I have been adamant about not giving spoilers in my reviews but I think with the Anime’s main plot and premise so well defined in the first episode it is pretty inevitable So do be warned that there will be spoilers but only for episode 1 (if you haven’t been spoiled already by twitter or smth)

Oshi No Ko starts with a doctor that happen to meet his favorite idol (Ai Hoshino) in his hospital. To his shock she is pregnant as a teenager. A Japanese idol having a relationship itself is career ending on its own let alone having children. This prompts him to bear the responsibility to not only ensure her health as a physician but to ensure her safety and reputation as fan. The doctor whose name is irrelevant at this point encounters his first dilemma where he questions his motives whether he is keen on helping her as a professional physician or as a fan. Nonetheless she is a person that needs his help and he staunchly fulfilled that responsibility. The doctor is aware of how obsessive fans can be and the possible dangers that could arise from a dissapointed fan finding out that she is pregnant. And in danger she was indeed as it he was killed while attempting to pursue a stalker that somehow found her location. The doctor is then dead, around the same time that Ai is going into labor which through isekai fantasy magic causes him to reincarnate into her son. Ai gave birth to the doctor which she named Aquamarine and a girl which she named Ruby.

Now restarting his life as a child along with the memories of his past it seems like the doctor now called Aqua is given a second chance in life and in his weird relationship with his beloved idol. Ai of course is oblivious to this reincarnation hocus pocus and thinks of him as her beloved child which she proceeds to love unconditionally, or at least she thinks so. Because in reality, Ai as an individual is a hollow shell with no real genuine emotions coming from an abusive and uninteresting life in the country side. How she managed to become such a popular and beloved idol in Japan is all due to her genius talent at faking emotions to the most intimate details. Ai has mastered the art of emotional deception and created an attractive façade that appeals to her many fans. When she tells her fans the words ‘I love you’ it swoons them off their feet and makes them overjoyed with happiness. But the truth is, those words are artificial along with her smile and mannerisms; she is in fact just keeping up for appearances. For her its nothing personal, its just business. But for the fans it makes them happy. Ai herself questions if this fake love that she expresses to her many fans is in any way shape or form bad, but ultimately views it from consequentialist point of view arguing that if a fake love gives so much joy and happiness to others then it is a valuable love nonetheless. This brings Ai to the conclusion that lying is the ultimate form of love. So for years Ai continues to lie, continues to fake her smile, as long as it brings happiness to others to the point where she blurred the lines between fake emotions and acting. But to Ai it does not matter; Her old self is a miserable unattractive bumpkin that nobody loves and loves nobody, but now she is a superstar that is loved by many even if she is uncertain if her reciprocal emotions towards them are genuine. And for the longest time she assumed that these emotions are fake because she kept on lying and lying to the point she cannot recognize what genuine emotions are anymore.

Until…

A stalker found where she lives and stabs her leaving her with fatal injuries.

And instead of caring about the gushing would in her stomach, Ai instinctively falls back to protect her children that was in her house at that time. Instead of cursing the murderer in front of her she apologized for not loving him enough. At this point it is clear that Ai is indeed a hollow individual; a person that lives solely for others and not for herself. At this point she never once said the words I love you to her children because she fears that she will feel nothing when she does so like she have faked those words so many times before. But to her genuine delight in her final moments, when she told Aqua those 3 words she felt her heart flutter as those emotions are genuine with no regrets as she hugged her child in her final moments with the happiest smile she has ever put on her face. In the end despite accusing her love as artificial and fake, Ai ironically demonstrated the purest form of unconditional love.

And that is the conclusion to the first episode of Oshi No Ko. If Aka Akasaka did anything wrong as a writer is undoubtedly creating an intro that is too good. That ending to this introductory portion of this extended plot will never be surpassed or satisfied no matter what. Aqua now too has become a shell of a person having died twice. First losing his original life as a doctor, now reincarnated and given a second chance in life by Ai and finding purpose in her just to have that purpose die too. Living through difficult and conflicting feelings as an adult, as a child, as doctor, as a fan, etc. Aqua now too has been traumatized and stripped of his sanity seeing himself fail to protect his idol twice; now too become a hollow shell of a person filled with nothing but anger. The story now retires from Ai trying to discover genuine emotions and transitions into Aqua's journey to find his mother's killer fueled by an obsessive sense of justice. The only thing Aqua cares about other than his determined pursuit of vengeance is his twin sister Ruby. Maybe its because he cares for her because she is his immediate family, or maybe he is holding on to his mother's desire for both of her children to be happy. But one thing is for certain, he too like his mother live for something other than the self; for something and somebody else.

And here I think is the focus and main meat of Oshi No Ko's story: Aqua's obsessive pursuit for revenge. Ruby the twin sister of Aqua now serves as major character in the story's various side plots which most of the time is linked to Aqua's efforts to find more information about his mother's killer. For example entering a reality show so he can earn a favor with Ai's former TV producer to gather information. These sub plots never seem out of place due to its constant relevance in Aqua's pursuit of vengeance. But this does not stop Aqua from genuinely being a good brother and friend to the people around him. He tries to stop Ruby from entering the idol business because he did not want even the risk of her suffering the same fate as their mother and he is receptive and compassionate to people that he meets in his various entertainment jobs that he participate in order to earn favors and information for his ultimate goal. An interesting journey is set for our protagonist as now it keeps me guessing if Aqua will be consumed by an obsessive need for revenge or will he gradually learn to let go of the past and embrace the connections he made in his pursuits in the industry.

Speaking of Ruby, I think she is an excellent character to introduce an interesting side plot along side Aqua's main plot. The intricacies of the industry (I believe) is not well understood by the casual audience and she serves as a student character to be fed exposition about the inner workings and its various politics as an aspiring idol with no experience. This way when detailed explanations are being told it does not fee like talking down to the audience and being out of place. Similarly like when Harry Potter is being taught about magic in Hogwarts it does not feel like the author is trying to lecture us and rather lecture the noob muggle that is Harry. And from all the doom and gloom about seeking revenge Ruby serves as a refreshing air of positivity to let the audience breathe. Just like her genius idol mother Ruby have the same drive and energy to become an idol and unlike Ai that is living for others and Aqua that is living for revenge, Ruby genuinely lives for herself, her dreams. Unlike Aqua that is still burdened by his mother's death, Ruby have accepted and moved on knowing that living her life happily to the fullest is what her mother would have wanted. And this contrasting dynamic of cheerful and gloomy between twin siblings definitely make an interesting experience for the story moving forward.

Oshi No Ko is about a lot of things, love, passion, revenge, trauma, etc. Which is absolutely true to its stated genre: DRAMA. It's freaking DRAMA and there is a lot of shit happening in this sort of genre. Which is sorta fitting about a story that revolve around the entertainment industry with various people from different backgrounds. You cannot expect there to be no drama! But despite the various events going on I still feel in this 11 episodes the main trajectory of the plot is quite clear: Aqua's quest for revenge. All these DRAMA are just inevitable obstacles or side events that happen along the way. Oshi No Ko started off with a premise that definitely hooked me to see it through, Aqua's journey seems to be a difficult one with various unpredictable challenges along the way. But his determination along with my attachment for Ai made it a promising plot for me to follow through. Besides that, the various cast of side characters too are an entertaining bunch that have unique challenges of their own which are a fun addition and dynamic to add with Aqua's journey to follow. An easy 10/10 for me for being a really engaging drama that offers various surprises for this first season.

End of regular review

Some 'Pretentious' Thoughts

Now this review is very long and you notice I haven't included any pretentious elements about how this anime represents the entertainment industry, or bring light to the dark events, bring awareness to tough life of entertainers, etc. Why? Because I am a firm believer of media consumption based on its basic merits. I will not award social justice points to media just because they have a good message and they are really deep in criticizing society or whatever. Take 2021's Don't Look Up for example: Its bring to light the very real issue of global warming yeah, but it still sucks because its a bad story! it doesn't matter! So coming back to Oshi No Ko and its ostensibly eye opening look into the entertainment industry's dark aspects. This is something I genuinely did not feel affected my viewing experience and rating for this Anime. Why? Because its not news to me. I have been aware of the predatory aspects of the entertainment industry for several years now both because I have studied it and have conversations with said people involved in the industry itself. I am confident I am aware about details of the entertainment industry's exploitative and inhuman practices way more than the average person. So my rating and enjoyment from Oshi No Ko purely comes from its own two feet from its amazing introduction, nuanced characters, bombastic art style, and strong story telling. The production quality is just perfect, not much to really talk about.

But what is this common criticism I hear stating that it fail to bring awareness about the exploitations of the entertainment industry and the struggles of entertainers? I really genuinely fail to see how it failed. Is there anyone out there after completing Oshi No Ko and having less compassion for entertainers? If bringing awareness towards the struggles of entertainers and the darker untold aspects of the entertainment industry is the goal of this anime I am pretty confident it has done it well. Again I am not saying I like this anime because of its perceived moral contributions for entertainers, I am just saying that its sweet that it has done it well.

And is the series trying to sound deep and complex? This is another criticism I see that from a presumptuous and conceited point of view think that Oshi no Ko is trying to be smart, trying to be more than it is. In what way does an reincarnation isekai fantasy story about a kid trying to avenge his mother is trying to be smart and complex? That description itself is pretty self explanatory on Oshi No Ko's perceived intent. And if the same people that accuse Oshi No Ko of trying to be smart also accuse the show of failing to bring awareness to the issue, they are either contradictory in their opinions to the point of engaging in bad faith argument or blatantly disrespecting the common sense of the writers thinking they are dumb enough to complicate the message of awareness they presumptuously are trying to spread to the general public.

Some diehard fans of the series too seem to have a biased take on why it should be considered the greatest and most important anime of all time by virtue of its perceived morality and social contributions. Deflecting criticism and defending the series to the point of labelling anyone that dislike the shows supports cyberbullying and exploitative entertainment companies. Some even trying to masquerade as social justice heroes of superior morality because they understood the moral objective of the show and no longer support the entertainment industry as a result. This is also a bad faith argument as it is totally alright for somebody to be not engaged with the story but still recognize what it ostensibly is trying to bring to light.

But if there is one take away that everybody should have from Oshi No Ko weather they liked or hated it, is a simple one which I do not think is that difficult to fathom: