Idol anime as a genre has always fallen quite flat for me despite only really dipping my toes into it. It generally falls into a formulaic show where a ragtag group of Doujin-bait girls with exactly one personality trait each find themselves in a highschool club where they decide to create an idol group on a whim. Potentially over-dramatised moments about them arguing about the artistic direction of the group or some failed concert and a hopscotch and a jump later woah they’re idols!!! An outside obstacle on their path to stardom is seldom seen.

Now on the other hand. What if instead of the glamour of big stages and champagne scented after-parties it is also about:

An actor’s ONE flaw with their face which has been covered using multiple layers of make-up and Photoshop?

Actors getting exploited by their agents with extremely unfair revenue splits without any way to speak up without losing their job?

Idols not having the agency to decide their group’s artistic choices over the people in suits working from the background making the choices that make the most profit which mostly lines their pockets instead of giving the idols a living wage?

If the more realistic approach to an idol-anime sounds more interesting to you then Oshi no Ko is the perfect idol-anime even for those not generally fans of the genre, as this show heavily mixes genres in order to make it an interesting watch for mystery fans too. This show lacks the ability to sugar-coat anything. And I mean anything so if topics related to self-harm and suicide make you squeamish I would NOT recommend this show.

Now for everyone else this show is going to throw you on an emotional rollercoaster with you experiencing 8 Gs of emotional distress (good emotional distress, not bad show cringe) within the first episode. I highly recommend you close this review and go watch AT LEAST the first episode of the show. From this point onwards I will be spoiling quite significant portions of perhaps the greatest first episode a show has gotten so I can talk about the show in more depth.

Oshi no Ko starts off with a popular idol Ai Hoshino ending up in the hospital in a rural area while being pregnant with twins. Our main character Ameyiya Goro, who is a fan of Ai due to a bed-bound patient of his Sarina being a massive fan of her’s. Ai is hoping to deliver the babies in a clandestine operation to protect her status as an idol.

Aka Akasaka wondered: “What would be the best way to throw a wrench in this plan? Oh I know.” and fucking has Ameyiya get murdered by a stalker of Ai and have him reincarnate as Ai’s baby with his twin sister being Sarina, who died from her illness.

Alright so 15 minutes have passed by, and the genre I thought I was watching has swapped entirely. Ameyiya with his new name of Aqua(marine) and his sister Ruby decide to help their mom with navigating the bureaucracy of the entertainment industry without raising suspicion about being Ai’s children and being reincarnated.

They even show some genetic gifts of being the children of one of the most prominent idol’s children with Aqua picking up acting jobs at the age of 3. At this point you are probably thinking this will go on to be an idol anime with a slightly more realistic outlook until

Spoiler, click to view

After Ai’s untimely death Aqua thinks about the situation and comes to the conclusion of thinking someone inside the industry fed information to the stalker in order to manipulate them to murder Ai. Thus begins Aqua’s revenge story with every lead existing somewhere deep within the back-stages of the top movies airing in cinemas. Oh yea let’s also add one of the best sakuga clips to this scene where he comes to this conclusion.

Spoiler, click to view

This is not a random highlight where the animation happened to be nice once. The quality of animation is top-notch at almost every moment, movements are extremely fluid and characters are extremely expressive. The show does put real thought into the most impactful scenes and elevates them miles above the manga.

Of course after the first episode the show becomes slower after it establishes its main plot, but it does not change the fact that:

The murder mystery aspect is genius

Shows that wish to deliver a message about an injustice they see can often come off as very tacky. The message does not compliment the plot and is just attached as if the author attaches their message with little thought onto a complete story as opposed to the message being told through plot alone. Considering the structuring Oshi no Ko has, it’s able to talk about nearly anything as long as it happens within the industry and it can move forwards its plot. It can delve deep into whatever criticisms it wishes to lash out at people inside the industry and even outside of it. Every contract signed or acting job done could give a lead about the shadowy figure behind Ai’s death. Not to mention the entire mystery behind the twins’ reincarnation.

Aqua’s entire relationship with Ai is critical of parasocial relationships that are happening within fan communities quite possibly right now. Aqua essentially does not know Ai yet he’s working as a psychopathic fan pretty much. Yes, Ai is technically his biological mother, but he still has all of his memories. They’ve known each other for a few years and his reaction is to seek revenge against all odds even when Ai was not present to parent them due to work most of the time. What is the difference between him and the stalker who killed Ai, if there is any?

Of course Aqua is not the only well-thought out character in the show. Most characters are based off of real stories and events to the point of being criticised by people due to the characters relating to people they know. Every character feels like they’re hiding a part of themselves as if they are so accustomed to being on camera at all times. As if they were almost entirely artificial, but in very few rare moments breaking out of “character”. As if we even know which is the real them.

Manufactured lies from artificial characters, no way to tell the “real” from the wake even in supposedly sincere confessions. How can anyone work in an industry where you are encouraged to lie in order to keep your job, where it is encouraged to whisper sweet nothings into ears to keep parasocial relationships going and keep the money flowing? Such is the world of Oshi no Ko and unfortunately the entertainment industry which we fund.