"Oshi no Ko"
[Oshi no Ko]

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Oshi No Ko is a story that shows us in depth and in a realistic way the world of entertainment in all its forms (television, theater, music, etc.) from the most positive to the darkest and also the influence of social networks.
One of the strongest points of Oshi No Ko is that the characters are very interesting and each one has a well constructed personality.

The art is wonderful and very consistent, vital to elevate the story to a higher level.

In conclusion: Oshi No Ko is a very original story, where the strong points are the drama and the characters. The only negative point is that ... the ending feels a bit rushed. But I think overall it is an excellent and very enjoyable story.

I am giving this series an 8 purely out of respect for what it used to be. However, I do not recommend reading it for reasons I will explain. This review is spoiler-free and I'll attempt to keep it short/non-specific.

Firstly, let me address the good. Oshi no Ko has some fantastic writing and characters. The series was started as an exposé of sorts on the entertainment industry, meant to pull back the curtain on how things really are for those in various parts of the industry (idols, producers, directors, actors, etc). It's under this direction that Oshi no Ko is at its best, building realistic ... and relatable characters with well-researched plots, and handling a lot of very real, serious issues with the industry and society with the respect they deserve.

However, at a certain point, the series massively deviates from this. That isn't an inherently incorrect choice; the author has pivoted a series successfully before, with Love is War going from a fantastic romantic comedy to a more serious drama without any loss in quality. However, just the same as Love is War, he completely fumbles the ending and ruins everything that had been built up to that point. The final arc of Oshi no Ko is like a fanfiction written by someone who hates the series and is trying to create the worst ending physically possible. No, actually, I think someone who hates the series could write a better ending. Nothing that's happening makes any sense, with characters acting completely illogically in accordance with plans that they have no reason to believe will work, nor are good solutions to the situation they're in. On top of that, multiple extremely important plot points from as early as volume 1 get completely retconned in such a way that the entire plot of the manga post volume 1 should never have happened to begin with.

The main antagonist of the entire manga, who barely appears prior to the ending arc and never actually involves himself in the plot post volume 1, finally shows up and is given some backstory. Then, he is replaced by a different antagonist who gets forced into the plot via a retcon that *completely ruins the first volume and every character motivation for Aqua/Ruby*. Then we go back to the main antagonist, then back to this new one, then back again all within the span of a few chapters. It is jarring and incredibly poorly planned/written.

The characters, for the most part, get 1-2 panel endings in what basically amounts to a PowerPoint presentation of "where did they end up?". Only 1 character, Aqua, gets a proper ending, which sees all of his character development completely undone as he reverts back to being the exact same person he was at the end of volume 1.

Effectively, the final arc of the manga makes reading the entire series up to that point useless, as most of the series' foundations are retconned away, most characters don't even get to pretend they had an ending, and the one character who does get an ending has all their character growth destroyed in one big "screw you" from Aka to the fans. Hopefully the anime gets an original ending if it makes it to the final volume. Do not read past Tokyo Blade.

I’d like to start by mentioning that I tried to write this review without any spoilers, which limits my ability to fully express my thoughts. I respect that others might have a different opinion, but what I write here is from my own perspective, and I try to be as objective as possible. Also, I’ve read Kaguya-sama, another manga by the same author.

The author made the decision to shift from what is probably the best romantic comedy manga I’ve ever read to one that explores more serious themes, which I respect and admire to a certain point. However, he made many of the same mistakes ... he did with his first work. Also, Mr. Akasaka didn’t handle the artwork for this manga; he only wrote it. You’d expect that stepping away from drawing would allow him to focus on delivering a stronger story, but if that was his intention, I don´t see a good result.

The concept of Oshi no Ko is really interesting, strange, and, above all, unique. Even though it touches on some controversial and odd topics, it was still a good story. The characters are solid, and there are elements in the story that have a lot of potential, but ultimately they don’t get resolved in a satisfying way. Like Kaguya-sama, it introduces important plot points that either get ignored or are wrapped up so hastily and sloppily that it becomes frustrating.

My biggest complaint about Oshi no Ko is its ending. I understand that not all endings have to be happy, but the last ten chapters felt so rushed that they left me with a deep sense of dissatisfaction. The author introduced several subplots that seemed promising, but in the end, they either turned into empty promises, were forgotten, or were just poorly resolved.

The ending of the story is bad, terrible, unnecessary, and honestly, I can’t justify it. I wish I could, but it’s so bad it’s almost absurd. This story feels incomplete and poorly developed to the point that I regret spending time reading this manga. The only things I can salvage are a few ideas, the artwork, the characters, and the excellent anime adaptation. However, the manga leaves such a bad taste in my mouth that I’d rather forget about it, though it’s hard because I do have a certain fondness for it.

If you compare the characters at the start with their final versions, you can hardly notice any difference. There’s no development. The protagonist, Aqua, is disappointing, and even his sister Ruby is underwhelming. Tsukuyomi, an interesting character, ends up contributing absolutely nothing. But the biggest wasted potential is Kana Arima. She’s one of the most underused characters I’ve ever seen in a manga. From start to finish, she’s treated like a punching bag, and while many characters’ potential was squandered, Kana’s case stands out as especially painful. The ending she gets is an insult.

The last 10 or 20 chapters are some of the most rushed I’ve ever seen in any story. It feels like the author just wanted to wrap up the manga as quickly as possible. I admit that I love the works of Mr. Akasaka, but seeing him repeat these patterns and close his stories so hastily takes away all the excitement and commitment I had to his works. I’m not sure I’d read another of his mangas. Oshi no Ko hooked me at first, but then it ruined everything with such a bad ending that it made the whole story feel pointless. Specifically, the last five chapters of this manga show my point completely, and the last three are a direct insult to the characters. The final chapter is a joke, so bad that it kinda looks like if an AI wrote it.

The last two chapters, especially the final one, are a stupid conclusion. I know I’ve repeated this, but it really feels like one of those movies where, during the credits, they show what happened to the characters, but in this case, it’s even worse. The resolution of Ruby’s story goes nowhere, and the plot ends up going back to square one, making it completely nonsensical. I’m not exaggerating when I say that all the time I spent reading the manga and watching the anime was a waste. I doubt this will happen, but if the anime or live-action adaptation ends up giving a different conclusion to the original, I would welcome it.

I’ve seen comments mocking the ending and suggesting ridiculous ways to make it less tragic. Ironically, all these ideas are somehow better than the ending the author gave us, I´m not kidding.

The main villain, who was introduced at the beginning of the story, only appears a few times. They try to justify his actions and thoughts by showing parts of his past, but in the end, since he appears so infrequently, he generates nothing more than disgust. Everything gets wrapped up so quickly that it feels completely rushed. Without spoiling what happens, I’ll just say there were many ways to resolve “that” without going to extremes. It’s not an emotional ending; it’s a ridiculous one.

I want to clarify something: it’s not that it’s a sad ending. The problem is that it’s so poorly developed that instead of making you feel sadness, it just leaves you feeling disappointed. It’s terribly written. Even if the author decided to write an alternate ending, it wouldn’t be worth it because he’d have to rewrite at least the last 30 chapters of the manga. That should make it clear how bad the ending is.

I’m saying this as respectfully as I can. I think the problem with the author, Mr. Akasaka, is that he often has brilliant ideas with a lot of potential, which captivate the readers. But just when it seems like he’s about to develop those ideas, he gets distracted by another “better” idea and starts a new manga, leaving the unfinished one as a task he has to complete. I understand the desire to develop a great idea right away, but this seems like a personal issue with the author that seriously impacts the quality of his works. He has so many great ideas that he fails to develop properly, and I’d love to say that he’ll take a break from writing stories to better organize his ideas. But no, he´s going to write another story soon, and I just hope he doesn’t make the same mistakes. As for me, I seriously doubt I’ll read another of his works, I´m beyond dissapointed.

To put it another way, the last chapters are so poorly done that they ruin the whole manga because it doesn’t lead to anything. Manga like Kaguya-sama had an unsatisfying ending, but that doesn’t take away from its value; it’s still worth revisiting. On the other hand, this isn’t the case with Oshi no Ko. It’s not worth it. I can’t rescue anything from it because it’s a complete waste of potential, that´s the reason I´m giving this manga such a low score.

To conclude this review, let me say it directly: I don’t recommend reading the manga. It hurts me to say this because, as I’ve mentioned, it’s a story full of potential, but it leads to nothing. I’m being completely honest when I say I’ll remember it for having one of the worst endings, not just in manga but in fiction in general. As for the anime, as I mentioned, it’s an excellent adaptation with great voice acting and art, but inevitably, they’ll reach the terrible ending of the manga.