Oshi no Ko

[MFauli]

Indeed pretty cool development. What comes to Akane, though, I don't believe, at all, that Aqua actually loves her. He's so full of guilt due to "using" Akane's Sherlock skills that it's probably out of obligation he's, still, going out with her. Now he's just not expecting anything from her, due to having shut down his brain. It's pretty ironic that he started using her to make progress, yet he never really did, at the end of the day. It was thanks to the laborous and meticulous DNA testing that he found his (fake) culprit. He didn't run it through Akane in any significant detail because he was merely reporting to her, not trying to analyse the results with her, in an interactive manner. So, while Akane recognised a weakness, like Ryll has pointed out many times, Aqua just wasn't interested anymore.

While I also don't think Aqua is heads over heel for Akane, I must say: When DOES someone love another? Do you think Aqua LOVES Arima? I don't think so. Love, actual love, is something that builds over time. Otherwise it's vanity or a one-sided crush, but true love? So whether Aqua LOVES Akane or not, this is now the starting line where true love COULD bloom.

I didn't like the music video, but it's not the music video's fault. I imagine it was exactly like an idol music video has to be. It's just not the kind of music I'd ever listen to. I guess that's why I usually skip anime OPs, yet watch/listen to the EDs. Of course not every single anime in history has has that exact distinction between the OP and ED, but surprisingly often they do.

I didn't like it as their debut song, their first own song. This is the kind of song you do when you already have a truly great signature song. But this one is not the kind of song you want to scream to the world "B KOMACHI IS BACK, EVERYONE!". It's too generic for that. Also, I'm pretty sure I played to a very similar song in one of the PS Vita-Hatsune Miku games ;>

[Kraco]

While I also don't think Aqua is heads over heel for Akane, I must say: When DOES someone love another? Do you think Aqua LOVES Arima? I don't think so. Love, actual love, is something that builds over time. Otherwise it's vanity or a one-sided crush, but true love? So whether Aqua LOVES Akane or not, this is now the starting line where true love COULD bloom.

Probably not, but he's somewhat fascinated by Arima. Like she affects him emotionally. Akane shook him emotionally due to copying Ai's behavior, but that quickly passed and he was just convinced she could help him find the killer. Now he feels incredibly bad about using a teenager in such a manner. Considering Aqua is a person who, at some level, believes he shoudn't be alive anymore and his only reason to be was to find the killer, I'm not sure he's capable of building love over time like you mentioned. Though I don't expect it to happen, but in theory he might be a good husband for Akane. I don't think Akane is an overly emotional person, so she might be happy enough that the man she loves is there for her. Arima is quite different, I reckon. Arima actively suppresses a lot of her own personality to make it in the industry, but it's still all there, especially when there's no camera and no business talk. If her boyfriend/husband didnt love her, I don't believe the relationship would last.

Btw, the quote tags are broken in your comment.

[Buffalobiian]

- Akane WON, yes!

I wasn't expecting that, and I'm all for it. Fuck yeah.


I also love that despite Akane's coverup, Ruby knew Aqua was:
-smarter than her
-not at all into trendy things
-thus was looking for the killer long before she got on board.

I would not have been surprised if she connected the dots about the timing of their deaths and the reincarnation (and thus that Aqua was reincarnated just like her), but I guess that'll be for the future.

The MV was alright. I did notice that various scenes had Ruby exhibiting both one and two stars in her eyes. It would fit the story regardless of whether it's an animation error or was intentional.

Thematically, black stars signify murderous intent here so their psycho killer dad having them makes sense. Ai has the bright stars to signify her charm. That said, Aqua shouldn't lose his default single bright star simply because he thinks his vengeance is sated.

I'm keen for more. I'm still weary since Kana has been set up as Aqua's partner from the beginning, but hey they surprised me once, I dare them to surprise me until the end and have Akane win.

Given that this is fiction, I'm okay with poly if it's consensual.

[shinta|hikari]

Akane will split with Aqua sooner or later. She is the Kuroneko of the story.

I'm an Akane shipper too, so this makes me sad, but Kana is nice as well.

[Kraco]

I wouldn't consider it impossible if Akane actually got killed. Unless the serial killer absolutely wants the girls to first have a romantic relationship with him. Then it shoudn't work with Akane, most likely, even if she and Aqua had earlier broken up.

[MFauli]

I wouldn't consider it impossible if Akane actually got killed. Unless the serial killer absolutely wants the girls to first have a romantic relationship with him. Then it shoudn't work with Akane, most likely, even if she and Aqua had earlier broken up.

Funny you'd post this, because I was about to post how I actually can see Arima becoming the killer's target now. An uprising, ultra-cute idol-actress without any romantic preoccupiances. Arima is basically the next Ai-chan, aka the "real father"'s favorite treat.

The only threat for Akane would be if she gets to close to the sun and the killer notices her info-digging..

[DarthEnderX]

Like I said earlier, the fact that they put Akane together with Aqua halfway through the story is basically a huge death flag.

This is, ultimately, a story about hunting down a serial killer. Characters we know are going to die, otherwise there won't be any sense of stakes.

[Kraco]

Funny you'd post this, because I was about to post how I actually can see Arima becoming the killer's target now. An uprising, ultra-cute idol-actress without any romantic preoccupiances. Arima is basically the next Ai-chan, aka the "real father"'s favorite treat.

The only threat for Akane would be if she gets to close to the sun and the killer notices her info-digging..

There are a thousand such girls in Japan. Arima is just one of them. She's blissfully ignorant of everything. Akane knows/suspects more than Aqua has guessed, plus Akane can even summon the star eyes. The killer no doubt has some preference with his targets, but he's not above killing "random" people if it suits his needs. I don't believe Arima what he's looking for. Maybe it's cruel to say it, but Arima is a washed out face in the entertainment industry. Ai was a phenomenon that rose from nothingness straight into stardom. Akane is a hard worker type, so it's possible that's not what the killer is looking for, either. Who knows. But she's in much bigger danger simply due to seeing too much, even if she wasn't the killer's type.

[MFauli]

There are a thousand such girls in Japan. Arima is just one of them. She's blissfully ignorant of everything. Akane knows/suspects more than Aqua has guessed, plus Akane can even summon the star eyes. The killer no doubt has some preference with his targets, but he's not above killing "random" people if it suits his needs. I don't believe Arima what he's looking for. Maybe it's cruel to say it, but Arima is a washed out face in the entertainment industry. Ai was a phenomenon that rose from nothingness straight into stardom. Akane is a hard worker type, so it's possible that's not what the killer is looking for, either. Who knows. But she's in much bigger danger simply due to seeing too much, even if she wasn't the killer's type.

Arima is the lead-singer of the new B Komachi, the group that Ai-chan lead in the past.

[Kraco]

Arima is the lead-singer of the new B Komachi, the group that Ai-chan lead in the past.

Isn't that a negative thing? If you are a fan of a disbanded band, it's next to meaningless to have new people establish a new band carrying the same name. Sometimes just the lead singer changing makes you feel like it's not worth it anymore. It seems to me for the killer who arranged Ai's death, the original B Komachi's star's, it would be utterly pointless to do the same for a second time with a mere copy group. But of course I can't really understand the thoughts of a serial killer. Although the author of this series might not either.

[DarthEnderX]

But of course I can't really understand the thoughts of a serial killer.

Probably something like "I already closed the book on B Komachi. How dare someone else think they can just write a new chapter."

[Buffalobiian]

We've had two girls die, and both gave birth to the killer's child. We don't know about the third girl in the post-credits, but to me this raises the idea that perhaps he kills them when they've become pregnant with his kid.

[Kraco]

Probably something like "I already closed the book on B Komachi. How dare someone else think they can just write a new chapter."

He knows it's his own daughter writing the new chapter, though. He might find it too morbidly funny to want to do anything about it, after having destroyed the original B Komachi himself. Seeing how Aqua and Ruby are still alive, it's possible the killer doesn't want them dead anymore.

[David75]

We know nothing of the life and motivations of Ruby/Aqua's father. We've had 3/4 scenes and a similar amount of lines. Hard to tell anything. We know something more: black star eyes and still able to kill.
But no idea what he has in store for the characters we know so far.

[Ryllharu]

We know nothing of the life and motivations of Ruby/Aqua's father. We've had 3/4 scenes and a similar amount of lines. Hard to tell anything. We know something more: black star eyes and still able to kill.

We do know one more thing that gets forgotten in the theater arc but was mentioned in the arc before it.

The twin's father has a connection to, or used to be a part of, the theater troupe where Akane is the current genius lead actress.

not that I'm dislike the rest of the manga, but the later arcs didn't do it for me like the ones so far.

The next arc is one of my favorites, but the series degrades a good amount after that in my opinion.

I mostly just really hate the theater arc because it drags on so long and I really hate the manga author of the play. You're supposed to initially, but they redeemed her way too easily. It felt cheap, instead of being a refreshing reversal from the usual author-insert pattern where they get a bomb of an adaptation because they didn't speak up enough. An overbearing villain of an IP owner (a very specific problem allowed by Japan's unique laws) was a good change of pace and then she's just "good" again.

[Ryllharu]

Just dropping in to say:

If you enjoy this series, the manga has now ended at chapter 166. Good luck avoiding any spoilers.

...because they are going to be everywhere.

[shinta|hikari]

Thanks for the heads up. How far along the manga are we with 2 cours?

[Buffalobiian]

My facebook feed has been full of spoilers in general (not for this show... yet) for a year or so now. It's fucking bullshit. The algorithm figured out I read a lot of anime posts so it decides to feed me more manga spoilers.

[Death BOO Z]

facebook somehow has a mini-industry of spoilers. I don't know what's the goal of those pages and how they make money of it, but it's there. and it doesn't matter how much I block pages, they keep popping up in my feed with new names.

so yes, manga over.

I hate that half my feed is slop I never subscribed to and can't get rid of. Spotify even removed the option to block specific songs and hides away the option to block artists. enshitification everywhere.

[Ryllharu]

Thanks for the heads up. How far along the manga are we with 2 cours?

About halfway, chapter 80.