WARNING: do not continue reading if you do not want to read spoiler are Oshi no Ko.
The currently ongoing anime season is proposing some interesting series. Hell’s Paradise, Masha and that little gem of Heavenly Delusion are some novelties that are entertaining fans during this period. However, it is the master, at the media level and beyond Oshi no Ko.
The success of the series is no mystery to those who have already read the manga. The work is written by Aka Akasaka, already author of the great success Kaguya-sama: Love is war. When the news spread that he would have created a new series on the Japanese idol world, starting from a rather particular incipit, many fans immediately began to await the work. As soon as it made its debut it was greeted with great enthusiasm, enthusiasm also confirmed by the Italian public when J-Pop began its publication. That’s why the success of the anime didn’t come as a surprise. The acronym has reached the top of important ratings charts (already applying for a place among the most iconic acronyms) and the evaluation on MyAnimeList has skyrocketed. Today the evaluation has dropped, dividing the public between a clear majority who evaluate it extremely positively and a minority who instead offer minimal evaluations (but to date the series remains among the 20 with the best evaluation ever on the platform) . Similar evaluations, on a series still in progress, obviously leave the time they find. This does not mean that they are equally significant in terms of the impact it is having.
Contributing to the achievement of such a result is above all the first episode of Oshi no Ko: a great debut lasting 90 minutes that immediately left you speechless
Proposing an episode of such a duration, which can be considered a full-fledged film, could have been a risky decision. Yet, for those who have read the manga of Oshi no Ko, the choice immediately appeared justified. The series, after a pressing first chapter and with a great twist, flattens out a bit in the following chapters to then propose a new plot twist only at the end of the first volume. Without a first episode of a certain length, capable of including this prologue entirely, it undoubtedly could have been problematic. The main risk was the possibility that the public could believe that the series he would have narrated something different from his intentions.
The gynecologist Gorō Amemiya meets the idol Ai Hoshino thanks to the patient Sarina, a terminally ill young woman. Later she becomes the doctor of Ai herself, who is pregnant with twins. After a period spent with her, just when he is about to give birth to her, he is killed by a stalker of the girl. As soon as he dies, he is reborn as one of Ai’s twins. This incipit, original and impactful, already has great strength, but it takes on even more meaning when connected to the twist that comes later. A regular-length first episode would certainly have had a chance to tell the story up until Gorō’s rebirth, while still managing to include the first twist, but this would have been problematic for subsequent episodes. We would have stayed within the prologue of Oshi no Ko too long, giving the viewer the impression that the series would tell the story of Ai and her twins, only partially delving into the idol world and through an already established artist.
However, the long episode includes all the great introduction of the story, taking us to the time jump and projecting us towards the rest of the narrative
The real intent of Aka Akasaka is instead to tell the rise of new idols. You start again from the basics, from contacts with agencies and from the first works aimed at gaining a certain fame. While Aqua (the reincarnation of Gorō) tries to enter this world to discover Ai’s past, her sister Ruby and the other characters are strongly fascinated by this reality. For a moment one gets the impression that Oshi no Ko may not highlight the risks associated with this profession, yet it soon turns out that things will not go like this. In subsequent episodes, toxic competitiveness, dangerous fan fanaticism and terrible social reactions are just some of the pitfalls that are shown. The impression is that we will increasingly dig into the turbidity of this world, simultaneously revealing Ai’s unknown past. The mission of an enthusiast, of a son who really wants to find out who his mother was.
We will see what happens in the future Oshi no Ko. At the moment, the appreciation of the series continues to be very high. Negative reviews have increased, perhaps due to the fact that the narrative continues to alternate surprising twists and moments of relaxation that may not be appreciated by everyone. This shouldn’t worry: the series continues to be much more loved than hated. All this thanks above all to a surprising debut that immediately conquered many. A first episode that left its mark.