Oshi no Ko Season 3 - Episode 3 discussion

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*[2.5D looks different from what I remember.](https://i.imgur.com/TgWuGhJ.jpeg)*

Went in thinking some scummy director was getting his just desserts, thinking it ended up with a pretty informed discussion about how copyright and merchandising work for IPs in Japan

Only to then realise Ruby probably orchestrated this whole fiasco. Damn girl's just scary as hell now.

I was actually taken aback by the choice of questions they did to Meiya, no wonder she tweeted that. And that last part after everything was said and done was creepy af, what is even running in Ruby's mind?

“All according to keikaku.” - Ruby, probably

Ah right the cosplay stuff.

Pieyon?

Ok... Those are certainly... Some... Interview questions...

That reaction is entirely unsurprising.

Wasn't he the one who suggested getting OF girls in the first place?

Right then, what's Ruby's bright idea?

Wait she agreed to come back on?

Huh. That's interesting.

All that sounds like a problem for the TV station...

And so they really went and interviewed _everyone_.

Lmao Aqua's reaction to seeing Kana.

Also Kana not missing a chance to shill B-Komachi.

Ok...

That feels like a _lot_ of victim blaming...

Ok...

Oh that's certainly not ominous...

What an informative episode but it all boils down to Ruby's keikaku.

That eerie feeling at the end felt like Ruby's going to murder someone.

Mr. President, a second Twitter arc has hit Oshi no Ko.

I love how unapologetically deep into the weeds of the industry this arc goes. You can tell we're getting a 100% unfiltered view of the author's very specific personal grievances.

Did not expect the episode to go this way after we knew it was a cosplay episode going in.

Ruby season so far, but Aqua has caught on to her. Excited to see where we go next!

Okay, WTF were those questions they were asking at Meiya's interview. And then comes the tweet that garners a lot of attention along with the backlash.

Urushibara said he wants to push boundaries, but he needs to know not to push his luck with stuff like that. Yeah, some people succeed from making an ass of themselves online but not worth the risk becuase of how volatile internet is.

Ruby helps make ammends... by, \*checks notes\* making Urushibara atone for cosplay crimes while cosplaying as Princess Saya...

"How much of that did you set up?" asks Aqua...

Is Aqua implying Ruby was the one who came up with the questions to Meiya in the first place?

Cuz if so, I mean, damn.

The TV show taping part of the episode felt like one of those John Oliver episodes where they deep dive into serious drama / issues and finish off with an elaborate stunt.

So Ruby basically orchestrated this whole thing with Meiya and Urushibara? Girl’s good. And here I thought Aqua was the only one who’s got a talent for manipulation and scheming.

I mean she managed to turn this little spat between a disgruntled cosplayer and a director into a whole investigative piece into the standards and practices of the industry itself. Although I gotta say, putting Urushibara in costume was an unexpected touch lol. Worked out in the end though.

Ruby's dark side is very much active here, and it's goddamn jarring (and scary) that she can mastermind events nearly as well as (or even better than) Aqua himself

It's even worse to contrast the bubbly persona she projects on the outside, with the much more manipulative/revenge-driven part hidden from the public

Did Ruby train under Aizen?

I expected her to simply be an opportunist and use Meiya's outrage to her advantage, but it seemed that she had also set everything up, from the Tokyo Blade rights rejection to the risqué question. Everything seemed natural, so just how involved was she?

Don't think we've seen even Aqua play puppet master to this extent, and she's even more dangerous due to her deceiving looks. While Aqua had already exuded an aura of maturity, Ruby looked like a perky airhead on the outside.

Ruby’s behaviour this episode is reminiscent of Aqua back in season 1

except that now Aqua is fully aware of it, and by the looks of it, the P has already caught on

With the first two seasons being more focused on Aqua, it’s really refreshing to see more of Ruby in this season. She’s become even more manipulative than Aqua at this point.

The fact that you can still see her dark eyes through the contacts is such a lovely detail.

Personal opinion: anyone continue watching just to see what outfits the cast are gonna turn up in each episode (apart from, y'know, the story)?

Recently rewatched the first 2 seasons, and a small thing that really impressed me is how often the characters change outfits. They sometimes do it multiple times per episode, and outfits are (almost) never reused. Cant recall another show that does this off the top of my head.

All of it Aqua..no doubt she was responsible for all of it...your sister is wild.

During the part of the tv show when Meiya was pointing out all the imperfections in the costume, I could imagine Gojo from MDUD watching in front of his tv going “That’s right ! That’s right !” Lol

the director saying he sexually harassed Meiya-san because he has a family to feed is insaneeeee

Welcome back to the fabulous world of female cosplayers! Filled with passion, sexiness, and cool costumes! Our cosplayers, Ruby, Minami, Mimi, and now Meiya all come together and look fantastic in their costumes! Even though they had to pivot at the last minute, they managed to find great outfits and end up getting along well! It seems like everything is going to be okay!

Of course the moment I saw Urushibara show up at the shoot, I knew it was going to go wrong. Meiya seemed cynical of the TV world, and that cynicism was validated when Urushibara immediately walks up to her and directly objectifies her with comments about her body....and then when they interview her it's all sleazy questions about the "adult" side of the industry that she's a part of. Meiya grins and bears it, but I'm not surprised that she has to vent online and it goes viral. She didn't deserve that.

Minami and Ruby kind of get caught up in the middle, but it really blows up to the point where people start turning on "TV" and how women and cosplayers are treated within it. Meiya wasn't even just doing this out of frustration, but she doesn't want people to belittle or treat cosplayers like this again. I mean, do you know how much effort she put to make a Tokyo Blade costume only to be told that she couldn't use it? Do you know how her R-18 cosplay work is basically how she survived after losing her job? She didn't ask for her or her hobby to get insulted like this and she won't let anyone else suffer for it.

At first it feels like Urushibara hasn't learned anything from this or his behavior, especially with how surface level an "apology" feels, but at the end of the day...he's a disgraced director doing what he was paid to do, pushing the envelope for the sake of entertainment even if it sometimes makes people uncomfortable. Even if it means he gets the brunt of the criticism for it, even if he's not PC-enough to make it in this industry, it's all he can do to put food on the table for his family.

But poor Yoshizumi is also caught in the middle of this and turning on TV just like everybody else. I mean, do you know how hard it is to kill someone off in this day and age without upsetting anyone!? But then in comes Ruby with a lifeline that could be the only solution to salvaging this mess.

How is Chase the Impawssible going to handle controversy? By directly confronting it! Let's just have Meiya on the show, bring up the controversy, and tackle why it happened and how it can be prevented. Even putting Urusihbara in the hot seat so he too can tackle these critical questions.

We even rope in Kana with her most charming reporter performance (and Aqua was definitely not 100% ready to see her there) and have her interview Abiko on the rights issue. Turns out there was just a lot of miscommunication, unread emails, and a chain of communication to have to work from but ultimately Abiko respects anyone who puts their love for her work into what they ask permission for. Unless it's, like, sexy Tsurugi figurines or Saya body pillows or rape doujins. But I'm not surprised they exist.

Ah yes, of course having a woman try to sell another woman, be they a mangaka or idol, on something "sexy" makes sense.

Meiya has heard enough to be willing to accept the apology and let this be a lesson for the industry...but Ruby's not done. Not until she has Urushibara appear in full Princess Saya cosplay and bow his head in apology to Meiya. Honestly I don't think he looked all that bad, but Meiya can see that, flawed as it is, he tried his best and he put his care for the character of Saya into it. Like a true cosplayer. And that's enough for her.

All's well that ends well! Even if Aqua has to now reckon with realizing that Ruby might have orchestrated all of this and what his sister has turned into.

Didn't know dress up darling got so serious

There is nothing special about this episode (like no major plot point) but it was so interesting to watch.

It felt like watching a 5 minutes epiosde with how quickly it got over. The last time I was so engrosed in an anime was Orb.

Honestly Oshi No Ko is still peak in the anime. I don't care what happaned in the manga but the anime is still amazing to watch.

And the thing Aqua hints at the end is crazy. I didn't realize it at first but it makes a lot more sense and shows Ruby's skill in manipulation.

###Stitches!

* [Meiya](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/6c89321da5cf.jpg)

* [Ruby](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/fc602abcc4cb.jpg)

As soon as it was revealed that [Meiya does R-18 cosplay online](https://i.imgur.com/eOxoH6c.jpeg) and how [the boomer director approached her](https://i.imgur.com/YkUX903.jpeg), you knew that the interview was [going to be a trainwreck.](https://i.imgur.com/6b8fvzp.jpeg) How did he even think those questions were a good idea! That was literally sexual harassment on camera!

And it's not just the sexual harassment, too. [After all the effort she put into making her Tokyo Blade cosplay](https://i.imgur.com/UaCrgw7.jpeg), then suddenly being told to switch at the last minute, really hurt her as well. So you really can't blame [Meiya for posting that damning tweet.](https://i.imgur.com/sSxEDPR.jpeg) She might be an erocosplayer, but she still has her pride, and I'm glad that [the public sided with her on this one.](https://i.imgur.com/fXikKyu.jpeg)

I am glad to see [Yoshizumi stand up to the director and tell him off.](https://i.imgur.com/InC0PYN.jpeg) What's surprising is that [the director is aware that what he's doing is problematic](https://i.imgur.com/sUNrY3L.jpeg), but he thinks he needs to do it to push boundaries and make good, interesting TV because he has a wife and kid to feed.

Ruby's idea of bringing Meiya into the show for a public apology from the showrunners was pretty good tho. I especially loved [Aqua's reaction to Kana being the special field reporter](https://i.imgur.com/XCiuH1b.jpeg) as well as [Abiko-sensei completely ranting about companies wanting to make lewd figures](https://i.imgur.com/PLo9ycn.jpeg) of her characters. xD

The most interesting part is how Abiko-sensei really don't need to sign off on cosplays as long as it's not adult photo shoots. We also got a [good insight on how IP holders handle merchandising rights](https://i.imgur.com/RljzFl1.jpeg). You really gotta appreciate the amount of detail Aka-sensei added to this series that it's actually educational at some points.

[Getting the director create his own cosplay and apologize to Meiya](https://i.imgur.com/DDTQlXj.jpeg) was an inspired move. Glad to see they were able to make up and seeing the director's costume [even reminded Meiya of the time when she was just starting out.](https://i.imgur.com/AbdlRi9.jpeg) And now the director knows [how Meiya feels after being told to change at the last minute.](https://i.imgur.com/GwmTcie.jpeg)

It all worked out in the end! And to think this was all orchestrated by Ruby. That final scene [does kinda imply that Ruby may have set this all up from the very start](https://i.imgur.com/HItuGqs.jpeg). How far and how much setup did she do tho? Hmmm....

Regardless of how the manga ultimately went, I find this segment of the anime stunning. it certainly IS "digging deep" into the seedy side of the business -- and I find it as fascinating as it is unsettling.

It is wild seeing Ruby turning as unhinged as Aqua. I wonder how things would work if these two actually cooperated? Could this happen -- or would it produce too much insanity. In some ways Ruby seems like an even more amoral schemer than Aqua at his most extreme. And I love it.

It was nice getting a glimpse of Kana. I wonder if she will ever get a bit more of the spotlight this season. I miss seeing her. But Ruby HAS been side-lined for a long time, so I guess it is only fair for her to monopolize things a bit for a while.

I still miss 'Burning' playing at the end of each episode, it doesn't hit the same without it.

Abiko getting animated about unlicensed ecchi merch, on camera, was so enjoyable! I could listen to her rant about that and discuss creator rights in Japanese law for hours. I hope that's what Oshi no Ko season 4 is about.

I guess there must've been some miscommunication between the publisher and Dig Deep, and/or between Abiko and her publisher about rights? Or maybe her publisher didn't think that Dig Deep was approaching Tokyo Blade with enough respect for the IP? But they didn't really talk about how the request for permissions was denied. At least they eventually licensed the Tokyo Blade play's music for ~~Urushibara's~~ Princess Saya's entrance.

First, the incident happens and then blows up. Then, through the show itself, everyone dissects the issue going into detail what all caused it to get to the root causes so that it can be prevented in the future. And through that, we also get an interesting show. ~~Ruby~~ Ichigo is a genius! Bro's still got it.

>__Meiya__: If someone suddenly told you that this costume wasn't needed or wouldn't be used, how would you feel?
__Urushibara__: I would completely snap.
__Meiya__: If you can understand that, that's good enough for me.

I love how this scene manages to convey how much effort goes into the cosplay. What may seem small to the directors (changing the costumes at the last moment) is a really big thing for the cosplayers and everyone else involved. And Urushibara only realized that when he had to make his own costume. The bandages on his fingers was a nice touch.

Well, Aqua finally confronts Ruby since she basically set up the whole thing and she's like "What are you talking about?" The irony is that, on the show itself, she said she did nothing wrong.

And to think. This episode about sexual harassment and trying to coerce someone into taking down a Tweet is probably going to be the lightest episode of the season.

And yeah... Dark Ruby manipulating literally everyone is pretty hype and terrifying at the same time.

Like I said before it's incredible how uneasy these end of episode Ruby scenes can make you feel just by her personality changing so much in such a short time.

I know most here won't agree but this was essentially like a filler episode for like a 10 second pay off at the end.


Half way through I was wondering why we need to care about some random cosplayer drama with a tv show company that puts on meme drama panels.

The recurring theme where they try to explain industry norms and standards... how much every mistake/problem has a bland reason for it. It was fun the first 10 times but it's getting old.

Id prefer if the plot gets back on track, and there's less detours into pseudo-industry slice of life.

El final de capítulo yo creo que es más que sugerente con lo de Ruby, hasta este punto de la historia me da más miedo Ruby en modo venganza que Aqua, por lo menos Aqua tenía una pizca de remordimientos de no ser tan malo pero es que a Ruby le importa un huevo todo, solo le importa avanzar y seguir avanzando, increible

Just finished this episode. And I can't remember the last time I got this chill down my spine watching an episode. That last shot of Rubi, not sure if the chill was because of how brilliant the show is or how scared I am for Ruby's dark side.

Damn, I did not expect we would have sort of a good ending for the director on the issue. It was pretty much a heartwarming episode, and that tells me the next episode will be jaw dropping.

Isn't this like the JP TV show culture where a public figure want to repair their image, they willingly make fool of/degrade themselves? Pretty sure I learn about this tidbit from GakiNoTsukai

Safe to say that the kitchen appliances industry was not happy with this anime. 

I read the manga a while back so I don't really remember every detail of every arc, but something I vividly remember was this switch in Ruby's personality. I found it so jarring and interesting how she just fit into this role of a manipulator that's nice on the outside and plays dumb most of the time, but actually does everything with intent. The anime managed to convey these characteristics perfectly these past episodes.

Yeah Meiya, you go girl, rip that director to shreds with your viral tweet after he basically sexually harassed you.

He should be lucky Ruby still found some use for him in her quest for revenge that he didn't get cancelled, and even managed to get Meiya to forgive him.

While I guessed Ruby would use Kana's or Aqua's connections to get in touch with Abiko-sensei, but did not expect it to be after that PoS director screwed things up for everyone.

Ruby somehow managed to even take advantage of a PR disaster to boost her position in show biz even further all for the sake of her revenge, she even dragged Kana into her machinations.

Now Aqua is very uncomfortable at what his sister is becoming.

I know it's cause she is being a schemer but the black stars really fit Ruby more than Aqua, her red eyes with the black stars and gold hair just compliment her really well

That cosplay event was a dumpsterfire. The questions were so bad. That Twitter callout felt satisfying. But I thought the director would just throw the AD under the bus. People who're responsible for dumpsterfires like this are rarely held accountable in the real world.

So I was shocked when the director took full responsibility. That was more satisfying. It feels nice to see everything working out well. But shit like this would never go this well in the real world. If something like this happened, I'm sure almost everyone would say the controversy was staged. Well, I guess it IS staged. Oshi no Ko is fiction after all. And in-universe it was all planned by Ruby. But what if the director didn't take responsibility? Or Meiko refused to show up to the TV show? Things could've gone south so fast.

This was a very good episode. As always I like when ONK talks about the industry. All the talk about doujins and rights distribution with the Tokyo Blade mangaka was interesting. Idk how much of it is true to real life or if they're still up to date but it's still fascinating regardless. I also liked the fake TV show kinda aesthetic.

Aqua caught Ruby acting weird oh shit. I wonder if something big is gonna happen in the next episode.

If I have a nickel every time a mangaka in an anime fights over people upgrading their character's boob size, I would have 2 nickel (OnK, Saiki K)

In an industry where everyone remembers everyone and everyone talks, tactless of the director to be that shitty

Kana heard she gets to annoy Aqua and did the segment for free. Also, Dig Deep is now under B Komachi management. Resistance is futile

"Truth is. The game was rigged from the start." - Ruby

It was very impressive that Ruby understood the director, the lengths he will go for TV. Can't be even mad at him now because he did the final cosplay genuinely, even read the source material and all. This episode once again showed the dark side of the media industry yet ended it in a funny way, with all sides hopefully standing in common ground.

Ending shot was very cool. Aqua played these games before, but Ruby might be even better

holyyyy, im learning so much from all these knowledge bombs in the entertainment industry, especially about how cliff deaths are considered the “safest.” Then I remembered the girl who was pushed off by aqua and ruby's dad, RIP.

[Ruby](https://imgchest.com/p/wl7l5gb8p4x) is pretty scary, I really wouldn't want to stand in her way [when she's like this](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/f6a847781b93.png). I really wonder how much of a part she had in the whole [Meiya](https://imgchest.com/p/agyvjqop9y8) scandal from [this episode](https://imgchest.com/p/xny82vjnoyb).

I loved [Abiko-sensei](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/66c6983d92dc.png)'s cameo today (and [Kana](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/d6118311a866.png)'s too, and [Aqua's reaction to it](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/571876a24317.png))! Her rant about merch and doujins absolutely cracked me up (especially [when she was making poses](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/23d82bd6a9b1.png)).

By the way, I completely agree with [Abiko-sensei's rant about figurines with huge boobs](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/4ca1515f5d97.png). I really hate it when characters who don't have big boobs suddenly have them in fan merch/doujins xD

Here my screenshot albums from the episode:

* [Ruby](https://imgchest.com/p/wl7l5gb8p4x)
* [Group scenes](https://imgchest.com/p/xny82vjnoyb)
* [Meiya](https://imgchest.com/p/agyvjqop9y8)
* [Mimi](https://imgchest.com/p/9249lwqn24n)
* [Others](https://imgchest.com/p/dl7p5eop6yo)

The way I burst out laughing seeing Urushibara in that cosplay outfit. I'm glad he actually got to experience what it was like making an outfit to understand just what he did. The topic of the show's episode was an interesting one to watch.

Dark Ruby is scary if she had set up things from before the first cosplay episode, she was a bit too quick pitching a new idea to Yoshizumi.

I am glad Yoshizumi got the courage to speak up but I did also like how we got to hear Urushibara's own thoughts.

Aqua's reaction when he saw Kana was funny lol.

They all look good on [their cosplays](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/742fb418f5b8.jpg) especially [Mimimimimimimi](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/8debed8f17f5.jpg)

Meiya's [spicy cosplays](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/40f904e38cb1.jpg)

Very uncomfortable [watching Urushibara](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/d3842b6c0db6.jpg) asking Meiya those kind of questions. He really deserves to be brought down by [Meiya's tweets](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/823e5153c805.jpg).

Never thought someone like Urushibara got [redemption arc](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/b34c7098fc69.jpg) though.

I totally become [Ruby](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/a9cf35d01ffc.jpg) fan now. [Ruby-sama](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/662449bcd363.jpg) [so magnificent](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/85872471d9c7.jpg) solving every problem to rise to the top!

I dunno how to feel about the director.
I also expected him to blame the AD; him genuinely owning up his mistake was a nice surprise.

But at the same time, he pretty much tried to justify his disrespectful questions with "I have a family to feed". Like lol, having to earn money really is no excuse.

It's unusual that he managed to positively and negatively surprise me in the very same scene. But I guess this ambiguity kinda makes him a more realistic character, since in other shows he would just be a one-dimensionally good or bad character.

I like how even the random Kana cameo was intentional on Ruby's part - Abiko would probably have refused to give an interview to basically anyone else.