Oshi no Ko Rewatch - Season 1 Overall Discussion

**Longtime B-Komachi Fan!**

I'll keep this brief because I already wrote a lot about the individual episodes, but I really enjoyed watching this season again for a fifth(?) time! It remains one of my top ten anime series - and seeing it again after reading later parts of the manga, noticing things I hadn't picked up on before, just makes me love this story even more.

[](#ilovethiskindofshit)

**Questions of the Day:**

1) The Hoshino family. I still can't choose just one favorite between Ai, Aqua and Ruby because I love them all equally.

2) The premiere episode is my favorite. For specific scenes, I really like the scene where Ai genuinely smiles when she sees her kids doing the glowstick dance, and the way this scene is mirrored again in the season 1 finale with Kana and Aqua. Both times, Ai and Kana were feeling down during a performance and doubting themselves, and then were cheered up by people they love, which allowed their star quality to truly shine.

3) It's all good, but the characters are really the heart of this story for me and the reason why I'm so invested in the mystery, their ongoing relationship drama and their careers as rising stars.

4) Movie/TV show production, especially the *Sweet Today* arc because they were adapting a manga. I also found it interesting to see the little tricks Aqua used to bring a scene to life.

5) This season is near perfect for me, so I gave it a rare 9.5/10. My only minor criticism is that sometimes the exposition is a bit much, and can feel more like a lesson for the audience rather than realistic dialogue.

**Rewatcher/Manga Reader**

QOTD 1 -

* Too hard to pick

QOTD 2 -

* Episode 6 - While that episode was brutal to put it lightly the way it portrayed Akane's spiral down overall it handled the topic well (Normally I skip it just because of how badly it affects my mental health)
* Episode 7 - Where to start - Kana's Speech at the start, Everybody comforting Akane, and of course Akane's Ai's Impression

QOTD 3

* Seeing the darker side of the industry

QOTD 4

* Hard to pick but either Episode 1 (Stan), Episode 6 (Cyberbullying) or Episode 9/10 (Singer Auditions)

QOTD 5 - 9.5/10

Who are your favorite characters?

The mom. I love that they explore her a flawed but loving person. Frequently anime either gives you an angelic mother figure or an evil stepmother trope, and nothing in between.

What are your favorite episodes or scenes?

1st episode. It's long but not could be a self contained season on its own.

What is the main appeal of the story for you - the character/relationship drama, Aqua's murder investigation, Ruby's idol journey, or something else?

Just that it's something different. It's a very unique premise that I find really engaging.

**Rewatcher**

Really enjoying this rewatch. It's nice to infodump about one of my favorite shows ever, don't really get to do that a lot lol.

1. For this season, Aqua. He is an endless well of fascinating analysis, carrying the combined experiences, motivations and traumas of two lifetimes. He by nature has a very calculating attitude and might say something different from what he feels, but his eyes also betray where he is coming from. Can't help but be watching his eyes in every scene.

And Pieyon of course.

2. Episode 4 or 8 have to be my favorite, which makes sense as they are the respective ends of their arcs? Akane's cyberbullying scene in Episode 6 though, especially the one which shows her growing up as an aspiring actress while the wall of internet hate plays in the background, is absolutely my favorite scene in this season.

3. Definitely the character drama. As an aspiring creative myself, I am a sucker for the entertainment industry as the setting, which means I was biased coming into this show, but Aka Akasaka excels at this particular brand of character writing where he'll drip feed characters' attributes throughout the length of the show, which stay in line with their actions while also recontextualizing them. It makes for a lot of rewatch potential, and brings some depth to even well explored tropes like revenge arcs or love triangles.

4. I don't think that show provides, overall, anything groundbreaking-ly new that the average viewer wouldn't know about the entertainment industry, and only explores as much as it needs to tell its story. But it does provide small fascinating details that shows the author has run the gamut. Examples being how shows with tight budgets like *Sweet Today* are made and marketed, and how "scripting" in reality shows works, and how literally everybody in the industry are putting up a calculated image up to public view, to the point where showing off even a bit of your personal life has the potential to damage you gravely.

5. 9.5/10. I know most animes don't have the budget or time, but in an ideal world this is level that every adaptation would operate at, showing a clear love for the source material while also not being afraid to make confident directorial choices. And in a way, this adaptation *needed* to be good considering the story that it tells. It would be a poor reflection on whichever studio took up the task if it wasn't.

Looking forward to S2! Merry Christmas to all you good people!

Questions:

1. Ruby.
2. That last episode was good.
3. An interesting look behind the scenes of idol performances.
4. Casting drama.
5. 8/10.