Oshi no Ko – 11 (S1 Fin) – O Children of the Star

I like how this Oshi no Ko starts out from the POV of two strangers; first an idol from another group who is curious about a “cutie” in B Komachi, then from an older idol otaku who is the only one in his circle who remembers the original B Komachi, and how special Ai was.

Those who saw Hoshino Ai could never forget her. That’s what Ruby, Kana, and MEM-cho are up against. Their first song in their first concert goes off without a hitch, but the otaku is #notimpressed. Then Ruby hits him with the same kind of charismatic look Ai once made, and he immediately reassesses his skepticism.

As the the trio transitions from the first group to the second, Kana takes note of the color of the lightsticks in the crowd. Most are for the famously online MEM-cho, while a smattering are for Ruby, who is a natural idol. None are white for Kana, and she descends into a spiral of despair even as she performs competently.

All she wants is for someone to look her way, to need her, to praise her. When a single white lightstick shoots up, it’s in Aqua’s hand. He shows off the same lightstick dancing skills he had both in his previous life and as a baby with Ruby. Not only does he almost make Kana laugh in the middle of her set, but more importantly he cheers her up.

Right then and there, Kana decides she’s going to make Aqua fall in love with her. Her performance kicks into another gear entirely, and she not only starts holding her own against Ruby and MEM’s charisma, but truly comes into her own as the center. Aqua can’t help but take notice. Indeed, he can’t take his eyes off Kana.

On the car ride home, the seating arrangements in the van are crucial. MEM is riding shotgun as Miyako drives, while Ruby and Kana are in the middle row, the former fast asleep. Behind them is Aqua. Kana asks how they did, and he says pretty good for their first time. She wants him to give them—give her—more props, but he does her one better, saying he’s only withholding loftier praise because he knows they’re only going to get better.

Miyako expresses relieve Aqua and Kana are talking again, but to MEM’s eyes, they don’t get along at all. Miyako then lays the perfect bait: asking Aqua how things are going with Akane since the show. Aqua responds exactly how she expected: honestly. He hasn’t seen Akane since, and it’s only a work relationship. Kana hides her glee by mocking Aqua’s bad luck.

Watching Kana’s reactions, it dawns on MEM that Kana has feelings for Aqua, causing her to draw a diagram of the love triangle of Aqua, Kana, and Akane in her head. Since MEM considers herself Akane’s friend, she’s not sure who to root for. She’s a great audience surrogate, because I’m not sure either!

Right on cue, Akane receives a piece of correspondence that indicates to her that she and Aqua will be working together again very soon, but in the meantime, Kana takes full advantage of the fact she and Aqua are talking again to poke and prod him, which Ruby tells MEM is the only way to really get to her brother.

She notes that Kana brings out the “old” Aqua, before his personality became twisted. Like MEM, I leaned more towards Kana here, as Akane will have a steep hill to climb. But I also know Akane is perfectly capable of climbing it!

As we watch Kaburagi having another opulent dinner with a younger, more flamboyant producer Sumiaki Raida, we learn why Akane knows she’s working with Aqua: they’ve been cast in a 2.5D stage version of the popular anime Tokyo Blade. Selfishly, I wished the story would have been that Starship Troopers-style ED of Kaguya-sama: Ultra Romantic.

But I’ll admit, Tokyo Blade looks cool too, especially when Akane, on a date with Aqua to take Insta pictures to lend their relationship legitimacy, describes the cast. She’ll be playing Princess Saya, while he’ll be playing Touki. She goes on to say fans love speculating whether Touki will end up with Saya or his associate, Tsurugi.

As soon as I saw Tsurugi’s character design, I knew what was coming even before Akane wondered who would be cast to play her. Of course, it’s Kana! Kana herself tells Akane and Aqua, interrupting their “work date” to warn them not to livepost in identifiable outdoor locations unless they want stalkers.

As it happens, Akane and Kana know each other…and do not like each other. They exchange barbs, and Aqua is powerless to stop the sparks that the two emit towards one another. The two are perfectly cast as two women in a love triangle with Aqua, playing characters in a love triangle with Aqua’s character.

Kana’s little visit is a declaration of war, but we know Akane, whom we know to possess obsessive tendencies, isn’t going to back down, and fully intends to win such a war, as she harbors feelings for Aqua too. Add to that the fact that Akane, while acknowledging Kana’s talent, still resents her for stealing all the good roles back when they were child actors together.

The solidification of the love triangle and the announcement of the Tokyo Blade play are excellent setup for the second season, which is definitely coming; it’s only a question of when. As for Aqua’s quest for vengeance, he’s agreeing to the role because he knows becoming a famous and successful actor is the only way he’ll learn more about his target.

In this case, working with Akane on this production will get him closer to Lala Lai, where Kaburagi says Ai fell in love with someone. He’s still determined to find that someone by any means necessary. But it’s my earnest hope that between Akane and Kana doing their best to win his heart, and his and Ruby’s careers taking off, he’ll one day ditch the quest and enjoy his life, as Ai would surely want him to.

Oshi no Ko – 10 – The Rookie

When Ruby and MEM-cho foist the position of center onto Kana, she rejects the honor, and when they praise her voice, it forces her to bring up that dark past when her disaster of a music career crashed and burned spectacularly. They praise her, but she takes no joy from it, telling them in no uncertain terms that she’ll never accept being the center.

Then she practices singing with them, and it’s clear that she has to be the center if the new B Komachi is going to survive its infancy; Ruby and MEM are that bad. But despite not at all wanting to be the center, Kana grudgingly agrees anyway, talking and acting in a manner contrary to her feelings, just like she’d done with Aqua last week.

With the center matter settled, Miyako presents someone who will help get train them into peak idol condition: It’s the return of Pieyon! I like how Kana had initially expressed excitement it might be Aqua. Pieyon subjects the women to a grueling exercise regimen designed to forge them into idols able to smile and perform at their best even when dead tired.

After a training montage and during a well-deserved breather, Kana tells Pieyon how an idol center isn’t a position for “little ol’ her”. When Pieyon praises her, she gives him a dark look, saying he doesn’t know the first thing about her. Then Pieyon rattles off a string of qualities that clearly demonstrate he knows quite a bit about her.

Kana presumes he’s always been a fan, and they engage in an easy, breezy, and thoroughly enjoyable chat. Kana even smiles and laughs! She considers casting Aqua aside and making room for Pieyon in her heart, despite the fact she’s never seen his face. It’s around this point, and when MEM mentions Pieyon doesn’t look as buff in person, that my suspicions about him being Aqua in disguise found purchase.

The way he spoke to and then described Kana in such accurate detail was the first evidence, but it’s revealed to the audience that Aqua is indeed under the chick mask, and he’s in contact with the real deal (who is at the beach) via skype. The real Pieyon pushes back on Aqua’s notion that Kana would never accept him as her trainer. Aqua says he’s “actually rather feeble” in response.

The night before JIF, Ruby is too excited to sleep, despite Kana paraphrasing a university study on the specific deleterious effects of sleep deprivation on idols. When Kana asks how she can be so pumped up about this, Ruby simply says she’s longed for it. When she was Sarina, and before she discovered Ai, she felt she had no future and no hope, trapped in that hospital room.

But then her life suddenly brightened and became a lot more fun when she became an idol otaku, especially when she met her “first love”, our boy Gorou. The happiness and comfort these memories give Ruby cause her to fall asleep, and Kana in turn gently pats her head. Never would she have pegged Ruby for a former shut-in!

When Kana goes downstairs, she spots Pieyon with his mask off, and when she gets a closer look, discovers it is indeed Aqua. As a result, despite her scolding Ruby, it’s she who is sleep-deprived, and whose head is in a total whirl due to the ramifications of “Pieyon” having been Aqua all along.

It’s no accident she fell for “Pieyon”, because he was the same kind, thoughtful, attentive, supportive, and encouraging person she knows Aqua can be when he’s at his best, which she’s believed he’s been far too rarely of late. But was he kind to her as Pieyon just to get her motivated to perform? Were the sentiments he expressed genuine, or more useful lies from a gifted actor?

There’s no way for Kana to be sure either way, even if she had the courage to ask Aqua about it. And “Pieyon” isn’t around for their big JIF day. What is crystal clear to Kana is that their pre-concert accommodations are complete and utter shit. All of the underground idols and those with little to no fanbases are stuffed into one large conference hall like sardines.

Kana tries to get some rest in, and Miyako asks her if she’s nervous. Kana puts up a front, stating her lengthy experience as a performer and promising to look after Ruby and MEM. Even as she says this, a part of her resents having to be the one on which everything falls.

It’s not exactly resentment; it’s fear. When things were arranged for her to make her big singing debut, it was a horrific bust, and she knew it. When she asked for more work and her agency rejected her for being too old, it sucked. When even her mother left her alone in the city to take care of her aging mother, she felt like she wasn’t needed.

As Kana starts to wonder when exactly she started to make self-deprecating comments about herself that matched some of the stuff that was said about her online, suddenly she is needed in the present: it’s finally hitting Ruby that she’s about to go on stage as an idol for the first time, and she’s kinda panicking.

When she asks if Kana feels the same, Kana tells her the same thing she told Miyako, but Ruby can tell she’s lying. She holds her hand, which is ice cold, and correctly deduces Kana is not just nervous, but scared. Kana finally breaks down and admits that yes, she’s scared: scared of failing and bringing Ruby and MEM down with her.

But Ruby, who is able to calm down from her own anxiety seeing Kana in a similar state, assures Kana that to her, she’s just another cute, hardworking rookie idol. And rookie idols fail all the time. All they need to do is have fun out there, go for it, and give it their all. Ruby’s words are enough to bring a smile even to Kana’s face. She realizes she’s been overthinking things, and follows Ruby to the stage hand-in hand.

Once they’re in their outfits, there’s no turning back, but Kana has no intention of doing so. With Aqua’s help, she’s built up her stamina. With Ruby’s help, she’s washed away her painful memories and fears. Donning the armor of an invincible, indomitable, eternal idol, the center of the resurrected B Komachi, there’s nothing Arima Kana, Rookie Idol, cannot do. And even if there is, that’s okay.

If it’s wrong to be more invested in Kana’s whole deal than Aqua’ slow-burn revenge arc, I don’t want to be right! Han Megumi continues to knock it out of the park with her performance. She’s a prickly, pessimistic, often impossible young woman, but she’s also incredibly tough, talented, and sensitive. I just know she’s going to rock on that stage.

But I don’t want to sell Ruby short either: Igoma Yurie, herself a real-life rookie in the seiyu game, has shown incredible range when her character is given focus. It was super moving hearing her talk about her time as Sarina, and why it’s such a momentous thing to achieve what you’ve always longed for.

As for me, I don’t long for much: just a solid finale, and the prompt announcement of a second season’s air date!