ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱᴏɴ ᴅɪᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ ʙᴇᴛᴛᴇʀ?

Perhaps recency bias, but I like S2 slightly more so far, even though S1E1 is still my fav episode.

I prefer season 2, although slightly; when the Private Arc is finished, the gap will widen.

This season was consistently good, and even more unique than season 1; all the Tokyo Blade episodes are 9.5, and even the episodes before that with Abiko and during preparation for the stage-play were enjoyable and great.

I think when people look at season 1, they only look at the peaks of it, such as episode 1 and maybe also 6 and 11, I agree that episodes 1 and 6 are the peak of Oshi no Ko (only of the anime; manga has greater moments.), but season 1 was not as consistently good as season 2.

@Cielord Valid point. It's also fair to say that Season 2 started off slow, but picked up the pace after its 4th episode. I wouldn't therefore say that it was consistent. That being said, The Tokyo Blade Arc was the highlight of this season, a solid 9.2/10 from me. It was during this arc to the end of the season that this season really shone consistently.

Oshi no Ko peaked at episode one and I don't think it is a controversial statement.

@Piromysl It’s not a controversial statement and yet I disagree. And my opinion is unpopular probably...

To me it’s a length bias. A show will always SEEMS better when you get the full story compared to part of a story. When you get the introduction to the conclusion, when you have the answers the question that were just asked, when the payoff comes with the setup, etc.

Episode 1 is an introduction arc all by itself, almost a prequel. It’s an entire story that is self-contained, plot lines get resolved setups get their payoffs. Just a little open end, because if not there would be no episode 2 and series. The father’s identity is literally the only question without answer. And THEN episode 2 starts introducing plot lines that will take time to resolve, like Ruby becoming an idol. It’s a full manga volume that could very well have been 4 episodes instead of 1, it just happens to be 1 episode.

For the same reasons "setup" episodes are seems as slow or less interesting as "payoff" episodes, but without setups you would never get any payoff. You’re just biased because the setup and the payoffs happen in different episodes. You shouldn’t judge an episode for being a setup episode, but judge it as a good or a bad setup. Like no, the beginning of the tokyo blade arc is not "slow", it is NECESSARY to setup everything. How would Aqua’s emotional acting have any impact without Aqua having a panic attack at the start of the arc. And why would he have a panic attack? We need to setup all that shit before the big payoff. 90% of story writing is setup/payoff, once you realize this you stop seeing episodes of a show as "slow" and "peak" and you start thinking like "oooh, that’s the direction they were going" and starts seeing hints in setup episodes you might even do full predictions of what is to come, like happy episode = something bad will happen soon. (unless it’s actually just fillers, it does happen sometimes)

So what you can say is that the episode 1 is like a movie (and it’s true, it’s very much constructed like a movie) while the rest of the series... Is a series. And having plot lines that won’t get resolved before a few seasons and setups that won’t get any payoff is a characteristic of a series. It’s not a bad thing, that’s just how series are compared to movies.

To me comparing episode 1 to the series is unfair, it’s like a prequel movie. It should be compared to something that has a conclusion, so like you shouldn’t compare episode 1 to episode 2, but episode 1 to episodes from 2 to last manga chapter. Or at the very least episode 1 to an entire arc. Because then you compare a full story arc to a full story arc.

My favorite arc so far in the anime, is Tokyo blade, but I like the following arcs even more (private and what comes after in the manga). In a way, episode 1 is regarded as the best episode because of the big payoff, Ai’s death after setting her up as the most incredible and likeable character, killing her sure has a big impact. But in a way... Episode 1 is the biggest setup of this series. Just how many time have we had Ai death flashbacks so far? In the tokyo blade arc it’s almost all episodes, sometimes multiple times in the same episode. Just how much her death is just shaping the entire series, characters choices and motivations, etc.? That’s a big impactful setup and now everything we get out of it in each arcs is just payoff after payoff. And it makes this series so good. Aqua’s flashback of Ai’s death just before his emotional acting is BETTER than the original Ai death scene and I am not afraid to say it. Don’t get me wrong episode 1 is GREAT, it’s a very good setup. But I don’t think people realize just how much we get from episode 1.... outside of episode 1. What I mean is yes, Ai’s death is very impactful, but we don’t just get Ai’s death in just episode 1, we get it reminded in many episodes and sometimes it’s even more impactful then than in the actual first episode.

So yeah. Season 2 is better IMO. It couldn’t exist without season 1 of course, it’s not like you can skip episodes or anything, but we are getting into the good part of the series.

currently season 1

I personally don’t know how you could prefer Season 1. I thought the Tokyo Blade arc was considered to be on of the best arcs. If you didn’t like the Tokyo Blade arc then I almost feel like you’d be better off dropping the anime. Also people saying only episode 1 was good are crazy. The first half of the initial episode wasn’t even that good. Seriously, the first ~30-40 minutes of episode 1 is probably my least favorite part of Oshi no Ko. You can tell how much more effort was put into season 2 as well. The animators really popped off. Plus they added some stuff that only made the arc better. They couldn’t have adapted it better honestly. The first season didn’t even really feel like an arc. It was just an introduction meant to show you what kind of show this was. It was honestly more chill and lighthearted (aside from Akane’s episode of course). We get so much more with the Tokyo Blade arc. Aqua’s PTSD, Melts growth arc, A look into disputes between the original creators and adaptation creator, half-sibling reveal, different acting methods, happy Aqua, Akane finds out Ai is Aqua and Ruby’s mother, Akane vs Kana, crow girl etc. (Warning: Spoilers for rest of season) By the end of the season I believe we’re getting the first glimpse of Hikaru, Ruby finding Gorou’s corpse, and the start of dark eyed Ruby. I think we also get a genuine Aqua and Akane kiss if I’m not wrong about the placement. So yeah season 2 definitely wins for sure. Anyone that doesn’t find all of that interesting should definitely drop the anime.

why did aqua think to end his revenge after he found out his dad was dead. who said Ai's killer was the father? did I miss that