and poorly executed story.

a prologue section full of all kinds of genres, from SOL, romance, family, music, psychology, crime, and many more. So that many people get votes from various circles who enjoy it. Though in my opinion this can be said "too much sugar in it that can make you diabetic". The 10/10 rating was only for the prologue episode, but not for the next episode and I stopped at episode 5. It is no longer clear the focus of the storyline presented. The very captivating prologue episode makes the rest of the episodes seem worse.

In conclusion: I really enjoyed this anime, but only in the prologue ... episode.

If I had to describe this with a single word, it would be: Amalgamation. An eye-catching, visually appealing one with subpar writing.

Let me explain:

Given the enormous hype and marketing campaign this title has benefited from, and the slew of people calling this a "masterpiece", high standards are a natural consequence. This title markets itself as a "reincarnation" & "showbiz" story, with "psychological" and "mystery" elements and exposing "the dark side of the entertainment industry". A once in a blue moon title that strays away from the unified direction and the homogenized structure of the other titles and dares to tell a tale that portrays a ... certain message.

This isn't the case.

What we see is a formulaic product, with artistic decisions stemming more from monetary incentive to get the highest reach, and thus, create maximum returns, rather than from an artistic desire to convey a message.
Here are the things that irked me the most, in no particular order:

Reincarnation done wrong, morally -
The medium is at this point filled to the brim with titles that have a reincarnation premise. Most of these fall into a category of eat-your-cereal-to kind of shows, that are produced solely for mindless consumption. Almost all titles transport the character in a separate reality. This title choses to reincarnate the MC into the same universe.
I could rant on and on about the morality of the MC being the son of his idol crush, but instead I want to fixate on the way the reincarnation is interpreted. This show being considered a masterpiece, you'd expect to see portrayed say, the psychological turmoil of having your past life taken away and having to relive childhood in a different setting? The longing of your past loved ones and having to come to terms that you'll never be able to interact with them again? The hardships of having to fake the intellect of an infant? The hardships of having to fake living a different life? NO. NONE of that is covered. The only aspect touched is in fact how the MC is GRATEFUL of his reincarnation. We only ever see the positives. The only time we see him contemplate over his last time is a 10s segment where he googles the disappearance of his past self. The only negative contemplation is a single sentence in ep 5 or 6 where the MC laments how he feels doesn't know his past life anymore. His entire self got OVERWRITTEN with his new life. And he has nothing, NOTHING of substance to state about that.
I cannot state how morally vacuous the messaging here is. It boils down to: if you're not happy it's because you weren't born in the right setting. Keep living through fantasies till you die and maybe you'll hit the jackpot in the next life. It normalizes escapism. It promotes being docile as acceptable, even preferable. So why do we have this? Because it sells. Why tackle a real issue of Japanese society and risk making the audience uncomfortable? Why would you show the audience the mirror? That wouldn't sell. You have to give what they already know/want, with some minor twists so it's not too repetitive.

It tells, it doesn't show -
One of the most basic rules of writing is "show, don't tell". It's missed potential to convey information to the viewer by way of spelled out text, because that's an written article's job. The audio-visual medium ought to incorporate the message in the story, to interweave it in the desires and circumstances of the characters, in order to deliver the message in a satisfying way.
With regards to the "dark side of the industry" elements, we see this at times, but most of the time it's lazily spelled outright, in a bland way. Thus, it gives a feeling of being unimportant, despite being the core point of the show. It really feels like the author gathered a list of surprising things about the industry and then traced out a story such that most of those things could be mentioned. Too bad that he didn't take the extra time to organically incorporate them into the story.
Why are things like this when they clearly could've been done the right way? My guess is the pressure to deliver fast. Things move fast in this industry (to generate most profit) and if you don't move fast you're left behind.

Painfully underdeveloped characters -
Here I have to mention the agency president's wife. Every time she appears on screen I feel pain because I don't see a human being with emotions and desires. I only see a plot device to enable the MC to do it's things. We see an internal turmoil at the beginning which makes her feel human, only for it to be swiftly resolved and forgotten altogether. I can understand not developing characters - esp. in a show like this you don't have the screen real estate to develop everyone, and there are many characters you'll have to introduce - however, you can't keep a character so integral to the story this underdeveloped.
The characters sometimes act out of their age. For instance, one toddler gets incredibly frustrated at the MC, and within the span of the same scene cries out "I hate you because you're better than me". Who has this level of introspection at that age? Some relationships are hard to believe, because there is no proper setup for why they exist. Why do Ai's children love her mother so much if she's supposedly mostly an absent parent? (or does the show really imply that you can be both a hardworking adult AND have time and energy to raise your kids - I thought this show was supposed to be realistic?) Some characters are hard to believe. Ai Hoshino is portrayed as perfect. We never see the vulnerable side of her - thus I can only assume there really isn't any, otherwise it would've been foreshadowed. We never see her being human. We never see internal conflict within her. The only time she shows some vulnerability, it comes of as contrived and... frankly wacky.

The gary sue protagonist -
This is the common cliche of the self-insert protagonist who's so overpowered that he never experiences any real hardships. He doesn't have any real flaw such that the audience is comfortable astral projecting onto him and gaining the satisfaction of being on top for once. The show admittedly tries to convince us by TELLING, T E L L I N G us that, in fact, he's weird, he doesn't know how to act, and that's his weakness! But everything being shown leads to the contrary conclusion.
Do we see the MC going through hardship having to learn the hard way things about the industry? Do we see the MC overcoming an internal struggle? hah... hahhhahaahhh. We see him picking up an editing job early on and "working hard", to somewhat band-aid a justification for his abilities and unparalleled intuition. Internal struggles? only if "which girl do I realy like?" counts as an internal struggle.
Why was this done like this? Simply because it's low effort and it sells.

Mystery as a purely aesthethic element -
This is a personal gripe I have with some titles. In my book, mystery is a characterisation of a story where - the mystery - is the core subject of the work and everything revolves around it. It's a genre where the wit of the reader is tested at every chapter, them having to discern between clues pertaining to the case and irrelevant information. This is far from that. The mystery plot from the first episode is sabotaged by huge blocks of slice of life. The mystery elements function as mere scaffolding on top of which the rest of the drama has some justification to happen. Calling this mystery is peak bait.
Why was this done? To give it an distinctive look from other shows, something "unique" to the market. And to somehow hold the whole story together and not fall apart.

Repeated mentions of real-life brands - It's uncommon to hear actual brands in this medium. Usually they warp the logo or brand name to have some plausible deniability if they get sued. I've heard uber eats, ticktock, youtube (by far the most). I can't help but wonder what kind of deal they signed with the parent companies.

From what I've read, the events from episode 6 are -copy pasted-, sorry, inspierd from a real life incident. Then handled in a very careless manner.

Still, the are positives:

The audio-visual - the animation is at times really intriguing, crisp and full of color, like candy. I like the coreography from the opening (they got yoasobi to sing it, though the style feels very uncharacteristic of her other songs), and they manage to pull some shots in a creative manner. The voice acting seems ok to good. The jokes are enjoyable at times.

Trivia volume - though it fails to effectively deliver the "dark elements of the industry", I still found out about a couple of concepts that I did not know (e.g. ego-diving).

The lack of fan-service - I applaud that they didn't overtly sexualize the cast. From a monetary maximisation perspective, you'd expect them to do this (to drive figurine sales), but they did not.


IN CONCLUSION, Oshi no Ko is more of a product than an artistic masterpiece. I'd say this work's true rating would be a solid 8, maybe 8.5. This would rank it on MAL around ~200th place, which I find as a suitable place for what it offers.

PS:
What bothers me the most, is that this show is emblematic of the overall problem with the industry - it stirs further away from a medium of art, and more and more towards a product meant to maximise profits. It proves that artistic talent in writing is of second or third concern.
I see how the algorithmic optimisation of a medium drives it's essence out, it's soul. Like how nowadays in the music industry you have 5+ writers for a single song, crafted from the algorithmically proven best soundbites and with the most bland lyrics ever, in a formulaic 2-3min structure, in order to reach the top of the charts... and then fade out of the public consciousness when it becomes too boring, to make way for the next wave.

Given the current circumstances of the writer guild's strike in the US, I can only hope that there will be a Japanese eqivalent. On the shoulders of media there is the responsability to carry out messages, lessons for future generations in an often subtle manner. This work is devoid of that.

I'll keep this review short. You can't make a show criticizing the entertainment industry yet have every aspect of the show pander to it and the anime industry. It's like you took all of the surefire hit trends in the anime community and slapped in with a song that's just asking to trend on TikTok.
Why is there a harem? Just why?????? Did we really need a love triangle? Why is there pandering to mommy kinks? I feel like every positive aspect of this show is just nullified by the fact that I just can't immerse myself in the ethos/pathos of the story when it feels ... it is constantly contradicting itself for the sake of commercial success.
Also, the portrayal of suicide in the show left a really bad taste in my mouth. Just everything from how lazily it was set up to how Akane requires a man to redeem her self-worth. Just disgusting.