[Oshi no Ko]
a review by Benkei
a review by Benkei
● Note from the future: It's 2025 and I'm revisiting this review. I ended up dropping this series on chapter 123. I dislike the path that the series was going. Be advised.
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The Story ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ Goro is a doctor who works at a hospital in the countryside. He is really passionate about idols, especially a rising star called Ai. When she announces a sudden break, he's very shocked. While he tries to understand the reasoning, his next appointment comes up. No one less than Ai.The story of Oshi no Ko is really good. I think that the first thing that really got me hooked was the pacing. There's a good division of arcs, with a very clear start and end goal. That way of structuring the story made it very easy for me to binge it since I knew that arc X was going to end with a certain event.This manga got a 9 (masterpiece) from me because it talks about the entertainment industry. Not only showing the backstage, all the creation process, chain of command, and things like that. But, this work also shows the dark side of the industry and fame.
The line between fiction and reality gets so close that it is scary. With some research about the topics raised in the manga, you can find real-life examples and it is a tough pill to swallow. Really eye-opening at times.However, not everything is great. Within the manga, there's a very "unfortunate" age-gap romantic theme involving minors. I see how the author tries to ease up using several narrative mechanisms, but for me it is still not okay. Other than that, everything is really good.
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The Art Style ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ The art style is absurdly well done. Once again, Aka does an amazing job. Great use of shadows, textures, effects, lights and tones. There's nothing for me to complain about the art style. 
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The Characters ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ There are a large number of characters in this work. Each character in the main core has good development. The show also goes to the past to explain their motivations, mentality, and background.As I always like to talk about the main character, Goro is a good main character. He's very broken, conflicted, and has a very nice strategic mindset, which I really enjoy.
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Conclusion ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ If you're like me, you skip everything and read only the conclusion because you don't want to get spoiled with other themes. So I will try to be brief on this point:Read it. Oshi no Ko has an amazing story focused on the backstage of the entertainment industry. It sometimes has a very cruel and gruesome side, but it can act as an eye opener in regards to certain themes. Especially haters, public judgement, and such.45 out of 51 users liked this review
