Just starting this anime was a journey of itself. For instance, I didn't want to just get into one because the first episode was 90 minutes long. If people are fans of the show, then that makes sense but I wasn't sure about watching something that I wasn't 100% for 90 minutes. Not to mention that I am on such a busy schedule that I couldn't account for the random 90 minutes of an anime episode out of nowhere either. Especially on a tight schedule of watching newer seasonal shows at the same time that are at a typical episode length. But I finally did it. I scheduled a very specific day where I didn't have as much media to watch and watched it. Now I am here writing this because I finished Oshi No Ko.
Oshi No Ko starts off with a 90 minute episode that would have worked better as a 60 minute episode. It's the small bit of a journey of an idol named Ai becoming popular after birthing twins and working hard with a heart in their eyes to steal everyone's heart. Then she gets killed by some mysterious boyfriend she had sex to have those kids. That is the core story, but it's told from the perspective of the doctor Gorou Amemiya, an idol otaku, who was supposed to help Ai give birth before he was killed and then became Ai's son Aqua. The other patient Gorou was taking care of who was handicapped became Ai's daughter Ruby. It's wild honestly.
After the set up episode, Oshi No Ko becomes a mystery series and one that looks at the entertainment industry with a very critical eye. Ruby wants to become an idol and her arc involves joining with other people to reform the idol group that her "mother" Ai was a part of. All of that occurs as Aqua investigates different parts of the entertainment industry, whether it's taking roles in acting or otherwise, to find Ai's killer. So as Aqua seeks to find Ai's killer, he gets deeper into the entertainment industry as a young actor and gains a lot of baggage from gaining a "work" girlfriend to the different roles he acts in. That in itself is interesting.
The show has a lot of really good young women in it too. From Kana Arima being the super talented child actress to a jaded high school actress that will take up whatever job she can at a cheap price and completely doubts herself. Seeing her gain confidence in herself again through her journey of becoming an idol with Ruby was great. Ruby overcoming a lot of her past life trauma of being a handicapped person to a fully functioning idol was great too. Having her held back by so many things even as a full formed person to achieve so much was great there too. There are quite a few girls struggling in the entertainment industry that have that kind of journey.
For me, what holds back Oshi No Ko from being great is the fact that it's all centered around Aqua and I don't like him. He is that guy who is constantly right and helps all of these girls on their development by either recruiting girls to join Ruby's idol group or saying something to help one of them out. The problem being that he is seemingly always right about everything he says and it's kind of frustrating. The other problem is that without Aqua, the show wouldn't work at all because Aqua searching for a killer is the point of Oshi No Ko. So the show has become one where I enjoy the things around Aqua instead of Aqua himself and that damages it.
From a production standpoint, Oshi No Ko is a really beautiful show. I mean that in every respect despite it not being a very action packed show which requires the most sakuga. Sure, Ruby and her idol group does need amazing animation to sell that they are idols (and it does look great as you can see these characters work hard and sweating from dancing and singing), but this is a show that requires a lot of creative direction because it is characters mostly talking to each other and acting which requires good character animation. I would greatly recommend this show with one major negative dragging it down for me, but it might not drag it down a little bit for you. For me, I am curious enough to watch the second season.
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