There’s no doubt that Oshi no Ko has made ripples upon the Anime spectrum, with many different varying viewpoints on how this series has formed its identity over the course of its runtime. With this series’ ambitious storytelling and presentation, it provides a story unlike any other in the medium, along with many other charming pieces sprinkled to it to create one of the best and creative stories that the Anime sphere has to offer. Followed with the characters and their different and unique personalities, it ends up with their personalities synergizing to create a masterful story.

SPOILER WARNING FOR THE ENTIRE SERIES. THIS INCLUDES IMAGES. READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.

This series is practically a breakdown on how the Idol Industry(and how the Entertainment Industry as a whole in Japan) is structured, and how people fare in said industry. With how Oshi no Ko presents the industry to the audience(which I will now be abbreviating as ONK), it brings into perspective how the people behind the screen actually act in person, as well as their mental state. This show brings a multitude of different characters that are amazing examples of how the Entertainment Industry is behind the scenes. You could break down each of the characters that are their own example of how this industry keeps the balance. It brings into light many different viewpoints, and it makes for a simply beautiful watch.

Putting the entirety of the first arc in its first episode, making it span 82 minutes, which also spans 10 chapters, seems like a weird choice to make, considering the rest of the episodes are 24 minutes long. However, giving the first arc in a single episode was probably the best choice they could’ve made for the series, because the first 8 chapters aren’t the most eventful of chapters, and are more of a slow burner. With the twist of Ai’s death positioned at the end of the first episode, it makes for an amazing hook to make viewers interested in the route the following story will take. Episode 1 also presents us with Ai’s character, and her personality and mentality makes for one of the best and well written characters in this entire series. With her questioning between the lies and the truth, and her finally discovering it all in her last moments, made for one of the greatest moments this show has to offer.

With the birth of her two children, Ruby and Aqua, they are also really intriguing characters that we see change throughout the story. Ruby is more of the energetic type and more outward than her brother, Aqua. Her dream is that of her mothers, to be an idol. She is also, in the process, reviving the same idol group she once admitted, and the one her mother was on, B-Komachi. In her previous life, she was a girl who was bedridden. After seeing B-Komachi and Ai, she became absolutely obsessed with idols, and wanted to become one. After reincarnating as Ruby, her goal from start to finish has always been to become an idol, just like her mother. So far, she has two others who have joined this group, those two being Kana Arima, and MEM, who are also both in different positions in the Entertainment Industry that are pretty riveting. Kana’s more of a “I fell off” moment, where, as she grew up, she became more obscure and had to become more of a freelancer, while also developing a self-deprecating personality. MEM is a YouTuber who had always dreamed of becoming an idol, however due to circumstances, she wasn’t able to, and ended up pursuing a career on the internet.

Aqua is a very interesting protagonist, and it lies in the fact that he’s basically blinded by revenge. His perception of Ai and not being able to decide on what to see her as, as well as also manipulating the people around him to get what he wants, he ends up being a wonder to see every time he appears on screen. Seeing his mindset on everyone around him makes Aqua way more intriguing than what it seems like on the surface. His goal wasn’t initially set in the first episode, just doing whatever he wishes to do. After being introduced to acting, he decided to act as well. After his mothers death however, he deduces that his fathers the main culprit of the murder, and is now fully focused on only finding his father. With acting, he’s introduced to a plethora of new characters, one of those new characters being a girl called Akane Kurokawa.

Akane is a good breakdown on internet criticism, and how seemingly one small thing can create a domino effect, causing a completely different result. As she was a member of the Live Action cast, she ended up not showing up in most episodes due to her personality. When she finally shows up, she ends up creating an accident, causing people to criticize her actions in extremely negative ways. This deeply hurts Akane’s well-being, and these criticisms of her actions eventually leads to her attempted suicide. Aqua manages to save her just in time, but it really makes you question what would’ve happened if Aqua didn’t manage to save her in time.

The animation in this show is undeniably incredible. The picture of Ai’s death made me leave my chair for a solid 5 minutes wondering what my eyes had witnessed. Her dying expression made finishing the episode much harder to do, seeing how Aqua and Ruby were mentally affected by the person they’ve always admired even before they got reincarnated before their own eyes. The way this show is animated is also decently consistent, having no noticeable drops in quality throughout its entire runtime. The moments where ONK has good animation are really good.

The soundtracks of ONK are nothing more than spectacular. Pieyon’s soundtrack sounds way too amazing for its own good. Every time I replay Ai’s death scene, it gets sadder and sadder hearing the music change, and then finally rest when Ai finally dies with Aqua in her hands. It’s simply a beautiful track that compliments a beautiful scene, making it even more well executed. The soundtrack change for when Ai’s eyes finally rest is definitely heartbreaking and one of the saddest moments I’ve seen in any Anime.

As a whole, ONK is a series that has checked every box it needed to check, with it presenting one of the best stories this medium has to offer. Happy moments, Sad moments, Funny moments, Dark moments, this series makes you feel a range of emotions, while its underlying theme and purpose is shown flawlessly along with everything else. It really makes you question how this series will do in the future. Considering the success of ONK, there’s a very high likelihood it’s getting a Season 2, and I couldn’t possibly be more excited(There was a second season).

“I love you. Ah, I was finally able to say it. I’m sorry… It took me so long. I’m so relieved. That definitely wasn’t a lie.”

Final Verdict: 9/10.